A GREAT deal has already been written about the latest proposed route for the Crediton Link Road and it is not easy to find anything new to say about this ridiculous proposal.

I, for one, have yet to hear anyone say anything positive about it, even though some appear to dismiss it as something so preposterous that 'they' will never do it.

Make no mistake, "they" will do it, if the price is right and the right influences are brought to bear - and if our elected representatives fail to stand up for us.

There are others who, despite assurances which have been given, are firmly convinced that the positioning of the road is a "done deal".

News travels, and there have been so many reports that Downes' estate workers have been categorically told this that it would be small wonder if it began to instil a defeatist attitude.

I myself have heard it from a well-informed source. If it is, indeed, true, then it is a deplorable indictment on the Planning Authorities and makes a nonsense of the promised "consultation" process (although the last consultation seems to have been of very little use).

Or perhaps it is a deliberate ploy to induce this defeatist attitude, and reduce the opposition.

It will turn its back on the residents of Exeter Road and Four Mills Lane, who have for so long been promised relief from noise and air pollution.

Any fiction in the form of computerised predictions which promise relief from the new road would very soon be more than overtaken by extra traffic now we have Tesco on our doorstep, and more housing and industrial development going on around us.

The cottages in Exeter Road, battered and beleaguered as they are, may not appear to have an attractive aspect from the front, but this has always been mitigated by the delightful outlook at the rear, where they overlook the orchard and the field beyond. This would be spoilt.

The houses in Four Mills Lane -which, unless something is done, will face a "rat run" to Tesco along their quiet lane - are also able to look over the busy road at the back and enjoy the same view. This, too, would go.

As Bob Batchelor said in his letter in the last issue of the Courier, the ancient heritage area of Downes Head Lane and Buller Square has been dismissed out of hand by English Heritage.

To quote from a letter I recently received from them: "Whilst we recognise that this realignment of the route will have an impact on other heritage assets in the area, we consider that, on balance, this latest route is the least harmful overall". There are very many who would dispute this.

This road will do nothing for the town's traffic problems. We need a well thought out, long-term plan for the town and if the authorities are not willing or capable of coming up with one, it would be better to have nothing at all until they can, rather than this sticking plaster solution which will only compound the problem.

The only real solution would be the "valley route", which was given such a biased presentation on the occasion of the last "consultation".

The Crediton Traffic Action Group is busy mounting a serious campaign against the building of this road. I ask your readers, please watch out for local publicity and give us your help and support in any way you can.

Any messages for the Group can be sent via e-mail to: [email protected]">[email protected] or handed in to the Courier office.

The next public meeting will be at the Rugby Club, Crediton on Monday, July 6 at 7.30pm. Please come along!

Helen Lawes

The Pound

Mill Street

Crediton