Buses and vans will no longer be driving through Newbury town centre when the Parkway development is officially opened in October. The council in West Berkshire have rubber-stamped many significant changes to the traffic flow through the town during a meeting of their executives.

The changes include removing the taxi rank from the Market Place, the pedestrianisation will be changed to 5pm instead of 6pm and the Park Way Bridge will become two-way. These changes will see Newbury town centre become almost traffic-free during the day, with the only exceptions being emergency vehicles, security vans dropping off and collecting cash and postal vans which will be covered by commercial vehicle insurance.

David Betts, head of the council’s transport, said “Negotiations have taken place with representatives from the taxi association’s right up to the time of the executive meeting; such was the council’s desire to make sure the changes were right for everyone. We will not be pleasing everybody at every point. If we tried to do that we would never get anything done. This is the best scheme going forward for the town centre.”

Overall local residents are delighted with the commitment to removing the buses as well as the unnecessary vans and they welcome the change to the pedestrianisation. The issues raised by the taxi firms have been taken on board and as recompense a number of new taxi points will be allocated. These changes have followed 12 months of talks with local organisations, including the Newbury Retail Association and the West Berkshire Disability Alliance.

Under the proposals no private vehicle will be able to use the Park Way Bridge at all, with traffic instead using the designated A339, with the bridge becoming exclusive to buses, bicycles, taxis and emergency vehicles. The change to the pedestrianisation zone time means that taxis and cars will be able to use the roads in the town centre during the evening.

Just as van drivers across the UK thought that December couldn’t get any worse, industry experts warn of another big blow for drivers.

After a horrendous three weeks of winter weather which has seen van drivers spending nights trapped in their vehicles, miles from home and without much hope of concluding their deliveries, several motoring organisations are forecasting even more bad news for the transport industry over the next 24 hours. The Automobile Association (AA) is warning that petrol prices may well hit an all time high today. They are forecasting forecourt prices of 122p per litre in places across the UK this week.

Currently the record is 121.6p per litre which was achieved last May but with the price for crude oil hitting new highs, and the Government increase in VAT due in January, 121.6 may almost sound reasonable a few weeks down the line. To make things even worse the Government is planning another hike in fuel tax in the New Year.

For those running a business from their vehicle the planned price rise will of course impact more than most, with van drivers already seeing other costs such as commercial vehicle insurance testing their business profit and loss accounts. It is certain that for some, the increased fuel costs could prove the last straw.

Edmund King, President of the AA, speaking of the increases said “It comes at a particularly bad time for drivers who have struggled with appalling winter weather and often seen their fuel drain away while stuck in snowbound traffic jams.

“Although the wholesale price of petrol has risen sharply in the past fortnight, there is a growing feeling of helplessness among drivers with winter travel disruption and ever-rising fuel costs.”