Archived press release

Campbell's transport plan 'faint-hearted and short-sighted'

28 September 2001

Too little money in total, far too little for public transport

Friends of the Earth described as ‘faint-hearted and short-sighted' Gregory Campbell's draft transport plan for Northern Ireland [1] and claimed it would do little to avert the impending crisis in transport. The environmental pressure group condemned the plan, the subject of today's consultative conference [2], for proposing a maximum per capita transport spend of only 58 per cent of that in Britain [3].

Lisa Fagan, Transport Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, insisted that more money needed to be spent:

'Even under Gregory Campbell's most ambitious funding scenario, each person in Northern Ireland would benefit from a transport spend of only 58 per cent of that to be spent on each person in Great Britain. And, under the worst case scenario, this figure falls to only 40 per cent.' [4]

She also demanded that the available funds be divided up very differently:

‘The Minister is proposing to allocate about two thirds of his transport budget to roads but only a miserable 15 per cent to buses [5] and 16 per cent to railways [6]. Even assuming his most optimistic funding scenario, Mr. Campbell doesn't guarantee the future of the threatened Antrim-Knockmore line. And under his worst case scenario, the Whitehead to Larne, Ballymena to Derry/Londonderry (including Coleraine to Portrush) and Antrim to Knockmore lines would all close. Nowhere else in the UK are train lines being threatened with closure, indeed many parts of Europe are experiencing a revival in rail travel.'

Friends of the Earth accused Gregory Campbell of undermining his own consultation exercise by pre-empting its outcome:

‘Today Gregory Campbell is hosting a consultative conference at which the public are being given their say on how transport investment should be made over the next ten years. But last week he told us that the £55 million expansion of the M1 and Westlink was his top transport spending priority. Why is he seeking our views if he has already decided on where the money will go? No wonder people are cynical about the potential for this process to produce a strategy capable of reducing traffic menace and transport poverty.'

Notes

[1] (back) The Department for Regional Development's draft ten-year Regional Transportation Strategy.

[2] (back) Regional Transportation Strategy consultation conference, being held by the Department for Regional Development on Friday 28 September at the Stormont Hotel, Belfast.

[3] (back) The maximum transport spend proposed under the draft plan is £3.118 billion over the ten year period of the strategy. Over the same period, £180 billion is the indicated transport spend in Britain. Given that Northern Ireland's population is approximately 3 per cent of the UK total, Northern Ireland could expect a transport spend of about 3 per cent of £180 billion, being £5.4 billion. But Northern Ireland's maximum anticipated transport spend of £3.118 billion represents less than 58 per cent of £5.4 billion.

[4] (back) The minimum transport spend proposed under the draft plan is £2.168 billion over the ten year period of the strategy. Over the same period, £180 billion is the indicated transport spend in Britain. Given that Northern Ireland's population is approximately 3 per cent of the UK total, Northern Ireland could expect a transport spend of about 3 per cent of £180 billion, being £5.4 billion. But Northern Ireland's minimum anticipated transport spend of £2.168 billion represents about 40 per cent of £5.4 billion.

[5] (back) Under the three proposed funding scenarios, the percentage spend on buses is 11.9 per cent, 15.4 per cent and 18.6 per cent. The average of these is 15.3 per cent.

[6] (back) Under the three proposed funding scenarios, the percentage spend on rail is 17.3 per cent, 16.4 per cent and 14.4 per cent. The average of these is 16.03 per cent.

Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland
7 Donegall Street Place
BELFAST
BT1 2FN
Tel: 028 9023 3488
Fax: 028 9024 7556
Email: foe-ni@foe.co.uk.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust