WHEN the completed Lydney by-pass was opened at noon on September 8 1995 it was 60 years since formal discussions had first taken place about a Lydney by-pass.

At the same time plans were already being discussed about the junction at Bream Avenue/High Street and whether to have traffic lights or a roundabout. The county council purchased the building opposite Althorpe House ready for demolition as well as the buildings on the corner of Swan Lane and told all the tenants they would issue only six-month leases.

Although this is a county council highways issue Cllr Brian Robinson and the Forest of Dean District Council should know all these facts. Lydney is still waiting for the crucial link from the bypass as well as the bottleneck at Bream Road discussed in the 1950s.

The statement by Cllr Robinson: "There are plans in the long term to change the junction" will obviously delight the residents of Lydney knowing that in the next 30, 40 or 50 years we might get an answer to a problem discussed in the 1950s.

The people of Lydney have been waiting to get this bottleneck sorted and, as usual, all we get from the Forest of Dean District Council are the usual negative comments and even sillier statements.

Apart from the normal traffic chaos in the morning and evening, all school traffic must now try and filter onto Bream Road whether turning left or right.

To all those councillors who haven't got a clue why this is all happening can I suggest you help us resolve rather than exacerbate the problem?

It would have been helpful if Cllr Molyneux had issued the statement: "I would be happy to hear any feedback" before agreeing to the closure of the library car park (exit).

I'm even more astonished that our town council approved this without a thought for the traffic consequences and dismayed that the democratic process of consultation was not followed. So much for the "eyes and ears of the public".

If we cannot rely on our own elected town councillors to look after our interests then it is not only the town's crumbling roads that will bring Lydney to a grinding halt.

– John Bartle, Lydney.