Road Clippings July-Sept '99Road Clippings July-Sept '99A feeble excuse for felling trees (Letters, Aire Valley Target, 30/9/99)
Hope for new trees (Letters, T&A, 28/9/99)
'Leave our trees standing please' ( Aire Valley Target, 23/9/99)
View from the trees (Letters, Aire Valley Target, 23/9/99)
Sometimes trees have to make way (Editorial, Aire Valley Target, 23/9/99)
No cash for road yet (Letters to the Editor, T&A, 8/9/99)
Wake up to road cost (Letters to the Editor, T&A, 31/8/99)
Relief road work begins (Aire Valley Target, 19/8/99)
Its Big Brother (Letters to the Editor, T&A, 20/7/99)
On level about road (Letters to the Editor, T&A, 20/7/99)
Beauty spot bypass 'proving a failure' (Guardian, July 12, 1999)
MP begins battle to lift town's car siege (T&A, July 12, 1999)
Beauty spot bypass 'proving a failure'
The bitter controversy over the A34 bypass, which split the town and which was credited with sounding the death knell for the government's trunk road building scheme, has been reignited by a report from West Berkshire council that reveals the road is yet to reduce significantly congestion in the town centre.
While transport ministers and the highways agency confidently predicted that the bypass would cut traffic on the inner relief road passing through the town by up to 40%, the council report reveals that peak traffic has been reduced by only 25% at most.
"It can be seen that there is no consistent pattern of traffic change over the Newbury network as a whole," the report states. "In many cases local factors are responsible for discrete changes to traffic flows, with the bypass and pedestrianisation [of the town centre] only having a marginal influence in some cases."
It continued: "Flows on the Newbury network as a whole indicate that traffic flows on roads within the town are still high."
The findings have been seized upon by local green campaigners as the latest evidence that the bypass was a waste of money. Adrian Foster-Fletcher, a businessman and Friends of the Earth organiser, said: "This is the best it is going to get, the bypass is still in its honeymoon period, and already it is failing miserably to do any of the things its supporters claimed it would."
Janet Griffin, whose organisation Local Voices was born out of the Third Battle of Newbury, the group which co-ordinated the anti-road campaign at the height of the protests in 1996, said: "There is no satisfaction in saying I told you so, but everything we predicted is coming true. The road destroyed some beautiful and very important countryside and it cannot solve Newbury's traffic problems."
The report suggests that the effectiveness of the bypass has been limited by three factors: people have re-timed their journeys through the town; local people who had suppressed car use altogether may have taken to their cars again in the belief that congestion had been reduced; and more traffic has been pushed on to the ring road by the pedestrianisation scheme.
A spokesman for the highways agency denied that the council report showed the road was failing to deliver. "These figures must be considered in the context of the overall benefits that the bypass has brought.
"Constructing the bypass has enabled a huge amount of traffic to be taken out of the town; it has enabled the council to introduce a number of improvements in the town centre, including pedestrianisation; and it has facilitated road haulage between the south coast ports and the Midlands."
While West Berkshire council remains adamant that the bypass was necessary, senior figures accept that it will take further action to reduce congestion in the town centre, tackling the school run and commuter traffic in particular.
David Beckett, the Liberal Democrat chairman of the transport committee, said: "The bypass has been hugely successful at taking through-traffic out of the town centre, and it has stopped the rat run which meant heavy lorries were going along completely inappropriate roads to avoid the centre. But now we have to introduce new initiatives to make sure that we grasp the opportunity it has created. Otherwise things will be as bad as ever within a few months."
The road, which cut through three sites of special scientific interest, a designated area of outstanding natural beauty and an important civil war battlefield, became the focus of a massive direct action campaign by a vast array of opponents, ranging from environmentalists and historians to local businesspeople and tree protesters such as Swampy and Muppet Dave.
By the time the road was opened last November, more than 1,000 people had been arrested and the policing bill had gone from £1m to £26m.
Even before the council report emerged, there were renewed rumblings of discontent. The highways agency claimed that as well as relieving Newbury's chronic traffic problems, the bypass was necessary to improve communi cations between the Midlands and south coast ports at Southampton, Portsmouth and Poole.
