Campaigns and Issues:

Heysham-M6 Link Road

CPRE NW led a coalition of environmental and transport NGOs (the Environmental and Sustainable Transport Alliance) in opposing this proposal for a bypass - "the Monster Road" - through the North Lancashire Green Belt.

We worked closely with Transport Solutions for Lancaster and Morecambe (TSLM), a local residents group who have campaigned for two years against the proposal.

If built, it would cause considerable environmental damage, including

destroying valued landscapes and tranquil countryside
compromising the green belt
threatening endangered species
increasing CO2 emissions by at least 23,500 tonnes per year
increasing air, noise and light pollution

- but would fail to solve the transport problems of the Lancaster district or contribute significantly to delivering economic development.

In February 2008, the Secretary of State decided to grant planning permission, despite acknowledging that there would be severe adverse environmental impacts. Contrary to her own Government's guidance, she chose to ignore the fact that Lancashire County Council had not rigourously evaluated whether the scheme objectives could be achieved with non-road building measures. We will continue to support TSLM and other local and regional groups who are opposed to this destructive and unnecessary scheme which will waste public money and leave the centre of Lancaster suffering from serious congestion problems.