Support grows for Barrow Gurney bypass

BACKWELL Parish Council has joined the campaign to push for a bypass around Barrow Gurney if plans for the South Bristol Link Road fall through.

BACKWELL Parish Council has joined the campaign to push for a bypass around Barrow Gurney if plans for the South Bristol Link Road fall through.

At a meeting on Thursday, the council agreed to write to the Government to ask it to put money towards Barrow Gurney bypass if the South Bristol Link Road does not go ahead.

The �57million route, which runs from Bedminster in Bristol to the A370 in Long Ashton, is due to be built to steer traffic away from some of the smaller villages, such as Barrow Gurney and Backwell, which are bombarded with vehicles at peak times.

Bristol Airpot has allocated �4million towards the route, but with all the Government cutbacks the plans now look uncertain.

Barrow Gurney Parish Council, along with the support of Backwell, hired highway consultants Pinnacle, to investigate the cost of building a bypass around Barrow Gurney instead.

Pinnacle has estimated the shorter route would cost �6.6million and Barrow Gurney Parish Council and district councillors Tom Collinson and Karen Barclay are now appealing to the Government to put the airport money towards the bypass and supply the extra �4million for the scheme.

Councillor Tom Collinson said: “If the airport money could be used for the bypass then the Government only needs to come up with another �4million, instead of an extra �53million for the link road.

“Out of the two roads, we would prefer the Barrow Gurney bypass because it’s immediately alongside Barrow Gurney, whereas the South Bristol Link Road is nearer Bristol.”

Nailsea Town Council is also considering supporting the appeal.