by Councillor JOHN KIRKMAN

IN SOME WAYS, the bypass is, for me, a self inflicted wound in so far as the present discussion arose out of my suggestion that we should live in the real world. This remark was made in response to an impassioned appeal by the mayor, Councillor Mrs Pet Moisey, during a town council debate on the subject on Tuesday 29th June 2004, that we should campaign for it whenever the opportunity arises. I would therefore like to bring some clarification to the issue.

Almost everyone in Bourne, including myself, can see the logic and need for a north-south bypass. Prior to 1983, a line to provide such between Beech Avenue and Bourne Wood was safeguarded and was included in Lincolnshire County Council's plans. On 19th September 1983, the county abandoned the scheme mainly on the grounds that demand was higher elsewhere in the county and that in any case the funding was not available. (Ray Cliffe and Don Fisher were the county councillors representing Bourne at that time).

On 26th February 1990, the county undertook design work for a bypass on the east side of the town and on 29th July 1991, planning permission was approved for the northern half of the proposed route but not the southern which was to be reassessed. In January 1993, South Kesteven District Council reviewed its housing strategy and LCC informed SKDC that their ideas would have a damaging effect on the easterly bypass and that they (LCC), would object.

In February 1994, LCC informed SKDC that if the proposed changes were agreed, then the bypass was unlikely to be included in the Local Plan. In June 1994, the county reviewed its Capital Programme and this review eventually dropped the proposal for the eastern bypass. In April 1998, the county highways and planning committee looked at the most potential major schemes in the county and the following are extracts from that report:

a) . . . Bourne experiences some congestion during the morning and evening peaks. An appropriately located bypass would relieve that.

b) The former scheme was for an A15 bypass to the east of the town, with major developer contribution. This was abandoned by the county council following the rejection (via local plan inquiry) of the necessary supporting housing development to the east of the town. The housing is now planned for the south west quadrant.

c) Alternatives

Option (a) a 7.3 mile road connecting the A151 to the A15 in the south west quadrant would be sought as a perimeter road to the proposed 1,000/1,500 new homes allocated in that area. It is anticipated that this would be fully funded by the developer. When complete this would deal with some of the peak hour queuing on the A151 south and the A15 east.

Option (b) an upgraded route across the industrial area in the south east quadrant would become necessary if major industrial development is planned in that area, but such a scheme ought to be developer funded. In the meantime, an existing route from the A151 east is signed to the A15 south across the estate and is adequate.

Option (c) if the two above schemes were secure, pressure would be taken off the crossroads of the A15 and A151 in he town centre. In that case, work could take place to remodel the junction, improve the signals and to give pedestrians priority.

The current position is as follows:

The county will submit the second Lincolnshire Transport Plan (LTP) covering the five-year period from April 2006 to the government next summer. Although guidance is still awaited on what it should include, it is unlikely to change the previous guidance and it is unlikely that any authority would gain approval for more that one or two major schemes (over £5 million) in the five year plan period. The cost of a route to the east of the town is likely to be in the order of £7,000,000, although this could be less if use was made of Cherryholt Road, but personally I do not believe that that is a viable or publicly acceptable route.

A route to the west, picking up from the end of the south west quadrant on the A151, would be about £4,500,000 but would impact on Bourne Wood.

The LTP is likely to reflect the County Structure Plan (due in November 2004) covering the period up to 2021 and includes [on page 68] a list of the major road schemes the county council will pursue during that period. Neither a Bourne bypass nor indeed upgrading of the A15 south of Sleaford are included on the list. Realistically then, unless circumstances change, or external funding becomes available, a north-south bypass for Bourne is unlikely in the foreseeable future.

These were the basis of my remarks about living in the real world as far as a bypass is concerned. I believe that, given the time and resources available, we should be concentrating our efforts on things that might be or are achievable instead.

WRITTEN 2Oth JULY 2004