 Alliance against road building |
Alliance against road building |
|
Road Block is proud to be part
of the sustainable transport body Transport 2000
as from 1 January 2007. Road Block will still operate as the network
of local community groups but as a project of |
|
CONTENTS (2) Transport and climate news * Road pricing
- good or bad? It depends! * Help
make traffic reduction in the East of England a reality * Traffic
pollution damages children's lungs, research shows * Newbury
has third worst congestion in Britain! * Roads costs
go through the roof * Heysham
to M6 Link (Lancaster Northern Bypass) - public inquiry granted! * Object
to the Mottram Tintwistle Bypass! * Weymouth
Relief Road - third planning application, over 5000 objections! * Bexhill
to Hastings Link Road - doubles in cost! * Norwich
Northern Distributor Road criticised by government advisor * A494
Queensferry 'bypass', Wales - 7 lane super highway? No way! * Aberdeen
Western Peripheral Route - unwanted! * Harlow North
- act now to reject the housing and road plans * Thames Gateway
Bridge, London - calls for inquiry to be re-opened * M3 through
Hill of Tara - Ireland's 'Twyford Down' * A14 Fen
Ditton to Ellington route consultation * Rotherwas Access Road: Council ignores strong public opposition * Actress
Prunella Scales says Kingskerswell Bypass is 'fawlty' * M11 widening:
"climate double whammy" * Local
residents demonstrate against Southend Priory Park scheme * Titnore
Woods protest camp still there! |
|
- Visit the Roadblock website ** Demonstration against the
M3 through the Hill of Tara in ** Object to the draft
orders for the A628 Mottram to Tintwistle Bypass
in the ** Respond to the A14 preferred
route consultation - see below ** Prevent the East
of England Plan being watered down on traffic reduction
** Ask the government
to throw out the Harlow North plan out the East of England Plan ** Sign the Downing Street online
petition against roadbuilding - "We the undersigned petition the
Prime Minister to scrap the £12 billion road building programme and
invest the money in public transport and making cycling and walking
more attractive to reduce CO2". Sign up here ** Sign the |
|
(2) TRANSPORT
AND CLIMATE NEWS It's been a busy few weeks for
Road Block and Help make
traffic reduction in the East of The government is set to reject
some of the brilliant recommendations of the East of England independent
panel who examined the regional plan. Please respond to the consultation
by 9 March. The East of England regional plan is the first one to
go before the government and so it is very important it is not watered
down. Remember, a plan like this is coming to your region soon so
this consultation provides a unique opportunity to set a precedent
for what the Secretary of State can expect when she fails to accept
necessarily radical aims for regional transport policy in the context
of climate change. In June 2006 the Panel recommended that reducing
traffic growth and CO2 should be at the heart of the region's plans
(see RB bulletin 26 June 06). However minister Ruth Kelly has rejected
this as "unrealistic" and wants to water it down. Please respond
online. It’s simple and takes just 1 minute, but please
do so before 9 March as the consultation closes then. Traffic pollution
damages children's lungs, research shows Research published in the Lancet
medical magazine shows that exposure to traffic pollution stunts
children's lung development. Researchers at the Newbury has
third worst congestion in Yet another report has come
out that has concluded that the Newbury Bypass was a total failure,
making this now the fourth report to come to this conclusion! The
latest report
was by Trafficmaster who look at national congestion levels. They
examined term-time traffic and found that Newbury had the third worst
school-related congestion in the country. Opponents of the bypass
in the 1990s argued strongly that congestion was caused principally
by local traffic and that the bypass would make little difference
to the town whereas improvements to public transport would. For more information, see the BBC online. Roads costs
go through the roof Expect the enormous cost of
roads to hit the news soon with the imminent publication of two important
reports. The first is a DfT commissioned report by ex-DfT official
Mike Nichols, looking only at rising costs of Highways Agency schemes.
