A fresh row has erupted over the thorny issue of a northern bypass for Witham.

A relief road has been mooted for years as a way of removing the need for traffic on the busy B1018 Braintree Road to drive to and from the A12 through Witham.

Now the draft town plan, prepared through public consultation over the past year, has placed a relief road high on the list of residents' priorities for the town.

But because the road could pass through Rivenhall, the parish council has written to Witham Town Council asking for clarification on the issue.

Some Rivenhall councillors are unhappy at being left out of the consultation process.

The town council has yet to adopt the town plan as policy or state which relief road route it would prefer.

The two main options would be to upgrade Cypress Road and Motts Lane, with a new bridge over the railway, or a completely new road around the edge of the Templars estate and Eastways business park.

Conservative town councillor Michael Lager, who has long supported a northern bypass, said the best solution would be for a dual carriageway A120 from Braintree to join the A12 nearer Witham than Marks Tey.

Failing that, he said, "If it was a little link road, I think it would have to go right outside the town to get the full benefit, otherwise it would still take traffic along Cressing Road past the schools."

But James Abbott, Green Party district and parish councillor for Rivenhall, said: "Such a road would almost inevitably come through Rivenhall parish and become the new development boundary for Witham."

Published Thursday, January 30, 2003

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