Anger as Whiteley grinds to a halt in snow

5.32.11pm GMT Wed 6th Jan 2010

Liz Leffman, Prospective MP for Meon Valley, and Vivian Achwal, Lib Dem Councillor for Whiteley, have slammed Hampshire County Council after yesterday's snow caused chaos on Whiteley's only access road. The Council eventually opened the bus gate on Yew Tree Drive to relieve the situation, but did not inform anyone of this move, leaving motorists stranded and many forced to walk home and abandon their cars.

Whiteley Way and Leafy Lane, the only two roads that are open, are both on a slope, and cars were unable to cope with the slippery surfaces. Yew Tree Drive is normally only open to buses, but is a flat road which cars can manage in snow.

Liz Leffman presented a petition signed by hundreds of Whiteley residents to HCC in September 2008 asking for Yew Tree Drive and Rookery Avenue to be opened to general traffic, but HCC ignored the request so she made a second deputation in September 2009, which again was ignored.

"Hampshire County Council's insistence that the two distributor roads cannot be opened to general traffic is a nonsense, and situations like this prove that these roads are desperately needed" Liz Leffman said. "If these two roads had been open yesterday, people would not have been forced to abandon their vehicles. The blame for this chaos lies squarely with the Council and their refusal to listen to Whiteley residents. It's high time Yew Tree Drive and Rookery Avenue were fully opened"

Vivian Achwal added "If we have another fall of snow, Whiteley will be inaccessible. This is absolutely unacceptable, and I am calling on the County Council to act now and remove the Yew Tree Drive bus gate and open the road permanently to all traffic."