Roads row escalates (From Gazette Series)

Roads row escalates

THE row over Tory plans to spend tens of millions of pounds on maintaining the roads in Gloucestershire at the expense of other local transport improvements during the next five years rose to new heights this week.

Cllr John Cordwell (Lib Dem, Wotton-under-Edge) this week hit back at claims by Cllr Stan Waddington (Con, Minchinhampton) that the Lib Dems cared more new bus routes than road safety.

"The change to the provisional Gloucestershire Local Transport Plan for 2006 to 2001 is being dressed up as a road safety initiative, but road condition is far from the most important factor in accidents," Cllr Cordwell told the Gazette.

"In fact this massive change of direction in the Local Transport Plan represents a desperate attempt towards meeting a county Conservative election promise to spend an additional £60 million on road maintenance in the next five years without increasing council tax by more than the retail price index."

Cllr Cordwell, who has been a member of the council's road safety committee serving the Stroud district for 24 years, defended the county council's road safety record.

"Over the years, Gloucestershire County Council has strived to reduce road accidents and the resulting casualties," he said.

"When I first joined the council in the early 1980s well over 1,000 people were killed or seriously injured on Gloucestershire's roads each year.

Now the figure has been reduced to a quarter of that. Still far too high of course, but it stands up well to national comparison.

"Under my cabinet portfolio brief of the last four years the county has set itself tough targets for reducing these numbers further; these are more ambitious targets than the national ones.

"In recent years, amongst other events, the Road Safety Unit won a Charter Mark award for its work, and the Safer Driving with Age (SAGE) scheme has won national acclaim and is being copied by other authorities.

"The county, together with Gloucester City, won the Safer City award, leading to Gloucester being a pilot for road safety schemes nationwide and internationally.

"A Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment in 2001 to encourage walking and cycling through "safe routes to school" has led to a current 115 school travel plans being completed or in progress. There is a companion Business Travel Plan.

"An aim to set 30 mph speed limits in every village that wants one and 20 mph where there are schools or large numbers of pedestrians is running ahead of target."

He added that against this background he was dismayed to read the claim by Cllr Stan Waddington that Liberal Democrats wanted to give higher priority to new bus routes than to protecting road users' lives through road safety measures.

Cllr Cordwell stressed that the road safety aspects of the plan remained unchanged and that instead the Tory administration was attempting to divert Government support intended for integrated transport, such as buses, priority lanes and park and ride sites, and indeed school travel plans, to road maintenance.

"It seems unlikely that the Government will let them get away with this and may well reduce their level of support," he added.

Cllr Waddington is to attend the next meeting of the Stroud Road Safety Liaison Group to explain the changes to the transport plan.