I REGRET that I am unable to support John Burnett?s idea of constructing a relief road along Oaklands Drive, bridging over the river to the industrial estate.

What would happen to the traffic from then on? It would go along North Road, the Link Road and then Barton Road, thus subjecting this residential area to even more traffic misery than the recently built Link Road has already caused.

I did object to the construction of the said Link Rod at the ?planning? stage, expressing concern that in 20 years? time a relief road to relieve traffic on the relief road would be needed. It would appear that such concern was not unfounded.

To turn Oaklands Drive into a major traffic route would be extremely detrimental to the setting of the Manor House, one of Okehampton?s forgotten treasures ? it is already being encroached by housing development creeping towards it from the Showfield/Upcott developments.

Before the town mayor and others jump in, as usual, with both feet, saying what a wonderful idea this is, very careful thought must be given to the cause of the alleged traffic congestion in the town.

Could it be the loss of filter lanes in Fore Street and West Street; the creation of loading bays in Fore Street, allowing loading throughout the day; the inappropriate phasing of the traffic lights; simply bad planning when the council was unable to resist the Waitrose carrot; or missed opportunities to purchase land which might have been suitable for coach parking?

Indeed, the amount of congestion itself needs to be questioned. From my own observations it is not ?unbelievable? as our town mayor states ? traffic congestion occurs at the usual peak times ? early morning, school closing time and late afternoon ? little different from other town and cities.

Perhaps the solution lies with the road users themselves, including myself, and that is for them to be more patient and tolerant of such situations and, most importantly, to ask the question before leaving home, ?Do I need to use my car on this occasion??

David Middleton

89 Crediton Road

Okehampton

IT is now some weeks since the Okehampton Traffic Light Challenge was made to Devon County Council with no aknowledgement or reply. Perhaps they do not read or feel they can ignore the local press.

However, December 12?s front page indicated other possible motives for the deliberate congestion caused by restricting each direction of traffic to one lane and letting only one direction move at a time.

This could be to justify a new relief road and so we will only have to suffer this for three to five years before we get back to normal or possibly even longer given their dubious record.

If you require further evidence of their planning judgements write and ask them where the coach park is, that we lost several years ago. During all this time trade and consequently shops are lost giving us all limited choice.

David Bagshall

Grindhill

Okehampton