Postponed: Compton and East Ilsley no longer due to be cut off by five-month road closure as water works put on hold
A five-week road closure that would have cut off two West Berkshire villages and led to a 13-mile diversion has been postponed.
Thames Water was due to start a five-month programme of works on the road between Compton and East Ilsley, leading to concerns it would cut off businesses.
The landlord of a village pub told Newbury Today that his customers would be faced with a choice of staying away or taking a detour down ‘dangerous’ country lanes to enjoy a pint.
The works start on Monday, July 29, with a lane and footpath shut on Fidler’s Lane between its junctions with Cow Lane and the High Street.
Drivers will be able to get through the works on a ‘give and take’ basis.
A second closure had been due to start a week later, on Monday, August 5, on Cow Lane near Compton Road, and continue through to Friday, August 30.
The work was due to continue with traffic lights in place until Wednesday, November 6.
But Thames Water said the work to upgrade a mains pipe will not go ahead, and a rescheduled date has yet to be set.
Over the summer, National Highways is planning road closures on the slip roads to the A34.
The first set of drainage works will be overnight from 9pm on Monday, August 12, ending at 7am the following morning and affects the northbound exit by Copperage Road.
The second, from 10pm on Friday, August 16, through to 7am the following morning, affects the Abingdon Road slip road into the village.
Among those who will be affected by the works is Kenneth Shaw, landlord of The Swan in Compton’s High Street.
Speaking ahead of the decision to postpone the works, he said strong trading over the warmer months is important for his business so it can tide over the quieter months.
“I’ve been in this game for 25 years, and summer is really important to us [as a business],” he said. “Winter comes and no one’s around, you need a good summer.”
The pub has large gardens complete with play equipment for children and there are special offers to keep youngsters happy including a Mr Whippy-style ice cream.
“When the kids are off [for the school holidays], we’re doing kids eat for £1, to help families,” he said.
The pub is also planning a festival over the August bank holiday, including a barbecue and live music.
But Mr Shaw has concerns that people won’t come when the road is closed.
“People say you can get here via the diversion, but those back roads are really dangerous, aren’t they?,” he said. “When the works start, people won’t come in.”
He continued: “We will get a few younger people coming along, but not their mum and dad.
“If you have to drive 26 miles extra to get a meal, you go past 10 pubs to get there. That’s the biggest problem. We’re going to find people will go down the A34 to East Ilsley, and there are two pubs there.”
He was also concerned for his team of seven, as the diversion will add to their working days.
“Five weeks is a long time [to close a road],” he said.
“I think the village will support us, in the evenings and at lunch.
“It is quite a big village and they do support the pub – nice people, all of them.”
Mr Shaw’s concerns over older clientele extends to a weekly coffee morning, held on Wednesdays.
He said he considered cancelling it because of the works, as it attracts a good number of people who travel by car.
“We do it to get people out … it’s somewhere to go, isn’t it?,” he explained. “We put the coffee on, make sausage rolls, a bit of cake, a bit of a chat.
“We will see if we can still go ahead with it and see who comes. It will probably be a bit quieter.
“I’m not going to give it up, I’ll be doing my normal things.”
He wanted the water company to take a different approach.
“Why can’t Thames Water do their job at night?
“It might cost more money, and we understand they’ve got a job to do, but if they shut the road around 10pm and worked through to 6am that would suit everybody.”
Mr Shaw said he was told another idea he had was not possible.
“I said: ‘Why don’t you have traffic lights like normal people do?’ “They said they couldn’t as the road isn’t wide enough,” he said.
“Last week or two, they dug two holes to see.
“I called them up to see what they are looking for.
“They dug the holes and cleared off. A week later they came back to fill them in.
“So, there were traffic lights there all last week, they can use them.”
Mr Shaw did say Thames Water needed to do the work but was frustrated with the response he was getting from them and West Berkshire Council.
“They have probably heard it all before,” he said. “It takes over 20 minutes to get through to people, then you’ve got the wrong department, and they send you somewhere else.
“They fob you off, they are a really rubbish council.
“I’m not a fool, you keep building houses, but the drains can’t fit more things into it.”
