Action Briefing Aug 2003- Sept 2003
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

West Midlands News

Campaign of the (last) decade

The campaign to stop the Western Orbital Motorway (WOM) has at last achieved its aim. Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has defied local authorities and business leaders, not only on environmental grounds but because he was unconvinced by the Black Country regeneration case and is instead backing a comprehensive Black Country study. This is a tremendous victory for local residents and environmental campaigners, both here and nationally.

The WOM, latterly disguised as two bypasses of Stourbridge and Wolverhampton, would have destroyed 32 miles of our precious Green Belt and opened up huge areas of countryside for industrial, housing, office and airport developments (the operators of Halfpenny Green airfield had always said that the WOM was essential for them).

The business community, by launching a new campaign to build the WOM and claiming that they never took seriously the two-bypasses option anyway, have shown that they cannot let go of the belief that new roads will regenerate a local economy, regardless of the number of studies saying otherwise.

Mr Darling has promised an extra £1 billion to spend on public transport solutions within the West Midlands conurbation, with a strong subtext that if it is spent well there will be more to follow. The icing on the cake was the announcement that, in the short term, the M42 will not be widened. As £40 million has been spent on Active Traffic Management (ATM), we should wait and see what that delivers before we think about widening the M42. For more info visit the DfT website www.dft.gov.uk

Chris Crean