Lyme Regis residents demand action over traffic problems

At last week’s annual town meeting, residents called on Lyme Regis Town Council and Mayor Cllr Owen Lovell to tackle issues including large vehicles travelling through the town and car parking.

Cllr Lovell responded to concerns from locals about the congestion in the town and suggested large vehicles could be forced to enter the town through the Hunter’s Lodge junction and Uplyme rather than through the narrow Church Street and Charmouth Road.

Last month, a double decker bus crashed into a building on Church Street - while damage has been caused to the Guildhall on several occasions by large vehicles.

Cllr Lovell said: “My idea would be to stop buses coming from the east and make them come in from Hunter’s Lodge.

“If we only had them coming in from one way, it would help.”

Lyme resident Ken Gollop hit ouT at the council’s decision to award thousands of pounds of funding in grants to local organisations - instead of sorting out traffic woes and suggested warning signs to warn drivers of the narrow streets should be considered.

He said: “If this council can not fund a few thousand pounds to help something that would help the whole town, that is a pretty poor thing.

“We have spent all this money over the last two or three years when it could be benefitting the whole town.”

Cllr Lovell also explained that the town council has held meetings with Dorset County Council about traffic issues - but admitted that funding for projects was “tight”.

He added: “We had a walk around the town and we met with the local area manager.

“He has had to take thinks away to talk to other people. He took away two or three things. Money is tights and we are competing with Bournemouth and Poole.”

Lyme Regis resident Anne Sankey said car parking problems during the busy summer period means people circle around the town, looking for a space - something she described as “a mess” and “not good for the air pollution.”

Cllr Lovell said it was not practical to make changes to car parking in the town while the town council is discussing taking on the management of West Dorset District Council car parks.

He said: “We have made a request to West Dorset to take on their car parks.

“The management of the car park system would be more effective if it was under one control. We sent them a letter, but the silence has been deafening. It won’t be practical to do something until we know what’s happening with these car parks.”

Town clerk John Wright confirmed that a meeting was due to take place between the district council and the town council last week regarding the car parks.