Today I received a leaflet from Redrow Homes in respect of a proposed application to build 150 homes on the Coyte Farm site. If the revised planning application receives full consent we will have a development of over 600 homes (including the Trewhiddle Farm) south of the A390 on the western fringe of St Austell.

Redrow Flyer

This will obviously bring increased footfall into the town centre and will entail pedestrians crossing the busy A390. There is currently one safe crossing point by the One Stop Shop which serves the Council offices and Pondhu School. In my opinion this crossing causes significant delays to traffic using one of the busiest trunk roads in Cornwall. On a school day in particular, congestion stretches as far as ASDA in one direction and often to St Mewan School in the other.

This situation is set to get worse and I believe something needs to be done about it. Pollution caused by stationary, idling vehicles is a significant health hazard. Schoolchildren and those living along the A390 are  at risk and we should not stand by and allow this current state of affairs to continue. Besides supporting green policies such as promoting public transport, providing subsidies for electric and hybrid vehicles and penalising older high emission commercial vehicles we should look at other ways to cut down on air pollution in built up areas where there is an increased risk to the health of the community.

One way is to encourage parents to drop their children a short distance from school, perhaps at a friends house or where there is a safe walking route to the school gates. There’s also a health benefit to this too! Well known schemes such as ‘walk a mile a day’ could be integrated into the school run. I know it’s not always that easy but with the right support it’s not insurmountable.

There is one solution which I believe would have a huge impact on safety, health and wellbeing and will greatly assist traffic flow;

A BRIDGE!

We currently have the pedestrian crossing by the Pondhu Road junction on the A390. Why not replace it with a footbridge? Traffic would flow again (I accept not all the time but it can’t be any worse than it currently is) and children, workers and all the new inhabitants of the 600+ homes would be able to cross the road safely. The bridge would also serve as a ‘gateway’ to St Austell (I’m thinking of the footbridge on the approach to Totnes). I’m going to start the ball rolling and look into the feasibility of such a project and will report back in due course. In the meantime I’d welcome any comments.

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