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17 Nov 1998
The controversial Newbury bypass - expected to open in the next few
days - will be an “ineffective and environmentally destructive
waste of money” says Friends of the Earth.However, the campaign
against the building of the road was a major factor in changing Government
attitudes to road building. Since work started on the bypass in January
1996,over 130 road schemes have been scrapped and over 60 shelved saving
the taxpayer billions of pounds.
The 8.5 mile dual carriageway:
Over 130 road schemes have been scrapped by successive Governments. In November 1996, Sir George Young removed 110 schemes from the National Roads Programme. In July 1997, John Prescott dropped three more as part of his'accelerated review' of the roads programme. He dropped another 18 (and shelved another 63) during the full roads review which was announced in July 1998. There are now only 37 schemes in the Government's forward programme - around 22% of the number in January 1996.
The Government has published a Transport White Paper “A New Deal for Transport” which recognises that: “our road network is largely complete” [4.38] and that: “simply building more and more roads is not the answer to traffic growth.'Predict and Provide' didn't work” [1.3].
The Government has published a Roads White Paper which aims to “end the discredited 'predict and provide' approach which encouraged traffic growth by expanding road space to meet demand without sufficient regard to wider considerations” and “move away from an exclusive reliance on road-building and place much greater emphasis on finding other, more sustainable ways of tackling traffic problems” (DETR Press Notice 661 31 July 1998).
Parliament has passed two Road Traffic Reduction Acts - drafted
by FOE, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru - which require first local
authorities and then the Secretary of State to publish plans for
traffic reduction.
Tony Juniper, Policy and Campaigns Director at Friends of the Earth
said:
“The Newbury bypass will go down in history as an ineffective
and environmentally destructive waste of money. Newbury certainly
has a major traffic problem but building this bypass was not the
answer. The money spent destroying some of the finest countryside
in southern England could have been far better spent in investing
in other measures to reduce traffic in Newbury such as traffic calming,
public transport and better facilities for walking and cycling.
However, the campaign against the Newbury bypass marks a watershed
in transport policy. Since work started on the bypass over one hundred
roads have been scrapped by both Conservative and Labour Governments
saving the tax payer billions of pounds. The challenge for the Government
is to reduce road traffic by getting people out of their cars and
into alternatives, and not repeat recent mistakes such as giving
the go-ahead to the Birmingham Northern Relief Road and the widening
of the M25 near Heathrow.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] The bypass crosses and damages four SSSIs:
Snelsmore Common; the River Kennet and the River Lambourn and the
Kennet Flood Plains (previously home to the Desmoulin's whorl snail,
discovered during construction of the bypass).
[2] A34 Newbury bypass Review Working
Paper - Induced Traffic: Highways Agency.
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
Media team
