Campaigners working towards making the junction into Peasedown St John and the A367 safer are celebrating, after B&NES Councillors announced plans to stage a consultation on improvements.
Recently, a petition led by Labour Councillors, Jonathan Rich and Lesley Mansell, saw over 1,000 people supporting changes to the junction to make it safer. The petition was presented to B&NES Council at their meeting on 11th Februrary, where the Leader of the Council, Paul Crossley, announced that new money to conduct a full-scale consultation on all the options to make the junction safer was going to be allocated in the budget for 2015/16.
Local Peasedown Councillors, Nathan Hartley and Karen Walker, have welcomed the decision to spend £10,000 on a feasibility study and design brief for a roundabout to be built at the A367/Bath Road junction on the southern end of the village.
Cllr Nathan Hartley, who has been a leading campaigner for a roundabout since 2008, commented: "Two petitions, a public meeting, six questions to Cabinet, 6,000 campaign leaflets, a party resignation and ten years of persistence have led to this. People from all corners of our community have called for changes to be made to this dangerous junction for years.
"Ever since £35,000 was secured from David Wilson Homes in 2008 to contribute towards safety features at this junction, there has been a glimmer of hope that one day we would get our roundabout, so exiting and entering our village would be made a lot safer."
An increase in accidents in recent years has continued to raise the profile of this campaign, which has had the support of the Parish Council and local Residents' Association.
The feasibility study will include a comprehensive public consultation, negotiation with nearby landowners over land allocation needed to build a roundabout and a full professional architectural design being put together.
Cllr Karen Walker, Vice-Chairman of Peasedown St John Parish Counci, said: "After almost a decade of campaigning and another accident a few weeks ago at this junction, it's been encouraging to finally receive cross-party support.
"At Wednesday night's Cabinet Meeting at the Guildhall, the Labour Party, Conservatives and now the Lib-Dems all rallied together to ensure this decision was made.
"We just hope that after May's local elections, this broad support will continue. The safety of drivers and pedestrians must take priority over party politics – which, in the past, has delayed changes being made at this junction."Following the forthcoming feasibility study and design brief, the results of the work will be presented to Council at the end of the year.
Richard Clarke, Vice- Chairman of Peasedown St John Residents' Association, attended the first public meeting on this issue in 2005. He added: "It's important that the Council now do what they have promised. The full consultation with residents must be thorough and the final design for a roundabout at this junction must be in line with the wishes of local people."
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for North East Somerset, said: "After the most recent serious accident on January 9th, I went to Full Council on January 15th to ask for a full report on the feasibility and costs of either a roundabout, traffic lights or further speed reductions. I am really pleased that the Council has listened to my request.
"The money that is now going to be available for a full consultation is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, it will lead to a permanent solution that will make the junction safer, not just for the residents in Peasedown, but anybody using this busy road between Radstock and Bath.
"Over 1,400 signed a petition calling for urgent action in the last few months, so it is clear that many people feel strongly about the issue and they should be pleased that something is going to happen about it."
Following the preparatory work and with a design brief put together, B&NES Council will be in a position in twelve months' time to decide on whether to include the full £250,000 capital project costs for a roundabout in the 2016/17 financial year's budget.
Current Radstock Town Councillor, who will be standing for Peasedown St John as a Labour candidate, Lesley Mansell, said: "We are over the moon that the Cabinet has made such a strong commitment to safety measures.
"However, we will still need to maintain the pressure to ensure that once the initial work has been done to identify what safety measures would be most effective, the money is then found to actually do the required work."