WHY do Cirencester Town councillors not listen with more respect to the voters who elected them?

When the plans for the town centre redevelopment were proposed and presented at an open meeting at the Brewery Theatre, many people suggested strongly that their plan for the town centre had many flaws.

I spoke with conviction that the plan for making Castle Street one way would be bad for traffic flow and cause knock on problems for the town centre.

I also objected to the removal of the traffic lights which would cause problems for traffic entering and exiting West Market Place straight through the Market Place, where it meets hoards of taxis and badly parked cars.

And all for what? Parking for seven to eight cars in Castle Street, and unsafe pavements, what a shambles.

The argument that castle street was a rat-run to Waitrose was a total nonsense as most of that traffic was going to Tetbury and beyond, or to Deer Park and the college, and not affecting the actual market place at all.

May I suggest to CTC that they look again at their plans for the centre of Cirencester and admit that some of their ideas, and those of the developers, were wrong and could be revised without too much upheaval.

Comments from our mayor and deputy mayor that this could not be done are simply ridiculous.

They may be experts on some matters but town planning is not one of them.

The town council must seriously take notice of what retailers, the Chamber of Commerce and other business leaders, as well as other informed and respected local people, have to say.

They must not take for granted the people who elect them, nor believe everything the developers suggest.

They must act with courage to do what is right for Cirencester and make changes where needed.

Winston Churchill once said that he never got indigestion from eating his own words, words of wisdom and humility that politicians at all levels would do well to adhere to.

JAMES MESSENGER
Cirencester