Councils in war of words over the A44 (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Councils in war of words over the A44

THE shelving of plans to reclassify the road through Bourton-on-the-Hill has led to a row between two neighbouring local authorities.

Gloucestershire county councillor for Moreton, Barry Dare, said the reclassification of the A44 road to a B road did not go ahead largely because Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) was "being its usual unco-operative self".

As reported in the Journal last week, the A44 will remain unchanged until at least 2006.

County road traffic manager John Whittaker said there had not been a consensus view on the reclassification.

However, coun Dare lay the bulk of the blame on the shoulders of Oxfordshire and also accused it of reneging on a deal to direct traffic away from the A44 and along the A40 Northleach.

Coun Dare, who masterminded the implementation of an advisory lorry route from Troopers Lodge to Stow two years ago, said: "There are no lorry advisory signs in Oxfordshire. They were enthusiastic about it three years ago but nothing has been done.

"I'm spitting blood. Not only should they have done what they said they were going to do, they could have pre-empted the problems we have now," said coun Dare.

He said the residents of Bourton-on-the-Hill were getting a "very rough deal" due to the narrowness of the road through the village.

"It's narrower than the main staircase at Shire Hall," he said.

"I'm a bit disheartened. I will try again but the general feeling is that without the co-operation from Oxfordshire we are banging our heads against a brick wall," he added.

David Robertson, executive member for transport on OCC, hit back at coun Dare saying he was not aware of any agreement with Gloucestershire about lorry routes.

"While we have concerns for the A44 and the problems of HGVs what we can't do is plug a hole and find it causes problems on other routes," said Mr Robertson.

He said the council was currently consulting as part of a transport networks review and would be drawing up a local transport plan late this year for presentation to the government in 2005.

"I'm aware the A44 Action group has been pushing for this. If we could have done it we would have done it but we are trying to have an integrated strategy," said coun Robertson.

A44 Action group treasurer Andy Vigrass, who lives in Bourton-on-the-Hill, said he was confident the problem would be resolved, eventually.

"I'm not disheartened. It's a case of roll on 2006 and we will keep plugging away," he said.