The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
An open letter to Sir John Hayes:
We wish to record how appalled we are about plans for the proposed Spalding Western Relief Road.
How can it be deemed to be a relief road when the middle section may, or may not, be constructed sometime/never.
Why do the councillors and planners regard the local residents as gullible idiots?
We are well aware that the new road is merely to provide access to thousands of new homes, to be built on our wonderful open countryside.
If the intention was to truly construct a bypass, then why not choose a route which would also bypass Pinchbeck and Surfleet, and then join the existing main road at the roundabout near the South Lincs Crematorium, rather than funnel a considerable amount of traffic onto the already heavily congested Pinchbeck Road.
Where are the amenities in Spalding to accommodate thousands of new people? Why spend millions of pounds on new roads when our councils are either unable or unwilling to properly maintain our existing roads.
We feel great sympathy with the people who dace possible demolition of their homes, it must be a nightmare for them, especially with the totally inept way it is being handled by the powers that be.
We live beside the Vernatts Drain in Spalding, having moved here five years ago. Like most of the people facing the Vernatts we paid a premium for our home in order to have wonderful views of the countryside and spectacular sunsets.
Now we can look forward to noise pollution, air pollution, light pollution and devalued property prices. Our visual outlook will be either a high soil bank sound barrier, or alternatively thousands of new houses – what a choice!
We have also been told that the public footpath known as Blue Gowt Lane is to be closed. We witness hundreds of people using this lane on a daily basis, including unaccompanied school children.
Will they try to cross the new road, God forbid, or will they have to negotiate the already manic Pinchbeck Road?
We feel that this new road will make absolutely no difference to the traffic in Spalding town centre, as people will still need to get to their workplace, shops, etc.
As you may gather we, along with many others, are far from happy with this situation. Which makes us wonder, do our planners have a degree in incompetence? Or are they just born stupid?
Mr and Mrs J Batterham
Angelica Drive
Spalding
