 An alliance against road building |
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An alliance against road building |
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PRESS RELEASE - Embargoed until 6.30am, 17th January 2005
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY - Local residents challenging bulldozers to stop work
ANTI-ROADS ALLIANCE LAUNCHED, AS MIDDLE ENGLAND STANDS UP TO A NEW ROUND OF BULLDOZERS
Road Block, a national alliance of local groups and individuals opposed to new road building, is launching on Monday 17th January. Road Block supporters will stand alongside Bedfordshire residents as the first clearance work is expected to begin on the Stoke Hammond to Linslade bypass [1]. Opponents to the road are meeting on the Bypass route near Leighton Buzzard at 7am on Monday 17th January. For location contact Victoria Harvey of South Bedfordshire Friends of the Earth on 01525 385 097 or 07815 817108 or vharvey@btopenworld.com .
Road Block [2] is launching in response to a roads programme that has gradually built up to around 200 proposed or planned schemes throughout the UK [3]. This scale of road building is at a level not seen since the infamous 1990s road building programme, which ignited unprecedented community-based protest. This protest led to the cancellation of most of the schemes, and a manifesto pledge by Labour to cut road building and traffic growth.
An escalating number of road schemes since 2000 suggests that the Government has given up on its original manifesto pledge. More recent Government commitments to tackle climate change are also in jeopardy, as transport makes up 25 per cent of the UK's carbon dioxide emissions - a figure set to grow alongside the inevitable traffic growth from new roads. Rebecca Lush from Road Block said:
"Road building just leads to traffic growth, which leads to more traffic jams and more greenhouse gas emissions. Most of these road schemes are also linked to aviation expansion and unsustainable development in housing. Road Block is supporting community groups around the UK who have had enough of this insane direction - we will be highlighting the hypocrisy of Blair talking tough on climate while supporting more roads. If this government is planning more roads, they should expect more protests, from the planning stages right through to standing in front of bulldozers if necessary."
Victoria Harvey of South Bedfordshire Friends of the Earth which is opposing the bypass said:
"We are glad to be part of this new alliance that will take on this Government's road building plans. Road building is as unsustainable as
the huge scale new housing planned for this area. Today's protests are just the beginning." Nick Bingham, Chair of the Hastings Alliance, opposing the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road, said: "We are delighted that Road Block, a national alliance against road building, is being set up. We need to fight these roads as a united front, until we defeat them all. We successfully defeated the Western Bypass, and we never thought we would be opposing yet another unnecessary road scheme."
ENDS
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY:
7am, 17th January, when local residents will be gathering to challenge the bulldozers to stop work.
CONTACT:
Road Block : Rebecca Lush, who will be available for interview at the protest on 07854 693067. Melanie Jarman in the Road Block office on 01803 847649. Victoria Harvey of South Bedfordshire Friends of the Earth: on 01525 385 097 and 07815 817108
EDITOR'S NOTES:
[1] The Stoke Hammond and Linslade Western Bypass is the first of four bypasses, which will provide a dual carriageway between Milton Keynes and Aylesbury. This is in one of the Government's 'growth areas', with Milton Keynes set to have 44,000 new homes by 2021 and Aylesbury set to have 15,000.
[2] New groups from Edinburgh to Cornwall, via the route of the proposed 51-mile M6 Expressway, are joining the Road Block alliance.
[3] For more info on road schemes see www.transport2000.org.uk
[4] Support for people taking direct action against road building is available from Road Alert! at www.roadalert.org.uk .