Lobby group demand clarity over A556 plans (From Knutsford Guardian)

Lobby group demand clarity over A556 plans

7:10am Monday 20th August 2012 in News By James Wilson

A GROUP fighting plans for the A556 bypass have accused the Highways Agency of ‘telling the public one thing and them the other’ over its own plans for an alternative scheme.

The A556 Lobby Group, made up of local residents, put forward a scheme that would see a link road being created at junction 20 of the M6.

The group employed a firm of road consultants to come up with the scheme in a hope of convincing the Highways Agency team.

The group believes it makes more sense for traffic to travel to junction 20 then take the M56 to Manchester.

However, in the Guardian two weeks ago, the Highways Agency said it was not considering the A556 Lobby Group’s junction 20 proposal, but the group has told the Guardian the agency had informed it they were they were in fact considering the idea.

That has left members of the lobby group angry.

Chairman Suzi Cowan said she had correspondence from the Highways Agency stating it would look into the group’s plans.

“If they are not going to look at a valued option that more than 1,000 people agree with then it makes the whole thing a farce,” she said.

“Basically it seems like they are just going to do what they want to do and are just paying lip service to us.”

A spokesman for the Highways Agency said that it was still analysing the group’s plans but believed that it did not represent ‘good value for money’.

“To clarify our position on the alternative scheme put forward, our initial findings show that the alternative proposal submitted by the A556 lobby group would not provide sufficient benefits, and as a result is not good value for money,” he said.

“It would also result in more traffic for rural communities.

“We are doing further work to analyse this, and other design suggestions, before submitting our final report to the Planning Inspectorate in the winter.”

l What do you think about the plans for the A556? E-mail the newsdesk at knutsford@guardiangrp.co.uk.