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Calls for bypass around Fathinghoe rejected
16/01/2025
Its bad news for local campaigners who wanted heavy traffic from the A422 taken away from the village centre
by Nadia Lincoln, Local Democracy Reporter
Long-standing demands for a bypass around a local village troubled with traffic issues have been turned down by the West Northants council after highways bosses said the plans don’t “stack up”.
For many years, residents in Farthinghoe have called for a bypass to remove the daily through-traffic rumbling through the centre of their village. West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has silenced demands in a devastating blow, announcing on Monday (January 13) that the proposal will not be included in its Local Transport Plan (LTP) due to the scheme being “undeliverable”.
The LTP is a document developed with key stakeholders that details a range of proposals for transport over the next 20 years, and acts as a request to government for grant funding for priority schemes.
Cllr Phil Larratt, cabinet member for highways, told members at a Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting: “The problem we have with Farthinghoe- and it’s a long, ongoing issue- is that the case just does not stack up. I have to say that we, as an authority, have invested more money than we would in any other business case in order to try and make it work.
“It just got us nowhere. There are options there to overcome the challenges that that narrow road presents. It is a very problematic stretch of road and we really should be doing something. The offer’s on the table to the local residents and it’s up to them if they want that mitigation or not.”
According to WNC, the authority has been working on preliminary designs and technical reports for the bypass since January 2020. A consultation on the preferred route was also run by the former Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) later that year and reported back to the new WNC unitary after the May 2021 elections.
Despite this work, the transport plan suggests implementing an ‘A422 traffic mitigation scheme’, which would replace the bypass scheme in the short term and aim to be in place by 2030.
The LTP Consultation Report adds: “A bypass is not considered deliverable during the plan period up to 2045 so is not included as a specific intervention. This assessment is supported by work undertaken to date on the Strategic Business Case for such a scheme.
“Work is continuing which will identify a preferred option for a mitigation scheme, and depending on what this is, it’s expected costs and funding sources will determine whether it is deliverable by 2030.”
Bypass plans ‘done to death’
Assistant cabinet member for highways, Cllr Tony Bagot-Webb, raised concerns about the “bluntness” of the report stating the bypass is not to be taken forward. He explained that Farthinghoe is in the middle of some major developments that could create thousands of new traffic movements in the area, which would come back on the village.
“To say it’s not in the plan full stop, I think there should be softening around the statements that should things change it will be re-looked at,” he commented.
Executive director of place, economy and environment at WNC, Stuart Timmiss, responded: “It’s not the place of the LTP to put in undeliverable schemes. Should the position change so dramatically that that becomes viable then of course we’ll pick that up.
“As I think we alluded to, the proposition for that or the likelihood of that, given where road building and funding is in the UK, even despite all of that development is very unlikely that we’ll see that coming forward. The door is always open with all of these opportunities and if we can align the need with the money then of course we’ll deliver.
“I’d like to do something in Farthinghoe, I’d like to put a solution that will mitigate some of those issues- all we need is that resident support. The opportunity that we have looked at and we’ve done to death is the bypass- there just ain’t that money there.”
The authority also announced a number of other schemes that will not be part of the new LTP, including some planned A45 junction improvements and the Northampton Northern Orbital. WNC’s Cabinet will be asked to support the plan’s adoption at Full Council in March 2025.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam