WITH?cars parked along the High Street, driving through Delabole is never easy.

But it seems the increase in holiday traffic has exacerbated the problem to breaking point.

Newly elected Cornwall Councillor for the St Teath and St Breward Ward, Dominic Fairman (Lib Dem) is investigating possible solutions to the problem, which is causing misery to many residents of the village.

He said: “When I was campaigning for the by-election in July, the number one issue that I heard on the doorstep was that of the traffic problems along the High Street, the chaos that occurs through the narrowest section, the lack of parking and the speeding at either end of the village.”

Four days after winning the election, Cllr Fairman attended the monthly council meeting at County Hall, and he spoke with Cllr Bert Biscoe, the Transport portfolio during the recess for lunch.

“He said he would be willing to come to Delabole to see for himself the issues, and I have spent the summer talking to local people and businesses in order to learn for myself what the problems are and what could be the potential solutions.

“It seems strange to me that things have got to such a point and nothing has been done in the past.”

Cllr Fairman has set up a Facebook page ‘Traffic Watch Delabole,’ to gather more views.

The page has proved to be very popular, with many residents taking to it to share their experiences, give their opinions and upload photographs.

“People are very angry about it. It’s not just the traffic, it’s the pedestrians that haven’t got any safe pavements.”

Recently someone placed an empty pushchair on the pavement that is often used by motorists to pass through, with a sign saying ‘The pavement is for people not cars.’

Cllr Fairman said one solution would be to follow Camelford’s lead and narrow the street either side of Charlotte’s Way and install traffic lights.

He added: “By narrowing the road, you could increase the pavement.”

There have been questions raised about the lack of residents’ parking, but Cllr Fairman said there is an area of land nearby that is owned by Cornwall Council, so that can be looked into.

“It’s not the only issue in Delabole. There’s the junctions at Pengelly and Medrose with cars parked, there’s quite a lot of trouble parking, and the fire engine struggles to get out on occasions. Then at either end of the village people speed up.”

Cllr Fairman intends to post possible solutions on the Facebook page to gauge the opinion of local residents, before taking any suggestions to Cornwall Council’s transport section.