Carnon Gate Roundabout project

The Council are very aware that residents have been telling them for some time that they would like to see the Carnon Gate roundabout tidied up as it has been neglected by the previous sponsors. Over the past 6 months the Parish Council have spent a lot of time trying to find a cost effective solution to improve the condition and appearance of the roundabout. Councillors came up with several design ideas that they felt would reflect the history of the local area and also make a nice entranceway to the Parish which they were ready to start consulting residents on.

The Council also held numerous meetings with experts from Cormac regarding the highway regulations that needed to be adhered to and the Tree Officer with regards to which plants would survive and thrive on the roundabout. This resulted in a proposal for phased works to the roundabout, the first being to totally clear it of the current weeds and plants, lay a weed membrane, make improvements to the soil in preparation for planting and covering the roundabout with pea-gravel.

The second phase of works would have been to plant mature trees and flowers when it was the best time of the year for these to survive. Testing of the soil showed that it was a very harsh environment for plants as it has poor quality soil, is water-logged and a frost pocket in the winter, and very dry in the summer which resulted in the Council being very restricted on the type of plants that would be able to survive and thrive on the roundabout.

At their Parish Council meeting on Monday 6th July, the Council considered the price provided by Cormac for the phase 1 works to the roundabout. The cost provided for this work was more than twice the £5000 that the Parish Council had budgeted for and the Parish Council came to the conclusion that this was not the best use of tax payers money. The works to the roundabout are purely cosmetic and the Council felt that this money would be better put towards other projects in Parish, such as road safety improvements works or recreational areas.

The Parish Council are very disappointed that their hard work and plans have not come to fruition and understand that residents may also be disappointed that at the present time there will be no improvements made to the roundabout.

If you would like to find out more about the work that has been done please feel free to call into the Parish Council office and speak to the Parish Clerk who will be able to tell you more about this project.