Yellow Advertiser
26th July, 2006

Opinion and Readers' Letters

'Ridiculous' road widening

I agree with Alan James that development to the east of the town should not continue but not just because of the lack of dual carriageway on Priory Crescent. A lot of the land being developed is low-lying and is likely to be under the sea before too long.

I would also like to point out to him that there is nothing illegal about the campers' occupation of Camp Bling. They are there perfectly legally and have given assurances that if and when the road scheme is scrapped, they will willingly vacate the site and remove their temporary buildings.

Given that the cost of the scheme has risen nearly 700% from the original £3.5million since 2000, hopefully the Government will not be prepared to fund it. If this is the case, then the people of Southend won't have to waste any more of their council tax on this ridiculous road widening, which would never have addressed the problems it set out to resolve anyway.

The council's own figures presented at the Public Inquiry showed that the average speed of motorists on Priory Crescent was often above the speed limit. It is only during the rush hour that there tends to be a problem on Priory Crescent, as there is with other A127 junctions. The sooner the Council realises that this is an inevitable consequence of living on a peninsular with only two main roads connecting us to the rest of the world, the better.

Denis Walker
East Street, Southend

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