Residents furious at lack of Thatcham road closure consultation

West Berkshire Council has closed the High Street spur road to the A4 Bath Road for works which were due to start from Monday, until August.
The closure is to allow the redevelopment of the former ATS tyre and exhaust centre at 29 High Street.
West Berkshire Council approved the redevelopment of the centre into three ground floor retail units and 13 residential flats last November.
The building has been empty and up for sale since 2011.
The closure means that all users and residents of the High Street and Church Lane will not be able to turn right off High Street onto Bath Road.
People wanting to use this route will be required to turn left towards Newbury and find a side road to turn round in, such as the Crown Mead shops or Brownsfield Road.
Chris Turner of Church Lane, who will be affected by the closure said that he had safety concerns, adding it would cause serious inconvenience and that he had issues about the lack of consultation with residents.
He said that residents were given under a month’s notice of the closure by the developer.
He said: “This will be highly inconvenient, likely cause traffic chaos and is highly dangerous.
“Currently users of the High Street can turn safely right onto the A4 under control of traffic lights at the Park Lane junction, instead they will have to pull across oncoming traffic from one of the side roads where they choose to turn round.
“I would also add that both of the most likely turning points are places that have a high pedestrian count as well.
“I am also very cross that there has been no consultation on this closure.
“How can West Berkshire Council make such a major road closure decision without informing local residents and giving them a chance to have their viewpoint heard?”
Mike Payne, who spoke on behalf of the United Reformed Church in Church Lane, said that all the people who either lived or worked in the town centre used that junction during the week to travel east towards Reading.
He said: “Yes, we all want that corner re-developed, but not with the amount of disruption to the town, the businesses, the church and the residents that this road closure will cause.
“Where are the public notices, where are the traffic disruption warning notices?
“Where is anything that informs the public of this closure?”
West Berkshire Council spokeswoman, Peta Stoddart-Crompton, said that the closure would be in place on an ‘as and when required’ basis.
She said: “It is now in abeyance pending discussions with the developer on other working practices with a view to a shorter closure period.
“There is no requirement to consult on a temporary order.
“However, there was consultation through the planning process.
“Local councillors and Thatcham Town Council were informed of the proposal in November, so that they could inform interested parties.
“It was also advertised in the Newbury Weekly News.
“High Street businesses were informed by the developer.”