Safety concerns as Thatcham High Street closes

High Street will be closed between 8am and 5pm for four days while West Berkshire Council contractors resurface the road.
The work is scheduled to start on Wednesday, July 16, and finish by noon on Saturday, July 19, with traffic being diverted via the A4.
In a letter the council ‘respectfully requests’ that residents make alternative arrangements to park off High Street between 8am and 5pm from July 16 to 18, in order to allow access for contractors’ equipment.
It adds that residents may find that vehicular access to their properties will be restricted for short periods during the work. Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times.
However, the closure has been criticised over safety concerns and its impact on businesses.
Mike Payne, from the United Reformed Church, said: “Yes, the High Street certainly needs to be re-surfaced but to be closed with just a fortnight's warning of major disruption is a bit shortsighted and, yet again, does not appear to have been thought through.
“It is a difficult one, but it’s all ifs, buts and maybes. Well, an ambulance would be allowed through, or it could come the wrong way into the High Street.
“What is going to happen when they shut the spur road and the stretch of the High Street in front of The Old Mews? The police use the Hub, supposing they need to come out of there in a hurry?”
The criticism follows previous complaints over the closure of the High Street spur to the A4 Bath Road to allow the redevelopment of the former ATS tyre exhaust centre at 29 High Street.
A spokeswoman for West Berkshire Council, Peta Stoddart-Crompton, said that approximately 130 letters were delivered to residents and businesses by hand and notification of the project was issued on July 3.
She said: “The country market, which is held at Thatcham church on a Wednesday, will require participants’ vehicles to arrive before the closure is in place.
"Vehicles will be able to leave without restriction. However, no vehicle access will be allowed once the closure is in place. Pedestrian access will not be restricted.
“Emergency vehicles are exempt from the closure and will be allowed access with due care and site assistance.”
She added that the council had a statutory duty to maintain highways under the Highway Act, which does not provide for any compensation to those affected by the carrying out of such works.
The Council says that alternative tariff car parks can be found at Kingsland Centre, while there are privately operated tariff car parks at the Co-op off Broadway and Memorial Hall.