AS you may know, Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26 were potentially important days for people living in Crediton. 

Crediton residents were treated to yet another consultation exercise - or was it an exhibition? (Several of the officers and consultants seemed confused about what it was. Mere semantics or was this something quite significant, do you think?) The topic of course was the possibility of a link road connecting the Crediton industrial estate to the Exeter Road.

In an e-mail to me last week, councillor John Hart, the Leader of the County Council, referred to the exercise as a consultation. He wrote "a new consultation is now due to take place shortly.  I hope that constructive views will come from the local people."

Well, certainly, clear views have been expressed by "the local people". Everyone leaving the consultation was polled  and the result is hardly surprising to Crediton residents. We don't want the so-called "Western Route."

This was demonstrated overwhelmingly.

It was very disappointing that, except for an honourable handful of councillors, very few District or County Councillors turned up during the two days. And I know, from personal contacts, that quite a number of county councillors have never visited Exeter Road, the site of the worst polluted road in South West Britain .

Nor have these same county councillors ever stood on the roadside while juggernauts pass by. Nor have they tried to sit quietly in the front rooms of Exeter Road residents.

So how and on what basis, will these county councillors manage when it is time for them to vote on Crediton's traffic pollution problems? Will they vote on personal knowledge? (Hardly) Perhaps a little prejudice may creep in (We have been noisy about this issue, after all) Or perhaps some will vote along party lines?

Of course, as several people commented on Friday and Saturday, it will probably come down to finance. Can (and will) the councillors afford to do what Crediton needs?

Well, I for one am optimistic about this. With serious millions very recently committed to "facelifts" for Exmouth and other towns in Devon, our representatives will and must commit the finances to solve our problems and stop the very high pollution levels in the town....Of course they will!

A last point - and an important one. There were several "consultants" assisting the presentation - sorry "consultation" - to us. They were, by and large, smart and seemingly intelligent young people (Some travelling for the first time to Crediton from places like Bristol).

They showed us glossy maps with projections of traffic flow to and from places they didn't know. Interestingly, the powerful looking glossy projections and maps were wrong.

For example, the leat crossing Downes land was shown as the river Creedy...but so what..

No account has been taken of the increase in traffic on the Exeter Road to and from the new developments in Copplestone and Bow. Two of the consultants to whom I spoke had never heard of them! And, obviously, the people moving in to these villages are likely to drive to and from Exeter. Hundreds of them. And they were not taken into account in the consultants' projections.

No account, similarly, had been taken of CTAG's excellent work on updating and improving the traffic flow data. The consultants have used the flawed figures from the last county council traffic census. The consultants' figures understate the traffic flow through the town.

Also, no account has been taken of the early morning lorry traffic (and pollution) from the trading estate. Nor of the evening and night time return traffic to the trading estate.

And yet all the charts and detailed maps ignored these facts.

Amazingly,  the 10 year projection for Crediton pollution levels is (according to the nice young consultant to whom we spoke) based upon the assumption that Exeter Road is a plateau.

The well-known "Canyon Effect" of Exeter Road is not built in to the projections for future pollution levels whatsoever.  If the figures presented to us are based on these errors, what credibility do the county's projections have then?

As a resident of Exeter Road commented to the young consultant, "Well, it's rubbish in and rubbish out isn't it?"

And who, by the way, is paying for these smart but half-informed consultants? Council Tax Payers.

They were very pleasant professional sounding people but not actually equipped with accurate facts and figures.

And meanwhile the pollution - illegal or otherwise - goes on.

But, of course, what is now going to happen is that Devon County Council will feel appalled about the worst pollution in the wider South West and set to work building Crediton a proper by-pass.

It is, isn't it, Mr Hart? It is isn't it councillors....councillors...?

 Robert Nicholls

27 Downeshead Lane

Crediton