SUPPORT a LORRY BAN on A628, NOT A BYPASS
WRITE TO THE PEAK DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK IN SUPPORT OF THE LORRY BAN
CPRE's independent report on the lorry ban proves that it needs further study.
We all need to write to Tony Hams, Chair of Peak District National Park Authority
before the Park Authority meet on the 14th October in order to put pressure
on him to seriously consider the ban. CPRE has written with the support of
national organisations (Ramblers', FoE, CPRE, Council for National Parks and
Transport 2000).
We now need to show there is overwhelming support for this alternative to
be looked at. The Authority is meeting on Oct 14th but we need to influence
him now if we are to get the Authority to think about the ban at that meeting.
A sample letter is at the bottom of this page, but please use your own version
if you can so that he gets many different responses as this will carry more
weight than many identical letters. The paragraphs in the brackets are more
for you to understand what the report is saying so you feel confident to support
it.
The address to send your letters is: Tony Hams, Chair of Peak District
National Park Authority (Aldern House, Baslow Rd, Bakewell, DE45 1AE
Background Information
MTRU used Government figures to gives the costs to the environmental impacts of the lorries on the A628 – such as pollution, CO2 emissions, noise, road congestion and accidents – and showed that if the lorries transferred to the motorway network the costs to the environment would be more than halved even though the lorries are travelling twice as far.
Even taking into account the operating costs that the lorries would incur – fuel costs driver time – the environmental benefits outweighed the operating costs by £2.4 -6 million each year. So overall the environmental benefits win hands down.
For more information on the proposed A628 bypass, visit www.saveswallowswood.org.uk.
For a copy of CPRE's HGV ban report, contact Anne Robinson (details below).
Contacts
Anne Robinson, CPRE South Peaks & Yorks Branch, Tel: 0114 266 5822, E-mail: mail@cprepeakandsyorks.org.uk
Emma Lawrence, Campaign Co-ordinator, Save Swallow's Wood, Tel: 0845 226
3392, E-mail: info@saveswallowswood.org.uk
DEMO OUTSIDE THE PEAK DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY HQ, 14th October
2005
To emphasise our point, we are organising a demo outside the national park
authority headquarters in Bakewell. We need to be there for 9am so we can
welcome meeting delegates with our message. If anyone is interested in coming
along, please meet us there or e-mail Emma on info@saveswallowswood.org.uk
to arrange shared transport.
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SAMPLE LETTER
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Dear Mr Hams,
SUPPORT a LORRY BAN on A628 AND NOT A bypass
I/We are very concerned about the Peak District National Park Authority’s approach towards the Mottram-Tintwistle bypass. This is the only solution that has been offered to solve our appalling traffic problems yet it would destroy the countryside, double the amount of traffic in the area in 20 years time.
Heavy lorries cause disproportionate impacts to their actual numbers on the A628: they kill people, crash into property, emit toxic fumes, intrude in the landscape, and because lorries move more slowly and need more space to manoeuvre than cars they create traffic jams. The route both within the Park and through the villages is inappropriate for lorries.
The solution is to remove these lorries and thereby avoid building the bypass. By placing a weight restriction on the Woodhead and other neighbouring east-west routes we could ensure lorries use the motorways around the Park – the M1 M62 and M60.
This idea, which many local people have suggested in the past and there is wide support for, has now been formally endorsed by an independent transport professional Metropolitan Transport Research Unit (MTRU), working for the CPRE.
MTRU concluded that the benefits of diverting lorries would justify the costs even without taking the special quality of the area into account, and recommended further study of the proposal.
Now it’s up to you as the Park Authority to commission further study before the bypass progresses any further. The Authority would be failing in its statutory duty to protect the Park if it does not do this. We/I look forward to hearing from you!
Yours sincerely
[Your Name]