RELUCTANTLY, I am coming round to the idea that Salisbury needs a bypass.

Not a Ring Road Mark II, a few hundred yards further out than the current clogged-up monstrosity.

Nor a reincarnation of the plan to plonk a concrete flyover across the scenic water meadows to Churchfields.

Anything along those lines would simply create pressure from the ever-hungry construction industry to build all around the new boundary that such an ‘outer ring road’ would form.

And that would increase traffic on the A roads feeding into the city to an even more unacceptable level.

No, the clue’s in the name. Bypass.

The justification for a new road must not be to enable Messrs Barratt and Bovis to erect swathes more housing which is unaffordable for the younger generation without Help to Buy – a scheme that actually keeps prices, and profits, artificially high - in a place that struggles to provide enough decently-paid jobs.

If the only people who can afford to move here are Porton Down scientists, commuters and retirees, how will our community function?

What I’m talking about is a strategic route that literally passes us by, preferably a few miles away, taking people who want to get past Choke Point Salisbury to the north or south.

At a stroke – a very expensive one, admittedly, but hey, if the nation can afford to waste billions on HS2 – it would make those journeys miles faster and more ‘efficient’.

It would remove congestion from our approach roads and roundabouts, and improve our air quality, which is at last becoming recognised as a major public health issue.

Of necessity, it would mean carving through some of the beautiful countryside either east or west of the city.

That would be a great pity, and to advocate it is not easy for someone who would normally be fighting to stop green fields disappearing under concrete.

That’s why it’s essential to build the road far enough away that it’s not just another opportunity for our local landowners to further enrich themselves via another housing bonanza.

Having waded through the latest Salisbury Transport Strategy commissioned by Wiltshire Council, I really can’t see that anything else will do.

With city traffic already predicted to increase by a whopping 20 per cent by 2026, a few junction improvements, along with a cycle path network and some extra buses, won’t cut the mustard.

That’s especially true now that Netherhampton Road looks likely to become part of a new nationwide Major Road Network, along with the A36.

Whilst that might attract funding to redesign the Gyratory (please, not a flyover!) surely it will mean more HGVs thundering through a narrow suburban road lined by houses, a hugely popular school, Booker, In-Excess and the cattle market? How will residents cope?

Not to mention those who will move into the 700-odd extra homes or send their children to the additional primary school that will soon feed onto this road?

One of the ‘justifications’ for this latest development is that air quality on Netherhampton Road is not officially dangerous.

But it will be with all those extra vehicles, won’t it?

anneriddle36@gmail.com