Lorries set to be banned in Cotswold beauty spots

HUNDREDS of lorries look set to be diverted through a notorious accident blackspot as part of a plan to keep HGVs out of the Cotswolds.

Gloucestershire County Council looks likely to implement measures designed to stop lorries weighing more than 7.5 tonnes from being driven through much of the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Although the plans have been welcomed in some picturesque villages plagued by HGVs, their respite comes at the expense a bottleneck at Nettleton Bottom and the Air Balloon roundabout on the A417.

The authority's management zone, proposed by its traffic regulation committee, would be brought in at the end of the year if approved by cabinet.

Except for deliveries, lorries weighing more than 7.5 tonnes will be banned from using the A46 between Stroud and Brockworth, the A4173 between Pitchcombe and Brookthorpe, the B4008 between Stonehouse and Hardwicke, and the A435 between Seven Springs and Cirencester, as short cuts.

It means an extra 34 lorries a day are forecast to file through the Air Balloon junction and Nettleton Bottom on the A417, with 162 more on the A419 at Stonehouse and 68 more at Stroud.

Paula Hewitt, manager of the Air Balloon, said: "Lorries do cause a lot of congestion here. There are quite a lot of accidents and it's always lorries.

"We have hundreds of lorries go past every day. The council has put a monitoring station here, so they are concerned about pollution."

Mike Farmer, Midlands and western regional director of the Road Haulage Association told councillors at Shire Hall there were too many holes in the £500,000 scheme to make it work.

He said: "What concerns us is that the reductions envisaged are, in the words of your own report, 'modest'. We don't believe that stands up to expenditure of £500,000.

"Three-fifths of lorries will still be in this area quite legitimately.

"Public perception will be that it's not working."

He said taking HGVs off the A46 and A435 would increase pressure on the Air Balloon roundabout near Birdlip, and questioned the police's ability to enforce the zone.

He said: "Something like 100 lorries a day go down the B4008.

"If we cannot enforce one road, how on earth can you enforce a whole zone?

"The police have no sanction against foreign vehicles in this zone either, short of arresting them and taking them to court."

Police traffic manager Clive Fluck backed the scheme but said the force's response would be reactive to complaints from the public, admitting there would be no extra money to police it.

He said: "We have a finite resource and we will respond to complaints."

The restrictions could see the county's CO2 emissions rise by 0.5 per cent because of vehicles making longer journeys, but councillors believed it was a price worth paying because of the impact large lorries have on villages.

The zone could cut lorry trips through Painswick by up to 40 per cent and by 30 per cent between Seven Springs and Cirencester.

If implemented, the council would install restriction signs on the roads and notify major haulage companies.

Coun Shaun Parsons (C. South Cotswold) said: "All the parishes in my area strongly welcome this proposal.

"They are concerned though, about what can be done about traffic being diverted when there is a jam at Nettleton Bottom. At the moment, they go through the Duntisbournes and other villages."

Painswick Parish Council chairman Terry Parker added: "The throughput of HGVs has a detrimental effect on the environment of Painswick, and those living on the A4173 at Edge."