Local opponents, however, claim the bottlenecks have merely been moved north up the A34, with long tailbacks at several points including the junction where it connects with the M4. "We have paid £100m just to move traffic jams up and down a bit of road," said Mr Foster-Fletcher. The council denies the queues amount to traffic jams because the traffic is still moving.
The bypass has also been criticised by Hampshire and Thames Valley police who say that the short slip roads are dangerous. There have been at least two fatal accidents since the road opened.
But the biggest controversy has been over new development. In April, the council ap proved, by a single vote, a planning application by Vodafone, the largest employer in the town, to build a £60m world headquarters on a greenfield site beside the old relief road. Planning officers had advised that the project would generate demand for thousands more houses and place more pressure on the town's road network.
Vodafone, which was a prominent backer of the bypass project, has attempted to soothe critics by introducing a green travel plan which includes a computerised car share scheme and a shuttle bus service to transport staff between its various sites in the town. It has also agreed to stay in the town for 10 years.
The council insists the decision will be a one-off. "If Vodafone had not been in the town already, we would not have been interested."
But environmentalists are unconvinced. Mr Foster-Fletcher said: "It is nonsense to say that this does not set a precedent. Before we know it, our town will have been turned into another Slough."
T&A, July 12, 1999
Radical plans have been unveiled by MP Chris Leslie which would transform the face of Bingley.
He says he wants to give the town back to the people through a cutting-edge transport plan which would lead to a massive makeover of Main Street.
As chairman of the recently formed Aire Valley Public Transport Commission, he is looking at ways in which the town can take advantage of the relief road due to be completed in 2004/5.
Ideas include bus and cycle lanes through the town centre, reducing the width of the road and expanded pavements complete with trees and seating.
In addition there would be traffic-calming measures and/or regulations to ensure non-local traffic is kept out of the town centre.
Overall the idea is to create an integrated public transport strategy involving all the area's main bus and rail companies, as well as user groups.
The news comes as Transport Minister Glenda Jackson was today launching a Journey Solutions programme designed to deliver an integrated transport network.
The Government initiative involves a group of transport operators, including GNER and National Express, dedicated to making public transport easier to use.
Mr Leslie said: "I think it's a big issue. People love Bingley but one thing they don't like is that the town centre has become a no-go zone.
"It has so much potential and I would like to see the people who live in Bingley once again own the town. Main Street doesn't belong to Bingley right now but to people driving from South Yorkshire and Cumbria.
"I want to see an interactive community with events, a pleasant environment and local activities, good shopping facilities and decent transport."
Mr Smith said he was determined that the Aire Valley should become a national example of what can be achieved.
The cost of possibly more than £1 million would be sought from Government and Council and Highways Agency sources. Private investment was also a possibility.
Better Bingley chairman Philip Smith said Bingley citizens should be involved in the design stage of future plans and not merely given them as a fait accompli.
He said: "I share the dream but we have got to be realistic. It all boils down to finance."
Letters to the Editor, T&A, 20/7/99
SIR - Re the item about Bingley Main Street (T&A, July 10). Will our MP explain what is meant exactly by the phrase, a cutting edge transport plan"?
No matter what he means, he makes it clear that Big Brother, the New Labour Party mentality, is going to decide who can enter Main Street. We should all make it clear that we shall not tolerate what amounts to dictatorship.
No doubt as MP he will freely enter the nogo zone, just as Blair's chauffeur, allegedly, for security reasons (pull the other one) used the bus lane on the clogged M25 recently. There are far too many "access only" streets arranged because residents know the "right people". All motorists pay road tax to use the roads, not to be deprived of access to more and more of them.
P E Bird, Nab Wood Terrace, Shipley.
Letters to the Editor, T&A, 20/7/99
SIR - Since the proposed new road through Bingley is on a different level from the existing road system, the only point where the levels converge being the proposed roundabout at Ferncliffe, 1 find the roseate visions called up by Chris Leslie and your "Comment" (July 12) somewhat unreal.
All the traffic into and out of Harden Road and Park Road still has to use Main Street - surely? There cannot, therefore, be room for bus lanes, cycle tracks, traffic-calming measures, narrowing of the road to allow for more pavement, etc, on the A650. Even if the new road ever can be built, traffic from Eldwick and Harden (both, unfortunately, growing residential areas, due to Council policies) still has to use the A650 not being equipped with wings.
