|
Campaigns/Transport | Become a Golden Supporter |
December 2001
Why we oppose widening of the M42
Introduction
The Widening of the M42 to ten lanes
from Junction 3a to 7 is back on the regional agenda and it’s important that
opponents of the widening make their voices heard. The Widening has been recommended
by the West Midlands Multi-Modal Study and is now included in Draft Regional
Planning Guidance, the planning blueprint for the West Midlands.
If you are concerned that this widening will lead to increased traffic and encourage development in the Green Belt at the expense of urban regeneration it is important that you object to the proposals by sending an objection to the Regional Planning Guidance panel before 30 January, 2002.
This briefing sets out the history of the proposals, the issues involved and provides the address to write to if you want to object to RPG as well as other useful contacts so you can put pressure on key decision makers not to widen the M42.
History
Proposals for widening the
M42 through the Meriden Gap have been around since the motorway link from the
M5 to the M6 was completed in the 1980's. The Conservative Government’s strategy
(Roads for Prosperity) widened the whole length to five lanes. There was also
proposals to widen it north of Junction 9 (Dunton Island).
A consultation into the widening proposals was undertaken in 1995 but its conclusions never published. More and more people were raising concerns about motorway widening and a key Government sponsored report (SACTRA) suggested that spending millions of pounds and using tonnes of resources on road building might simply generate more traffic and, as a result, be counter-productive. In 1997 opposition to road building was at its peak and a large number of road schemes were put on hold. The incoming Labour Government promised a transport revolution with a Road Traffic Reduction Act and a radical Transport White Paper.
Unfortunately since then intensive lobbying has led to the re-emergence of much of the old roads programme, including the widening of the M42 between Junctions 3a and 7, the M40 to the M6 section. At the same time construction of the Birmingham Northern Relief Road and traffic generating developments on the motorway threaten to increase traffic levels on that section of the M42.
Why we oppose the widening
Widening the M42 through the
Meriden Gap would clearly damage the Green Belt, but Friends of the Earth is
not even convinced a widened M42 would solve the transport problems its supporters
are concerned about. While it might provide some immediate extra capacity, the
on-going development it would give rise to would soon fill that up and the subsequent
increase in traffic volumes would clog up both the motorway and other roads.
We believe traffic reduction measures, the development of non-car transport
options and a massive investment in public transport is the only way to create
long term improvements in the corridor.
Unfortunately, traffic constraint is rejected by developers and politicians alike who continue to promote the erosion of the Green Belt at the expense of urban regeneration, and by business lobbyists who refuse to accept that we cannot build our way out of congestion.
Friends of the Earth warns that the widening of the motorway is only the beginning. The airport has aspirations to carry larger and larger numbers of passengers, the NEC wants to expand and the whole corridor is designated as a ‘High Technology Corridor’, where developers will find it easier to build new business parks and expand those already there. Once these are in place, house builders can argue for more houses to support the businesses allowing people to live closer to where they work. Thus, the erosion of the Green Belt comes full circle.
We also argue that the strategic role of Motorways in the West Midlands will be preserved when we reduce local commuting, not by providing additional capacity to encourage it. The level of through traffic is surprisingly low on the motorway network and there would be enough capacity if we used more imaginative approaches to reducing local traffic.
We believe it is essential for the local regional and national economy, as well as the environment, that these schemes are dropped and significant investment made in walking, cycling and public transport networks.
The West Midlands Area Multi
Modal Study
The M42 widening has been proposed
as an outcome of the West Midlands Area Multi Modal Study established after
the production of the Transport White Paper in 1999. It was one of a number
of studies which aimed to test the options for transport solutions to problems
like congestion in the West Midlands. It was intended to be locally based and
inclusive bringing together environmentalists the business sector, transport
operators, local and regional government and politicians, along with the wider
community, to work on solutions.
The study was started in Spring 1999 and produced its final report in November 2001, It recommends a diverse range of proposals, many of which Friends of the Earth supports, but it also includes the widening of the M42 and a number of other damaging road proposals.
The study claims the M42 widening is essential to accommodate the further development of the airport and the NEC and Blythe Valley and Provident business parks. We question, not only widening the motorway, but whether the region should continue to allow unsustainable growth in the corridor while other areas suffer deprivation for lack of industry and investment.
