HAVING presided over Thursday's [June 1] meeting of Devon Council Council's Teignbridge Highways and Traffic Orders Committee, which saw a series of Traffic Regulation Orders pertaining to Queen Street approved, Cllr Martin Wrigley shares his thoughts on the outcome of said meeting.

'After potholes, parking issues are pretty high on most councillor’s agenda. More often than not, it is people parking in the way that annoys the most. Sometimes it is people wanting to park where it is most convenient for them, but where others can’t get past,' writes Cllr Martin Wrigley.

'Newton Abbot’s Queen Street is usually busy with shoppers and the pavements are not really wide enough. It’s also the case that it’s a busy road and used by lots of cars looking for a place to park.

'Certainly, whenever I try to park there. I can’t find a space and end up in the car park anyhow – thinking “why didn’t I save time and go straight to the car park in the first place.”

'These days we all know that internet and out of town shopping is taking market share from the traditional high street. The cost-of-living crisis is also making trading on the high street even tougher. In the light of this, our high streets and the shops need to adapt and change to survive.

'However, times are hard for businesses right now, and any change can feel like taking an avoidable risk - we are left with a dilemma.

'Newton Abbot’s Community Plan, and more recently the Town Council’s Neighbourhood Plan has recognised this and established the vision to make Queen Street more accessible to pedestrians – following a well-worn path of boosting business in an area by doing so.

'Making changes to the way streets work takes a long time and is expensive, and is almost never universally endorsed, but is a necessary part of evolving our towns.

'One trigger that can help is government funding, but that is always fraught with difficulties and always has strings attached. In this case the projects started in 2019 have to be completed by March 2024, despite the pandemic and lockdowns interrupting the original timescales.

'Based on the original vision from the Town plans, the Devon Highways traffic team have been consulting on the plans for Queen Street and then adjusting the plans for the last two years.

'It has changed a lot as the costs have risen, and some would say that it doesn’t go far enough. The scheme will be reviewed after a year of operation to make sure that it works as hoped.'

'New traffic directions will guide visitors to the car parks, so that they can park close to the shops, and hopefully visit more than the one shop they originally intended.

'Walking along Queen Street will be easier with the wider pavements and improved with new trees and extra planting. Already shops are talking about expanding their offer to take advantage of the extra space in front of them.'

'Sadly, the Queen Street changes won’t be enough to sort out the bigger traffic queues in Newton Abbot, and how we tackle that will be a discussion for another day.

'The Queen Street changes, having been passed by the traffic orders committee will go to the Devon County Executive next month for approval to spend the money.'