Archived press release

Highways Agency admits serious damage to the countryside if any Salisbury bypass goes ahead

18 March 1997

No bypass can be built around Salisbury without serious damage to the countryside says a Highways Agency report deposited today in the House of Commons library [1]. Alternative routes that would minimise damage to wildlife would have unacceptable impact on the local landscape, and vice-versa.

The report quotes English Nature, the Government's wildlife advisors, who have told the Highways Agency that the "the impacts and the risks [of the Salisbury Bypass] are unacceptably high from a nature conservation point of view" [2]. English Nature's advice follows hard on the heels of similar damning comments from the Countryside Commission,the Government's official advisors on the countryside [3].

Simon Festing, Transport Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:

"The Government's official advisors on wildlife and the countryside have both condemned the route chosen for the proposed Salisbury Bypass. The Highways Agency has said that any bypass would cause serious damage to the environment. The Government must now consider whether traffic management measures might not do away with the need for a bypass altogether."

If built, the A36 Salisbury bypass would damage:

. the East Harnham Meadows Site of Special Scientific Interest for wildife and the River Avon Valley, which is expected to be protected under European Law as a'Special Area for Conservation', once it has been notified as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI);

. the historic view of the Cathedral, which has changed little since it was painted by John Constable;

. the nationally designated West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty;

. 14 known archaeological sites.
ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] On 22 October, 1996, the Secretaries of State for Transport and the Environment asked the Highways Agency to review whether the environmental impact of the proposed A36 Salisbury bypass could be minimised. The Highways Agency has today deposited its report in the House of Commons library. The report details the serious impacts of a variety of bypass routes and concludes that "no bypass can be built around Salisbury without raising concerns of the nature highlighted in this report."

On alternative routes, the Highways Agency says: "the great benefit of both alternatives is that this loss [of parts of Harnham Meadows SSSI] would be avoided,and they are therefore preferred by English Nature....the main disadvantage of both alternatives is the greater overall landscape impact.... The Countryside Commission has the strongest possible reservations about the landscape impact whichever route is chosen" [3.2-3.3].

[2] English Nature has today issued a statement "The A36 Salisbury Bypass:information note from English Nature". This says that its report to the Highways Agency has today also been placed in the House of Commons library.

[3] On February 19, the Countryside Commission described the views to be obliterated by the proposed bypass as "uniquely valuable and of importance to our national heritage". It called on the Government to reopen the public inquiry into the proposed road Countryside Commission Press Notice NR/97/8.

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