Archived press release

Toll road threatens Tories in Staffs S.E. By-election

15 March 1996

Proposals for a Birmingham Northern Relief Road, Britain's first toll motorway, could jeopardise the Conservative Party's chance of winning the Staffordshire South East by-election on 11 April.

A poll carried out by Shenstone Motorway Opposition Group shows that 84% of the villagers of Shenstone in the west of the constituency oppose the road. Almost 6,000 voters live in Shenstone village and the surrounding areas that are affected by the proposed toll motorway [1].

Traditionally, the Conservatives who are defending a majority of only 7,192 could rely on support from the overwhelming majority of these voters [2]. However, the Government's support for the toll motorway is leading many to question which way they vote.

Diane Barker of Shenstone said, I have voted Conservative in the past but I am seriously considering my position. As far as I am concerned the Birmingham Northern Relief Road is the most important issue in the village and I have yet to find out where individual candidates stand on the issue.'

Friends of the Earth, which has campaigned against the Birmingham Northern Relief Road for over four years, is targeting the Staffordshire South East by-election in an attempt to persuade the Government not to allow the twenty seven mile toll motorway to be built. [3]

Gerald Kells of West Midlands Friends of the Earth said:

At the last General Election, the Conservatives lost two parliamentary seats along the route of the Birmingham Northern Relief Road. Now they may lose another. It is high time they realised that the road is an electoral as well as an environmental disaster and scrapped the controversial scheme' [4].

"We are calling on all the candidates, regardless of their political affiliation, to oppose the road."

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] In, 1994, the Shenstone Motorway Opposition Group distributed questionnaires to all 863 households in the village. About 78% were returned from 676 households representing 1,389 adult views.

To the question Do you support or oppose the Motorway?':

84% said they opposed it (of which 71% strongly opposed); 10% said they neither opposed nor supported it; and 6% said they supported the road (of which only 8% strongly supported it).

The parish of Shenstone (including other equally affected villages like Stonnall and Wall) has 5,877 votes on the electoral register, of which 2,748 are in Shenstone ward itself.

[2] The two District councillors currently representing Shenstone ward are Conservative..

[3] The proposed Birmingham Northern Relief Road (BNRR) is a twenty seven mile, three lane motorway - the largest road being actively promoted in Britain. Although originally envisaged as a flagship for the Government's Private Finance Initiative, it has faced continuous opposition and is now the only private motorist-pay' toll road proposed in the country.

It is now at least three years behind schedule.

If built, it would form part of an M25-style orbital motorway around the West Midlands, destroy 27 miles of Green Belt and damage two Sites of Special Scientific Interest (Blythe Valley and Chasewater), one seriously. The Public Inquiry to consider the BNRR was the longest in road building history. The report of the Inquiry has yet to be published.

Friends of the Earth has consistently opposed the BNRR since proposals for the toll motorway were first announced in 1991. Through its West Midlands Transport Campaign, it played a major role in the recent public inquiry, and has organised marches, protests and lobbying along the route.

[4] At the 1992 General Election, the Conservatives lost two seats - Warwickshire North and Cannock and Burntwood - along the BNRR route to Labour. Both the Labour candidates elected (Mike O' Brien and Dr Tony Wright) have been vociferous in opposing the road.

The Liberal Democrat candidate in the Staffordshire South East by-election has made clear her opposition to the road. The Conservative and Labour candidates have yet to make their positions clear. The former Conservative MP, the late Sir David Lightbown, himself questioned the necessity for the road and wrote to one constituent saying he would be happy if the whole thing just goes away'.

Both the Labour and Liberal Parties have come out in opposition to the scheme nationally.

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