Southampton City Council have produced a regeneration scheme for Townhill Park estate, and under this scheme they are planning to build a new two-lane link road between Ozier Road and Cornwall Road, even though there is a perfectly adequate road, Wakefield Road, running parallel less than 200m from the proposed new link road.

The estimated cost is around £2m of public money.

Their masterplan states the new road will offer “improved access to amenities at Midanbury ” yet reading their plan, Townhill Park will have many more amenities than Midanbury, so this reason is nonsense, plus Wakefield Road already offers ample access.

Also they call the new road a “safe route” which will “improve pedestrian safety and security, and enable walking, cycling and managed vehicle connection as well as potential for a new bus routing direct from Midanbury”.

To say that changing what is currently a footpath into a new two-lane road can improve safety defies belief.

To build this new link road, several private houses will be compulsory purchased. Quite naturally this is causing great stress to the occupiers who have lived in them for several decades.

Local residents are strongly opposed to this new link road, and have submitted a large petition. In addition many separate written objections have been sent to the regeneration scheme manager Sue Jones and councillors W Payne and Peter Baillie.

STEVE SUMMERS, Midanbury, Southampton.