Road Clippings July-Aug '98

Prescott targetted in relief road postcard blitz (T&A 18/7/98)

Bypass is 'dead and buried' (T&A 23/7/98)

Prescott drops in for relief road talks (T&A, 13/7/98)

Victory at last! (T&A 31/7/98)

Labour's road forward (Yorkshire Post (1/8/98)

Relief road news brings traffic fear (T&A, 3/8/98)

Long-term problems (Letters, T&A 6/8/98)

Poisonous (Letters, T&A 6/8/98)

How Prescott can cut droves of car owners (Letters, T&A 14/8/98)

Road's effect on Bogs (Letters, T&A 18/8/98)

Relief road opposition (Letters, T&A 20/8/98)

Nursery idea not good (Letters, T&A 20/8/98)

Prescott targeted in relief road postcard blitz

Campaigners in Bingley are urging residents to bombard Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott with postcards in a last-ditch attempt to put the brakes on the town's traffic problems.

Philip Smith, chairman of the Better Bingley Campaign, is urging as many people as possible to make individual complaints to Mr Prescott to demonstrate the amount of public opinion in favour of plans for the Bingley relief road.

The move follows Mr Prescott's flying visit to Bradford over the weekend, when he held secret talks with Shipley MP Chris Leslie and Bradford Council leader Ian Greenwood about the future of the relief road proposals.

During the talks, Mr Prescott, who is Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, said that he needed more information about how the road would fit into Britain's transport network, adding that no decisions had yet been made about the scheme.

Now Better Bingley Campaigners are wanting to bring as much pressure to bear on Mr Prescott over the coming two weeks in order to persuade him to decide in favour of the proposals.

Mr Smith said: "Things are still a little bit open and we want to make sure that as many people as possible respond individually over the coming few weeks.

"All we're asking people to do is to put a stamp on a postcard and send it to Mr Prescott as a final push to get our views across."

This latest campaign hopes to build on the success of a previous move by the Better Bingley Campaign last year, when 12,000 signatures were collected on a petition in favour of the relief road.

Now Mr Smith wants people to write to the Government within the next ten days before the long-awaited decision on the road, expected later this month.

He added: "it's going to have to be done very quickly. Following Mr Prescott's visit, we've now got an indication that it's worth doing so we're trying to get as many people as possible to send the cards in - all people have to do is to put a stamp on a card and put it in the post box."

Bypass is 'dead and buried'

Plans for the controversial Bingley Relief Road are dead and buried, claim Friends of the Earth.

The organisation says it is very unlikely the road scheme will now go ahead.

But the Highways Agency insists no decision has been made and Shipley and Bingley MP Chris Leslie says the fight for the road goes on.

FoE transport campaigner Dr Simon Festing said Government proposals in Monday's White Paper to "detrunk" the main Bradford to Cumbria route will mean the end of controversial schemes like the Bingley bypass.

They say such roads come under the remit of the local authority, which has to justify any road plans in the light of an integrated transport strategy and then bid for money from central Government.

Dr Festing said: "It is very welcome news and if Bingley anti-road protesters can afford a bottle of champagne they should buy one to celebrate the good news. It is very unlikely that it will go ahead.

"I have been up to Bingley to see the situation for myself. It was not a sensible road scheme and it didn't stand up to scrutiny.

"These plans for an integrated transport system spell the end of unnecessary and destructive schemes like the Bingley bypass. It is time local politicians saw the light and campaigned for better public transport instead of continuing with the dinosaur road-building mentality.

"I'm disappointed to see them taking a knee-jerk reaction instead of thinking them through. Local politicians and businessmen should look at alternative solutions. Most of the problems can be solved with public transport initiatives."

Mr Leslie said: "Dr Festing obviously doesn't know much about the local roads scheme. I think it makes sense to 'detrunk' a lot of roads but it shouldn't necessarily affect the levels of investment going into the roads.

"I think they should wait and see what is going to happen. I am not going to give up and would call on all people in favour of it to write to me so I can make their views known. I'm crossing my fingers it is going ahead."

A Highways Agency spokes-man said: "The detrunking of the road is part of the roads review and what comes out of that review will be announced by the end of the month."

