It’s in our interest to make Victoria Mill Road safer for everyone who uses it.

We appointed local civil engineer Canham Consulting to come up with a design which delivers greatest benefit for minimum local disruption.

We propose widening Victoria Mill Road to between 5 and 5.5m (from as narrow as 3.7m in places currently). The widening will take place east of our site access until it ties into a similar width to the north of the existing 90-degree bends. This will improve visibility and allow two cars to pass in safety at low speed.

Two of the 90-degree bends will be significantly straightened. Additionally, the remaining bend will be straightened slightly to further improve visibility and allow for safer movement for all vehicles. By not removing all 90-degree bends, traffic is still forced to slow to a safe speed while passing through the area. Computer analysis of the proposed layout proves that construction vehicles and larger articulated vehicles can travel along the road easily and safely without the need to use the verge.

Finally, the existing footway will be widened to 1.8m where possible (from about 1.2m), and new tactile paving and safer pedestrian crossing points established. An additional footway is to be provided on the south side of the road behind the existing hedgerow.

We are unable to widen the whole of Victoria Mill Road west of our site and there would be little benefit to this.