Action Briefing Jun 2003 - Jul 2003
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Hagley Road: Stop The Chainsaw Massacre!

On a glorious April evening at the height of the rush hour, a group of protesters consisting of Birmingham Friends of the Earth and local residents descended on a leafy part of the Hagley Road dressed as construction workers and brandishing mock chainsaws.

Along the road the impressive line up of mature trees which are threatened with the chop looked suitably unimpressed sporting some pretty unhappy faces (carefully attached by protesters). With our large "No! to Road Widening" banner and "Save me from the chop" placards, the picture was complete. The thousands of commuters and passers-by who witnessed all this were left in little doubt about the devastation which would occur if plans to widen the Hagley Road for bus lanes went ahead.

The chainsaws were just cardboard cutouts, but if the plans go ahead, the chainsaws will be steel, and this scene will be for real. Some beautiful mature trees would be lost forever, and traffic volumes would escalate as much of the Hagley Road would be transformed into a six lane motorway ripping through the heart of Edgbaston. The following day's Evening Mail carried a report of our demonstration bearing the headline "Barking Mad!" Did they mean us? Or did they mean the City Council for proposing such a destructive scheme in the first place?!

The road widening plot is part of the Hagley Road bus showcase scheme which will increase road space to accommodate new bus lanes. After the original plans met with such fierce opposition, the City Council issued a less drastic alternative set of plans in March 2003 which would spare a listed building from demolition and reduce the loss of trees. But the alternative plans are no better than the original plans; both result in an unacceptably high level of destruction, and will do little to attract people onto the buses. By having two alternative plans which are being considered in parallel, there is a real danger that people will forget the most obvious and least damaging option, i.e. to save £14 million by not widening the Hagley Road at all!

Send in your comments by the end of June!
To raise your objections to the Hagley Road scheme send your comments as soon as possible to:
Gary Groves
Transportation Strategy
Birmingham City Council
1 Lancaster Circus Queensway
B4 7DQ
Email Gary.Groves@Birmingham.gov.uk

Martin Stride