Some recent news articles...

Only collective action can overcome the climate crisis by Robin Cook (Guardian)
"Future generations will be puzzled that we failed to grasp the urgency of climate change and may be furious at the environmental calamity we bequeathed to them. They may reasonably feel that we were given plenty of warning signs of the stress which our lifestyle was putting on the ecosystem, one of which is almost within sight of the Docklands home of much of the British press..." full story

The businessman and the activist: how personal pollution stacks up full article

Darling to signal roadbuilding rethink
"The transport secretary, Alistair Darling, will next week seek to shed his reputation as a roadbuilder, by blocking a £340m highway through the picturesque Blackdown hills of Devon and Somerset..." full story

Nice to have some good news for a change! Light at the end of the tunnel, perhaps? Then he goes and does this...

Anger at road for Hastings
"A £47m road through the valley where William the Conqueror struck his first camp outside Hastings was approved by the transport secretary, Alistair Darling, yesterday, to the dismay of environmentalists..." full story

And this is an older article. Interesting..

My ambition to kill 4,000 by Nick Ross
"Driving is all about freedom and fun, while road safety is for spoilsports and interfering busybodies. We all know that. You can picture the people it attracts: vicars' wives, prim suburban nerds, the sort who wanted horseless carriages to be preceded by a man with a red flag. Safe is dreary..." full article

Controversial road gets go-ahead

"A controversial £47m link road on England's south coast, opposed by environmental campaigners, has been given the go-ahead by the government..." full story (BBC)

Hmm. Seems Alistair Darling is partial to the odd bypass through historic countryside. Not good news.

The good news is...

Link road protests 'will be huge'

Protesters say the new link road will vandalise the countrysideEnvironmental campaigners are threatening protests on a scale of Newbury and Twyford Down over a link road through greenfield land in Sussex. full story (BBC)

Industrial Development :: Woolley Bridge Lane, Hadfield

"THE property company owned by multi-millionaire Sale Sharks boss Brian Kennedy is to create a massive new business park in Glossop.Patrick Properties, which was set up by Kennedy in 2002, has been granted detailed planning permission for Graphite - a 345,000 sq ft industrial site on Woolley Bridge Road in Hadfield, Glossop..." full story (Manchester Online)

Hmm. So how will all the HGVs/extra traffic this new development creates access the new development? Not via New Road, as turning is too tight from the A628. Must be via Woolley Bridge roundabout then. Interesting that at the same time as purporting to be reducing traffic into the area, new development encouraging more traffic are getting Council approval. Doesn't add up somehow.

Some news...

Health warnings urged for SUVs
"Four-wheel drive jeeps should carry compulsory health warnings on their body panels, environmental campaigners said yesterday..." read full story

Roads agency 'too timid to tackle jams'
"Britain's highway managers are making inadequate efforts to tackle traffic jams because of a "risk-averse" attitude to new ideas and poor planning for crowd-pulling events, according to the government's spending watchdog..." read full story

Traffic levels on road increasing
"The Department of Transport has dismissed suggestions that more traffic means roads are more congested. Traffic was up 2.1% between July to September on the same time last year, according to DoT figures out on Thursday..." read full story

Anger over M6 Toll extension plan
"Residents of a Staffordshire village close to the M6 are holding a meeting over the impact of plans to extend the toll road..." read full story

Clarkson in deep peat over 4x4 ride

"He is always trying to take the use of cars to new heights, but the Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson's ascent of a Scottish mountain in a 4x4 has been condemned as a stunt too far..."
read full story
What a git. Still, I'm glad it wasn't just me that thought it was completely out of order.

Problems for public transport in the countryside...

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/0155f5e0-3cf7-11d9-bb7b-00000e2511c8.html (subscribers only)

Taking the Oxford air adds up to a 60-a-day habit

"Wandering round Oxford and breathing the city's air is equivalent to smoking three packets of cigarettes a day, according to research into air quality statistics..." full story

The long-range weather forecast: more flash floods for Britain

"Britain should expect more dangerous flash floods, catastrophic rain and hail storms, droughts and heatwaves from the rapid changes in rainfall patterns brought by global warming, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said yesterday as clean-up operations continued in flooded Boscastle..." full story

With this in mind, shouldn't the government be focussing on getting people onto cleaner forms of transport? Isn't road building (i.e. encouraging more traffic onto the roads) an unnacceptable approach when the balance between the environment (climate change) and the economy is struck. Never mind the people on the high street, goddamit. If you want to live on a road, you make your choice.