BINGLEY: "I haven't made up my mind yet"says Deputy Prime Minister

Prescott drops in for relief road talks

The Deputy Prime Minister made a flying visit to Bradford to hear arguments for the Bingley Relief Road, the Telegraph & Argus can reveal today.

John Prescott met Shipley MP Chris Leslie and Bradford Council leader Councillor Ian Greenwood at the weekend at the city's Cedar Court Hotel. Mr Prescott, who called in at Mr Leslie's request on his way back home to Hull after a visit to Wales, signalled that he still needed some persuading that the road should go ahead. He stressed that no decision had yet been made on the future of the road.

But Mr Prescott, who is Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, added that he required more information about how it would fit into Britain's transport network.

Mr Leslie said: "Mr Prescott was interested to hear the arguments for the road, but there is still some persuading to be done.

"He emphasised that no decisions had yet been made and that the costs involved with major capital projects such as the Bingley Relief Road are significant. I explained that the road would remove congestion from Bingley Main Street and thereby create space for dedicated bus lanes, cycle paths, pedestrianisation and other potential forms of public transport."

And Mr Leslie added: "I would urge individuals and groups who want the road, to keep writing to the Government."

The long-awaited decision on the relief road is due later this month. It is expected to come after the publication of the Government's Integrated Transport White Paper. A ruling on the £64 million road was put on hold last summer amid speculation it had been axed.

The proposal has brought about opposition from some residents and environmental protesters who say the road will simply move congestion to Saltaire and damage the environment.

President of Bingley Chamber of Trade and Commerce Pauline Wood said she was delighted Mr Prescott had come to Bradford. But she added that she wished he had driven to Bingley itself to witness the congestion first hand.

She said: "If he had seen Bingley during the day it might have made his mind up. We need the Government to back the road because prosperity in the town hinges on it. I don't see how we can have a new shopping centre at Myrtle Walk with a trunk road next to it."

Councillor Margaret Eaton (Con, Bingley Rural) said she was pessimistic about the chances of the road going ahead.

She said: "It's not hopeful if Chris Leslie has to get Mr Prescott up here to put the pressure on. I hope I'm wrong because it would be devastating for Bingley if we could not have it," she added.

Victory at last!

The Government today finally gave the go-ahead for the Bingley Relief Road.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott today announced the road - subject of a 30-year campaign by Bingley people - could go ahead. The decision was welcomed in Bingley where delighted supporters of the Telegraph & Argus backed campaign said the lack of a relief road was slowly choking the town.

Jubilant Shipley MP Chris Leslie said: "This is marvellous, wonderful news - all the hard work persuading the Government has paid off. The roads review has concluded that the Bingley scheme will improve the local environment, help the district economy, bolster road safety and contribute towards an integrated public transport system. Bingley has been crying out for this announcement for decades. I will be pushing for an early start to construction."

Philip Smith, chairman of the Better Bingley Campaign who organised a 10,000 signature petition demanding the £59 million road, was elated. "This is victory for common sense, victory for years of campaigning and victory for thousands of people in Bingley whose lives will be improved," he said.

Councillor Colin Gill (Con, Bingley) said: "It's absolutely wonderful news. It marks the completion of the work started by the previous Government and shows that the earlier investment was money well spent. Bingley now has a much brighter future."

Council leader, Councillor Ian Greenwood, said: "Clearly it will mean the end of the blight in Bingley. It is good news for Bingley and the whole of Bradford district. People have waited for 30 years for this. We can now begin to regenerate Bingley town centre and create a vibrant centre. People in Shipley will be concerned and we will have to work with them to minimise the effect on Shipley."

Labour MP for Bradford North Terry Rooney said: "A lot of credit goes to Shipley MP Chris Leslie who has fought very hard for this, but we now have to start the battle of completing the Shipley end. At least we have got this, which will end the tremendous problems and pollution at Bingley. It's absolutely tremendous news."

Environmental groups who have always doubted the wisdom of the road scheme condemned the decision as "a death sentence for much trade, and tranquil residence in Bingley."

Work was due to begin on the road this year but last July the Government announced that it was being suspended pending a review of all major road schemes nationally. That decision was described as a blow for Bingley, but MP Chris Leslie said he was determined that the scheme should go ahead.

Hours after being elected in May, Mr Leslie said the road was one of his priorities. Earlier this month he invited Mr Prescott to the city to press home the point. Mr Leslie and Bradford Council leader Ian Greenwood met Mr Prescott at the Cedar Court Hotel. Some £23 million has already been spent on advanced works.

After the news was announced today, the Bingley Anti-Road Campaign (BARC) - who are protesting at the Rye Loaf Camp in Bingley - said: "The immediate effects of this road being built will be to increase levels of congestion and air pollution in the Aire Valley."

Earlier this month Friends of the Earth claimed the Bingley scheme was dead and buried because the Government had decided that the Bradford to Cumbria route had been "de-trunked" - a move denied by the Government.

Tony Plumbe, chairman of the Bingley Environmental Transport Association, said: "Bingley will lose its identity forever. It will become a commuter dormitory traversed by a traffic sewer. Its residents will be inflicted with further noise and asthma."

Controversial Bingley scheme wins go-ahead as billions are slashed off road-building programme

Labour's road forward

BILLIONS were slashed off the roads programme yesterday as the Government cancelled more than 100 schemes - but gave the green light to key Yorkshire projects including the controversial Bingley Relief Road.

Unveiling A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England, Transport Minister John Reid told MPs that gone were the days of the Tories' "massive wish-list of 150 schemes which would never have been built, over a timescale which was never specified and for which money was never assured".

The outcome was not "the grandiose but impractical notions of our predecessors, but realistic, practical decisions which will help business, help people and help Britain,'' he said.

Ministers have earmarked £1.4bn for 37 "achievable'' projects, which will go ahead in the next seven years.
And as part of moves to give new weight to the environment, Dr Reid said the Government had reduced the number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest affected by the programme from 49 to eight.

A total of 18 schemes have been dropped altogether and a further 18 will only go ahead if passed by local councils. In addition, a further 44 projects will be re-assessed to see if they meet the new criteria for road-building laid down by Dr Reid.

But controversial plans to widen the busiest stretch of the M25 - to six lanes at some points - will go ahead.

And the row over the A303 at Stonehenge has been resolved by putting the 2,000 metre section of the road which passes the stones into a "cut and cover" tunnel in recognition that it is a "unique'' world heritage site, said Dr Reid. In Bingley opinion was sharply polarised, as the relief road for which many townspeople have been campaigning for decades received the go-ahead.

Richard Butler, secretary of the Bingley Environmental Transport Association, predicted a 70 per cent traffic rise in the town by 2015. He said: "This is a sad day for Bingley. This relief road - don't call it a bypass because it cuts right through the town - will only shift traffic sideways by 50 yards.''

A spokesman for the young "eco-warriors" who have spent the last year camped on the proposed route at Ryeloaf Wood, added: "The immediate effects of this road will be to increase congestion and pollution...it will open the floodgates for the destruction of the countryside by luxury housing developers."

But Shipley Labour MP Christopher Leslie, who made the scheme a major issue of his election campaign, was probably speaking for the majority when he said: "This is marvellous, wonderful news - all the hard work persuading the Government has paid off!"

And there was equal delight from Bradford Council where transport committee chairman Latif Darr said: "This relief road is vital to stop the town centre from grinding to a halt.''

There was also jubilation in Hull where another major scheme, the Hedon Road Improvement, has been approved. It will provide a new extended dual carriageway, replacing the present sub-standard four lane road running from Garrison Road to the docks, and will also unlock investment in the Port of Hull by Associated British Ports and major shipping operators. There had been concern that dock developments could be seriously delayed if the road improvements had been held up.

Hull Council leader Pat Doyle said: "It will improve traffic flows within the city for the people of Hull and Holderness, and it recognises this is a part of a major road link with the rest of the region, Northern England and Scotland."

The only two schemes in the region removed from the national trunk roads programme altogether were mooted bypasses for the Dales villages of Hellifield, Gargrave and Long Preston in North Yorkshire. They are on route to be "detrunked'' - passed from the control of the Highways Agency to local highway authorities. It will now be up to those authorities to decide whether to take them forward as local road schemes.

But last night there was dismay among villagers, tired of heavy lorries and fast cars. But there was another success story for the region as approval was given for the upgrading of the A1 between Hook Moor and Ferrybridge.