Ahead of the report's publication, the Head of Procurement at the
HA has left whilst just last week the Head of Major Projects was given
the push! The second report will be the conclusions of the National
Audit Office one year investigation into rising costs of HA projects,
but also local authority road schemes. This will be looking at ways
that cost increases are managed, so expect the DfT to come in for
criticism too. Roads Block has been investigating and highlighting
rising roads costs, discovering that the DfT will approve the schemes
at a lower price, then the true costs are revealed as the scheme goes
through the planning process but by that time the political momentum
builds, and ministers have never rejected a scheme because of increased
costs, whilst cancelling many tram schemes for this reason. Road Block
has created a new page on
its website highlighting this issue. Just recently
the A14 scheme has increased from £490m to £617-714m (depending on
route choice). Whilst the A120 Braintree to Marks Tey scheme has leapt
up another £50 million from £320 to £370m. |
|
Heysham to
M6 Link ( The inspiring and very effective
Transport Solutions for Lancaster
and Morecombe (TSLM) group scored an important victory on 9 Feb
07 as the government agreed to 'call-in' the planning application
for a full independent public inquiry. Call-ins are very rare nowadays
so this was a very significant turn of events and bodes well for the
government's decision on funding for the £137 million scheme, which
the DfT have sat on for over 18 months! Lancaster County Council admit
the road will release an extra 24,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in
to the atmosphere every year, one of the worst schemes in the country.
Meanwhile documents obtained through Freedom of Information reveal
that the original claim that the road would generate 6014 new jobs
have been exaggerated by 70 pre cent! The council now claim that the
road would only bring 1822 jobs, which TSLM claim is still exaggerated.
A parliamentary answer from the Department of Trade and Industry has
revealed that the government is considering paying a £45,000 contribution
to the council for a study into integrated transport for the district.
TSLM argue that the study should be done first, then the council should
examine whether a road is still needed. Object to
the Mottram Tintwistle Bypass!
The Highways Agency have had
to re-issue the draft orders and Environmental Statement for the Mottram
to Tintwistle Bypass in the Weymouth
Relief Road - third planning application, over 5000 objections and
local group formed! Things are not looking good
for the Weymouth Relief Road as over 5000 people objected to Dorset
County Council's third planning application. During the second planning
application over 4000 objected with 350 of them from the local area
(see RB bulletin 20 Dec 06). The road only attracted 180 supports.
The local Dorset Echo newspaper is so biased it ran a story saying
"76% of bypass objectors from outside area", rather than "almost double
local people object to the road than support it". The council, when
it realised the numbers against the scheme, declared the second application
void and opened it up again. This enabled the local MP to rustle up
more supports to the road so that it may now be a close run thing.
Local people fed up with how the local media and MP distort the facts
about the road are mobilising
and have formed the Bypass
the Bypass group, which will formally launch on 2 March. The planning
application will be decided (by Bexhill to
East Sussex County Council have
admitted that the cost of the dreadful Hastings road scheme has almost
doubled up to £89 million, just 2 and half years after being first
approved at £47 million. The government originally provisionally approved
the scheme in Dec 2004 conditional on the scheme costs not going up.
An alliance of groups, including the Hastings Alliance, has written
to the DfT asking for funding to be removed from the scheme. Meanwhile
a top transport consultant and government adviser, Dr Denvil Coombe,
has written a report about the scheme which concludes that non-road
alternatives were never examined by the council or the government
- see the Transport
200 press release. This concern is shared by many groups opposing
road schemes, in particular the Weymouth Relief Road. Dr Denvil Coombe also wrote
a report about the Norwich Northern Distributor Road (NNDR) which
concluded that case for the road "has not been proven in a satisfactorily
objective manner". Dr Coombe said that an assessment of different
transport options seems to have been written with the main aim of
proving that the NNDR is required! Norfolk County Council wants to
build the £100 million road to accommodate massive growth in north
A494 Queensferry
'bypass',
The Welsh Assembly Government
want to build a 7-lane highway to allow more lorries bound for Local campaigners sent out an
unequivocal message: people don't want the £400 million Aberdeen Bypass.
