Swindon Council have rowed back on a pledge they made to insert a solar sound barrier along the A419 to protect existing households from the noise of the dual carriageway.
Back in 2014, the Cabinet agreed the principle of developing solar noise barriers along the A419, after a motion was agreed by all political parties.
The Cabinet had allocated £603K towards this purpose, however at last week’s Cabinet Meeting the Council administration agreed to remove this money, therefore ending the project.
Cllr Jane Milner-Barry, Labour Group’s Shadow Lead for Sustainability, said:
“This is a very sad decision by the Cabinet. In 2014 the whole Council got behind the idea of constructing a solar sound barrier along the A419. It would have been a great advertisement for the town, with motorists passing the solar panels seeing that Swindon is prepared to think outside the box to improve our environment and tackle climate change.
“The promise to deliver ‘solar noise barriers along roads including the M4 at Wichelstowe’ by 2030 is one of the 30 pledges which SBC has proudly printed on the walls of its Council offices. But now the A419 barrier has been abandoned, and we are told that the M4 solar barrier will only be delivered if a private company agrees to take the electricity it generates. Meanwhile hundreds of households in eastern Swindon continue to suffer from unacceptable levels of noise. One might ask what the 30 pledges are worth.”