At a cost of £160m, 11 per cent of the roads budget, it is the single biggest scheme in the entire review. Labour MP for Pontefract and Castleford Yvette Cooper said: "That bit of road is a nightmare right now, with hazardous slip roads leading into fast, heavy traffic. Turning this bit of the Great North Road into a motorway is long overdue.''

Also approved was the A63 Selby Bypass at a cost of £41m. Along with the Hook Moor to Ferrybridge scheme, local Labour MP John Grogan hailed it as a "bonanza" for the constituency. He said: "This is the most important event in Selby since the opening of the coalfield over 20 years ago. It is the culmination of 60 years of campaigning by local people."

Another of the region's schemes approved yesterday was the upgrading of the Wetherby to Walshford section of the A1. John Yeomans, vice president of the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said it was part of "one of the most difficult lengths of strategic trunk road in the country".

A further four schemes in the region will be shelved while further studies are carried out. They are: the widening of Junction 31 to 32 on the M1, the M62 East to M606 Link Roads, the A1(M) between Redhouse and Ferrybridge and the A63 Castle Street, Hull Improvement.

Relief road news brings traffic fear

Calls were being made today for action to prevent Shipley becoming clogged up with traffic once the Bingley Relief Road is built. The long-awaited A650 relief road was given the green light by the Government on Friday but there are fears it will create more traffic and pass the congestion experienced in Bingley down the Aire Valley to Shipley and Saltaire.

Following Friday's announcement Bradford Council leader, Councillor Ian Greenwood, said the new *59 million road would be good news for Bingley but added: "People in Shipley will be concerned and we will have to work with them to minimise the effect on Shipley.''

Bradford's Lord Mayor and Shipley East Councillor Tony Miller said the new relief road would magnify traffic problems in Shipley, adding: "It's great news for Bingley because it will relieve a lot of the congestion they've been experiencing there for years but the problems in Shipley will need addressing.''

Councillor Rowland Dale (Labour, Shipley West) said he would be contacting Ian Greenwood with his plans to call on Bradford Council to look at the its overall transport strategy.

"A by-pass will bring new problems to Shipley," said Coun Dale. It will add extra traffic to a situation which is already a disaster. Congestion will be made even worse than it already is at Saltaire roundabout and Canal Road. I will be writing to Coun Greenwood to make a request that we try and produce a plan which will allow traffic to be reduced over a period. What we need is a transport strategy for the Bradford district to take us into the next century."

Councillor Hazel Gundry (Lab, Shipley West) said: "The Council is very conscious of the potential problems through Shipley and Saltaire and now the announcement's been made we can go ahead and start tackling the problems. I would hope improvements between Cottingley and Shipley could be done before the bypass is built.''

Jenny Pickles, secretary of the Baildon and Shipley Road Safety Committee, said she hoped the effects on Shipley would be monitored and any problems addressed in the appropriate way.

Councillor Latif Darr, chairman of the council's transportation, planning and design committee, said: "The Council and Highways Agency recognise it will cause problems at Shipley and that something will need to be done to alleviate the problems there, particularly at the Saltaire roundabout at the Branch junction. We are still discussing various options with the Highways Agency to see what we can do at Shipley and local people will be consulted. What we need to look at are measures to improve junctions so that traffic flows more easily rather than being backed up for miles.''

David Ford, secretary of the Shipley and Bingley Green Party, said: "New roads create more traffic and the effect will be to shunt the problem from Bingley to Shipley and Saltaire. Traffic will suddenly come to a stop at Cottingley Bar, where it will be funnelled into Saltaire, which will be particularly badly affected. ''

Long-term problems

SIR - 1 can appreciate the joy of many people in Bingley that the Aire Valley trunk road is to be extended and will thus bring relief for the main street's severe congestion.

However, the extension is tackling only the symptoms of our traffic problem and not the underlying causes, which are that our society has become increasingly and excessively dependent on private road transport.

The sad fact (confirmed by official research) is that building more roads in the long run generates more traffic,

I think one can draw a parallel between providing Bingley with a relief road and flying in food supplies to any starvation crisis in the third world. The immediate problem is addressed, but not the long term.

Just as we must devise imaginative ways to assist third world countries becoming self-sufficient for food, so also must we show resourcefulness in reducing the number of private road journeys which are "necessary" in this country.