Well over 5000 objections were lodged against the draft road orders
for the bypass, which would run to the west of Harlow North
- act now to reject the housing and road plans Stop Harlow North are fighting
a massive 20,000 housing development and road plan. They persuaded
an independent planning panel to reject the plans at a hearing into
the East of England regional plan. However the government propose
to over turn the panel's recommendations, and give the go-ahead. So
much for democracy! You have until 9 March to respond to the public
consultation on the draft East of England Plan. You
can help: Complete the form on the Stop Harlow North
website. Thames Gateway
Bridge, Local campaign groups, Bexley
Council, John Austin MP and Friends of the Earth are calling for the
re-opening of the public inquiry into the Thames Gateway Bridge (TGB)
motorway as new evidence has come to light. Transport for London (TfL)
failed to mention at the year long inquiry that tolls would be increased
on the Dartford Tunnel (meaning traffic will re-route), tolls are
being considered on the Blackwall Tunnel, that TfL are now considering
congestion charging in Greenwich and there are plans to widen nearby
Knee Hill. It is imperative that TfL re-model their traffic figures
since evidence presented to the TGB Inquiry assumed there would be
no toll or congestion charge at Blackwall Tunnel, no increase in tolls
at the Dartford Crossing and no widening of Knee Hill. Does anyone
believe that TfL knew nothing about these schemes yet failed to bring
them to the attention of the Inspector? Other evidence includes the
Stern Review, a new incinerator, the whole of Bexley being made an
Air Quality Management Area and new reports on the detrimental affects
of pollution from vehicles. The Leader of Bexley Council, Cllr Ian
Clement, has written to minister Ruth Kelly urging her to reconvene
the inquiry into the Thames Gateway Bridge in light of reports of
a new toll charge for the Blackwall Tunnel: "We are fundamentally
opposed to the imposition of tolls on the Blackwall Tunnel, which
would change all of the traffic forecasts, the economic appraisal,
the environmental assessment and the business case for the bridge."
Local campaigners from Action Group Against the Bridge (AGAB)
are waiting with baited breath to see what the government decide to
do. M3 through
Hill of Tara - The Irish government want to
push the M3 motorway through the Hill of Tara, the ancient seat of
the High Kings of Ireland and one of the most archaeologically and
culturally significant sites in the world. This sounds very similar
to the M3 motorway pushed through Twyford Down at A14 Fen Ditton
to Ellington route consultation The Highways Agency is currently
reconsulting on route choices for the monster £640 million A14 scheme
near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire. They have been forced to reconsult
after local resident Nita Tinn won her Judicial Review of the appalling
way the HA had 'consulted' previously (see RB bulletin 31 Oct 06).
On offer are three equally appalling routes which will bring more
noise and pollution to rural communities, and the costs of the scheme
have now leapt up from £490 million to £617-714 million. The problem
is HGVs coming from Felixstowe port on their way to the Efforts to oppose the Actress Prunella
Scales says Kingskerswell Bypass is 'fawlty' Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesman
Alistair Carmichael went to M11 widening:
"climate double whammy" On 27 February the transport
minister announced intentions to progress plans for yet more motorway
widening, this time around Stansted Airport - creating a double whammy
for climate change. The widening between junctions 6-8 will cost the
taxpayer £698 million, and will allow for more car based sprawl in
this already over stretched part of the country, and assist the climate
damaging expansion of On 12 February, campaigners
braved sub-zero temperatures to begin their camp in the Rospuda Valley,
Poland, in an attempt to stop a major road scheme. The Polish Government
has approved eight proposed road developments running through the
Augustow and Work has started on widening
junctions 31-32 just south of Sheffield, and continues on junction
6a-10 near Local residents
demonstrate against On 22 Feb about 250 local residents
protested about Southend Borough Council's plans to push a £25 million
road through Titnore Woods
protest camp still there! The protest camp at Titnore
Woods is now nine months old, and still there, despite having a High
Court eviction order hanging over them. The camp is protecting ancient
woodland from a massive housing and supermarket development. The road
widening plans seem to have been dropped - for now. See the Protect
Our Woodland (POW!) website. |