THE ROTHLEY POST
Planners consider new roads to ease congestion
MAR 2013
7
ROTHLEY
PLANS FOR a new Wanlip by-pass road that will increase traffic along Wanlip Lane feature in a report commissioned by Charnwood Borough Council. Charnwood is preparing its Local Plan that will set out its strategy for delivering new homes and jobs – it has identified a site designated as ‘North Birstall’, for 1500 new homes and 15 hectares of employment land. The site, close to the old Bentley’s roses, is located within the parish of Wanlip. Charnwood commissioned a report into the effects the development will have on local traffic and what new roads and other measures would be necessary to mitigate the impact of the development. The report suggests: • a new signalised roundabout on the A6 north of the A46 interchange near the North Birstall development • a new link road from the new roundabout to the Wanlip junction to the South East. This will take the route
of the old bridleway that runs from the entrance of the Severn Trent Water Treatment works to the A6. • a new Wanlip bypass that will continue this road across fields to the junction of Wanlip Lane and Rectory Road at Corner Woods. • a new roundabout to the west of the A6 connected to the new North Birstall development and the old A6 by a dual carriageway, and to a re-aligned old A6 route • at A46 interchange, a ‘bus bridge’ over the junction carrying buses from the A6 to the North Birstall site. This is a bus priority link running through the junction, not a bridge. The report states: “The mitigation package associated with North Birstall provides a bypass to the A6/A46 junction and results in congestion relief along the A6. However, it also causes
New captains at Rothley golf club
Site of 1500 planned dwellings: North Birstall’s ‘Broadnook Garden Suburb’
an increase in traffic along Wanlip Lane.” The report estimates an additional 500 vehicle movements an hour along Wanlip Lane at the morning and evening rush hour. Vehicle movements along Rectory Road are expected to reduce significantly as a result of the bypass. The Chairman of Wanlip Parish Meeting Pauline Harrison, told the Rothley Post: “The concept of a ‘Wanlip By-pass’ might at first appear quite attractive as a way of eliminating much of the traffic from the A46, which currently uses Rectory Road as a rat-run
through the village, en route to Leicester via the heart of Birstall. “However, in reality, this proposal and the thinking behind it, to alleviate the pressure on the A6 from the proposed new 1,500 dwellings on the north-west quadrant of the parish of Wanlip, misleadingly referred to as North Birstall, would potentially lead to a massive increase in the traffic passing unacceptably close to parts of the village. And, furthermore, the whole community would be seriously affected by being forced to join this dramatic increase in traffic at either end of the Continued on page 8
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Serving the local community for 29 years: 1983-2012 LOCAL AND LONG DISTANCE ALL AIRPORTS ETC Pic: Phil Watson and Pru Lapworth, the new captains at Rothley Park Golf Club
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ROTHLEY’S PHIL Watson has been elected the 2013 Gents Captain of Rothley Park Golf Club, with Pru Lapworth as Ladies captain. Phil has been a member of the club for 15 years and lives close to the club on Westfield Lane. He is now retired after nearly 20 years as a Secondary School Head Teacher. Phil grew up in what is now Zimbabwe where he enjoyed playing a variety of sports. At university in London he played rugby, hockey and squash, later taking up cycling and later still at the age of 50, he turned to golf. He now plays off a handicap of seven and regularly plays in Tuesday medals, Saturday competitions, the
A/B Team and has played for the County Seniors. The 2013 Ladies Captain is Pru Lapworth, who has been a club member for 12 years. She joined the club after retiring as a Senior Manager for Community Health Services in Leicestershire and lives in Quorn. From 2004 to 2006 she was a member of the Ladies Committee, as the Ladies Opens Secretary. Following this she took on the role of Senior Captain in 2008 and subsequently rejoined the Ladies Committee.
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