More info on flooding and building development
Environment Agency :: Flooding
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister :: Development on, or affecting, the flood plain
DEFRA :: Exposer to Flood Risk

contractjournal.com :: Mowlem pips rivals to Peak District's bypass

"Mowlem looks to be closing in on an £85m early contractor involvement deal in the North West.
Sources say the contractor has held off challenges from four rivals to stake its claim for the Mottram-Tintwistle bypass on the edge of the High Peak District.
Nothing official has yet emerged from the client, the Highways Agency, but it looks like the end of the road for the other four contenders - Amec, Carillion, Costain and Alfred McAlpine..."
full article

Damn it! Time to get busy.

Contract Journal :: Roads contractors eye major bonuses

"Highways contractors could pocket windfalls of up to 70% of project cost savings under new bonus schemes set up by the Highways Agency (HA) across its early contractor involvement agreements (ECIs).
Outlining the bonus payments at the HA's ECI seminar last week, Peter Higgins, director of PD Consult, the HA's technical advisor on ECIs, said the HA "wanted contractors to make money..." full article

Climate change policy 'off course'

"Government targets for reduced carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere will not be met, and environmental taxes, particularly on road traffic, are falling rather than rising, the Commons environmental audit committee says." full story

Obviously road building is the answer - not!

MPs criticise UK's record on carbon emissions

"Britain's strategy for countering climate change is seriously off course, and the Government is likely to miss one of its key global warming targets, a powerful cross-party group of MPs alleged yesterday." read the full story

contractjournal.com :: Big names pitch for an £85m HA job

This is what I was looking for...

contractjournal.com :: Big names pitch for £85m HA job

So, who did they pick?
Time to find out...

contractjournal.com :: Road scheme funding shortfall alarms BCC

contractjournal.com :: Road scheme funding shortfall alarms BCC

So what if 50% of business want more roads!!! What a bullshit country.

Norwich No N25 Campaign - 78% my arse!

Well, it' not really news but worth a look. Nice to know we're not the only ones being stuffed by our local councillors/Mott Macdonald. Norwich No N25 Campaign

House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 3 Jun 2003 (pt 47)

Oh my, look what I've just found. It seems that Environmental Impact Assessment had not been carried out at time the Transport Secretary added the A57/A628 bypass to his TPI list. Interesting.
read the full list on Hansard

Real progress on Local Transport

"Green policies could cut traffic by 20% in 10 years – cut roadbuilding and hidden costs by billions – and deliver a transport system that works.." more

Plan looms to concrete 1,000 miles of Britain

"People have threatened to kill themselves because of it. Celebrities have been arrested for showing their anger over it. People have lived in trees to prevent it happening. But road-building is set to inflame passions like never before as the biggest shake-up in Britain's transport policy begins this week..." more

Climate change curbs Darling's plans

"Alistair Darling's enthusiasm for building roads and airport runways is to be curbed by new measures forcing the transport secretary to take into account Britain's international commitment to tackling climate change..." more

Yes, Alistair, even you are just another cog. Get over it.

Council wants Darling's resignation [Ed: don't we all!]

"Manchester City Council has demanded the resignation of transport secretary Alistair Darling after plans for three new tram routes in the city were axed..." more

Yup, Al. Looks like you've upset the wrong guys this time...

UK faces Euro court action

 "The UK is facing European Commission legal action for breaching eight EU environmental laws..." more
Oh, the UK. What a shining jewel of a nation we are. No surprises for guessing how this story goes: Blair and co. f*** the countryside and get a bollocking from the EU. About time too.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Save Swallow's Wood online blog, where information from the wider web and other media relating relating to tranport, road building, and the Peak Park will be available via the www.saveswallowswood.org.uk website.

Please check back here regularly to see what's going on, what's changed, and what's coming up.