PUBLIC consultation will play a vital role in whether plans for a £30million by-pass to ease years of traffic misery in Colne get the go-ahead, say council chiefs.

The controversial Colne-Thornton-in-Craven new road aims to provide relief from the end-of-motorway snarl-ups which plague the North Valley area daily.

But the project is in competition with three other major schemes and only one will get the go-ahead from Lancashire County Council this year.

Pendle council is backing the local scheme and chief executive Stephen Barnes says: "Views of local people and businesses are key factors which Lancashire County will take into account."

Consultation ends next month and county chiefs will make a final decision in July on which scheme to put to the Government.

Pendle is targeting 1,600 people on its Citizens' Panel with a road survey out this week.

A public exhibition takes to the road next week to give anyone affected by the proposal the chance to have a say.

The three options being put forward for comment are:

Do nothing and suffer increasing problems of congestion and road safety in Colne town centre and residential streets and villages.

Build the by-pass to take through traffic away from Colne and surrounding villages of Foulridge, Kelbrook, Earby and Thornton.

Go for a no by-pass alternative with improvements to the A56, especially at North Valley and the Thornton sections, and open up the old railway for recreational purposes. Environmental groups have expressed concern over the project, stating damage to wildlife and greenfields in the new road corridor is too high a price to pay for the traffic through route.

The consultation exhibitions are: 10am-8.30pm: February 1, Colne Municipal Hall; February 2, Foulridge Village Hall; February 3, Kelbrook and Sough Village Hall; February 4, Earby New Road Community Centre.

10am-4pm: February 5, Thornton-in-Craven Village Hall.

Response forms are included in brochures, available at libraries and post officer, should either be handed in at the exhibitions or posted to Lancashire County Council by February 28.

The brochures are available at libraries at Skipton, Earby and Colne and at Kelbrook and Foulridge post offices and at Nelson town hall.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.