Friends of the Earth
West Midlands Transport
Campaign
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Birmingham Friends of the Earth West Midlands Transport Campaign |
28th October 2000
Campaigners sent a clear message to banks and construction companies involved in the Birmingham Northern Relief Road, Britain's first toll motorway, that they have not gone away following the decision to go ahead in September. A "funeral" procession took place in Birmingham City Centre today. During which symbols of the destruction which the BNRR will wreck across the West Midlands were delivered to branches of the Abbey National. This included a brick from one of the properties demolished along the route, bearing the slogan 'life's complicated enough' and a piece of turf to symbolise the destruction to the Green Belt. A coffin was carried during the procession marked "Death of the Green Belt." Mourners were also accompanied by musicians who were able to set a sombre tone.(1)
They are targetting the Abbey National which is joining with the Bank of America to finance the motorway, because, unlike other British Banks, they refused to meet campaigners to discuss concerns about the road, and failed to respond to detailed warnings from campaigners about the environmental and financial risks of the road.
Despite the unregulated toll rates, which allow Midland Expressway Limited to charge as much as they like to use the toll road, Campaigners believe the toll will have a significant off-putting effect and warn that the motorway may struggle, like the Channel Tunnel or the Millennium Dome, to reach its optimistic targets.
Campaigners will also be gearing up to bring their concerns to the construction companies behind the project, Balfour Beatty, AMEC, Carillion and Alfred MacAlpine.
Campaigners are warning that, not only will the motorway cut a huge swathe through the Green Belt, it will act as a catalyst for further Green Belt development pressure from warehousing companies wanting to close regional depots and concentrate in the centre of England, property developers who want to encourage offices to move out into the Green Belt and house builders looking for green sites to build on.
The motorway destroys 27 miles of the West Midland's green belt and damages two nationally important nature sites (SSSIs). It is unclear how much traffic it will attract because it runs parallel to free A-roads, but it is acknowledged by the Highway Agency and Midland Expressway that congestion on the M6 will be similar whether or not it is built.
Hazel Barnes of the Alliance Against the BNRR said:
We haven't gone away, and we don't intend to. There's a lot of anger about this motorway and those involved need to know it. We'll be telling the Abbey National, life's complicated enough without you wrecking our environment.
Karen Leach of Birmingham FOE said:
The Green Belt is under huge pressure in the West Midlands. BNRR doesn't solve our traffic problems, what it does do is encourage speculative developers to grab what they can get away with along the route, and that's something we have to fight.
Pictures of the Funeral Procession :
Press Contacts:
Alliance:
Hazel Barnes : 01543 672244
FOE:
Karen Leach : 0121 632 6909
Chris Crean : 0121 643 9117
