A46 dualling Newark: Highways England issued with think again message from Winthorpe resident
Residents are urging Highways England to think again after seeing the two options for the A46 dualling.
Mark Kneen said: “I was feeling a little bit corralled by the brochure that was sent out in late December, assuming I had to choose option one or two but in reality when I took the time to look into it a bit further I realised that neither of those options were great.
“That’s when I decided to push back and tell Highways England to think again.
“Even at my end of the village the noise pollution will be significant so for those who will be next to the road it’s going to be unbearable.
“My main concern is that not enough consideration has been given by Highways England for the well-being of the community.”
The campaigners also highlighted concerns about the consultation, which has mainly been conducted online due to covid.
Sarah-Jane Page lives on Gainsborough Road, which under option one’s proposal could see a number of gardens and even some houses in the way of the new road.
She said: “Highways England claim they are committed to best practice in creating a parallel consultation process in light of covid-19, but they are falling short.
“I have spoken to older residents of Winthorpe who are struggling to access the documents online.
“Highways England want to have video calls through platforms like Teams to show more detailed maps.
“But residents are disenfranchised when they do not have access to this.”
More information about the campaign can be found at https://www.winthorpe.org.uk/a46-bypass-information
A spokesman for Highways England said this part of the process was a non-statutory consultation that had been extended from the usual four to six weeks to eight because of covid.
The spokesman said: “The purpose is to gather feedback and the views of stakeholders, road users and communities on the two proposal options we have shared.
“That feedback will then be analysed by the project team to identify trends and key issues that can help shape our proposals.
“Then the statutory consultation process begins — the one that we are legally-bound to do.
“It is worth remembering that this scheme is planned to start in 2025 therefore it is not something that is being rushed.
“We want to ensure that we deliver the best possible impact for Newark. This is a major upgrade scheme.
“In terms of the consultation, we sent out in December over 8,200 packs containing covering letters and brochures to people affected and a further 9,400 postcards to people in the more peripheral area.
“With regard to Winthorpe, we sent an extra 300 copies to the village pub for distribution.
“We are communicating with the Winthorpe community and attending parish council meetings.
“We would have preferred a public meeting, but that isn’t possible. We do have a dial-up service whereby people can ring up and someone from the project team will call back.
“There are a lot of elderly people in Winthorpe and we don’t want to disenfranchise anyone.
“We also have a van that has the maps and the dedicated website and telephone number, 0300 123 5000, on it that has been driving around Newark and into supermarket carparks.
“We’re active on social media regarding the scheme and in the local media, have done radio interviews, are meeting with Robert Jenrick MP, local authorities and elected councillors.
“Reminder postcards will be going out too reminding people when to comment by.”
People have until February 2 to comment.
Go to www.highwaysengland.co.uk/a46- newark-bypass