29.1.07: Green makeover for the Red Rose Council?

TSLM challenge to County Councillors: actions speak louder than words.

Lancashire County Council has announced a major campaign to tackle climate change; it has outlined far-reaching and long-term proposals to tackle rising temperatures caused by carbon emissions and pollution. Such a threat needs bold action, the Council says; a budget of £1.8 million is promised. But the green proposals have been greeted with some scepticism in one part of the Red Rose County: in Lancaster and Morecambe the residents are faced with Lancashire County Council's number one transport priority - the building of the destructive and polluting Heysham M6 Link road.

“The present budget for this road is £137 million pounds; that puts the Council's £1.8 million environmental initiative in its true context,” said David Gate, Chair of Transport Solutions for Lancaster and Morecambe (TSLM), the area's transport campaign group, who favour sustainable transport measures. “The Council approved its own scheme to build this destructive road just two days after the publication of the ominous Stern Review. TSLM drew the planning committee’s attention to the important report during a presentation that we made to them, but for the committee it was business as usual: they just ignored the Stern Review's grave warning and voted to build the road.”

The County Council's own calculations show that the 4-lane HGV route would generate a massive 24,000 tonnes of additional carbon dioxide every year. The road is also set to destroy 173 acres of farmland in the Green Belt, together with veteran trees and ancient hedgerows. The Council is even prepared to bulldoze the road through its own Lancaster and Morecambe College campus, destroying its sports fields and jeopardising its very existence.

“This looks like a cosmetic green makeover to us,” says Mr Gate. “The dual carriageway's purpose is to attract more heavy goods traffic into our district to use Heysham ferry port. Our population has to endure this nightmare, without the road getting to grips with the in town traffic congestion. Just imagine: they plan to spend £137 million and not solve the area's traffic problems. Even the County Council admits that this is not a relief road. That’s why we are issuing a challenge to County Councillors not to posture and to really take matters seriously.”

TSLM have written to every County Councillor challenging them to drop the hopelessly outdated, inappropriate and destructive road plan, and to use the money to improve public transport and sustainable measures for the benefit of the environment and the community as a whole. Come on, Councillors - actions speak louder than words!

Download the letter here (pdf 40kb)