Councillor Charles McGrath has responded to Milford Area Preservation Group’s (MAPG) despair that a lack of support has been given to their campaign to mitigate traffic on Milford Mill Road, just off the A36.
The Milford Area Preservation Group (MAPG) has been campaigning to persuade Wiltshire Highways, Salisbury City Council and the Area Boards of South Wiltshire and of Salisbury to support and implement measures to mitigate the impact of traffic.
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Traffic on Milford Mill Road (Image: David Lovibond) At a meeting of the Salisbury Area Board on November 21 councillors agreed that MAPG’s ideas would be discussed at a meeting of both area boards and highway officers on December 18 with MAPG asked to conduct a survey of residents to establish which measures would be most favoured.
The data, formed of 200 responses, was then collated and analysed.
The meeting was not attended by any councillors from the South Wilts Area Board, and by only two councillors from the Salisbury Area Board: Charles McGrath and Sam Charleston.
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In a letter sent to the Journal on December 26, chair of MAPG David Lovibond said: “To be clear, this exhaustive work was undertaken on the unequivocal understanding that Wednesday’s meeting would be attended by councillors of both area boards, and that it would be a meeting where decisions could be made.
Traffic on Milford Mill Road (Image: David Lovibond)
“Six MAPG Committee members attended, the maximum we were allowed.
“It was profoundly disappointing, then, that not a single councillor from the South Wiltshire Area Board came to the meeting, and only two councillors from Salisbury Area Board attended.”
In response, Cllr McGrath said: “I have spent much of my time as councillor for Milford working with MAPG to reduce congestion on Milford Mill Road, caused mainly by motorists avoiding the regularly gridlocked Southampton Road.
I would urge all Wiltshire Councillors, Highways Officers, and our MP John Glen to take a renewed interest in the congestion blighting Milford (Image: Salisbury City Council) “I’m fully aware that there are many other parts of Salisbury – indeed, Wiltshire – that have competing highways priorities. Yet it is frustrating that any resolution to the problems in Milford, despite the longstanding traffic issues caused by an inadequate trunk road and a lack of meaningful action from National Highways, seems to be even further away than before.
“I would urge all Wiltshire Councillors, Highways Officers, and our MP John Glen to take a renewed interest in the congestion blighting Milford, and – rather than list reasons why things cannot be done – draw up actions that can be done in light of the inaction of National Highways.”
Wiltshire Council cabinet member for highways Cllr Nick Holder said: “Following a request from the Milford Area Preservation Group (MAPG), made via a local councillor, a meeting was set up to discuss the groups’ concerns about the speed and volume of traffic using Milford Mill Road and the safety issues that this causes.
“The meeting was supported by the Salisbury Area Board, however due to the local councillor requesting for the meeting to take place prior to the Christmas break and for it to be an in-person meeting, a number of those who were invited were unfortunately unable to attend.
“At the meeting, the MAPG members spoke with officers and presented their potential solutions. With there being no legal limit for how much traffic allowed to use the route and traffic measures already in place in the area, including two sets of traffic signals and a 20mph speed limit, officers advised that the next step would be for a traffic survey to take place in the area to determine the current volume and speed of traffic currently using the road.
“The group were advised that any further measures would be dependant on the results of this survey and support from the Local Highway and Footway Improvement Group.”