A month long closure of the main road through Flockton has caused confusion and is “slaughtering” local firms.
A week into the controversial closure of the A637 Barnsley Road – a key route to the M1 from Huddersfield – villagers have revealed the chaos that has occurred.
A very small section of the major route has been closed to through traffic by Kirklees Counci l for essential drainage works, but visitors to the village are able to gain access through diversions.
Despite officials being installed at the closure points 24-hours-a-day, many vehicles that should not get through have done, and many that should, have not.
Jo Windle, owner of two village businesses, The Sun Inn pub and Jack’s Craft Ale House, said poor signposting and incorrect information from the workers, had absolutely devastated trade and could send her under – threatening ten jobs.
She said while the signs at Grange Moor said businesses were open, a road closed sign just outside the village at Haigh Lane was confusing people, with many doing u-turns and heading back.
“We should be full at this time of year, but we’ve not even done 20% of our normal weekly trade,” she said.
“Normally on a Sunday we’d have 90 to 120 covers but all I’ve got is six – that’s one table.
“We’ve got a fantastic beer garden and there’s absolutely nobody enjoying it.”
Jo said she wasn’t sure if her two pubs could survive the closure period, which is due to last for another three weeks.
“If I do reduced hours then it will affect my staff – they’ve got bills to pay."
Jo said she was in “despair” at how badly Kirklees had handled the diversions and signposting.
She said the workers at the closure points had initially been letting everyone through and then letting no one through.
One had been telling people that all the businesses were shut.
She has even spent £150 printing her own signs to say the pubs are open but feels the “road closed” sign at Haigh Lane, agonisingly just a few steps from the Sun Inn, was deterring people from taking the diversion into Emley and back.
Jimmy Paxton, the Flockton representative for Kirkburton Parish Council, said: “We knew this was going to happen, some of the signposts are not very good.
“What annoys me is the one that says the road is closed at the Sun Inn. It doesn’t say the Sun Inn is still open.
“Businesses are being slaughtered by this. I really think Kirklees should look at their business rates and give them some relief, even if it’s only for a month.”
While normal vehicles can access Flockton, HGVs are completely banned as they cannot navigate the narrow roads of the alternative route.
That hasn’t stopped many from sailing past the closure operatives and getting stuck.
One foreign lorry driver was forced to reverse his huge 18-wheeler over a mile backwards along Barnsley Road, while another made it into the centre of Flockton from the Wakefield side and had to do a u-turn in the Sun Inn car park.
David Rawling, a Flockton resident who is campaigning for a bypass said: “It’s totally irresponsible and extremely dangerous.
“The roadworks may only be with us for a few weeks but the HGVs will keep coming through, both ways, until we have a long term solution.”
