TRAFFIC TROUBLE (From Gazette & Herald)

TRAFFIC TROUBLE

RESIDENTS of a Norton street fear they may be stranded on an island surrounded by busy roads as a result of major redevelopment plans for Malton and Norton.

The plans are the result of a £35,000 feasibility study commissioned by Ryedale District Council and Yorkshire Forward, focusing on six brownfield industrial sites along the twin towns' river rail corridor.

One site - the old Woolgrowers site - could see major redevelopment, with two of the three options put forward for it featuring 200 or more houses, plus possible business and leisure developments in the third option. (Full details below.)

Julian Rudd, forward planning manager for Ryedale District Council, said that although the results of the consultation process were not fully assessed yet, initial feedback suggested that vision three was the most popular.

But residents of Welham Road in Norton fear visions two and three would destroy their quality of life and reduce the value of their property, making them an island surrounded by three main roads.

In particular, Ruth Miller, who lives at 38 Welham Road with her partner John Ellis and nine-year-old daughter Sadie, was horrified to realise that, under options two and three, her next door neighbour's house, number 40, would be knocked down in order to widen adjacent Park Road.

She was told by planners that the consortium which owns the Woolgrowers site now owns number 40.

"It seemed insensitive that we should find out that way and they should make it public before even consulting us," said Ms Miller.

"The main concern is that we're going to have another main road outside. With Welham Road and Knotts Bark Terrace already busy, if Park Road is widened into a main road, we will be like an island, surrounded on three sides by busy traffic."

She was also concerned about the suggestion of a link road from the York end of the A64, through the new housing estate, to join Welham Road.

She said: "This will create a thoroughfare for heavy goods vehicles and all other traffic, going to and from York, making an already congested area even worse.

"It will almost certainly alleviate traffic problems in Malton, but is the cure for this to push it into Norton?

"Our road will become a rat run."

She added: "I'm also concerned that it's a flood plain where is the water going to go when the river floods? I don't think those defences have been tested enough."

Jane Shenington-Gunn, of 36 Welham Road, was equally concerned.

She said: "We are going to have to live with surround-sound traffic. It is really disappointing. Vision one is a lovely option but, in order to attract investment, developers have to make as much profit as possible, so they will no doubt fill it full of housing, regardless of whether that is right for the area.

"They talk about making things better for the town but they are going to make a lot of existing residents unhappy.

"Surely they have a responsibility to the residents who are already here."

However, members of the business sector in Malton and Norton have welcomed the changes, saying that it provides a huge opportunity for the area.

Updated: 11:35 Wednesday, May 12, 2004