Representation by Emma Kane
- Date submitted
- 17 August 2021
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I would like to raise some concern about £8-10 billion being spent almost exclusively on more accessibility and access for car use. The area lacks any significant paths for pedestrians of cyclists that link up the surrounding areas and so many roads are almost impossible or dangerous to cross (Simmondley to Glossop for example has to cross Turnlee and there are no pedestrian crossing and some of the roads don't even have footpaths which makes it difficult when trying to cross with a child or for those who might not be as quick who can jump out of the road if a car comes round the blind corners). I feel that the area would benefit more from active travel alternatives either alongside this (not what has been suggested in the proposals as this doesn’t make the area accessible or touch on any of the major problems that cyclist or pedestrians face getting around to any extent). I believe there has been some initial work on a Car Free Longdendale that could make the area more useable by bikes and pedestrians. I feel if it was safer to travel around via bike or walk that perhaps more people would choose to travel some journeys via alternative means over the car and this would decrease the amount of cars that seem to be ever increasing in the areas surrounding Glossop. There are areas in Greater Manchester (through the Bee network) that have benefitted from money being spent on active travel and infrastructure and those areas now looks so much nicer and are just nicer places to be and I’m sure the house prices will have increased too. It sees unfair that the areas of Glossop would not also benefit from similar work and efforts being made on this. I would have thought that similar expertise should be sought to see how the area around here can also benefit from something similar rather than just building more and bigger roads to assume that this will solve all the issues of traffic but this I feel could actually make bring in more car travel to the areas (I believe there is evidence to suggest that sat navs for some journeys could start to show this route as an accessible route - normally they would have took a different route but if there was a bypass they would come through here instead if they get a bit of traffic) and then the residents of Tintwistle, Glossop, Mottram might not actually end up much better off 8-10 billion pounds later. I have also seen the analysis that has been done to say that the scheme currently proposed would increase traffic for some or move the traffic problem around. I read that the benefits to Mottram come at the expense of the rest of Longdendale and Glossopdale where traffic increases on many residential roads. I believe work has been done to now show that accidents would increase with 102 extra collisions over 60 years but on the A57 Snake Pass, a high risk road for a fatal or serious injury crash, there would be 160 extra collisions over 60 years. Over 60 years the scheme would add an extra 399,867 tonnes carbon dioxide. One tree absorbs around 1tonne of carbon dioxide in 100years. Given the climate emergency that had been declared by the government this seems to be a concerning figure. I also believe that air pollution improves for some households, for others nitrogen dioxide remains above the legal limit e.g. on Market Street, Hollingworth. Wildlife habitats would also be destroyed in these proposals and this seems to be on top of an ever increasing removal of green spaces in the area being made for the building of more housing.