park rejection of bypASS highlights need for rethink

The Council for National Parks (CNP) (1) has welcomed the Peak District National Park Authority's rejection (2) of a damaging road-building proposal in the north west of the National Park at Tintwistle.

Ruth Chambers, CNP's Head of Policy said: "We fully support today's decision by the National Park Authority to object to this road building proposal which will not only damage the National Park, but will create more problems than those it is seeking to solve.

"This resounding rejection by the statutory guardians of the Peak District National Park should send the Highways Agency back to the drawing board to find a solution to the traffic congestion in the villages of Mottram, Tintwistle and Hollingworth that does not create equally bad, if not worse, problems elsewhere.

"Building the bypass would result in massive traffic increases on roads (3) in the National Park which already have high accident rates. This means that the promotion of this bypass in the public interest is highly questionable. The bypass would also have a very intrusive impact on the landscape of the National Park, disturbing wildlife and tranquillity and destroying a Conservation Area.

"In our view, the National Park Authority, by this decision, has sent a clear message to the Highways Agency that it must find a way of addressing the traffic problems of Mottram, Tintwistle and Hollingworth which promotes public transport use, reduces car journeys and gets heavy lorries off this unsuitable road and onto the nearby motorways which have been designed to carry such traffic.

"A public inquiry destined to consider these proposals has been set for October but in view of today's deprecation of the scheme by the National Park Authority we strongly urge the Highways Agency to withdraw this damaging plan and to come up with a genuinely sustainable alternative which does not involve new road building".

Notes to Editors

  • 1. The Council for National Parks is the national charity that works to protect and enhance the National Parks of England and Wales, and areas that merit National Park status, and promote understanding and quiet enjoyment of them for the benefit of all.
  • 2. The Peak District National Park Authority decided today at its meeting to object to the draft line orders for the Tintwistle-Mottram bypass.
  • 3. The draft line orders for the bypass were published on 31st January 31st 2006 and show that in the year of opening of the bypass, 2010, additional traffic would be attracted onto the Woodhead Route and through local roads in South and West Yorkshire as follows:
    • - 57% more traffic on A628T east of its junction with the A6024
    • 50% more traffic on A628 to Penistone
    • 190% more traffic on A6024 to Holmfirth
    • 22% more traffic on the A616
    Figures for the A628 east of Tintwistle are forecast to increase by 84% to 19,300 vehicles in 2010 and by 133% to 23,300 vehicles in 2025. Within the modelled area of the Park the traffic assessment indicates an increase of average daily trips of 27% in 2010 (up to 27,700) vehicles and a 34% increase in 2020 (up to 35,500 vehicles). Much of this increase would be on the A628 and A6204, both of which already have high accident rates, an issue that these increased flows will only exacerbate.

For press queries please contact:
Ruth Chambers, Head of Policy on
020 7924 4077 ext. 222