Angry Tettenhall residents demand halt to road changes and new consultation amid traffic concerns
Angry residents are calling on a council to halt planned road changes and hold a formal consultation following a raft of concerns.
Wolverhampton Council said it intended to make a number of highway improvements at The Rock junction in Tettenhall to help reduce traffic congestion and improve safety.
Changes are due to be implemented under a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for a trial period after investigations were completed into the cause of traffic jams and accidents at the junction.
But fears are mounting that the plans will just shift traffic congestion onto other roads, lower air quality and force traffic down narrow, windy roads, causing safety issues for pedestrians and cyclists.
Residents are calling on the council to halt its plans and launch a formal consultation process which would take account of the Tettenhall neighbourhood plan, giving due consideration to its legal standing in 'placing local communities at the heart of decision making'.
Around 70 residents came together for a meeting in the area on Sunday to share their concerns.
Church Hill Road resident Anna Simpson, 42, arranged the meeting. She said: "At the heart of residents' opposition to the proposed traffic changes is its juxtaposition to the neighbourhood plan published for the Tettenhall wards in 2014. This document shared a vision for conserving the area’s character.
"We were advised that the plan would enable local communities to exercise greater control when it came to the matter of local planning.
"It specifically referred to traffic and transport considerations within it. Any planning decision made by the council would conform with the views of local communities as shared in the neighbourhood plan."
She claimed only a small number of residents had recently received a letter from the council regarding the planned changes and no public consultation had been carried out.
"The letters were sent out in a random fashion with only one or two residents in some roads receiving them," she said.
"We, the local community, feel that this is too big a leap to be made without a prior formal consultation."
The works include installing new signage and road markings from January 15.
