THE town centre scheme in Cirencester will collapse if a disputed one-way road is made two-way again, a councillor said in a discussion about the regeneration scheme.

Cricklade Street and Castle Street in Cirencester has been hot topic in the town ever since a 12-year-old boy was involved in a minor collision with a car.

Vehicles are not allowed to enter Cricklade Street between 9.30am and 4.30pm Monday to Saturday, with the exception of delivery vehicles.

But more vehicles are using the street to get out of town because Castle Street has been made one-way heading towards Market Place, forcing drivers to follow a longer route via Dollar Street.

Residents have called for Castle Street to be made two-way again, but deputy town mayor Nigel Robbins (pictured below) disagreed.

He said at a town council meeting on Tuesday, January 24: “A small minority of people who think they can reverse the proposal to make Castle Street one way, they need to be shown that the whole scheme will collapse.

Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard:

“There are many positive advantages that have already arisen from the scheme.

“One is the slowness of traffic coming through Market Place. Cirencester citizens will assert themselves so that they do have priority over and above the traffic, and the reduction of traffic in the centre of the town has been remarkable.

“The whole atmosphere at the centre of town has changed for the better. So I will be very much against changing any fundamental aspects of the scheme.”

In response, town mayor Mark Harris said: “I’d be astonished if, having been through everything, road safety audit said you have done it all wrong.”

In addition, Cirencester Town Council chief executive officer Andrew Tubb pointed out problems with the current Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) in Cricklade Street with regards to vehicle access for blue badge holders.

He explained that over time, blue badge holders had not been prevented from accessing and parking in Cricklade Street during restricted times, but that the wording of the existing TRO raised questions as to whether they were legally allowed to access the road during those times.

Mr Tubb said: “It is recognised that the TRO is in need of updating and we are committed to working positively and proactively with the county council, and other partners such as Cotswold District Council and the police, to achieve this as soon as possible.”

He added that blue badge access was also a problem with the Market Place in general, which is a restricted parking zone.

He said: “We were always led to believe blue badge holders could park on the kerb line so long as they were not causing an obstruction.

“We were aware though that civil enforcement officers were ticketing and raising awareness that blue badge holders could not park outside of the designated bays.

“Had we been led to believe that was the case, we would have asked for bays for blue badge holders. We are seeking urgent clarification from the county council on that because this is an important issue in terms of access to the town centre.”

The Market Place Regeneration Scheme is expected to be fully completed by the end of February, according to Mr Tubb.