A TINY parish of just 150 residents is calling for action to prevent it being devastated by heavy traffic when the Redditch Eastern Gateway development opens.
The village of Coughton lies directly on the A435 south of Studley and car traffic alone has increased by 15 per cent since 2001.
Under the proposed route for HGVs coming up from the south to the Eastern Gateway or heading south from it, residents fear for not only the future of their village but the safety of pupils attending its highly successful school and nursery, as juggernauts go thundering through the middle of it.
Now Councillor John Gittins, chair of Coughton Parish Council, has written to the highways authority Warwickshire County Council, Stratford District Council and neighbouring authorities demanding that traffic be routed through the motorway network instead rather than through their village.
“In the absence of any form of bypass we cannot accept a preferred route that supports southern access along the existing A435,” he said.
“There should be infrastructure in place that would facilitate efficient access to and from the development utilising the motorway system to minimise impact on surrounding communities.
“Furthermore, this should include suitable and enforceable deterrents to all heavy vehicles between Kings Coughton and Studley.”
Coun Gittins added that while Eastern Gateway traffic would be routed through Redditch to the Crabbs Cross island and then down to Spernal Ash, bypassing Mappleborough Green and two sides of Studley, nothing was being done to lessen its impact on those villages further south.
“Despite the tortuous route around Redditch and Studley the additional traffic will regroup with the existing traffic flow at Spernal Ash and then channel back onto the A435,” he said.
“There has been no active consultation with residents or businesses that will be affected by the development, nor any presentation on the proposals for managing the traffic that will result.
“The lack of any attention to our plight is even more unacceptable, considering that a public enquiry back in 2003 identified that a bypass for the route would relieve ‘dangerous, damaging and unhealthy conditions’ for residents and motorists.”
