Big debate on transport (From Gazette Series)

Big debate on transport

THE GREAT Gloucestershire debate on transport has come to an end. The initiative was launched in June of this year by the Gloucestershire Strategic Partnership with the aim of raising awareness of issues around congestion, travel choice and road safety.

The partnership is a group of organisations that work together to solve countywide problems. It was formed in 2002 and has 41 members, including Gloucestershire County Council, the six district councils, Gloucestershire Constabulary, the region's Primary Care Trusts, the business sector and voluntary and community groups.

During the four months, transport campaign organisers have worked with the local media to get a true picture of the county's attitude towards transport.

More than 1,600 people have given their views through an online message forum, emails, letters and numerous surveys.

Peter Bungard, chief executive of the county council, has hailed the debate a great success.

He said: "The Great Gloucestershire debate has been a great learning exercise from the county council's perspective.

"With very positive support from the media we have witnessed a level of real debate on the tough issue of transport, that really seemed to engage every sector and viewpoint."

The countywide consultation highlighted five key areas of concern which the partnership says it will now look into and address. They included, * Strong opposition to the planned Gloucestershire Parkway train station at Elmbridge Court, Gloucester.

* Traffic management issues, including traffic lights and traffic calming making congestion worse.

* The need for a park and ride at Over, Highnam and Linton.

* The need for cheaper and more reliable bus servicws.

* The problem of lorries driving through villages.

Over the next few months the findings of the transport debate will be evaluated and reported back to the public through the local media.

The next Great Gloucestershire Debate is expected to be about food vision, exploring issues such as healthy eating and buying locally-produced food.

For more information about the debate and to read people's views visit, www.greatgloucestershiredebate.org.uk