Running along a valley which is home to dormice and used by 13 out of 17 of the UK bat species, this bypass must be the epitome of bad town and country planning. The road is right the other side of town from the expanding industrial area between Westbury and Trowbridge and from the railway station (see map of bypass and also land use map of the area). Even a GCSE Geography student would be mystified when it came to the choice of where the road is planned to go, which is through a favourite Wiltshire beauty spot on the flanks of the Salisbury Plain near the White Horse, bathing the whole area in traffic noise, and putting a large number of highly protected wildlife species at risk - there is no guarantee that mitigation will really work. Have a look at the Photo Gallery to see the special landscape affected and a mock-up of the road. See the history of the Bypass to see the undemocratic process which can led to the circumstances today. Look at the alternatives to building it. Click on the photo below of the beautiful Wellhead valley below the Wessex Way on the scarp slope of the Salisbury Plain along which this major new road will run. Visit it before it is entirely ruined!
