Archived press release

RTRA- Really Tragic Recurrent Apathy!

23 June 1997

Friends of the Earth (Northern Ireland) is appalled at the lack of support from the Province's main political parties for a new Bill to reduce traffic. The Road Traffic Reduction (UK Targets) Bill currently has the backing of over 240 UK MPs, yet only 5 of Northern Ireland's 18 MPs have said that they will support it [1].

This Road Traffic Reduction (UK Targets) Bill - which was drafted by Friends of the Earth, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru - has been introduced to Parliament as a Private Members Bill by Plaid Cymru MP Cynog Dafis. It will set binding national targets for reducing road traffic by 5% by 2005 and 10%by 2010 from 1990 levels, which would go some way towards fulfilling Labour's manifesto commitment. It builds on a previous Traffic Reduction Bill which became law in March of this year[2].

Dr Robin Curry, Northern Ireland Campaigner with Friends of the Earth, said:

"I find it amazing that such an important Bill is being treated with such disinterest by those very people who claim to represent our best interests. If this Bill is passed it will be one of the most far-reaching pieces of transport legislation in the UK. I am astonished that most of our MPs haven't even bothered to sign the Early Day Motion pledging support for this Bill. Given their failure to support the Road Traffic Reduction Bill, and their disinterest in the one can only question their concern for our health and our environment"

Dr Curry also addressed the issue of legislative parity, adding that;

"We are also extremely concerned that existing legislation, such as the Road

Traffic Reduction Act has not been introduced to Northern Ireland. This directly contradicts Government policy. To accept that legislation should not be introduced to NI simultaneously with the rest of the UK is to accept that NI should have lesser environmental standards than the rest of the UK. Surely even the most unimaginative of our MPs can see that this simply is not equitable."

Friends of the Earth (NI) is deeply concerned about traffic-related problems. Air pollution is a major concern in our towns and cities, and has been linked to increases in asthma rates in children and various cancers. Diesel-engined vehicle emissions are prime contributors to deadly 'particulate'pollution, levels of which rose alarmingly in many UK cities last year. Friends of the Earth's analysis of Government monitoring data [3] shows that the number of days on which particulate pollution levels exceeded the Government's proposed health standard rose by 20% in London (Bloomsbury),50% in central Birmingham, 18% in Leeds and 30% in Bristol [4]. In Belfast, the worst affected city,levels broke the Government standard on 127 days, more than 1 in 3.

Friends of the Earth also point to recent research which suggests that up to 130,000 new jobs could be created throughout the UK as a direct spin-off from this Bill were it to become law [5].

[1] The MPs in the province who have signed the Early Day Motion (no. 18) supporting this Bill, are as follow:

UUP: Roy Beggs (East Antrim), Martin Smyth (South Belfast)
SDLP: John Hume (Foyle), Eddie McGrady (South Down)
UKU: Robert Mc Cartney (North Down)
DUP: None

Each MP was contacted by fax on the 17th June (via their constituency office) and asked (a)if they had signed the EDM, and (b) if they had not already done so, did they intend to sign.The fact that only 6 MPs bothered to reply, despite sufficient time, clearly illustrates their apathy.

Sinn Fein: FOE are aware of the special case of the 2 SF MPs with regards to the Parliamentary process. Given that they are unlikely to be involved with the progress of this Bill through Westminster, we approached them with a view to sounding out their opinions on the traffic reduction idea in principle. Neither MP had seen the Bill, but 1 expressed an interest in being furnished with info.

The level of support for this Bill from our MPs is as poor as that for the Road Traffic Reduction Act passed in March of this year (were only 3 MPs signed an EDM).

(NB: this information is correct at 20/ 6/97, 4:30 pm. Source: House of Commons Public

Information Office)

[2] The Road Traffic Reduction Act. It places a statutory obligation on local authorities to, in consultation with local communities, draw up measures to reduce traffic in our towns and cities, by introducing traffic-calming measures and by encouraging alternative environmentally-sound forms of transport.

[3] Friends of the Earth compared levels of small particles (PM10) at all sites where data was available over all or most of the years from 1994 to 1996. Numbers of exceedances for 1994 and 1995 were taken from summary tables in the National Air Quality Archive. Exceedances in 1996 were calculated by Friends of the Earth using data from the Archive (as 1996 summaries have yet to be published). The last six months worth of this data (from July-December 1996) has yet to be validated.

Increased concentrations of small particles have been closely related to increases in a number of medical conditions including death due to strokes, heart and lung disease, as well as hospital admissions for lung diseases and increased suffering due to asthma.

(4) The United Kingdom National Air Quality Strategy proposes a health standard for particulate pollution of 50 ug/m3 (expressed as a running 24 hour average).

(5) According to a report published last month by Friends of the Earth, jobs created by increasing the emphasis on public transport would far exceed those likely to be lost in the vehicle repair and maintenance industries, leading to a likely net gain of almost 90,000 jobs by 2010 should the Bill be passed. This report was written by Dr Tim Jenkins, following a study by ECOTEC research and Consulting.

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