What follows is the response I got from my enquiry to Northamptonshire Highways... In summation: "We know it's not safe, but we will use the convenient excuse of The County Council going bust annnnnd not mention the nearly £4million of funding for roadworks in THE SAME AREA"

Mr Esler

Thank you for your recent enquiry regarding crossing facilities on the A43 near Weldon.

Northamptonshire Highways are aware of concerns regarding a lack of facilities for pedestrians wishing to travel between development at Priors Hall Park and the village of Weldon. There are currently no proposals that we are aware of by the developers at Priors Hall Park to provide pedestrian links from the development to Weldon and we have confirmed that Corby Borough Council (planning authority) are not aware of any such plans either. Clearly works were carried out to the roundabout to increase capacity and provide access to the new development and the developer made no improvements for pedestrians at that time. It is possible that issues relating to the failure to deliver local services for residents on Priors Hall Park has led to an unforeseen demand for pedestrian access between the 2 settlements despite parts of Priors Hall Park falling within the parish boundary of Weldon. If there had been an expectation that residents in Weldon Lakes would be likely to use facilities in Weldon or vice versa, then this would have been dealt with at the planning stage and the developer required to provide the necessary infrastructure to accommodate this.

As this has not happened, it is very difficult for Northamptonshire County Council to step in and provide funding to provide facilities that may be required as a result of an on-going housing development. As you can imagine, we receive numerous requests for new crossings and improvements to pedestrian facilities across Northamptonshire. Previously we had a specific budget to deliver a small number of these each year (albeit nothing on the scale of a footbridge) and schemes were prioritised and ranked depending on their value both in terms of finance and anticipated usage and safety benefits. The well-publicised financial situation that the County Council finds itself in means that there is no longer a provision for this type of work and this is likely to be the case for the foreseeable future.

I am sorry we could not be of assistance on this occasion.

Kind regards

Phil Donaldson

Assistant Community Liaison Officer 
Northamptonshire Highways

Highways Depot, Bradfield Road, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire NN84HB
Tel: 01604 883400
Web: www.kierwsp.co.uk