Featherstone 'chock-a-block' with traffic and HGVs on 'daily basis', councillor claims

Local Labour councillor Dick Taylor said the town, which is on of the main routes between Wakefield and Pontefract, was "chock-a-block" on a daily basis.

He also said that wagons were increasingly travelling down one narrow street in the area, where children walk to school.

Coun Taylor made the comments during a discussion about air quality on Monday.

Wakefield Council's climate change committee was told that pollution levels had fallen significantly across various parts of the district.

But Coun Taylor told the meeting that emissions linked to car journeys in Featherstone could not have come down.

He said: "Let me assure you there isn't less transport in Featherstone.

"It's chock-a-block on a daily basis and on Friday it's a no-go area.

"I know the rest of the district is having these problems, but we've now got an abundance of 40-tonne trucks coming through a B-road to Featherstone and then going off to Pontefract."

Coun Taylor suggested part of the problem was that HGVs were no longer travelling through Ackworth, where air quality has improved substantially over the last five years according to council data, and instead using Featherstone's roads.

He added: "They're going down a little street called Hall Street, where you'd struggle to get a car down.

"I'm wondering about the amount of pollution that must be on that road.

"That's used by young schoolchildren walking to school on a daily basis.

"Could something be done about it because it can't be right?"

Council officers promised to investigate the issue.

Featherstone is the most southerly of the Five Towns, which includes Pontefract, Castleford, Normanton and Knottingley, and its location means that motorists often have to travel through it to reach their destination.

As well hosting the A645, which links Wakefield and Pontefract, it's also connected by road to Ackworth and Hemsworth to the south.

Local Democracy Reporting Service