Archived press release

Leading Environmental Organisations Unite In Opposition To Salisbury Bypass

25 February 1997

"We oppose the planned Salisbury bypass and urge government to adopt sustainable solutions for local and regional transport"

LEADING ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANISATIONS UNITE IN OPPOSITION TO SALISBURY BYPASS
More than 20 environment and transport groups, ranging from national organisations such as Transport 2000, CPRE, Friends of the Earth and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, to the city's local cycling campaign, have joined forces in a grand alliance (1) against the country's most controversial road scheme - the proposed Salisbury bypass (2).

The Alliance will be launched on Tuesday 25 February close to the point where the 11-mile long dual carriageway would cross the River Avon, leaving only the tip of the cathedral spire showing above the traffic on a 2Oft high embankment.

Jonathan Porritt, patron of the new alliance, said: "I warmly endorse the formation of the Salisbury Alliance. The proposed Salisbury bypass has become the test case for environmental and transport policies, and a litmus test of the sincerity of all political parties as they parade their environmental credentials before us. Salisbury must be the place where the tide of road-building turns, where we demonstrate in practice our commitment to a genuinely sustainable future."

PHOTO OPPORTUNITY -- 11.2Oam Tuesday 25 February

Directors and senior representatives of eight leadingnational environmental organisations and representatives of otherSalisbury Alliance groups will link arms on a bridge over theRiver Avon, with threatened water meadows and view of the Cathedralin the background, symbolising their joint opposition to the road.The bridge is close to the Fishing Lodge, off Church Lane, Britford,Nr. Salisbury. (See Travel Arrangements below).

PRESS CONFERENCE -- 12.OOpm Tuesday 25 February

In a nearby moated country house, speakers including Stephen Joseph, Director of Transport 2000, Charles Secrett, Director of Friends of the Earth and Dr Gary Mantle, Wildlife Trusts Director, will Call for the road to be scrapped and sensible solutions to be found for the transport needs of the city and region. Senior representatives from WWF-UK, CPRE, Plantlife, RSPB and ALARN4UK will also be in attendance.

Venue: The Moat House, Church Lane, Britford, Nr.Salisbury. (See Travel Arrangements below). A full press kit will be available including statements from organisations, map of the route and key documents.

Members of the Salisbury Alliance have a common aim to 'oppose the planned Salisbury bypass and urge government to adopt sustainable solutions for local and regional transport'. Individual groups have set out their particular objections to the project. These fall into four broad categories:

Wildlife, ecology and biodiversity (3)

Robin Pellew, Director of WWF-UK, said,'The UK Government is obliged to protect die Avon River system and its habitats under European environmental legislation. Instead, it is seeking to squander them to fulfil short term objectives The Government must address the critical problems of traffic congestion. Not just in Salisbury, but all over the country if their commitment to protect the environments to be realised."

Barbara Young, Director or the RSPB, said:'Building the Salisbury bypass will damage wildlife of national and international importance. Wading birds breed on the surrounding water meadows, and the liver Avon holds water crowfoot,Desmoulin's whorl snail and fish like Atlantic Salmon, brook lamprey,sea lamprey and bullhead All these species, and the lowland chalk rivers that they live in, have been identified as needing further protection and enhancement in the Government's Biodiversity Plan,along with hundreds of other species and habitats. There must be a way of solving Salisbury's undeniable traffic problems that does not involve permanent damage to wildlife'

Dr Simon Lyster, Director-GeneraI of the Wildlife Trusts, said: "There is a serious traffic problem in Salisbury, but destroying ancient water meadows is not the solution. At risk is tie best chalk river in Britain which the Government has a legal and moral duty to protect. The Wildlife Trusts call upon the Government to drop its plans to build this bypass and initiate a round table approach We need local solutions for local transport problems which do not damage nationally important wildlife habitats''

Miles King, Conservation Manager of Plantlife said: Plantlife opposes the planned Salisbury bypass because it will destroy irreplaceable plant communities in East Harnham Water Meadows and will threaten the internationally important River Avon and its tributaries with toxic effluent- Plantlife urges all parties to develop a sustainable transport policy which helps protect Britain's vanishing biodiversity not a road-building programme which will hasten its demise."

