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Towcester Relief Road Public Meeting Announced

The Rt Hon. Andrea Leadsom MP, Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire, has confirmed that her colleague the Rt Hon. John Hayes MP, Minister for Transport, will be coming to Towcester on Thursday 23rd February 2017 for a public meeting on the early delivery of the Towcester Relief Road.
 
The Rt Hon. Andrea Leadsom MP, Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire, has confirmed that her colleague the Rt Hon. John Hayes MP, Minister for Transport, will be coming to Towcester on Thursday 23rd February 2017 for a public meeting on the early delivery of the Towcester Relief Road.
 
The Minister and his team met with Andrea and Cllr Ian McCord, Leader of South Northamptonshire District Council, in November last year and made a commitment on behalf of the Department for Transport that he would try to ensure that the relief road would be delivered in partnership with the developers, Persimmon Homes and Bloor Homes, ahead of schedule. All parties – County, District and Town Councils, the developers, and local residents – are agreed that the early delivery of the relief road is in everyone’s interest.
 
The public meeting will be held in the Council Chamber at The Forum (South Northamptonshire District Council’s offices) and interested residents are asked to arrive from 7pm for a 7.30pm start. It is anticipated that the meeting will finish at around 8.30pm, and will include an opportunity to ask questions.
 
Due to capacity constraints in the Council Chamber, this free event is ticketed and operates on a first-come-first-served basis.
 
To book your place, please head to www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/towcester-relief-road-public-meeting-tickets-31827488876 or contact Andrea’s parliamentary office on 020 7219 7149 and her staff will be able to assist.
 
Andrea said:
 
“A relief road for Towcester has been needed for years and I am delighted that the Minister is able to attend the public meeting for residents so soon after our meeting in November.
 
“The relief road is an issue that comes up time and again on the doorsteps of Towcester and the surrounding area, and I am hopeful that we will be able to make quick progress in getting construction started. Local residents will be aware that I made the delivery of the road one of my ‘ambitions for South Northamptonshire’ after I was re-elected in 2015.
 
“I am exceptionally grateful to Cllr Ian McCord for all of his hard work alongside me to secure this public meeting, and to Catherine Morris, Chairman of the Towcester Bypass Action Group, for her coordination of the local community.
 
“I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say.”

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Comments

SteveH

At 18:23 on 8th February 2017, SteveH commented:

Meeting on 23rd February to discuss bringing the relief road forward.... Then what's the work starting on the A5 near the Race Course doing on the 20th Feb? According to web sites, and signs on the A5, this is the start of the roundabout that will eventually take the relief road around the new estate and back on to the A43. Meeting on 23rd Feb sounds like a littte unnecessary.

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peter k

At 13:35 on 9th February 2017, peter k commented:

Although Steve H has a point, there are still many questions to be answered, not the least being how to stop the HGVs continuing to use Towcester as a rat run once the road is built and why is 106 money being used to fund the road. I would hope others with similar questions do turn up?

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Still Working

At 23:33 on 10th February 2017, Still Working commented:

Just to correct you Steve H ..... the start of the relief road is much further south than the roundabout being built by Bloor Homes.

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SteveH

At 18:18 on 11th February 2017, SteveH commented:

I stand corrected… said the man in the orthopaedic shoes. The first island is being built by the house builders to allow construction traffic in to Phase 1 of the Towcester Expansion. Then we have to sit through further disruption when the second island is built by Highways Agency for the releif road. The A5 is going to be a 'keep clear' road for the next few years. Then we losing all the passing traffic, Towcester high street business close down and we become a ghost town. Towcester is just going to end up like Brackley.

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Nick H

At 00:03 on 24th February 2017, Nick H commented:

Can't wait to hear the outcome of this meeting, having been unable to attend.

Regarding the 'ghost town' comments, I would like to point out that Towcester will not become a ghost town with the delivery of this relief road for the very reason that the road itself will have very impact on the traffic travelling through Towcester.

If heavy good vehicles can be forced to use the new road, however, it will alleviate some of the traffic problems in the town centre. But I would also strongly argue that the heavy goods vehicels tend not to provide the sort ot 'passing trade' that so many people talk about, ... there is nowhere for HGV drivers to park being one on the main reasons for this, but also there is very little in the way of retail units in the town that attract 'passing trade' (ie, hair dressers, betting shops, estate agents, etc).

The relief road will only be an attractive route for those drivers who travel between Brackley/Silverstone direction and Potterspury, as for everybody else it will be a huge detour, with little benefits from higher speed limits (which are unlikey) and an excess of roundabouts to negotiate (5 new ones I believe). Go any further south of Potterspury, and there are quicker routes to get to Brackley and other destinations in that direction, so no point in going via Towcester.

Another point of interest is whether the Government will part fund the road. I can accept them putting some money into an early delivery of the road, but if that isn't going to happen, the developer should be forced to fund the whole scheme, as without the new road there will be no access to their new houses, and I suspect they will want to be able to sell them when built.

Nick Holder

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peter k

At 10:36 on 24th February 2017, peter k commented:

I did attend the meeting, which alluded few answers.

Some points were clarified, one being that Persimmon Homes would fund the road through our 106 money, the other point, skirted over, was the problem of stopping HGVs using Towcester as a rat run once the new road is in use. On this point it was admitted by the roads minister that a weight restriction does not work in practice, due to it being impossible to enforce. However, no solutions were proffered.

The scepticism from those attending was apparent, with the only strong argument for it to go ahead, in its present form as a single lane link road, coming from the panel. The main outcome being a speeding up of the build and this was the excuse given for the 106 money being passed back to the developer to complete the job earlier.

One point made was that once the road is built the car traffic would probably use it to avoid the congestion in Towcester due to the HGVs continuing the rat run through the town. Quite a possibility unless the Highway Agency comes up with a plan, similar to Stony Stratford, to make life difficult for the HGV traffic. Nothing to this end from the Roads Minister.

Winner on the day...............Perssimon Homes

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