Summary
Traders are calling on highways bosses to reconsider a road closure which will block one of the main entrances to a Cotswold town for several weeks. Silver Street in Tetbury is expected to close today (October 26) from Gumstool Hill to the Green and may not reopen until November 27, according to councils in the area, though the local MP says this has been amended to November 18.
Details
Gloucestershire County Council is closing the road, which is the main route into town from Malmesbury, to allow repairs to go ahead at a house on the street. The closure means motorists face a 50-mile official diversion route and traders say the closure comes at the worst time possible for them as they gear up for the Christmas period, with fears it will affect footfall.
Jackie Stead, manager at French Grey, the independently-owned homeware and gifts store in Long Street, said the closure seems like “madness”. She believes it’s “very shortsighted” of the council to close the road at this time of the year. “It’s very concerning considering this is our lead up to Christmas,” she said.
“This is what we traders look forward to potentially as a bumper time to carry us through our quieter months.” She said French Grey expanded into the empty premises next door, last year which was hugely popular. “It was very well received in the town because we dedicated it to all our Christmas stock,” she said. “It was like a Christmas shop.
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“People said ‘wow this is fantastic, it lit up the town’. “This year we are going bigger and better and then actually we discover, can people get to us from that part of the country?” She said Tetbury’s retailers collectively provide a strong small independent shopping experience in the town, which is famously home to the residence of King Charles, Highgrove House.
“Tetbury has a lovely range of cafes, hotels and shops. It’s really a destination where you spend quite a day here.” “And we’re not talking just about a section of the high street being closed and awkward to get to. We are talking about an entrance to the town.” She said they “hope and pray” the closure is postponed or altered to only a single lane closure of the road with temporary traffic lights.
Laura Hall-Wilson, the Conservative councillor who represents Tetbury with Upton at Cotswold District Council, is among those calling on Gloucestershire Highways to reconsider.
“Since news of the road closure on Silver Street broke I have been chasing highways to reconsider, postpone and scale back the closure to ensure as little disruption as possible to Christmas trading in the town, residents on Silver Street and along the diversion route and patients at Tetbury Hospital. “It has taken weeks to get a response and even then legitimate concerns have been ignored.
Report source: Gloucestershire Live
