A PUBLIC meeting has been organised for disgruntled residents to have their say on a revised traffic scheme for Dorchester.

Dorset County Council has been consulting on the latest proposals put forward in the Dorchester Transport and Environment Plan (DTEP) to tackle congestion and reduce pollution caused by traffic in the county town.

The scheme, which has been revised since it was first conceived in 2003, proposes making High West Street and High East Street one way from November next year, with new traffic signals at the junction of Princes Street and Albert Road and some ‘banned’ turns at Great Western Junction.

Concerned residents who claim they will be affected by the changes to the traffic flows through Dorchester have now organised a meeting at 7.30pm on Monday at the Corn Exchange.

Martin Graham, who lives in Cornwall Road, said: “A lot of residents, particularly around the Borough Gardens, Great Western Road, Damers Road and Cornwall Road are a concerned that the plan is nothing like the original plan.

“It appears to be a compromise that just shoves the air quality management issue from High East and High West Street to those areas.”

He added that under the new plans traffic would actually have further to travel through the county town and therefore the overall level of pollution would increase.

Mr Graham also claimed that the consultation exercise run by the county council had been ‘inadequate’ and the meeting on Monday offered members of the public a chance to air their views on the proposed scheme.

He said: “This is a chance for people to speak freely and I suspect there will be more people from other parts of town who are not happy about it.”

The meeting has been announced as Dorset County Council revealed that the consultation period on the £4.9m scheme had now been extended until December 20.

Dorset County Council will also be holding a further exhibition of the proposals at its County Hall headquarters in Dorchester for two weeks from December 9.

PUBLIC URGED TO STUDY REVISED PLANS

DORSET County Council’s chief engineer Tim Norman claimed that the consultation process for the DTEP scheme has been ‘comprehensive’.

He said: “We have taken measures to ensure that public re-engagement for the Dorchester Transport Environment Plan (DTEP) is as comprehensive as possible.

“There was a series of well-publicised public exhibitions throughout October where local residents and traders had the chance to see the plans and talk to the engineers behind the scheme.

“The exhibition will be available for two weeks from December 9 at County Hall’s main reception.

“Some residents have also requested more time to consider the proposals, and so the deadline for comments about the scheme has now been extended to December 20.

“The county council is also sending an information leaflet and invitation to comment on the scheme to over 8,000 households in Dorchester, beginning 20 November. All this is underpinned by a comprehensive suite of information available on the Dorset For You website.

“The original scheme was unaffordable whereas the phased approach of the scheme would allow the new traffic network to be thoroughly tested, for a modest cost, before a decision is made to make it permanent. We would urge as many people as possible to study the plans and give us their views.”