Council plans special meeting to probe town’s traffic woes

A CALL for a new town poll to vote on a revised Historic Core Zone plan that includes zebra crossings was one idea raised at a community-organised meeting in Bradford on Avon.

The idea was to give anyone interested in the town’s future the chance to discuss issues they thought important. Traffic control and pedestrian safety were just two of the items raised.

More than 70 people attended the meeting on Thursday and co-organiser Liz Brewer said she couldn’t believe how many people were interested in issues other than the HCZ.

She said: “All sorts of suggestions were made. I think there are people who obviously care about what the result (of the HCZ poll) was but it was an open forum, and we didn’t go with an agenda, so it allowed people to throw all sorts of ideas out there.

“There are a couple of people who are still looking into appealing the result but the majority of people came to see how we can move forward.

“An idea for a town poll was discussed to include zebra crossings – although it was only a select few and I don’t know whether people will push for it.”

Mrs Brewer, who lives in Bradford and organised the meeting through social media, said people wanted to focus on the town’s successes, including hosting the longest-running monthly local food street market in the county.

Last Thursday’s meeting was also attended by business owners, many of whom were unable to vote in the poll because they live outside the town boundary.

Jackie Allan, who owns Piha, said: “There was a gathering of ideas and I think there will be a spin off from it. It’s nice to see positivity about the town. There’s a group of people who want to look at what happened with the HCZ and maybe learn from it for future plans.”

Town councillors have now decided to hold a special meeting on March 24, at 7pm at their offices, to look at ways to address the town’s traffic problems.

At the full council meeting on Tuesday, mayor John Potter said: “The town needs to have a thorough and realistic view on the matter of the HCZ.”

It was also revealed on Tuesday that there is a possibility that Wiltshire Council’s cabinet member for highways Cllr John Thomson could agree to turn the areas designated in the HCZ into 20mph zones without billing the town council for the work.