THE vital need for a link road to ease traffic gridlock in the centre of Okehampton was repeated by members of the public when they questioned councillors at the town?s annual meeting on Monday night.
The well-attended meeting saw a number of residents keen to tackle councillors on the steps being taking to bring pressure to bear on Devon County Council to provide a link road to reduce traffic through Okehampton.
Last month, a cross-party campaign was launched by Okehampton?s borough councillors asking local residents, businesses and visitors to sign a petition calling for the link road, copies of which are available in town centre shops.
Retired Okehampton resident Donald Bibey called on local people to get more involved in the fight to alleviate the town?s traffic problems.
?Until we go out and get signatures door to door we won?t have the strength in numbers to really push this,? he said.
?It won?t get there unless we really do something, because it is so easy to get pushed off because of other priorities the county council have. If we can get say 5,000, we have got a chance.?
Cllr Jayne Hill, one of the four borough councillors who launched the petition to lobby for the link road, said the issue had been the hot topic among residents at the meeting.
She said: ?I think the strength of people?s feelings reinforced to councillors that this is a local issue which people would like some action on.
?If we can get all the people of Okehampton to sign up to it, I believe Devon County Council have got to listen to the voice of the people.
?I get very frustrated being told by county council officers that Okehampton does not have a traffic problem.
?You just need to stand in the high street at certain given times during the day and see it gets snarled up very quickly.?
John Bickley, a member of Okehampton Chamber of Trade, said action was needed now as the need for a link road would only increase as Okehampton expanded.
?We have an increasing population; without a link road we will have more and more pressure in the centre of town. Why aren?t the authorities doing something now? If you leave it for six or seven years, the cost is going to be double what it is now,? he said.
Mayor of Okehampton Cllr Christine Marsh said the need for a road had been highlighted for several years, but Devon County Council did not recognise the town had a problem with traffic at peak times.
She said there were cost implications for the council in justifying spending money on a scheme when it believed there were more important areas with ?worse traffic problems? than Okehampton.
She said people power was needed to try to get the county?s environment director to acknowledge there was a pressing need for such a scheme.
Cllr Marsh said the town needed a modest
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