Landscape and amenity (4)

Fiona Reynolds, Director of CPRE,said: CPRE opposes the planned Salisbury bypass because of the devastating impact which the schemes would have on the precious landscape setting of the medieval city - We appeared at the public inquiry in 1993/94 and in our opinion, the sheer scale of the scheme is contrary to a more sustainable transport system. Other alternatives for solving Salisbury's problems have not been sufficiently investigated and tested against the imperative to protect this valuable landscape."

Roads and sustainable transport (S)

Stephen Joseph, director of Transport 2000 said: About 10% of the traffic in Salisbury is through-traffic: nine out of every ten vehicles in the city has a origin or destination within the city and the bypass will do nothing to lessen this traffic The Secretaries of State for Transport and the environment should use their review to make a thorough study into local transport measures such as Green Commuter Plans, Safe Routes to School, and better buses, which could be implemented to reduce levels of traffic in Salisbury".

Charles Secrett Director of Friends of the Earth,said. "The Salisbury bypass threatens one of England's most treasured landscapes, and it is 210 solution to local traffic problems. It would be madness for the Government to press ahead with this destructive road scheme. especially given the substantial local opposition. This ill-conceived scheme must be abandoned and sustainable, environmentally-sensitive solutions found in its place."

Andrew Davis, Director of the Environmental Transport Association, said: 'Not all car owners are in favour of laying swathes of tarmac across our countryside. They know it will simply encourage more traffic and worsen, not lessen, our transport problems in the long term. As a motoring organisation providing a rescue service for both car-drivers and cyclists we urge the Government to seriously examine the range of sustainable transport solutions that are possible for Salisbury and take steps to see that they are implemented.

John Stewart, Chair of ALARM UK, said: "The Salisbury Bypass is a road without reason. Originally, it was to be part of a trunk road connecting Bristol to the port facilities at Southampton. But in recent years, all the other schemes that would have made up that road have been dropped, leaving the Salisbury bypass as an expensive white elephant. Faced with this dilemma, the Department of Transport is now trying to sell the road as necessary to relieve traffic problems in Salisbury. This just does not stand up. Only 10% of traffic in Salisbury is through traffic This bypass will bring negligible relief to the famous old cathedral town."

Colin Hall, Transport Campaigner with Salisbury Friends of the Earth, said: "Salisbury's traffic problems need a sustainable solution, not a new road. That's why Friends of the Earth in Wiltshire commissioned transport consultants to look into demand management on the existing road as away of providing real long-term solutions to Salisbury's traffic problems."

Pattiet Kinneysly of Stop Salisbury Bypass, said: "The public inquiry inspector said in his report that a bypass would not reduce congestion in the city centre and that by 2011 the new road would be near 90 per cent capacity on some sections and the inner ring road would again be approaching capacity. So we could end up paying as much as £200 million over the next 30 years to equip a congested city with a second, outer, ring road full of crawling traffic delivering noise and pollution to surrounding villages."

Pollution and climate change

Chris Rose, Campaigns Director at Greenpeace,said: "Given that that Government claims to be doing all that they can to control the emission of greenhouse gases it seems incredible that they continue to invest millions of pounds laying traffic corridors across the Bntish countryside. If the Salisbury bypass goes ahead it inevitably increases our dependence on oil, contributes to growing volumes of carbon dioxide from transport and drives us towards ever greater climate change. It is a denial of the fundamental responsibility that government has to protect the stability of the climate for future generations '

NOTES FOR EDITORS

(1) The Salisburv Alliance brings together ten national organisations, three regional bodies and eight local groups. The national groups first united against the Salisbury bypass in October last year when they wrote a joint letter to Sir George Young and John Gummer, the Secretaries of State responsible, calling fortile, schemes to be withdrawn and the public inquiry reopened. A local coalition, Salisbury Transport ,Action Committee also came together in October and wrote requesting a meeting with ministers to express their concerns about the road. These groupings have now merged with regional bodies into a grand alliance based in Salisbury.

(2) Status of the road: At the end of October lastyear, the ministers announced that they were 'minded to' give the go ahead for the road, subject to a review of the environmental impact, traffic forecasts and the alignment of the route where it passes close to the village of Harnham, south of the city. The first stage of the review - collection of evidence ended last week. English Nature, the Countrvside Commission, the Environment Agency and the Highways Agency now have to prepare their recommendations for the ministers. On 15 February the local MP, former roads minister Robert Key, said that he expected a ministerial decision to be made 'within six weeks'.

