HIGHWAYS England has come under fire from campaigners who say public consultation events for the upgrade of the A66 are “flawed” .
Protestors had expected to find maps and information for all three of the colour-coded junction options for Cross Lanes and Rokeby when they went on show.
The three-day consultation event was held at The Witham, in Barnard Castle, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday (October 9, 10 and 11).
However, only days before the public events were due to take place, National Highways confirmed that 3D imagery and maps would only be on display for its preferred black option. This proposal would increase traffic on the B6277 road in Startforth and create a two-mile detour for those heading into town from Rokeby.
Startforth resident Jennie White, one of a group of locals who have been encouraging people to “back the blue” option that would see an underpass created close to the existing Rokeby junction.
Mrs White said: “If there is no other option put on the table then really, how can you call it a consultation? It is beyond belief.
“It’s very disappointing, after all the months of discussions, at the 11th hour to be given this answer and be expected to come up with a counter claim in four weeks. It is as we all expected in the beginning, a tick box exercise.”
Leaflets encouraging residents to “back the blue” were distributed ahead of the consultation to residents who would be directly affected by the decision, encouraging them to have their voices heard.
Fellow campaigner Ros Evans, from Barnard Castle, said information boards indicating the event was taking place were not put out until late in the afternoon of the first day.
She added: “I did bring it up with some of the Highway’s staff and they eventually put an A-board outside.
“I think it’s also important people don’t just say they want the blue option, but they need to say what they think of the black route, good and bad.”
Cllr Richard Bell said: “How long would it take to draw up a map and put it in the consultation? It’s procedurally flawed.”
Monica Corso-Griffiths, A66 NTP programme manager for National Highways, said: “To avoid confusion, we’re only displaying our preferred route for each scheme of the A66 at each of the consultation events along the route.
“The Cross Lanes to Rokeby scheme Blue, Black and Red Route alternatives are presented in the consultation brochure and in our other consultation materials and we have been discussing the alternatives with the public at our events.
“A key document available is the route development report which explains the assessment we made of the Cross Lanes to Rokeby alternatives and the rationale behind our decision to present the black option as our preference.
“We’ve not stopped listening and responding to local people’s views and the current consultation will feed into a formal development consent order (DCO) application next year for permission to start construction.
“We would encourage members of the public to respond to our consultation by November 6 and information about the different ways you can do this can be found on our website https://highwaysengland.co.uk/our-work
/a66-northern-trans-pennine/