Poisonous

SIR - For those who despair of the great despoilation of Bingley to be caused by the building and the actuality of the Airedale trunk road, there is one sure consolation to be found in the words of a Bach cantata: 'Gottes zelt is die Alles Bestes zeit'- meaning God's time is the best of all time.

Ignoring the fact that petrol and other vital resources run out in a mere 15-to-25 years' time, it is salutary to imagine a time scale greater than our own. In 200 or 2,000 years' time, lichens, mosses, frost, disrepair, lack of petrol or rubber or copper, etc, will mean birches, alder, rowan and oak will have taken over and broken apart the concrete.

On a more parochial note, let us imagine the splendid new and enlarged Holy Trinity School sitting at the very edge of this trunk road with traffic and its poisons and noise affecting the health of children and staff for seven hours every day.

Not a nice thought. Already 1 know of people who are going to move away.

How Prescott can cut droves of car owners

SIR - I wonder how Mr Prescott reacted to the news that another 530,000 cars will hit our roads this month? I feel that the feeble measures proposed hi the Government White Paper will do little to slow down the growth of the number of cars on our roads. Taxation has not succeeded hi significantly reducing the use of cigarettes, alcohol or fuel.

I would like to commend the following ideas for Mr Prescott's consideration:-

1. Allocate Government funding to assist councils with the clearance of derelict urban sites.

2. Ban the development of new out-of-town commercial centres.

3. Ban all motor car advertising (like tobacco).

4. Raise the lower age limit at which a driver's licence can be held to 20.

5. Introduce fuel rationing for private car mileage.

Before coals of fire are heaped upon my head for making these suggestions, I am going to retire to join Mr Graham Carey to wait for the oak trees to break through the concrete (T & A, August 6).

Road's effect on Bogs

SIR - A Country Diary article in The Guardian newspaper on August 8 concerned a visit by Pete Bowler to the North and South Bogs at Bingley. He was obviously impressed by the visit, describing the various plants and birds in glowing terms.

As a boy in the Thirties and Forties, my memories of those areas are somewhat different. The North Bog was private land so we didn't go there. It was also reputed to be dangerous marshy ground.

The South Bog, which I knew as "The Dykes", was adjacent to a piece of land known as "The Old Hills", the flat parts of which contained allotments, but the sloping area nearest to the Bog was full of craters which I understood were what remained of mining activity. The Dykes were my Amazon Jungle - full of frogs, newts and creepy-crawlies of all kinds.

Local children do not seem to visit the Bog any more.

Like the conservationists, I have no wish to see the area lost to future generations, but I believe that it is vital that the relief road be built. I doubt that this road, built on stilts, will have any more impact on the plants and inhabitants of the Bog than did the small boys of 50-plus years ago.

Relief road opposition

SIR - This association continues to oppose the building of the Bingley "relief " road and to work for sustainable transport policies throughout Airedale. We will, therefore, be challenging the Government's decision to approve the road along a number of avenues.

There is considerable disquiet over this decision in a number of quarters. We consider that the opposition to the road has not been given a fair hearing and that the decision is highly questionable on both economic and environmental grounds.

No amount of triumphalism on the part of Mr Leslie, MP for Shipley, will disguise the increase in traffic and pollution that will be experienced in Bingley

The damage will also be considerable in Saltaire and Shipley as more traffic is dumped on their doorstep. We can also expect other communities in Airedale to experience the pressure of development and traffic if the road is built.

Nursery idea not good

SIR - I have read with horror about Chris Leslie's latest brainwave (or should that be brainstorm?) about nursery education in Bingley, suggesting that nursery classes from all the Bingley primary schools should be centred on the Church of England First School in Park Road.

In a previous letter I pointed out that no primary schools should be closed because they were near the centres of population and involved minimal travelling for small children.

Now, the idea of three to four-year-olds being shunted into one building for all the Bingley primary schools is even more horrific.

Has Mr Leslie considered the implications? Would he send them by bus or would he expect all parents to have cars? Furthermore, several parents have more than one child - how could they simultaneously take the older ones to their school and the three to four-year-olds to Park Road?

No, Mr Leslie, this is not a good idea. Please think of all the practical implications of your latest flight of fancy.

Muriel Thompson (Shipley Green Party), Priestthorpe Road, Bingley

Back to Clippings

Back to Page Top

Back to Main Story