A338 Closure for Six Months Rejected

I am pleased to report that the request from Network Rail to close the A338 for six months from February has been turned down by the County Council.  As many residents will recall, just before Christmas, Grove Parish Council called a meeting in the parish church to discuss the proposals which had been put forward by Network Rail.  Many people were angered by that meeting, because no firm answers were given to the questions posed, and there were no decisions taken.   I have continued to try to emphasise that there are no firm dates and times yet agreed for this road closure, but unfortunately this message is difficult to get across as the press keep publishing the initial request for a road closure!  All temporary road closure requests have a length of time attributed to them to allow the work to be done WITHIN that time frame, it does NOT mean that the road closure will last for that full amount of time.

I have also said many times both to the media and to those who have contacted me, that I have been calling for a temporary bridge to be installed during the duration of the work, and this has NOT been ruled out.  Indeed, the county council is continuing to have ongoing discussions with Network Rail about how to deal with the essential works needed to be done to the bridge by the Volunteer to allow the electrification works to go ahead.  However, county officers have told me that they have not seen any plans so far, and they cannot agree to any road closure until those plans have been agreed.  As soon as I have further information I shall post it here.

It was my first surgery of the year in Grove Library this morning and a couple of people turned up with some local issues.  My next surgery will be held on Saturday 8th February at Grove Library at the usual time.