WE write further to the letter from the Chamber of Trade expressing concerns about  traffic congestion in Okehampton town centre, as reported in the Times, May 26 edition.

Although we have only lived in the town since last autumn, we have become only too well aware of how bad  the traffic congestion can be after being stranded for lengthy periods   on several occasions in Waitrose car park. Indeed, the first occasion, on a Friday afternoon, was whilst we were still house hunting!

As a general observation, it’s very apparent that whilst the population of the town has increased significantly in recent years with further growth in the pipeline, this has clearly not been matched by the development of the necessary new roads and  infrastructure.

More specifically, although we don’t know much about the background and specific circumstances regarding the redevelopment of the land around School Way, it’s hard to understand the logic leading to the location of a school and  three supermarkets so close to each other and  in such a central part of the town.

Even without any detailed  traffic flow modelling it should have been obvious that the traffic generated by all these developments would be likely to exceed the existing road capacity in School Way and Market Street at peak times.

With no obvious solutions in sight, it seems to us that the two authorities responsible for the decisions resulting in this situation — West Devon District Council as local planning authority and Devon County Council as highways authority — have some serious questions to answer.

As a final thought,  in view of  the inevitable further growth of traffic and visitor numbers  into the  town  and as a measure against crime and ASB,  perhaps Okehampton Town Council should consider the installation of  surveillance cameras. Two in Fore Street would be sufficient, mounted high with variable fields of view, at the Market Street and North Street junctions.

Stuart Oldham, Jane Ingram

Okehampton