ANGRY residents have vowed to battle a proposed new £4.3m gyratory system until their voices are heard after tempers flared at a public meeting this week.

More than 100 people turned up to grill local councillors Richard Riggs and Neil Wright at Penny Pie Park on Wednesday evening, the greenspace which could be carved up under plans to build a one-way system to alleviate congestion from junction 37 of the M1 into Barnsley town centre.

Barnsley Council’s ruling cabinet members agreed the scheme at a behind-closed-doors meeting last month - although residents claim the first time they heard about the plan was in the Chronicle.

A petition against the plan was launched last weekend and more than 800 people have signed, which has led campaigners to secure a meeting with council leader Sir Steve Houghton on August 20. Residents can also have their say on the official plan on the council’s website until September 7.

Dodworth councillor Neil Wright, whose ward covers the area, said: “We decided to host the meeting in the park as it’s clear there’s been a lot of discontent in the last two weeks about what is being proposed with the gyratory system.

“Contrary to what many people believe, we found out about the final plan on the day cabinet members discussed it, so we have nothing to hide as we did not know about the details.

“I’m siding with residents and I advise them all to get their opinions submitted with the council.”

According to the council’s highways department, more than 30 options were looked at before officers came up with the new route, which will cut through the park and rejoin Dodworth Road near Horizon Community College.

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Traffic from the motorway heading towards the town centre will be diverted around the new road system from the Broadway traffic lights, which includes a no right turn into Broadway.

Lyndsey Darren, of Pogmoor Road, who started the petition, urged the council to re-think its proposals given the widespread opposition.

“The size of the petition and the public meeting in the park shows the strength of feeling there’s been about what the council is wanting to do,” the 44-year-old told the Chronicle.

“We had no consultation on this before the cabinet announced the plan and I do believe they will go ahead and do what they want regardless of what we say.

“A consultation should have happened before they decided on this option. If anything, the proposed gyratory - a plan which has been created by supposedly intelligent highways officers - will add to the traffic issue and does nothing but reduce pedestrians’ safety.”