Our position on the proposed lengthy closure of Brixham Road
Our Chamber is very concerned by proposed plans to close the Brixham Road for a large chunk of 2023, to allow road alterations as part of the Inglewood housing development. The initial closure from January 3rd to May 12th (excluding Easter) has the potential to be enormously disruptive and at peak times could effectively cut Brixham off from the rest of the country.
We have met with developers but have been given no confidence that the traffic diversions they propose will be suitable for the volume of traffic which will have to divert along Dartmouth Road. We believe they have done no analysis of the capacity of these roads or compared this with the number of vehicles which use the roads.
We also have grave concerns about the impact that an accident or unscheduled roadworks on Dartmouth Road would have, if it overlapped with the Brixham Road closure. This would cut our only remaining road out of the town. The developers have told us they have made no contingency plans for this eventuality.
As we understand it, Torbay Council have not yet signed off the next legal step (a “section 278”) to give permission for the road works to commence.
We believe that before they do, the developers should have to prove that their traffic management plans will work. The impact of getting it wrong, and effectively cutting Brixham off from the rest of the country, is too serious to ignore.
We don’t accept the developers’ view that the planning permission for the development gives them the right to close this road without first proving that our town won’t be cut off.
On Wednesday 26th October we wrote to our council, with the following requests:
- We politely but urgently ask you to demand proof from the developers, by means of detailed traffic modelling, that the proposed diversion system is capable of handling the increased flow of traffic in and out of Brixham, and along the diversion route(s), at peak times.
- We request that you agree with the developers a contingency plan for temporarily reinstating traffic flow along Brixham Road, in the situation where Dartmouth Road is blocked by an accident or unscheduled road works.
We consider these to be fundamental requirements before section 278 can be granted.
We are looking forward to working collaboratively with the council to gain reassurances that the traffic scheme will be sufficient. We are now waiting for their response and will update this web page once they do.
Brixham Chamber of Commerce Executive
27th October 2022
A more detailed overview of the situation can be downloaded here for those who wish to read more!
