West Felton residents protest over road narrowing plans
West Felton residents have protested against plans to narrow the B5009 Holyhead Road to accommodate a new footpath and 35 new houses in the village.
In the time the protest group stood at the roadside, several large agricultural vehicles and local buses passed through the village, demonstrating to all present that the plans were ‘an accident waiting to happen.’
Among the protestors was West Felton Parish Councillor Chris Jones, who says: “You only have to stand here for five minutes to see the B5009 Holyhead Rd is already far too narrow – it’s actually already below regulation width - and that the plans to narrow it are crazy. Nobody in West Felton wants this; Shropshire Council says they’re listening and consulting, but the fact is the National Planning Policy Framework rules and they will build new houses and narrow the road whether we like it or not.”
Andrea Allen, the UKIP PPC for North Shropshire says: “The local school is already oversubscribed, the road is already busy, and the scale and location of this development is completely out of keeping for this rural community. People who chose to live in rural areas are increasingly finding they are forced to live in small towns with no facilities. It’s not just West Felton, it’s happening all over the county and Shropshire people have had enough of it.”
Also present was Suzanne Evans, UKIP National Deputy Chairman and the prospective parliamentary candidate for Shrewsbury and Atcham. She says: “The Holyhead road is still used as a diversion from the new A5 when there are roadworks or accidents and you only have to stand here for five minutes and you can see it’s far too narrow already. 12-18 inches narrower, you get a bus or a tractor trying to pass a kid on a bike and it’s a terrifying thought quite frankly. We should be focussed building on brownfield sites and bringing empty homes back into use long before we even begin to consider the loss of precious agricultural land to a dangerous development like this.”
Locals say the development is contrary to the village plan, against road and pavement rules, and against the wishes of virtually all residents. They intend to keep up the pressure on Shropshire Council to reject the planning application, including protesting at the Planning Applications Committee hearing as and when.
