The Radstock Mayor Cllr Rupert Bevan writes:

As we drag ourselves coughing into the New Year, the tidings are good in part. It seems that the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) will receive some £540 m to spend on three projects, one of which is improvements to the A37/A367 corridor. Theoretically this will facilitate communications between the Somer Valley and the other centres of population, like Bath, Keynsham and Bristol.

Unfortunately what is being proposed will have the opposite effect to the one intended. No amount of cycle paths is going to make a ha'penny worth of difference and putting extra buses on the already choked routes won't get people to work any quicker.

Added to that are the problems of an unforgiving geology which will make road widening impossible for the most part, especially in Radstock, Paulton and Midsomer Norton. The tens of millions available for the scheme would be better spent on providing the population with a working railway with connections to Westbury, Bath, Bristol and Swindon. The feasibility of this project has already been well researched and the cost would amount to £30m, a fraction of the amount available.

It is important to encourage industry and commerce in the Somer Valley. The WECA plans favour the pedestrian and cyclist but it is actually heavy transport that brings jobs and prosperity. Lack of good roads is the reason why so many large manufacturers have left the area. Given the geological problems previously mentioned, the construction of rail heads for trans-shipment of goods would be a way of keeping lorry traffic to a minimum. It is the system used by the local quarries.

Let us hope that common sense prevails and that the money is spent on long-term improvements rather than short-term fluff for political expediency.