RESIDENTS flocked to Camelford Hall on Friday, January 24 to hear more about the proposed bypass for the A39 route.

This was part of a series of consultation events organised by Cornwall Council, taking place in Camelford on the Friday and Saturday, as well as an additional event taking place in Delabole on Tuesday, February 4 and an exhibition to landowners and stakeholders on Thursday, January 23.

The issue surrounding traffic build-up, air quality and road safety in Camelford’s town centre has been at the forefront of discussions for many years. With the A39 running through the town, it has resulted in a heavy flow of vehicles, lorries and trucks through the town, with constant stops and starts instructed by traffic lights to the upper and lower parts of High Street.

Air pollution levels were found to be higher than they should be in several areas of the A39 after an air quality assessment took place in 2016. After the formal declaration of an Air Quality Management Area in January 2017, it was then up to the local authority to form an Air Quality Action Plan with colleagues and partners involved in the process to set out the next steps to improve air quality in Camelford.

The solution which repeatedly came up in discussions was the call for a bypass, diverting traffic around the town to improve Camelford’s air quality, reducing traffic, improving the environment and overall making Camelford a better place to live.

With Camelford having been declared an AQMA (Air Quality Management Area) in 2017, Cornwall Council has since progressed with its plans for a bypass for the town, having agreed to provide £6.5-million for the project in summer 2019. The project has received support from Conservative MP for North Cornwall, Scott Mann, who attended the first consultation event at Camelford Hall to listen to the views of the community.

He has since said that he is ‘pushing this very heavily’ with the government, treasury and Department for Transport and that he is feeling ‘very optimistic’ about the scheme and the future of Camelford.

Mr Mann said: “The Camelford bypass has been a priority for me since I was elected in 2015. Together with Cornwall Council we have worked up a proposal which I am taking up with the Department for Transport. We expect an announcement soon and I am doing everything in my power to make the case for Camelford. This project has been promised for many years, I want to be the MP for North Cornwall who gets it delivered.”

There was a large amount of public attendance at the consultation events, with a mixed response.

Craig Blackburn has warned people to be ‘careful what you wish for’, and hopes to set up a Camelford bypass action group in the near future.

He said: “Some of the ‘visions for Camelford’ are plain pie-in-the-sky and very tenuous lifestyle benefits. Having seen the exhibition, the scheme designers have had to incorporate so many compromises to find a route. These include the school being a dead end and all traffic to and from there must go past the Sportsman’s, increasing noise, congestion and pollution in that area. All the traffic and buses from the east will have to go around and double back on themselves; through roads cut and communities isolated; no safe pedestrian overpasses crossing the bypass from communities on the north side; the gargantuan viaduct structure over the SSSI River Camel; farm machinery having to take long detours around as the bypass prevents access to fields — the list goes on and still people think it’s a good idea.

“Now we have seen the amount of compromises, is it not better to consider perhaps the HGV route as a preferred option? The bypass is to encourage more development, which equals more traffic, yet it will all grind to a halt at Helstone as two lorries cannot easily pass. Be careful what you wish for!”

One Trevia resident said he was concerned about what it could mean for the surrounding villages if the bypass scheme was to be successful. The gentleman said: “The (proposed bypass) route will go through about 100 yards from my property, and I’m not happy — and that’s an understatement. I have lived here for four years, prior to that I was living in London but I was raised just outside Delabole, so I was aware of the original bypass plan for which I am led to believe the funding was withdrawn.

“I think the town will benefit but the surrounding areas will suffer as a result. The traffic will stop — or be slowed down — but it will be drawing the problem out of Camelford and into the surrounding area.”

The gentleman believes an alternative route with less roundabouts would be a better solution, and he has little faith in the current plans.

Talking about Trevia, he added: “It is fairly quiet here, nothing much bigger or smaller can actually get down the road, which will make things worse for me with the bypass as they propose to close off one end which means if I need work done, any builders or scaffolders will have trouble getting to my property.

“I walk into Camelford if I need any shopping, but with the bypass it will mean I will have to walk along a 60mph road. I will be affected badly. I think it’s a horrendous plan, with four roundabouts in the space of a mile.”

The gentleman believes road traffic accidents will increase as a result of the bypass, and will put the lives of local schoolchildren and pedestrians in danger. Additionally, he thinks local wildlife will be badly affected.

He said: “It seems like we’ll get all the problems and none of the benefits. I believe it will be seriously detrimental to my quality of life.”

The mayor of Camelford, Claire Hewlett, was one of the main campaigners for a bypass for Camelford, but has her own reservations about the plans. She said: “I attended the Thursday evening consultation that was aimed at landowners and local stakeholders and part of the Friday one that was aimed at the general public. Both were really well attended, it was good to see the plans and get some idea of exactly where the route is going through.

“I’m looking on it as a good first draft by Cornwall Council. From my conversations with people, the consultation has raised some concerns over the route and access issues but that’s what consultations are for.

“My major concerns are the pedestrian access from Trevia — there needs to be a footbridge and in the current plan there isn’t. The bowls club car park will be taken up with one of the feeder lanes for a roundabout so they will need to have a conversation with Cornwall Council about how they can continue to provide the leisure opportunity they provide at the moment. Various land holdings are cut and there was insufficient information available regarding replacement access for the land owners. The footpath route from Jet Wells Holiday Park is a little bit awkward in the new layout and I’m concerned people will just nip across the new road — pathways of desire, I think they’re called — which needs some consideration too!”

However, despite the high number of concerns and objections to the current plans, Cornwall Council remain optimistic about the scheme. A spokesperson said: “The consultation has been very popular with close to 500 visitors joining us at the three sessions which have taken place so far. Feedback from the public has been generally supportive. We are at an early stage in the scheme’s development and all feedback from the sessions will be considered by the council in improving the design as the scheme progresses.”

You can still have your say by visiting www.cornwall.gov.uk/a39camelford. The consultation runs until Thursday, April 16.