I Jinxed it. I am truly sorry! My July article started with a comment about the beautiful sunshine and went on to mention the football. As I write this article for August it has been cold and grey for weeks and England have just lost the Euros final to Spain.
This morning, Wiltshire Council’s regular Cabinet meeting was presented with a report on the financial situation of the Council. An emphasis on preventative work, particularly in Adult Social Care and Children’s Services, has resulted in a significant underspend on our budget. This sensible approach to service delivery, where we look to improve outcomes for residents by investing early to prevent problems in future, is working. Whilst Liberal Democrat led Somerset is making cuts of £35m this year and Labour controlled Swindon aims to cut £32m this year, we are investing MORE!
During our meeting we voted to invest an additional £10.7m into local highways projects including additional resurfacing, flood prevention and safety schemes. All of these will improve things for us in The Lavingtons. It is regarding the latter that you will be most interested.
As you know we have been progressing with the realignment project at Black Dog but been hampered by the refusal of one landowner to give up a small piece of land which is crucial to visibility improvements. Compulsory Purchase was started but the additional delay of twelve months is far from ideal.
With some forewarning of the financial situation we reported today, behind the scenes I have been pushing Cabinet colleagues for additional funding for Black Dog specifically. Back in 2022 we were told by our highways consultants that traffic light was statistically the most effective solution, however, it wasn’t possible due to high installation costs due to a lack of power at the site.
I am very pleased to say that my persistence on your behalf has been rewarded and it has been formally agreed that we will invest additional funds into the ringfenced pot to ensure traffic lights will be installed.
This is the best solution based on the data modelling and overcomes the issue of needing more land from surrounding landowners. Given the advancements in traffic detection and timing technology I am confident that the installation will lead to an efficient and safe movement of vehicles from all directions.
