Archived press release

Traffic Reduction tour..

6 March 1996

A national tour to promote the Road Traffic Reduction Bill kicks off today with a major public meeting in Birmingham [1]. From there, the Tour will visit over 20 major cities in Britain including Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and London [2].

Charles Secrett, Executive Director of Friends of The Earth, Janet Alty, National Speaker for The Green Party and Ron Bailey, author of the Bill will each outline the Bill's requirements and present it as the only sensible way forward for transport policy in this country.

At a snap 'pre-meeting' in Newbury, over 500 people heard David Bellamy add his voice in support of the Bill. He said:

"There can be only one real answer to the hell that people in Newbury, and many other places, are suffering. We need policies to reduce road traffic. We need the Road Traffic Reduction Bill."

Charles Secrett, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth said:

"It is sometimes argued that restricting traffic involves restricting freedom, but the opposite is the case. There is no freedom is causing pollution which will affect millions. There is no freedom in inflicting the drone of traffic noise on our fellow citizens. There is no freedom in destroying our land and our wildlife and thus denying our children the right to enjoy them."

David Taylor, Principal Speaker of the Green Party, added:

"Current forecasts show that traffic levels could double within 30 years. This can only be described as an impending nightmare. Faced with this, both the 'do nothing' and the 'build more roads' scenarios are irresponsible. We either get to grips with traffic growth now or we see our health damaged and our countryside destroyed."

Ron Bailey said:

"There are 21 million cars on the road in the UK. This could increase by more than 50% by the year 2025. Even the most massive road-building plans conceivable would not prevent congestion getting worse in the near future. There is only one long-term solution to congestion and the problems associated with ever increasing traffic growth: a national strategy to reduce road traffic as envisaged by the Road Traffic Reduction Bill. This is the only sane way forward to a cleaner, freer, and beautiful world."

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The Road Traffic Reduction Bill calls upon the Secretary of State to draw up a National Road Traffic Reduction Plan to achieve 5% reductions by 2005 and 10%reductions by 2010. It calls for the plan and reports to be debated annually by Parliament thus ensuring a continuing debate on transport policy in the UnitedKingdom. It calls upon local authorities to draw up local measures for reducing traffic by encouraging cycling and walking and providing better public transport in their area.

The Road Traffic Reduction Bill is supported by 89 Members of Parliament from all political persuasions, 60 Local Authorities and over 500 local groups and associations. Throughout the tour, the promoters of the bill will be inviting others to pledge support and join the growing number of British citizens who have recognised the need for change to a more sustainable way of life.

[2] The Road Traffic Reduction Tour involves over 20 public meetings as listed on the attached sheet. Besides David Bellamy, Charles Secrett, Janet Alty and Ron Bailey, speakers include Jonathon Porritt, Stephen Joseph (of Transport 2000) and Emma Must (of ALARM UK). For details of individual speakers at each meeting, contact Ron Bailey on 020 7490 1555.

The Tour kicks off on Wednesday, 6 March with a public meeting in Birmingham. The meeting takes place in the Library Theatre, starting at 7:30 pm.

Road Traffic Reduction Tour

6th March Birmingham 19.30 The Library Theatre

8th March Bath Lunchtime

8th March Bristol 16.30

9th March Bath 11.00 Friends Meeting House

11th March Cambridge 19.30 The Fisher Hall

18th March Newcastle 19.30 The Civic Centre

19th March Glasgow 19.30

20th March Liverpool lunchtime

20th March Manchester 19.30 The Town Hall

21st March SE London 20.00 The Borough Hall, Greenwich

23rd March Plymouth 14.00 Lower Guildhall

28th March Hull lunchtime

28th March Leeds 19.30 Leeds Metropolitan University

29th March Sheffield 19.30 The Town Hall

2nd April Lewes 19.45 The Town Hall

4th April Canterbury 19.30

12th April Braintree 20.00 The Institute, Bocking End.

15th April Cardiff 14:00 Central Hotel

18th April Hertfordshire 19.30

22nd April Nottingham 19.30 Angel Road Library

Further meetings are being arranged on a daily basis. Telephone Ron Bailey on 020 7490 1555 for further details.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust