The repairs for Lyneham Banks are set to be debated at an upcoming meeting after a pair of residents objected to the plans, claiming “millions of pounds” of taxpayers’ money would be wasted on the project.
The key road between Chippenham and Lyneham suffered extreme damage following a significant landslip in February 2022.
It dislodged approximately 90m of the carriageway and the B4069 has been closed ever since.
Two years later, after an extensive design process, Wiltshire Council submitted plans to carry out the complex repair of the busy road.
As with all planning applications made by or on behalf of the council, any objection means that it needs to determined by a planning committee.
Felicity and Tim Reynolds are nearby residents who lodged an objection to the plans.
Their comment read: “As long-term residents in this area and having personally experienced the continuous subsidence of the B4069 from the Peterborough Arms all the way up to the Antiques depot for the last 25 years, we must raise our objections to the council wasting millions of pounds of council tax payers money on this project.
“The council need to grasp the fact that whilst these repairs may stabilise the road, at this point of the road in the area which is rebuilt, they will do nothing to prevent, and may even exacerbate, movement in the rest of the road.
“This land is historically unstable and instead of throwing more money after bad, the council should be thinking wider and looking for an alternative route on more stable ground.”
The route used to see around 5500 vehicles a day and its closure has affected businesses in the area.
Councillors within the committee will vote on the plans at the meeting in Trowbridge County Hall on Tuesday, June 4.
The report set to be presented to them recommends that planning permission be granted, stating that the highway construction and drainage work are intended to last for the next 60 years, whilst the heavier engineering elements should last 120 years.
It concludes: “The restoration of this road will return accessibility to a range of services and facilities to rural residents of the small villages near to Lyneham.
“The road is known to have experienced ground stability issues for many decades.
“Engineering measures including a retaining wall and a series of drainage ditches and routes are accepted as being necessary to achieve a long-term solution to the ground instability in this particular part of the road.”
Cllr Richard Clewer, the leader of Wiltshire Council, said "Since the closure of the B4069 at Lyneham Banks in February 2022 due to a landslip, we have been working on options to repair the road, as we have a legal duty to do so.
"Our plans are now at an advanced stage and we have announced our intention to award the contract to rebuild the B4069, along with significant drainage works, to Octavius Infrastructure Limited.
"We submitted the planning application to complete these works in February.
"The application will be processed in the usual way, according to planning law and both local and national planning policies."
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