A350 Melksham Bypass – Second Public Consultation

Wiltshire Council is currently exploring the potential case for a new bypass to take the A350 around Melksham, and is seeking the views of residents, businesses and other stakeholders on the progress so far, and the various proposed route options.

Between November 2020 and January 2021, we held a non-statutory public consultation to gather feedback on our longlist of options for the scheme. The consultation received 1,018 online responses and 175 letter and email submissions.

Since the first consultation, further assessment work has been carried out in line with government guidance. This is a staged process and at each stage we’ve progressively applied more detailed evidence and analysis to inform decision making. Alongside feedback from the public and local stakeholders, we’ve been able to identify a single emerging option for a full Eastern bypass supported by complementary walking and cycling measures. We are now seeking your views on the emerging option.

It remains a long standing priority for the council to improve north-south connectivity along the A350, but to also recognise the important local function that the existing route serves at Melksham, and issues such as journey time delays and poor reliability, accidents, severance and noise and air quality.

We have a dedicated webpage that contains an online questionnaire for the second consultation. The web page also has further background information regarding the project: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/highways-a350-melksham-bypass

This consultation aims to:

• Engage with stakeholders affected by or interested in the scheme
• Engage with potentially affected landowners
• Encourage involvement from stakeholders and build strong open relationships
• Raise awareness of the scheme and understanding for the need to improve the A350
• Inform about the single emerging option identified
• Understand stakeholder concerns, issues and suggestions
• Receive feedback on the single emerging option to allow us to develop the scheme further
• Prepare for the statutory consultation phases.

This consultation provides the opportunity to gather additional information on the scheme and its potential effects and help identify mitigation measures where required. We would encourage you to access the information provided, and to engage with us by providing your comments, views and suggestions through the online questionnaire.

The survey will be open between 23 June to the 8 August 2021 – this is not a statutory consultation. If the scheme progresses, statutory consultation will follow in due course.

Kind regards

Major Highway Projects Team

Major Highway Projects | Wiltshire Council | County Hall | Trowbridge | BA14 8JN

E:MajorHighwayProjects@wiltshire.gov.uk |www.wiltshire.gov.uk