A CEREDIGION county council drive to make Cardigan ‘greener’ is in reality a move to pedestrianise its High Street through stealth, it is being claimed.

Members of the ‘We Say No to Cardigan Town Pedestrianisation’ group fear such a move would turn the town centre into ‘a dead zone’ and will challenge town councillors to resist the plan when they meet next Tuesday evening.

In a letter to Cardigan Town Council, campaigners maintain the “Ceredigion: A Strategy for Greening 6 Ceredigion Towns” document will have ‘serious ramifications’ for the town’s future.

The Strategy outlines proposals for the ‘environmental and aesthetic improvement’ of six county towns, including Cardigan.

“In summary, while there are listed some good proposals for improving our town, the overall implication is the creation of a car-free High Street with access restricted to public transport and ‘appropriate’ vehicles,” states the letter.

“This is outlined without any indication of an alternative route for traffic and without any consultation – all of which points to pedestrianisation by stealth.

“The Active Travel Network Mapping Plans for Cardigan proposed last year that High Street become a primary cycle route – which would now be impossible without pedestrianisation (owing to the fact that it has been made too narrow by the extended pavements).

“The previous traffic diversion route installed during the ‘Safe Zones’ through the town’s Conservation Area, proved both unsuitable and unpopular and caused nearly two years of misery and inconvenience to residents and traders alike.

“Together, we made it abundantly clear that the High Street needs to remain accessible to traffic as it is the only suitable route through the town and provides vital access for our community.

“The previous diversion route cannot, therefore, be considered an option and it is deeply concerning that this has not been clarified in the Greening Towns Strategy document.

“For the two years preceding the last elections, we had very little in the way of response from the town council in our bid to prevent our residential streets from becoming a main traffic route and our High Street becoming a permanently-pedestrianised dead-zone.

“We now ask that our elected representatives be pro-active in challenging this Greening Towns Strategy.”