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Residents drop pedestrianisation bombshell

Wednesday, 14th March 2012.

Councillors who have been pushing forward plans to pedestrianise Haverhill High Street will receive a setback tomorrow with a report which says the case for banning traffic has not been made.

Suffolk County Council put forward a scheme in January which was open to public consultation, and officers say the results of this do not show a majority in favour.

Part of the scheme which involves £750,000 work to improve the environment by paving the rest of the street and putting in street furniture will probably go ahead, but the traffic ban is now in the balance.

The report, to tomorrow's meeting of Haverhill Area Working Party, says pursuing the traffic regulation order to close the street from 10am-4pm Monday to Thursday and 6am to 6pm Friday and Saturday, is now fraught with risk.

Shopkeepers are expected to object and their objections might be upheld by county councillors when they make a decision in June, or, if it got past that, by a public inquiry which the objectors would force.

So the officers are now working on an alternative to the traffic ban.

The public consultation was only responded to by 101 people, and although the fors and againsts were evenly split, when they were analysed closely the percentage of fors dropped to 33 per cent.

Officers felt people had, perhaps, not fully understood the scheme.

A question about providing more seating in the town produced a surprising result with 40 per cent not wanting any additional seating either.

If the traffic ban does not go ahead, controversial plans to close Swan Lane and redirect traffic around Crowland Road would not be needed.

Most residents consulted on these issues preferred the 'do nothing' option with regard to Crowland Road.

Haverhill Online News

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