WORK has finally begun on the new roundabout at the Hillhead junction in Bude — according to Cornwall Council — but local residents have raised concerns that there is little evidence of any progress actually being made so far.

The new roundabout will replace the existing

T-junction between the A3072 Stratton Road and the A39 Hillhead/Binhamy Road.

A spokesperson for the road, transport and parking department of Cornwall Council told the Post last week: “Work on the first phase of the Hillhead Junction in Bude started the week beginning December 14 2015 and involves setting back the hedgerow.

“Work will stop over Christmas, resuming in the beginning of January. The second and third phases of the project will follow this work and involve the diversion of services such as electricity and phone cables and the construction of the roundabout.

“We do not have confirmed dates for the start of these phases at this point.”

Despite this, residents from the surrounding area were concerned that there was not a lot of work going on around the site.

When this was put to Cornwall Council, the spokesperson said: “The site has to be prepared before the hedgerow is set back — for example, a stock fence has to be erected behind the existing hedgerow — the physical cutting back of vegetation will not start immediately.

“It is possible that not all preparation work will be visible from the road.”

The Hillhead roundabout has been an ongoing issue for some time now, with councillors originally being told that work would have been completed by April 2014 — yet with every start date that passed, a new one has been put in place, and the situation has dragged on to where it is now, apparently started but with nothing to show for it.

The Post reported in April that a consultation on the new roundabout was carried out by Cornwall Council, which stated: “A new hedge bank will replace the existing hedge on the north west side of the junction. The footway will be re-routed around the roundabout and two new dropped crossings will be provided for pedestrians. The street lighting will also be upgraded using new energy-efficient lanterns.

“The roundabout is needed to deal with additional traffic from the new development at Binhamy Farm and future growth in the wider Bude and Stratton area. The construction of the roundabout will largely be funded by the developer of the Binhamy Farm site as required under the planning approval.”

The developer of the Binhamy Farm site, called ‘Shorelands’, is Bovis Homes.

The roundabout was to be installed when the first houses were occupied at the Shorelands estate, but delays were caused due to negotiations between Bovis Homes and Cornwall Council about its size and design.

At the time, a Bovis Homes South West spokesperson said: “A section 106 Deed of Modification was completed on April 15, which means that the larger roundabout that was sought by Cornwall Council will now be provided by them, and Bovis Homes have made a financial contribution of £335,000 towards its provision.”

With the funds in place to start work on the roundabout, Cornwall Council anticipated that construction would start in autumn 2015 following the summer season road embargos.

News that the first phase of the roundabout construction has started will be welcomed by Bude’s Cornwall Councillors, town councillors, local residents, and any road user who has been stuck in traffic trying to leave or enter Bude using the T-junction, especially during busy times of the day.

David Parsons, Liberal Democrat Cornwall Councillor for Bude, has been fighting the town’s corner continuously over the past 18 months or so to make sure the roundabout was not simply forgotten about and going back to Cornwall Council, asking questions every time a new start date passed.

He said: “I am very pleased that at long last work has started on the roundabout. It’s a great shame that the planning conditions were not observed.”

Nigel Pearce, Liberal Democrat Cornwall Councillor for Bude, said: “The roundabout is long overdue and should’ve been built over a year ago as the conditions stated that it should be completed before the first house was occupied on the new housing estate.

“I look forward to the new roundabout and we can all get the benefit from it and I hope it will reduce congestion in future.”