BNRR Destruction Gives Lie To Bank's Claims

On the day of Abbey National's AGM (1), residents along the route of the BNRR have condemned Abbey National's blasé attitude to their investment in this destruction of communities and green belt.

They are angry that the bank make claims in a glossy pre-AGM brochure of "corporate social responsibility" - and yet don't have the bottle to mention in the same publication that they are funding the environmentally destructive M6 Toll Road - even though such investments would usually be mentioned. (2).

People who live near the route are suffering excessive noise, dust, disruption and pollution from the construction as well as watching the destruction of their countryside. Meanwhile, the Highways Agency's admission that the road will not even relieve congestion on the M6 simply adds insult to injury.

Local residents Bill and Jill Hoad - who are shareholders in Abbey National - will be attending the AGM today in an attempt to get the bank to listen to their concerns and to show them photos of the destruction of the West Midlands green belt.

Bill Hoad said "Abbey National's claim of corporate social responsibility sits uneasily with the suffering they are causing residents along the route - and this in addition to the fact that 27 miles of green belt, a valuable national resource, is being irrevocably devastated."

Meanwhile, shareholder Dave Clare is still waiting for a reply from the Bank as to whether Abbey National have read a crucial report on the cost benefits of the BNRR. The Oscar Faber report strongly suggests that the road would not prove beneficial or solve congestion on the M6. Campaigners have been urging the bank to read the Oscar Faber report for several years. Many other banks, having read it, decided the BNRR was a bad investment, but Abbey National ignored the advice of their shareholders and went ahead with the investment without bothering to read the report.

Dave Clare said "Abbey National seem keen to brush this whole issue under the carpet. For three years running we have gone to the trouble of attending their AGM to ask them to read the Oscar Faber report. If they still have not done so then they still don't know the truth about their investment in the BNRR. As well as showing corporate irresponsibility in funding environmental destruction they are also quite casually taking risks with shareholders' savings".

Chris Crean from West Midlands Friends of the Earth said "Abbey National are trying to ride two horses at once - environmental and social destruction in what they fund, and a squeaky clean image in what they report. This is not acceptable and in time it will hit shareholders where it hurts - in their dividend."

Notes

1) Abbey National AGM: Thursday 25th April 2002, The Barbican Hall, London, 11am

2) Go to the Abbey National Group website www.abbeynational.com/ for reports.