Representation by Michael Philip Drew
- Date submitted
- 4 September 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am writing on behalf of myself and my wife, as I did to the Statutory Consultation. We live in a Grade 2 listed building on (REDACTED). is part of the A67. It is immediately after the Barnard Castle Bridge on one of the routes into town. Bridgegate is the first main road in Barnard Castle that is affected by the choice of junction at Rokeby, for the Cross Lanes to Rokeby section of the A66 dualling scheme. National Highways’ traffic modelling predicts that the Rokeby junction of their preferred route (the Black route) will significantly increase traffic down our road, owing to the extra distance to the Rokeby junction from Cross Lanes, and the extra-long u-turn that traffic will need to take to get back to town along the C165 Barnard Castle Road. We believe the alternative Blue junction is the better route for traffic balancing. I wish to register to put forward our concerns about the impact of the junction on our lives and the town. The unbalancing of traffic, which Highways believe will occur, will cause congestion, which increases air pollution; this pollution will affect our health, and our children’s, and that of our fellow residents. Congestion will cause delays and the combination of congestion and air pollution will affect the economy in town – we are heavily reliant on tourism and rural employment, both of which are affected by increased and congested traffic. The route from the B6277 into town is utterly unsuited for heavy traffic, with blind turns and sudden exits, and The Bank (which is the next road on from ours) is a steep hill, which will cause problems for ascending vehicles. The likelihood is, that the choice of junction will make our roads more dangerous. More importantly, I am concerned that the choice of Black route will lead to increased risk to dozens of heritage assets – including our own house. Air pollution has been cited by Historic England as a risk to St Mary’s Rokeby, part of their opposition to the Blue alternative route. We do not believe Highways have discharged their duty under the NPS to produce heritage assessments for the buildings in town. We also believe that their route will cause more damage than Historic England suggest. I also have concerns about the drainage of the Black route at the site of the build and believe that it is in opposition to the NPPF climate mitigation section. Thus, we believe that the choice of Rokeby junction is in opposition to national and local planning, and possibly breaches it, through failure to make the necessary impact studies for the environment, heritage assets, and public health through town. We believe that the alternative eastern Blue route (which Highways developed in conjunction with local stakeholders) is the superior option for the town and I will be making representation to this effect.