Plans for a dual carriage bypass for Leybourne and West Malling have split opinion. Both motorists who use the A228 during peak traffic times and those living along its route in Leybourne want a bypass built as soon as possible. But others living in the area want to prevent a piece of green belt land near Leybourne Grange from being sacrificed for the project, arguing that Castle Way, Leybourne, could simply be widened. Those concerns have forced a public inquiry next month into Kent County Council's compulsory purchase order of the land. The question that has faced residents and planners over the past decade has been whether a four-lane Castle Way would adequately serve traffic to and from Kings Hill or if an entirely new road should be built to the west, with the possibility of widening it to six lanes in the future. Here, two people air opposing views

GLENN HARROLD - OPPOSED TO THE BYPASS

I recently read a letter in the Kent Messenger from a councillor who actually claimed Leybourne gets grid-locked because of the traffic in Castle Way.

This is utter rubbish and typical of the hype from the pro-bypass group.

I drove down Castle Way the other day at 5.30pm and there was hardly any hold-up at all. It took me a couple of minutes without stopping to drive from one end to the other. It is just nowhere near as bad as some like to claim.

Simply put, there is just not enough traffic on Castle Way to warrant a £27 million-plus dual carriageway.

The truth is the people campaigning for the bypass are the residents of Castle Way whose house prices will rise if their road is bypassed.

As the new route is going to be near to my house, I have a vested interest in the bypass not going ahead.

However, that aside, I would always be against the road from a moral standpoint as I find it abhorrent that they are carving up the countryside and part of protected woodland to satisfy a minority.

Roads like this only end up creating more traffic anyway. More annoying is the fact that they are sanctioned by faceless bureaucrats who only have their own interests at heart. These people are jobsworths who don’t really care about what local people want and what is good for the area and environment.

They just have an agenda and a job to do and that is it. Tough luck everyone else.

CLLR BOB ULPH - IN FAVOUR OF THE BYPASS

This bypass is not just about relieving the despair for Leybourne residents, it is about the quality of life for many thousands more who are effected by the daily gridlock of traffic in Leybourne.

The noise levels along Castle Way are unacceptable and getting progressively worse as is the level of pollution which is at its highest adjacent to the primary school and church. The flow of vehicles along Castle Way is already more than five times the acceptable level for a road of this size.

The business and housing developments at Kings Hill and Leybourne Lakes and the proposed developments at Leybourne Grange and Holborough Quarry mean that an already grid-locked Leybourne will become a major bottleneck unless a bypass is built. Many villages along the A228 already have bypass schemes but not Leybourne.

It is ironic that West Malling Parish Council campaigned vigorously for its own bypass and sought the support of neighbouring parish councils, including Leybourne, but gives no support for a similar bypass scheme for Leybourne.

It has been suggested by a political minority group that Castle Way should be dualled. This would mean that houses along Castle Way would be demolished, the ancient parish church of Leybourne would lose part of its grounds and the village school would probably lose some or all of the old school buildings.

This is totally unacceptable. The only credible solution is for the bypass to be built now, without any further delay.