Muriel Thompson, Priestthorpe Road, Singley.
By Olwen Vasey, Aire Valley Target, (19/8/99)
Work has already begun on Bingley's long awaited relief road - in a bid to speed up the construction period.
Shipley Labour MP Chris Leslie last week launched a drive to get lengthy advance work needed for the £60 million scheme in place as a top priority.
Mr Leslie - who is in talks with the Highways Agency over the massive project - said today a £1 million contract for a sewage pipe laying scheme was about to be agreed.
Railtrack was this week drawing up bridge schemes for the project - and Mr Leslie said a report had also been completed of all the properties down the proposed route eligible for sound insulation.
"Work at the first properties will be carried out in the financial year beginning in March and people will benefit during the construction scheme, as well as afterwards," he said.
"I am in talks with the Highways Agency and as much advance work as possible will now be done to ensure the work can start without delays."
He said he would closely monitor progress in consultation with the Agency
"People are soon going to realise that things are happening already The funding is in place and we want to get ahead with things," he added.
The design work on temporary and permanent bridge structures has begun because it will be necessary to take down the Bradford Road bridge at Crossflatts as part of the scheme.
Bingley Town Centre manager David Dinsey said: "I think it is an extremely good idea. If we can get organisations including gas electricity and water taking measures in advance it is going to save a great deal of time at the construction stage."
The work on the £60 million scheme will go ahead in the years 2001 and 2002 and is ;expected to dramatically ease congestion on the traffic clogged roads. But critics say it will increase pollution and congestion.
Supporters have been fighting for 30 years for a new road and businesses in the Aire Valley and Bradford say they have suffered because of the traffic nightmares on the A650.
Letters to the Editor, T&A, 31/8/99
SIR - Your report about the Shipley MP's extraordinary lengths to speed up the building of the £60 million Bingley road smacks of desperation on the part of Mr Leslie (T&A, August 12).
What is he trying to prove? Is he trying to win the prize for the MP who can waste the greatest amount of taxpayers' money in the shortest time? Is he unaware of the need for money to be spent on hospitals, schools and public transport? Does he not care that his white-elephant project will increase pollution and congestion in Shipley and other parts of Bradford? Car commuters may save a second or so on their journey times, but at what cost for the rest of the community?
No, Mr Leslie; make contact with reality and wake up to the fact that expensive road-building projects are no longer the accepted way to solve traffic congestion problems. The way forward must be through traffic reduction measures and public transport.
John Robinson, Westgate, Bradford 1.
Letters to the Editor, T&A, 8/9/99
SIR - Chris Leslie's hype about the Bingley "relief" road contains one important correct sentence: "Critics say it will increase pollution and congestion" (T&A, August 12).
It is a pity the MP puts so much energy into doing so much harm, not just in Bingley but also in Shipley, Saltaire, Cottingley and parts of Bradford where pollution and congestion would also increase.
His pressurising to sound-insulate homes in case the road is built shows what kind of life people are in for. Many affected properties will not qualify for grants and presumably the MP has not yet found a way to insulate residents' gardens and the adjoining streets from noise and air pollution.
The MP wants to create an impression of busy-ness so that people think the road is under construction. Unless he is personally going to find the £60 million it is difficult to see where the money is coming from because the Government has not yet approved the finance.
Richard Butler (chairman, Bingley Environmental Transport Association), Villa Road, Bingley.
by Sarah Walsh, Aire Valley Target, 23/9/99
Campaigners have condemned plans to fell 150 trees this November to make way for the Bingley relief road.
Local environmentalists have hit out at moves by the Highways Agency to remove the trees -on land next to the Bankfield Hotel in Cottingley
Work on the relief road is not due to start until 2001 and they think the trees should be left undisturbed until the last minute.
Penny Ward, who lives at Cottingley Bridge and is a member of the Aire Valley Conservation Society, said: "The road construction is two years away. Why should we have to put up with up to two years' devastation? We know that it is inevitable these trees will have to come down but I don't think that it should be yet.
"I understand BradIord Council will be the contractor undertaking the tree felling on behalf of the Highways Agency. I think it should be asking for a delay."
