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Campaigners line up for the second battle of Hastings [6 June 2001]

Massive road building projects are threatening our sensitive landscapes and campaigners are lining up for a fight.

THE HILLS and valleys around Hastings are echoing to the sounds of battle. More than 900 years after William the Conqueror stepped onto the shores of southern England there is another fierce confrontation looming on the horizon.

The Upper Brede Valley is part of an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB). But if road planners have their way, thousands of vehicles will be thundering through the valley each day on a new series of bypasses round Hastings. If this £180million scheme is given the go-ahead it will cut through three sites of special scientific interest (SSSI). It would be one of the most controversial road schemes since the Newbury bypass.

Landscape photographer and former Ramblers President Fay Godwin knows the Brede Valley well. "This road will pass through areas of international importance, causing massive destruction. It will damage tourism and deprive people of some glorious countryside."

The Hastings bypass is certainly not the only controversial project in the pipeline. There are already 113 bypasses that have start dates with nearly 500 schemes on the horizon. The M4 relief road around Newport, Gwent, (a bypass of a bypass) is one of the most expensive road projects in Europe. The £27million Birmingham Northern Relief Road that runs through green belt and two SSSIs has been given the go-ahead even though the Highways Agency has admitted congestion on the nearby M6 will not be eased by the new road.

After years of expansion of the road network, the Government in 1998 promised a new deal. It said new roads would be a solution of last resort and alternatives to road building would be investigated first. But last year there seemed to be a serious U-turn. The Government's ten-year plan for transport includes £29billion of road building measures: the money would pay for 360 miles of motorway and trunk road widening; 30 major bypasses; and 200 major local road improvements. However, the Government's own transport advisers have warned this £29billion will speed up journey times by an average of just one second a mile.

Road schemes currently under discussion would damage at least 28 SSSIs, five current or planned national parks, eight AONBs and two World Heritage Sites. These roads will all increase traffic levels and pollution and contribute to serious climate change.

This is why the Ramblers Association has helped to launch the Roads to Ruin Alliance with a range of other campaigning organisations including the RSPB, the Council for National Parks and Friends of the Earth. The aim is to show there is an alternative to road building through investment in public transport and promoting alternatives to car use.

Laying down asphalt to cope with more and more traffic is not a solution. New roads encourage people to use their cars more and make public transport seem less attractive. But this simply generates further congestion leading to more pressure to build motorways and bypasses. Road building simply fuels the problem - and the price we pay is the loss of our countryside.

Action

• Write to your MP outlining why you oppose widespread road building programmes and why you support investment in public transport.
  
• Ask your group to organise walks starting from somewhere easily accessible by public transport.
  
• September 22 is European Car Free Day. Groups can contribute to the event by highlighting a car-free walk in their programmes. Contact the Ramblers countryside protection team for more information.
  
• Use public transport whenever you can when visiting the countryside. Support Car Free Day and group walks that use public transport.

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