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The Wivenhoe Encyclopedia |
| April 2005 - Highways Dept recommendations for Queens
Road and The Folly At its meeting on Monday 18th April, Wivenhoe Town Councillors noted that neither it nor residents living in lower Wivenhoe had been told what recommendations had been made by Highways Department concerning future traffic on Queens Road and Valley Road. In March, recommendations were made to Cllr Richard Gower, the Borough Council's Portfolio Holder for Transportation and Planning by Highways Department after Highways Department wrote to homeowners in Valley Road and Queens Road with a questionnaire offering the opportunity to vote on alternatives. It is believed Queens Road is to become a cul-de-sac, thus forcing all existing traffic on Queens Road through Valley Road, Park Road and into Belle Vue Road. The Town Council noted that the traffic impact study, submitted by Lexden Restorations in 2002 as part of its planning application for Cook's Shipyard, showed 56 cars used Queens Road in a peak hour. These cars will in future be forced to use the roads through the Valley estate. The Council also understands that Highways want The Folly to have a 'hardened surface' so that is suitable for pushchairs, wheelchairs and cyclists. Councillors noted that in the questionnaire to Valley Road and Queens Road residents, Highways Department invited those residents to express a view about the making up of The Folly. Folly residents were not similarly consulted it would appear. After Lexden Restorations gained their outline planning consent for Cook's Shipyard, the Town Council conducted its own extensive public consultation with all Wivenhoe residents. It wrote to all residents in affected roads and invited them to an exhibition in the Council offices to see drawings and artists impressions of how the Shipyard could look. All residents had the opportunity to express their views about traffic movements. The Council worked in close co-operation with seven organisations including the Anglesea Road Residents' Association and the East Street and Brook Street Residents before publishing its conclusions in September 2002. After listening carefully to all the many views, we concluded Queens Road should remain open to two-way traffic so that extra traffic coming from Cook's Shipyard might be shared between three access roads, with there being some measures to restrain the speed of traffic in Queens Road as residents felt that was an issue. We also backed the unanimous opposition of residents in The Folly to replacing the present shingle put there deliberately to discourage speeding cyclists. In a letter to the Portfolio Holder, the Town Council has expressed its disappointment that the recommendations of Highways Department have so far not been made public, nor the reasons for those recommendations. The recommendations were accepted By Cllr Richard Gower in March and are automatically adopted under the terms of the Section 106 agreement dealing with highway matters and other issues concerning the development of Cooks Shipyard. Cllr Peter Hill
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