Marlborough town councillors clashed yet again with Marlborough College last night (Monday) when the Planning Committee recorded its unanimous opposition to proposals for a new Puffin crossing within yards of the College’s immaculate gates.
They declared the plans “invalid” because they failed to reveal all the information posted on lamp posts, which include cutting a hole in the listed College boundary wall and widening the already narrow pavement.
And they blamed Wiltshire Council for the errors – and the College for submitting an erroneous report from consultants claiming that the town council approved the plans.
“This is going to be a nightmare for the people living there,” protested former mayor Councillor Nick Fogg, one of Marlborough’s two Wiltshire councillors. “This has been a big cock up by Wiltshire.”
The row follows in the wake of the town council’s objections to the College buying the nearby Ivy House Hotel, now in the process of conversion into a hostel for 60 girl students at the College, where the Duchess of Cambridge was a student.
It is for them that the College is seeking a safe entry into its grounds despite the fact that there are two Pelican crossings further down the Bath Road specifically for the use of students.
The situation is further embarrassing for the College as Councillor Margaret Rose, who chairs the Planning Committee, is an employee of the College and had to leave the council chamber while colleagues roared their opposition.
“This town supports the people,” declared Councillor Marion Hannaford-Dobson, who pointed out that the town council had twice before objected to similar proposals. “The College is in the town. The town is not in the College.”
Councillor Stewart Dobson, leader of the council’s Tory group, agreed. “They can’t possibly have three crossings within such a short space. It is desperately unfair on the people who live in the west end of the town and will cause total traffic confusion.”
But it was Councillor Fogg who led the fray by revealing that the planning application before the committee – for a controlled Puffin crossing with footpath widening at the junction with Bridewell Street – was not the same as that posted on lamp posts, which also showed plans to breach the College’s listed boundary wall.
A resident had pointed this out to Wiltshire last Thursday and received an admission that an error had been made. New details had been posted and this alone made the whole process “invalid”, insisted Councillor Fogg.
He raised other issues including the disturbing noise made at night by Pelican/Puffin crossings and potential serious danger of a juggernaut jumping the pavement, as well as extending back to the High Street/Pewsey Road junction and causing traffic chaos.
He read to from a report submitted to Wiltshire by consultants hired by the College saying : “It has been an objective of the council to provide a pedestrian crossing arrangement in Bridewell Street.”
And he added: “Well I don’t recall that at all. The College has a wonderful capacity for producing consultants to say what they pay for. This case is no exception.”
It was estimated that some 1,400 people would use the Bridewell crossing, many at peak times when commuters were driving in and out of Marlborough yet the space available for them to stand on the pavement was limited.
“I think the Guinness Book of Records should be notified about this because there is no place for them to stand,” he protested.
“We have to put all these points in as part of a massive objection. We have an obligation to protest as vociferously as possible.”
Who’d A Thought It
