THERE was a collective cry of anguish from lives ruined by non-stop traffic at a public meeting held at Ullenhall Village Hall last Friday.
And residents fear their plight can only get worse with the opening of the Redditch Eastern Gateway,
Organised by ‘Project Group A4189’ and addressed by Stratford MP and government minister Nadhim Zahawi, it was packed with residents living along the A4189 from Claverdon to Mappleborough Green and Winyates Green.
The road is a popular cut through between the M40 / A46 and the A435 and M5 and with the announcement that online giant Amazon will occupy the northern half of the Gateway, locals fear the worst.
Also present was Warwickshire County Council highways engineer Jo Edwards – and her message couldn’t have been bleaker.
She said the A4189 road was 41st on the authority’s list of priorities, and effectively had little chance of being upgraded.
The news was equally bleak for Studley and Mappleborough Green residents after local councillor and school governor Maureen Berry revealed that, as Amazon did most of its deliveries by three and a half tonne vans, much of the local traffic it generated wouldn’t be governed by the much-vaunted A435 routing strategy, which only applied to vehicles of seven and a half tonnes and more.
“The roads will simply not be able to take it,” she said.
“We were at saturation point years ago, and we’re way over that now.”
One woman spoke for all when she said: “We feel unheard – these roads affect our daily lives and we have to live with one car after another and we simply cannot move.”
Stephen Perrin, chair of Preston Bagot Parish Meeting condemned the lack of an overall plan to deal with the Eastern Gateway.
To loud applause he said: “Amazon has been the tipping point; the A4189 to Redditch already has many problems and what I’m hearing here are sticking plaster solutions, short term projects when what we need is a vision, a view of what’s going to happen in 10, 15 years time – or are we going to wait until the whole road system is blocked?”
The suggestion was seized upon by Mr Zahawi, who said: “I have certainly got the message loud and clear – the Amazon warehouse is something that needs strategic thinking by the County Council.
“We owe it to everyone in this room and everywhere to have that strategic vision.”
He promised to write to the leader of Warwickshire County Council and said he would add support in Parliament as and when such a strategy was put together.
Speaking after the meeting Mr Perrin said the work would require government funding, not just what the County Council could provide.
“We can do some of the little projects along the way but this is definitely going to need government money – absolutely.”
