THE contract to build

the Cinderford Northern Quarter spine road has now been awarded. But why is a road being built at all?

The college has made no public announcement of an intention to move to the site.

House builders have declared it too expensive to develop.

A hotel, if built, would probably damage the livelihoods of existing bed and breakfast establishments.

According to a report commissioned by the council, challenges to tourism in the Forest of Dean are a lack of indoor attractions and of vibrant town centres, not a lack of accommodation.

And then, of course, there’s the much vaunted employment possibilities.

According to the same report, there has been an “implied assumption that if workspace is available, businesses would fill it, but vacant premises are available in the Forest of Dean and have been

for years. Our research showed that there was no shortage of workspace in the district.”

The major problem for attracting employers to the Forest is its inaccessibility, which the spine road does nothing to address.

There seems to be a surfeit of space nowadays anyway – there is a large, newish office building on the A38 at the junction with Cole Avenue in Gloucester which has been empty for some time and currently displays a large sign declaring ‘first year’s rent for £1’.

If a building in such a favourable location cannot find tenants, why should a developer think it worth building on a difficult and expensive site such as the Cinderford Northern Quarter, which anyway has such poor transport links?

When will the council finally wake up and realise that this vanity project is going to make it a laughing stock at our expense?

– Nicola Packer, Cinderford.