The Multi Modal Study recommends the widening is delivered within the next 10 years as part of the Government’s £180 billion 10 year transport plan. We believe that money should be spent on strengthening public transport and that widening the M42 would suck public money out of the purse for other transport priorities, an issue all the more pressing given the problems on the rail network including those at Railtrack.
Regional Planning Guidance
The Multi Modal Study feeds
into Regional Planning Guidance, the statutory planning blueprint for the region,
which is under review. The current RPG 11 West Midlands is being updated and
a draft of the new Guidance is out for consultation. Responses must be back
by 30 January 2001. An Examination in Public (EiP) will be held in June 2002
in Birmingham. The Issues under discussion at the EiP will depend on the responses
received. Every objection to the M42 widening helps ensure it will be debated.
The key policies we object to are:
You can get a copy of the draft
RPG by contacting David Littlewood at the Government Office for the West Midlands
(GOWM), WMRPG secretariat, CH1, GOWM, 77 Paradise Circus, Queensway, Birmingham
B1 2DT. Tel: 0121 212 5472,
E-mail: david.littlewood.gowm@go-regions.gsi.gov.uk
The RPG is available electronically
at www.go-wm.gov.uk
Further Work
As well as writing to the RPG panel
you may want to make your feelings known to the following
Local Authorities:
Solihull
Metropolitan Borough Council
(0121 704 6000),
Coventry
City Council (0247 683 3333)
Warwickshire County Council
(0178 926 0007)
North Warwickshire Borough Council
(01827 715341)
Stratford-upon-Avon District
Council
Warwick District Council (0192
645 0000)
and Birmingham City Council
(0121 303 9944) all need to understand the opposition to these proposals.
West Midlands MPs:
Julie Kirkbride (Bromsgrove)
Caroline Spelman (Meriden)
Mike O'Brien (North Warwickshire)
John Taylor (Solihull)
You can contact them via House of Commons, London SW1A 1AA or tel 0207 219 3000. If you don't know who your MP is or in which constituency you reside you might try www.locata.co.uk/commons/
MEPs for the West Midlands:
Conservatives c/o West Midlands Conservative Office, 10 Greenfield Crescent, Edgbaston Birmingham, B15 3AU.
Phillip Bushill Matthews Bushillm@aol.comLabour c/o 67 Birmingham Road, West Bromwich, West Midlands, B70 6PY. Tel: 0121 553 6601 Fax: 0121 553 6602 Email: westmidlands@new.labour.org.uk
Neena Gill contact@neena-gill-mep.new.labour.org.ukLiberal Democrat c/o 5 Ely Street, Stratford upon Avon Warwickshire CV37 6LW
Liz Lynne lizlynne@cix.co.uk
The West Midlands Regional Assembly
The Assembly has responsibility for representing the region’s views on the Multi Modal Study and Regional Planning Guidance to Government. To find your representative you can contact the West Midlands Local Government association on 0121 678 1010 or visit their web site www.wmlga.gov.uk
Campaigning is already Working
on the M42 corridor
Friends of the Earth is supporting
local opposition to development in the Meriden Gap. ‘Mind The Gap’ is a recently
formed umbrella group which has successfully highlighted and raised concerns
about the proposed National Football Stadium at Bickenhill in the Green Belt.
This resulted in a petition of over 2 000 signatures being presented to the
House of Commons by local MP Caroline Spelman and hundreds of letters to the
Football Association and various Governments departments. Local pressure group
Say No Action Group (SNAG) has made Green Belt issues around the proposed Motorway
Service Area at Catherine de Barnes a national issue, reaching the High Court
and the House of Commons. While residents groups have successfully highlighted
the lack of protection to the Green Belt from housing or industrial developments
by local planners.
The Meriden Gap is part of a wider issue. Friends of the Earth is also supporting the 30,000 people who are opposing proposed Green Belt developments at Peddimore and Bassetts Pole adjacent to the Birmingham Northern Relief Road which are being promoted in Birmingham’s Unitary Development Plan. The Government Office for the West Midlands is itself objecting. FOE is also supporting the campaign by local people against the proposed Western Green Belt Bypasses of Stourbridge and Wolverhampton which also came out of the Multi Modal Study.
This briefing is also available in rich text format (RTF).
Related Websites