Action Briefing Aug 2003 - Sept 2003
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Martin's Transport Campaign Round-Up

Hagley Road widening scheme approved
We were disappointed to learn that the Hagley Road widening scheme has been given the go ahead by Birmingham City Council’s cabinet member for Transport and Street Services Councillor John Tyrrell.

The £14 million project which will cut only 5 minutes from the bus journey has been strongly opposed by residents along with Birmingham Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups ever since the first flawed consultation process was launched.

In the face of such vociferous opposition, and in view of the poor consultation process, the City Council were forced to produce an alternative set of plans, but these were opposed just as strongly as the first set. Now there are two alternative plans which are being considered in parallel.

What else can we do? After the detailed design work, the various compulsory purchase orders will have to be negotiated, this being often a costly and time consuming process. There are still several options open to us and we will be looking to see what we can achieve. At the very worst, we can make sure that we and other interested parties have some say in the detailed design work so that if we can’t halt it altogether, we can at least hope to lessen its impact and save what we can, but we are hoping that it needn’t come to this. It is worth bearing in mind that no physical work will take place before 2005 even if the whole process runs smoothly, and all the City Council seats are up for grabs in 2004 so there could well be some interesting events before the first tree is chopped down...

Stratford Road Red Route plans
On a slightly more positive note, the final plans for the Red Route scheme were released in mid June, and it looks as if many of the concerns which we expressed have been heeded by the consultants.

The green open spaces at Stratford Street in Sparkhill and at Reddings Lane in Hall Green have been spared from conversion into car parks. From the plans it still looks as if parking bays cut into the pavement will threaten mature street trees at several locations in Hall Green although the consultant on hand at the public display assured us that this would not be the case.

We await the detailed plans with interest, as it’s difficult to see how the number of planned parking bays could be accommodated without having to remove some trees.

The final plans were not exactly launched with much fanfare. In fact, owing to the lack of publicity we only found out about the public display by chance. By the time you read this, the City Council will have decided whether or not to accept the proposals and proceed.

Attention will now turn to further planned Red Route schemes, the A34 Walsall Road north of Birmingham being the next to be considered. Our basic concerns on Red Routes still stand, namely that they may increase the incentive to speed; generate extra car journeys unless adequate bus priority measures are in place; and may make the road more dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists. Both Red Route schemes and road widening to accommodate bus lanes are in essence about increasing highway capacity - road widening by stealth.

It is a pity that a large part of the Local Transport Plan (LTP) budget is being lavished on such a strategy when really we should be addressing the heart of the problem and providing real and sustainable alternatives to needless car journeys. These schemes will do nothing to reduce car use and little to endear people to sustainable modes of transport.

Local rail services
Reading the local press recently, you cannot help but sense an air of frustration and despair at the way local rail services in the West Midlands are straining under the weight of inadequate funding. There seems to be a lack of political will from Central Government to address the problems.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) is preoccupied with London commuter and inter city services at the expense of local and regional services and has put a freeze on Rail Passenger Partnership grants, an invaluable source of funding for making improvements to local and regional rail services and getting innovations in new services off the ground. The freeze has postponed several planned improvements for local rail services in the West Midlands. Indeed, some may not happen at all. We have recently heard how there is not even enough money for such modest improvements as more disabled access at local stations. Local government has the will to change things but they are prevented from doing anything by their paymasters in the Strategic Rail Authority and Westminster.

There is widespread concern that local and regional rail services are under genuine threat with talk of service cuts, bustitution and even line closures. Earlier this year, service cuts were sanctioned by the SRA to ease congestion at rail bottlenecks. This was acceptable to make the timetables more reliable and robust, but further cuts have been inflicted on lightly used routes where there is no issue of congestion with more cuts to follow. Little wonder then that certain MPs and environmental campaigning groups are taking action. Transport 2000, working with Don Foster MP’s Office and Friends of the Earth, has set up an All Party Early Day Motion (EDM) in Parliament in defence of local rail services. EDM number 1323 seeks to protect local and regional rail services throughout the country and condemns the suspension of funding for passenger schemes, stations, new services and line improvements.

Martin Stride

Take Action
Write to your MP at the House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA asking them to sign EDM 1323. Also, ask them why Rail Passenger Partnership grants have been frozen and where the money is being used instead and when the grants are likely to be reinstated. Ask that your questions and comments are passed on to the Secretary of State, Alistair Darling, for a response.