Residents in a Northamptonshire village on calls for a bypass
Locals say they've waited for decades
Farthinghoe villagers have demanded that the council listen to their calls for a bypass, after highways bosses said the project would be ‘undeliverable’ and removed it from their transport plan.
For decades, residents have been waiting for a new route to be created to remove traffic travelling through the centre of their village on the A422 from Brackley to Banbury. They say that the constant traffic passing their homes is not only a nuisance but a danger to life.
Farthinghoe parish councillor John Grant told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “You take your life in your hands if you try to walk around that bend. Nobody with a pram would dare walk down there, there’s no pavement, lorries are coming up with their wing mirrors sticking out, going up the curb.”
Wendy Hancock, whose house is located alongside the A422, said the traffic is “complete chaos” and that lorries had driven into her front wall and crashed into people’s front gardens in the past.
She continued: “All day long, and in the night as well, there are lorries trying to reverse. Some of them come around that bend with their hand on their horn all the way around to warn others that they’re coming.
“My front door is actually bricked up on the inside because you can’t use it- it would be too dangerous- and I can’t open any of my windows on the front because of the pollution.”
‘We are being blighted and slowly, slowly smothered’
A number of collisions have taken place as well as lorries being forced to reverse because they are stuck, often taking place at a bend on the Main Road closest to Banbury.
Barry Willett, a local resident and parish councillor said: “The problem is the speed and the weight of the HGVs- they absolutely rip the surface of the road to shreds. We’re a very small village, but we’ve got a very major problem.
“I think it’s fair to say that if this problem was in the inner ring road of Northampton we wouldn’t be here- it would be done years ago. We’ve got to fight for the bypass because it’s just wrecking the village.
“It’s our everyday life and we are being blighted and slowly, slowly smothered. Any improvement or weight restriction or anything like that- it’s not just Farthinghoe it’s the whole area that will be improved.”
According to a list of West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) major highway projects, which is still available on its website, recent estimates for the cost of the bypass sat at £28.5 to £33.75 million. The authority has been working on preliminary designs and technical reports for the bypass since January 2020.
The council’s latest Local Transport Plan (LTP) stated that the relief road would not be deliverable during the plan period up to 2045, and that a traffic mitigation scheme should be implemented instead.
‘It’s all about the road and not about the residents’
Farthinghoe resident Marcus Roberts said that the route through the village was being used as a shortcut instead of travelling down the M40 to the A43. He shared his fears that the problems would only worsen with the amount of building and growth planned for the area.
He explained: “As you drive towards Banbury, you can see how all of the warehouses have expanded massively along the M40. There’s a huge acreage of warehouses and that equals more articulated lorries, many of whom will find their choice routes will be through our village.
“I think the other issue that doesn’t get spoken about is that we’re in a transition zone bang on the edge of the end of the county, which is a massive disadvantage. It’s all about the road and not about the residents.”
Farthinghoe Parish Council chairman, Mick Morris, agreed that a weight limit restricting large lorries would address the most serious problems and safety concerns in the village. He claimed that WNC had promised to publish a report on the feasibility of a weight limit in 2024, but that he had not heard any further information since and that his attempts to contact the authority had been ignored.
Mr Morris added: “Are these the actions of a professional and responsible council? I think not. If only this had been in Northampton it would have been done.”
Funding for bypass ‘will not be considered’
A WNC spokesperson said: “The opportunity of delivering a bypass around Farthinghoe has been studied over many years with significant investment provided in developing a business case for funding. That business case shows the economic case for such a scheme is low and therefore government has been very clear that funding a scheme of the scale and outcomes will not be considered.
“As a Council we have always acknowledged that as well as the number of vehicles going through the village, the pinch point where large vehicles have collided on a number of occasions does need to be resolved.
“To that end, we have over the past four years worked with Farthinghoe Parish Council to continue to explore and identify various options. A proposal to install traffic lights was recently investigated but the parish council have indicated that they are not in favour of this option.
“We have therefore agreed to do further work in assessing other alternatives and will present the outcome of this work to residents at an engagement event in the coming weeks. These options included looking at weight limits and so this will be included during the event.”
South Northamptonshire MP Sarah Bool said she understands that residents will be “very disappointed” that the bypass is not included in the LTP.
“We do need to find a resolution to the traffic as soon as possible. I understand that WNC has worked up a number of other options for alleviating the traffic problems in Farthinghoe, which the parish council and residents have been informed about.
“All parties must work together to find a suitable solution to the longstanding problem with the A422.”
The authority has announced a number of other schemes that will not be part of the new Local Transport Plan, including a Cold Ashby bypass and junction improvements in Northampton. WNC’s Cabinet will be asked to support the plan’s adoption at full council in March.