Brian Garlick has been forced out of the home he was born in amidst the building of the new A417 in Gloucestershire and may have to use a private £6m tunnel to access it
A pensioner will have to access his home through a quarter mile-long private tunnel after the construction of a new road which leaves him stranded.
Brian Garlick is currently living in a caravan but still paying the bills and council tax for his Gloucestershire home where he was born, which sits right on the edge of the blueprint for a three-mile carriageway under construction. The A417 Missing Link will connect Gloucester and Cirencester, but its location will leave Brian’s home inaccessible.
While National Highways initially offered to buy Brian’s home for £750k, the offer was withdrawn – leaving Brian stuck with the property. The project is now not due for completion until 2027.
Now he says plans are being drawn for a private tunnel, costing between £4m to £6m, so that he will be able to get in and out. The 69-year-old has been left fuming over the situation and says he has been out of pocket over the road construction.
“At first I was a little bit shocked (when they suggested a tunnel) and a little bit over the top but when you looked at it there was no real other alternative for them to do it,” he said. “If they had paid me out like they initially said that would have been it.”
Brian is currently living alone in a caravan park while the carriageway is built and has to give contractors 21 days’ notice to access his home. The 1950s property has been his mum’s and granddad’s, and after learning of the plans for the road, had been offered £750k for it. The offer was later withdrawn.
“The way they have handled everything has been absolutely diabolic,” he said. “I live in a fifth wheel caravan – and I had to buy it myself. The contractors are only paying for the costs of the campsite fees and the petrol.
“I still have to pay the council tax, electricity and all the bills for the house. I have never had an apology from National Highways. They only came to the house in June and said the time has run out and we are not doing anything else. I haven’t heard anything from National Highways from then until now.”
The project costing £460m is meant to reduce congestion at the current single-carriageway bottleneck stretch. Brian added: “When it is all done the roads will be far better. The actual tunnel will make it safer. Don’t know how the noise levels are going to be.
“They say they won’t do any extra glazing until one year and one day of the road being officially open. You got to live with it for a year and then if there is noise here we are going to have to wait one year.”
Missing Link programme manager for National Highways, Steve Foxley, said: “We had lengthy discussions with Mr Garlick ahead of construction regarding any disruption to him and agreed a way forward that worked for both parties. We will continue to do our best to address any concerns and to minimise any impacts to the community and residents from our work on the scheme.”
National Highways said it wouldn’t be specific on the cost of individual elements of the scheme but added the underpass, which has to meet design standards, will also provide access to the telephone masts and emergency services. The spokesperson added; “There was always going to be an underpass, and we are currently progressing the final design.”
