Debbie Ward,
Chief Executive’s Office
County Hall
Colliton Park
Dorchester
Dorset
DT1 1XJ
Dear Mrs Ward,
Businesses in the Bridport and Beaminster areas are being severely affected by the closure of the Beaminster Tunnel.
Being in a southern coastal location, we are extremely reliant on visitors from the North - those visitors from the East and West having far more coastal visiting options. The area's retail and tourism businesses suffered an extremely bad 2012 season due to recession, flooding, aversion publicity surrounding the Olympics and being cut-off from the North by the Beaminster Tunnel landslide.
With the A3066 being such an important transport artery for all north-south bound traffic to and from Bridport, it was very surprising that it took four months after the landslide to decide how to fix the problem.
Tourism is a seasonally concentrated industry - a year spanning the beginning of July in one year to the end of July the following year can equate to nearly two years’ income. Losing a major geographical market segment in this way is having a catastrophic impact on trade in our local area. The road closure is forming a barrier to trade, deflecting spending away from us to areas which are easier to travel to from our catchment hinterland. Areas such as Brean, Weston-Super-Mare, and Dawlish would be natural alternatives to Beaminster and Bridport, now that the tunnel is closed.
One of the biggest remaining concerns is the lack of confidence in the new scheduled completion date, given the failure to adhere to previous schedules, the original published date being 31st May 2013. To suffer this road closure through a second summer school holiday period is a retail and tourism nightmare in close proximity. What confidence level does the Council have in the work being finished by the end of July?
The reason for writing is to ask for your personal involvement to ensure that sufficient priority and pressure is applied to what is a major local issue, the significance of which does not seem to have fully registered within Dorset County Council. If the road is not opened by the start of the school holidays, there will be tremendous impact on the local economy; an economy which is already suffering from extended recession.
Thank you in anticipation.
Yours sincerely,
Bridport and District Tourism Association
Bridport Chamber of Trade and Commerce
The Alleyways Bridport Antiques Centre
Bridport Market Traders' Federation and Market Forum
