Sturmer steps up to campaign for by-pass
Thursday, 23rd February 1995.
Angry villagers at Sturmer plan to launch a placard carrying protest and disrupt traffic to step up their campaign for a by-pass.
Villagers, who are dreading the completion of Haverhill's by-pass campaign is being ignored and plan dramatic action to get something done.
A survey circulated to every house in the tiny village, just across the border into Essex, showed an overwhelming vote in favour of a by-pass. Residents believe re numbering plans for the A604, which runs through the middle of the village, will do nothing to ease their traffic nightmare.
Chairman of the Village Action Committee Mr George Turner has received support for the campaign from the Council for the Protection of Rural England and Professor Wynne Godley, an adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Professor Godley, who has a house at Cavendish, suggests the problems of Sturmer and the Stour Valley villages could best be solved by by-passing Sturmer and creating a new road to Ridgewell then on to link with the Melford and Sudbury by-passes. He says this would require less road and be cheaper than providing by-passes for Stoke-By-Clare, Clare and Cavendish.
Mr Turner disputes the answer from Suffolk County Council that a Sturmer by-pass could not be built at the same time as phase 2 of Haverhill by-pass. He believes savings could be made by building both roads at the same time and the cost of building a link road from the by-pass to Sturmer would be saved.
The remainder of the cost could be met by postponing other less urgent schemes in Essex and perhaps a contribution from Suffolk.
"Down grading the road does nothing at all to help us and makes it a local rather than a government responsibility, so we would get no government funding for a by-pass.
"We refuse to accept that nothing can be done and now is the time to do something actively about. Once you hold up that traffic it causes chaos and they will have to do something about it" said Action Committee member Mr Eddie Baker.
Villagers, who are dreading the completion of Haverhill's by-pass campaign is being ignored and plan dramatic action to get something done.
A survey circulated to every house in the tiny village, just across the border into Essex, showed an overwhelming vote in favour of a by-pass. Residents believe re numbering plans for the A604, which runs through the middle of the village, will do nothing to ease their traffic nightmare.
Chairman of the Village Action Committee Mr George Turner has received support for the campaign from the Council for the Protection of Rural England and Professor Wynne Godley, an adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Professor Godley, who has a house at Cavendish, suggests the problems of Sturmer and the Stour Valley villages could best be solved by by-passing Sturmer and creating a new road to Ridgewell then on to link with the Melford and Sudbury by-passes. He says this would require less road and be cheaper than providing by-passes for Stoke-By-Clare, Clare and Cavendish.
Mr Turner disputes the answer from Suffolk County Council that a Sturmer by-pass could not be built at the same time as phase 2 of Haverhill by-pass. He believes savings could be made by building both roads at the same time and the cost of building a link road from the by-pass to Sturmer would be saved.
The remainder of the cost could be met by postponing other less urgent schemes in Essex and perhaps a contribution from Suffolk.
"Down grading the road does nothing at all to help us and makes it a local rather than a government responsibility, so we would get no government funding for a by-pass.
"We refuse to accept that nothing can be done and now is the time to do something actively about. Once you hold up that traffic it causes chaos and they will have to do something about it" said Action Committee member Mr Eddie Baker.
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