Archived press release

Local FOE campaigner goes to norway to stop midland toll motorway

8 May 1997

Walsall-based Friends of the Earth campaigner, Gerald Kells, is going to Norway on Saturday to try and stop the planned Birmingham Northern Relief Road (BNRR) [1]. He is joining forces with Natur og Ungdom, the youth branch of Friends of the Earth Norway, to protest at the Annual General Meeting of the Norwegian company Kværner, which is promoting the 27 mile motorway [2].

Gerald Kells said:

"Young Norwegians are genuinely shocked to learn that Kværner, a Norwegian company, plans to bulldoze the British countryside. We hope that by embarrassing the company at its Annual General Meeting, we can persuade it to think again."

Mr Kells and Natur og Ungdom will tell Kværner shareholders that:

. the motorway is opposed by both Labour and Conservative MPs in the Midlands [3];

. former Labour Transport spokesperson, Frank Dobson MP, said in 1994 that"Labour would not build the BNRR" [4];

. the passing of the Road Traffic Reduction Act, in the dying days of the last Parliament, could undermine the traffic forecasts and toll revenues on which the BNRR depends [5];

. anti-road protestors from Newbury have already visited the site of the proposed motorway with a view to setting up protest camps if it is given the go-ahead.

Gerald Kells continued:

"Building the Birmingham Northern Relief Road would be a financial and political disaster for Kværner. If it really wishes to carry out construction projects in the UK, it should talk to the new Labour Government about how it could help regenerate our railways."
ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The Birmingham Northern Relief Road is a proposed 27 mile long, six lane toll motorway running entirely within the West Midlands Green Belt. If built, it would damage two Sites of Special Scientific Interest for wildlife and attract new development into the green belt and away from inner city districts. It would run from the M42 at Coleshill to the M6 near Cannock and would be the only toll motorway in the UK. It was subject to 10,000 objections and the longest public inquiry into any road proposal in the UK. A decision on whether to go ahead with the scheme has yet to be made by the Secretaries of State for Transport and the Environment.

[2] The Birmingham Northern Relief Road is being jointly promoted by Kværner and an Italian company, Iritechna. Kværner acquired an interest in the project through its purchase of the Trafalgar House group. Kværner Annual General Meeting takes place on Friday, 16 May in Oslo. Natur og Ungdom delegates voted unanimously to oppose the road at their AGM in Brandbu, Norway in January.

[3] The proposed motorway is opposed by three Labour MPs, Mike O'Brien, Brian Jenkins, and Dr Tony Wright and two Conservatives, Michael Fabricant and Patrick Cormack. Furthermore, local Conservative MP, Richard Shepherd, opposes the tolling of the road.

[4] "Official - Labour opposes the BNRR" Press Notice issued by Mike O'Brien MP on the 21 September , 1994. Mr Dobson, then Shadow Secretary of State for Transport,said "Labour is opposed to the building of the BNRR. This road would cause a great deal of environmental damage, with both noise and air pollution harming the health and amenities of local people". He was also quoted as saying: "Labour would not build the BNRR".

[5] The Road Traffic Reduction Act 1997 requires local authorities to draw up plans to reduce forecast traffic growth. As toll revenues on the BNRR would be critically dependent on flows along the motorway, they are extremely vulnerable to action taken to reduce traffic levels in general.

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