Councillor hits out at county council over "traffic chaos" in Totnes

South Hams District Councillor John Birch has blamed Devon County Council for "traffic chaos" over Easter in Totnes. 

Cllr John Birch took to social media to encourage people to email the Devon County Councillor responsible for highways and management, Cllr Stuart Hughes, after traffic backed up through Totnes due to temporary traffic lights and broadband works. 

Cllr Birch said: "The traffic chaos we are experiencing in Totnes is all down to the failure of Devon County Council as the highway authority to get to grips with the need to coordinate the works being carried out by the utility companies so as to avoid the situation we now find ourselves in.

"It seems that the current chaos is caused by a broadband provider carrying out works needing temporary traffic lights and that these will be in place until 18 April. Was any thought given to these works being carried out during the night when there would be less disruption? I doubt it.

"What is more it is bang in the middle of the Easter holidays with the tourists starting to arrive. It couldn’t have happened at a worst time."

Everyone knows that school holidays, whether it be Easter, Christmas, summer or half terms, attracts a massive increase in the number of visitors and therefore traffic into the South Hams. Totnes becomes one of the hot spots due to the fact that it is not only a very attractive place for visitors in itself, but it is also on one of the main routes from the A38 to the rest of the South Hams. 

Devon County Council was receiving so many complaints, that it put out a general response to the public. 

The statement read: "We’re receiving a lot of complaints from members of the public regarding roadworks in Totnes.

"It’s prompted us to respond with a standard response, explaining that the roadworks are not ours, and are in fact works being undertaken by broadband provider, Wildanet.

"People contacting the council by email are receiving the following response from their Control Centre:

“'Thank you for your message regarding the roadworks in Totnes. Whilst Devon County Council is the Highway Authority, these works are being undertaken by WIldanet and any further queries should therefore be directed to (them).

“'With regards to the coordination and timing of these works, they were originally programmed for the school holidays to minimise the impact on local schools but we also appreciate the effect on other road users. Devon County Council has worked with the contractor to ensure that wherever possible the network is cleared ahead of the bank holiday weekend and this has included delaying further planned roadworks in the vicinity.

“'Please note, you can also stay up to date via our social media channels using the handle @DevonAlert

“'Network Operations Control Centre.'"

A spokesperson for the County Council said: “We appreciate that people don’t like road works at the best of times, least alone when it’s busy. But we’re being deluged with complaints about these works in particular, and the tone of some of them, perhaps unsurprisingly, is really quite unpleasant.

"We just want to set the matter straight and we’ll continue to do our best to keep Devon roads open and running this Easter weekend and holiday.”

This response did not placate Cllr Birch, who hit back at the county council again, writing an open correspondence to Cllr Hughes, which read: "Following my last email to you dealing with last week’s Totnes traffic chaos it appears you instructed your Network Operations Control Centre to respond.

"It stated that whilst Devon County Council is the Highway Authority, the works were being undertaken by a utility communications provider, Wildanet, and any further queries should be directed to them.
 

"In other words you were seeking to shift responsibility for the chaos to others. With respect the chaos was down to your council, DCC.

'Wildanet has stated in an email that it worked closely with Devon County Council to get approval for the highway permits, and that your council oversaw the applications and it has overall responsibility in terms of whether the timing is correct and how much disruption it may cause. 

"In this particular case your council deemed the work necessary and approved the permit to work and the traffic management proposal. This was a mistake on your council’s part.

'Why did you approve the permit that resulted in the traffic chaos? Didn’t you anticipate the problems that would arise?

"Please can Totnes have your assurance that in future your council will carefully exam all applications for traffic management permits and only give permission when you are confident chaos will not occur. We do not want a repetition of last week."

We have contacted Devon County Council and we will update this story as soon as we can. 

Photo credit - Cllr John Birch