Residents say traffic chaos has made village a ‘death trap’

HEAVY traffic and careless parking are turning the picture postcard village of Galmpton into a potential death trap, residents fear.

They say emergency services cannot get to them through the congested village.

People park, pick up and drop off at two schools in the narrow roads. The village also has a nursery, and the road through it takes visitors to the National Trust house and garden at Greenway.

Galmpton is gridlocked every weekday, they say, and some people even park across driveways.

Now the Galmpton Residents Association has a traffic steering group to tackle the problem.

Group member Pat Brodie said meetings were being arranged with village primary school, the grammar school and

Pat Brodie, Ray Elliott and Penny Charratt the National Trust.

She said: “There has already been an incident where an ambulance couldn’t get throughbecause of the cars parked on both sides of the road. If there was a fire in the middle of the village at three in the afternoon, the fire engine wouldn’t get through.

“This could be a matter of life and death and the traffic is only going to get worse.”

Campaigners say the traffic has got so bad villagers will not go out at certain times for fear of confrontation with other drivers. “There are confrontations all the time,” said Pat. “People’s behaviour is getting more and more abusive, and you just can’t get through.”

Villagers are having to pay extra to have deliveries at week- ends, because lorries can’t get through to them during the week because of thoughtless parking.

“Work is due to begin next year on the Windy Corner junction, and that is going to have a real impact on the village as people use it as a rat-run around the Paignton roadworks. Most of our roads don’t have pavements and there is a serious risk to life here. I can see somebody being run over. This is all about giving Galmpton a voice again, hopefully before there is a tragic accident.”

The group wants the schools to encourage staff and older students to share cars or use public transport where they can. The group backs parking restrictions and has been promised a monthly visit from a traffic warden to monitor parking issues.

The group can be contacted at galmptontraffic@gmail.com or leters can be dropped off at Galleon Stores.

Picture: ANDY STYLES