A consultation on whether to build a new junction on the M4 is a “farce” and a “sham” say political activists.
South Gloucestershire Green Party says the public survey only gives the “illusion of choice” between two possible sites for the new junction, but fails to properly put forward the option of not building a new junction at all.
The party has accused South Gloucestershire Council of “misleading the public”.
Calls for a new junction between the existing exits for Bath and Bristol traffic to serve Kingswood, Emersons Green and the surrounding area to the east of Bristol date back more than a decade. They have now reached a climax as traffic in to East Bristol and South Gloucestershire continues to increase exponentially.
South Gloucestershire Council revealed the two options for the location of the new junction in July.
The first includes building a new link road to run past Pucklechurch to join the A420 and then the A4174, while the second would see the junction built close to Lyde Green and a connecting road built between the M4 and A4174.
Dozens of Pucklechurch residents have come together to create a campaign against a new junction close to the village – a movement which has been endorsed by Kingswood MP Chris Skidmore, and Thornbury and Yate MP Luke Hall.
The council launched its public consultation on the site of the new junction last month.
Chair of the South Gloucestershire Green Party, Richard Burton, said: “This whole process is a farce – the decisions have already been taken and the consultation fails to ask whether it should even be constructed.
“This is deliberately misleading the public and is typical of South Gloucestershire consultations, which seem only to happen after things have been decided.
“It’s time the council took its responsibilities to its constituents seriously and stopped using the bankrupt thinking of the last century to solve today’s problems.”
The party believes the new junction would have no impact on congestion and claims recent council policies which relate to the proposal, including transport, pollution, congestion, health, sustainability and environment, do not support it either.
Mr Burton added: “We would love to see the council to spend £500,000 on a study into alternative modes of transport – active travel and public transport, and for that study to look at the benefits of spending £400m on providing for them.
“The results would be massively better than spending that money on building this junction and creating more congestion.”
The Bristol Post has contacted the council for a response.
The consultation can be accessed on the South Gloucestershire Council website. It is scheduled to close on Monday, October 16.
Article originally appeared on Bristol Post
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