CONCERNED residents are calling for Colchester Council to back them in their battle against plans to reverse the traffic flow in a busy road ahead of a public consultation.

Essex County Council’s plans to change the direction of traffic in Priory Street will be unveiled at an exhibition at Firstsite on Thursday October 20 between 2pm and 8pm.

At the same event Colchester Council will display proposals for improvements to the Priory Street Car Park.

Member of the Priory Area Residents’ Association are against the reversal plans for a variety of reasons including fears that the street could become a rat run.

Chairman of the association Stewart Bond has called on Colchester Council to support them and believes separate meeting to discuss the two issues would be beneficial.

He said: “We want the support of the borough council because we are residents of the town.

“This is going to be such a major change to the community and the town centre and the way it is running.

“We hope we will be able to count on their support – we have full support from Will Quince and from our three ward councillors who are fully behind us.

“We have support from the mosque, the church, the school and about 95 per cent of the residents.

“We are aware that highways policy is outside the remit of the borough, but we feel most strongly that the council should not use this as an excuse to wash its hands of responsibility for our best interests and to neglect its duty of care towards us.

“We would prefer a full public meeting on the issue of reversal without the distraction of the car-park reconfiguration.”

Colchester Council leader Paul Smith said the cabinet had not made a decision on their stance, but he had been notified of concerns by residents in his St John’s ward.

He said: “From a cabinet perspective it is not a matter we have discussed yet.

“The whole traffic system is something which we do discuss but at the end of the day traffic management is something which will come from the county council and Rodney Bass rather than Colchester Council.

“My opinion as a St John’s ward councillor is that I have had concerns from residents in the ward regarding traffic in that part of town.

“If they want to come from there and drop someone into town they face a much longer journey through the already congested Brook Street.”

Mr Smith added that the idea for the joint consultation was designed to save time for residents who may be interested in both issues.

In a letter to the residents’ association Rodney Bass said he had not made a final decision on the issue.

He said: “We have said on a number of occasions that should we proceed to formal consultation we will of course consider the representations of Priory Street residents but we also have to have regard too to the interests and views of the broader community. “Trying to address the broader transportation needs of Colchester is a very difficult balancing act between competing interests. “Can I also assure you that full consultation means that I have not reached a definitive view on this issue.”

PLANS to reverse the traffic were first mooted in early 2015 when Essex County Council announced they would introduce the change on an 18-month trial basis meaning it would not need to carry out a full consultation.

But the idea was delayed following a huge backlash from residents, religious groups and the St Thomas More’s Catholic Primary School.

Essex County Council’s highways boss Rodney Bass then said the plans would be put to a full consultation.

At the moment drivers can only access Priory Street from Queen Street, but Mr Bass said he wanted cars to enter it from East Hill instead.

He said it would increase the use of Priory Street car park and would stop the dangerous practice of people performing U-turns in Lewis Gardens to access Queen Street.