(3) The Avon and its tributaries are now one of the most heavily protected environments in the country. Generally accepted as one of the finest chalk stream systems in Europe, they are in the process of being designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) and as a special area of conservation (SAC). The road would bury a large part of the East Harnham meadows, recently designated an SSSI The importance of this rare grassland was not recognised before the public inquiry closed in April 1994.

(4) On 19 February the Countryside Commission called for the public inquiry into the road to be reopened, on the grounds that the landscape made famous in paintings by Constable would be so devastated if the proposed bypass got the go-ahead that nothing could be done to counter the impact. [More information: Countryside Commission Press Office, 01242 521381].

(5)

i) The 1990 Origins and Destinations survey that the DoT presented to the public inquiry showed that only 10 percent of vehicle trips in Salisbury were through journeys. The rest began or ended in Salisbury or were wholly within the city. The DoT told the public inquiry that "It would be wrong to give the public the impression that the bypass will take traffic out of the city centre" (Evidence, 2 December 1993) and that "Even with a bypass there will be some problems at peak periods, certainly we forecast considerable congestion at those [A36 Churchill Way] junctions in future." (Evidence, 10 November 1993). The report of the Inquiry Inspector, Sir Peter Buchanan also says that the bypass would be unlikely to reduce congestion in the city centre.

ii) The Salisbury Bypass is part of a package of roads due to be financed under the Government's Private Finance Initiative on a Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) basis. An independent study published last summer found that the road would be more than twice as expensive to fund under this method as under ordinary public financing. [More information: Emma Must, Transport

2000, 020 7388 8386/020 7738 6506].

iii) A report by Metropolitan Transport ResearchUnit offering demand management solutions to the transport problemsof Salisbury is due to be launched next month.

Travel Arrangements

The events are timed to suit travel arrangementsfrom London. If you catch the 09.35 train from Waterlooto Salisbury, you can then join a hired minibus to take you toBritford for the Photo-opportunity. The same bus will then takeyou to the Press Conference and return you to the station afterwardsto catch the 13.17 train to London (arrives Waterloo 14.42). Ifyou are intending to come by car please ring one of the generalinquiry numbers for directions and a map.

CONTACTS FOR GENERAL PRESS INQUIRIES:

Neil Verlander, Press Officer, Friends of the Earth,020 7566 1649 (W), 0385 236974 (M)

Emma Must, Roads Campaign Coordinator, Transport2000, 020 7388 8386 (W), 020 7738 6506(H)

Patrick Kinnersly, Stop Salisbury Bypass, 01794 322505

CONTACTS FOR COMMENTS FROM OTHER GROUPS:

ALARM UK: John Stewart, Chair, 0181 983 3572

CPRE Paul Hamblin, Transport Officer, 020 7976 6433(W)10181 889 8397 (H)

Plantlife Miles King, Conservation Manager, 0171938 9111

RSPB: Barnaby Briggs, Energy and Transport PolicyOfficer, 01767 680551

The Wildlife Trusts:

Isobel Bretherton, Press Officer, 01522 547 559

Simon Forester, Public Affairs Manager, 020 79310744

Gary Mantle, Wildlife Trusts Director, 01380725670(W),0802684104(M)

WWF-UK: Carol Hatton, Planning Officer, 01483 426444

FOE Salisbury: Colin Hall, Transport Campaigner,01722 322 637 / 0468 214841(M)

Patron: Jonathon Porritt

Member groups

National

Alarm UK

Council for the Protection of Rural England

Environmental Transport Association

Friends of the Earth

Plantlife

Royal Society for the

Protection of Birds

Transport 2000

The Wildlife Trusts

The Women's Environmental Network

Worldwide Fund for Nature UK

Regional

A36 Corridor Alliance

Friends of the Earth South West

South West TAR

Wiltshire and Salisbury

Salisbury Transport Action Committee representing:

CPRE Wiltshire Branch & local group

Cycling Opportunities Group Salisbury

Friends of the Earth Salisbury

FOE Wiltshire Network

Stop Salisbury Bypass

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust

The Salisbury Alliance

A coalition of national regional and local organisationsrepresenting environmental, conservation, landscape, wildlife and transport concerns pledged to oppose the A36 Salisbury southernbypass.

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