Alton Bypass Update

September 18, 2008 at 5:20 pm · Filed under Related News

For many years now the residents of Alton have called for a bypass or a relief road to redirect traffic to Alton Towers Resort away from the village. Following the recent coach crash last month, which was put down to poor road access, residents have upped their attempts so see this much needed bypass given the go-ahead. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem like happening anytime soon due to the ongoing dispute over who should foot the bill. However, in the past 7 days there has been a slight breakthrough.

The Uttoxeter Advertiser reports…

Staffordshire County Council has revealed that taxpayers will not be expected to foot the bill to build a planned relief road or bypass in Alton.

Following last month’s tragic bus crash near Alton Towers, villagers have repeated calls for much-needed road improvements to reduce traffic travelling through the village.

But the authority has revealed that it expects the theme park to contribute heavily towards any potential developments.

A county council spokesman said: “We are continuing long-standing negotiations with Alton Towers to deliver the local community’s wish for a link road to take traffic serving the tourist destination out of the village.

“Alton Towers is a major asset to Staffordshire, generating much needed prosperity and jobs. But it also generates heavy traffic in an isolated rural environment served by a network of narrow country lanes.”

The council said improvements had taken place over the years, but much more needed to be done.

The spokesman said: “The local roads to Alton Towers are minor country roads serving rural hamlets, farms and villages. None could be upgraded and widened without significant further impacts on local communities.

“Staffordshire County Council and Alton Towers have been in discussion over the construction of a link road from the B5032, at Denstone, following the route of an old railway line across open fields direct to Alton Towers.

“The county council has always been willing to help in any way it can in delivering the solution, but the taxpayer cannot be expected to pick up a bill which is likely to exceed £15 million. The link should be a private road serving the Alton Towers business.”

This really is a troublesome situation because ideally everyone wants it to happen, but no-one seems prepared to foot the bill. So who do I think should pay for this much needed relief road?

Well it is obvious that the people who really want it are local residents - yet the local council say that they shouldn’t foot the bill through taxes? I ask why not? If they want the damn thing then they should at least make some sort of contribution towards it. No one is expecting them to cough up the whole £15 million but a little help wouldn’t be too much to ask for.

Residents are pointing the finger towards Alton Towers but at the end of the day why should they part with over £15 million to build a road that simply redirects traffic and offers no benefit to the resort? Alton Towers will get visitors regardless of whether this bypass is built or not, therefore the financial gain is simply non-existant and thus making a £15 million+ road unfeasible.

Perhaps as a gesture of goodwill Alton Towers will make some kind of financial contribution but they will never pay every penny and I don’t blame them. It’s simply unfair. Perhaps they could give a season’s worth of the £4 car parking charge towards the project and the council stump up the rest? I think that’s fair.

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Roper’s Circus Act Continues

September 17, 2008 at 6:42 pm · Filed under Related News

Following on from yesterday’s report that Stephen and Suzanne Roper had withdrawn their private prosecution of Alton Towers over noise issues due to a change in park ownership, the circus act duo continues to throw out a barrel of laughs.

The Sentinel reports…

An application for court costs to be paid by Alton Towers after a couple were forced to withdraw legal proceedings against the company has been turned down.

Stephen and Suzanne Roper, who live in Farley near to the resort, claimed the theme park exceeded limits set out in a noise abatement order, enforced in October 2005 after the couple won a private prosecution.

They were bringing a case against the organisation which they believed managed the site, Tussauds Theme Parks Limited. But last week, the couple’s solicitor Richard Buxton confirmed the prosecution had been withdrawn.

In a statement he said the subsidiary company responsible for operating the park has changed as a result of a corporate reorganisation so it was no longer right to prosecute Tussauds.

Yesterday, an application was made at North Staffordshire Magistrates’ Court calling for the costs of the case to be covered by the tourist attraction, as the Ropers claimed it should have informed them earlier about the change of management. But Deputy District Judge Neale Thomas refused the application.

He said: “Any litigation involves the risk of costs. The question is, is the prosecution entitled to complain about the behaviour of the defence? Neither side has come out with any credit.

“The defence were unaware of the true state of the company they were representing.

“It seems ridiculously inept to me. But this was not a deliberate act. I am satisfied the defence solicitors were not negligent.”

Yesterday I said the Ropers were possibly the doziest people on the planet, today’s latest news pretty much confirms that. Who in the right mind would consider asking the defendant to pay the legal costs when it wasn’t them who opened up the case in the first place?!

Did the Ropers seriously think Alton Towers would pay the legal fees for a court case that was looking to prosecute the park?!

Join us tomorrow as the Ropers will have no doubt have another portion of codswallop ready.

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Coach Crash Update

August 20, 2008 at 6:48 pm · Filed under Related News

BBC News has updated its website with the latest news regarding the coach crash near Alton Towers that killed 1 man and injured over 70 more on Monday evening following a day trip to the theme park.

A coach which careered down an embankment killing a 26-year-old Polish man and injuring 71 people has now been removed from the crash site.

The vehicle involved in the crash was owned by Decker Bus, based in Whittlesey, near Peterborough.

The coach collided with two cars, crashed through a wall and ended up in a garden near the Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire on Monday.

The bus, from a firm in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, had been carrying farm migrant workers on a day trip.

The road reopened at 0630 BST. Three people are in a critical condition.

Investigators used specialist cranes to remove the shell of the coach from the scene in Station Road, Alton, on Tuesday.

Tests are being carried out on it at a police garage to try to find out how the crash happened.

Police have now travelled to Northamptonshire to interview the passengers, who were fruit pickers who were based at Lutton Farm in Oundle.

Staffordshire Police said they expected the interview process to take “several weeks”.

A total of seven people are still in hospital.

Police said on Wednesday the condition of a 21-year-old woman being treated at Birmingham’s Selly Oak Hospital had worsened.

She is now said to be in a critical condition.

Police said the 63-year-old driver, from the Peterborough area, is in a critical but not life-threatening condition in intensive care at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire after suffering “serious leg injuries”.

Officers said he provided a negative breath test.

A 21-year-old woman from Poland was also in a critical life-threatening condition at the same hospital.

Four others remain in stable conditions and are being treated at various hospitals across the West Midlands.

There were passengers from Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and a man from South Africa on the coach.

Local residents in Alton started laying flowers at the scene of the crash on Wednesday morning.

Ch Insp John Maddox of Staffordshire Police said letters were being delivered to villagers thanking them for their co-operation following the crash.

He said: “A specialist police team is carrying out searches at the scene today to recover any further evidence and items of personal property, which will be returned to passengers from the coach.

“A detailed police investigation is now underway and it is vital that any witnesses who have not yet come forward contact us as soon as possible.”

No-one was inside either of the stationary cars which the bus hit.

A statement released by the Long family, who own the farm where the workers had been based, paid tribute to the man who died.

It said: “The Long family knows many of those injured personally, and the young man who was sadly killed had worked on our farm for the last three summers.

“Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones, and also with those others who have been seriously injured.”

The crash has caused villagers to repeat calls for a bypass to take away theme park traffic away from Alton.

A public meeting had been scheduled between residents and the park for next year, but campaigners have been calling for it to be brought forward.

Speaking on Tuesday, Russell Barnes, the park’s regional director, said he was “disappointed” the issue had been raised.

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