Mrs Ward says she has already gained support for her protest from Keighley MP Ann Cryer and Councillor Keith Thomson (Lab, Wibsey).
"I had a very nice letter from Ann Cryer saying she had forwarded my letter to Chris Leslie, who is MP for Shipley, but she is offering support for the campaign.
"I have also had backing from Keith,Thomson who is pointing out that trees are good carbon sinks and provide habitat for insects."
Highways Agency project engineer Peter Scally said: "It is intended to undertake some tree felling this autumn."
He added that advance works in the Bingley area had to be done to ensure that roadbuilding could begin in 2001. Tree felling would need to be done as well as sewer diversions, rail alterations, archaelogical surveys and transplanting.
"Major tree felling is only undertaken in the Autumn outside the nesting season, this leaves only two opportunities, Autumn 1999 or Autumn 2000," Mr Scally added.
The Highways Agency said the trees to be felled included sycamore, ash, birch, lime, pine and hawthorn.
Chairman of the Better Bingley Campaign Philip Smith said that while he sympathised with Mrs Ward everyone had known the planned route for the last 15 years and the consequences had been thoroughly discussed.
He said: "I hate trees being cut down and 1 think we should be planting saplings to compensate for this loss. I would like to see 150 saplings planted on the embankment to screen the road - that's a priority"
And MP Chris Leslie said: "I've made sure any action is strictly necessary and in the line of the route. It's always sad when trees have to come down but the good news is that more than double the number taken down will be replanted."
A spokesman for Bradford Council said: "The Council would ideally prefer if these trees could be kept for as long as possible, however, we would not like to see work on the much needed bypass delayed."
Further trees will also be felled near Crossflatts railway station.
Letters, Aire Valley Target, 23/9/99
SIR - When majestic trees at the Bankfield Hotel and many others along the line of the Bingley relief road are felled this autumn, the area will be one of devastation.
The Highways Agency is no stranger to incompetence.
The road is not yet financed and the contract not advertised let alone awarded.
Trees are too valuable to become pawns in a political game of ,advance works' to make believe the road is already being built.
Felling two years ahead of the earliest date for road construction would be a blatant disregard of the basic principles of sustainability
A stay of execution, until it is inevitable that trees must be lost to allow the road to progress, should not be too much to ask.
Penny Ward secretary, Aire Valley Conservation Society, Ghyllwood Drive, Bingley
Editorial, Aire Valley Target, 23/9/99
Environmental campaigners are angry that trees are being felled to make way for the Bingley relief road so long before the actual construction starts.
It is understandable that a major project like the relief road raises concerns about the impact on the environment but it is important that people look further to the future and see the bigger picture.
Work on this important project has to start somewhere. Once the relief road is complete it will make a huge difference to Bingley, which is now choked by traffic, and MP Chris Leslie has reassured people in the area that more than double the number of trees which are being cut down will be replanted.
Letters, T&A, 28/9/99
SIR - We all regret every great tree cut down by developers. As soon as I heard that Aire Valley trees were being felled I telephoned the Highways Agency. They explained that there were two good reasons for starting now.
The bypass will start in April 2001, and the agency does not cut down trees during the nesting season. So the trees must go in a year's time anyway.
But the protesters will nest all year round. Nobody wants them back, not now that their battle has been lost.
The Highways Agency has promised, after the bypass has been built, to plant many more new trees to replace the present ones. Ensuring that these new trees get planted all along the bypass seems to be our best goal at present.
Councillor Cam Micklem (Liberal Democrat) Spring Lane, Eldwick, Bingley.
Letters, Aire Valley Target, 30/9/99
SIR - It is obvious that your paper is biased in favour of the so-called Relief Road for Bingley However, to say that because work 'has to start somewhere' mature trees should be felled is just feeble.
As a resident of Shipley, 1 hope it won't go a head. This proposed 'relief' for Bingley would be a headache for us.
Be that as it may, if supporters of this road development want to start somewhere, how about securing the funds and finding someone to build the thing.
Chopping down trees two years or more before it is necessary is a stupid place to start. I'm 38 but I'll be a pensioner before Chris Leslie's promises of trees tomorrow would begin to compare to some of the fine trees he and you seem anxious o destroy.
Scott Clifford, Birklands Road, Shipley