Representation by Joanna Collins
- Date submitted
- 29 August 2021
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
The scheme would increase traffic on residential roads in Glossopdale, on the M67 motorway into Manchester and on roads across the Peak District National Park, bringing more congestion and climate emissions. This does not comply with national policies for climate change, for the National Park and for modal shift to walking, cycling and public transport. I live in [redacted] which has seen increases in motor traffic over several years, adversely affecting the life of its residents and visitors’ enjoyment of the countryside. This will be exacerbated by additional traffic along the A57 and hence into the Hope valley (predicted informally by several experts). The A57 is a narrow road which is sometimes blocked due to snow, road repairs or other works. The A57 and roads linking to it from the Hope Valley cannot take this extra traffic. Over 60 years of operation the scheme would add an extra 399,867 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Over a lifetime of 100 years, one tree absorbs around 1 tonne of carbon dioxide but we cannot wait for nearly 400,000 trees to grow for a hundred years. The scheme was developed in 2015 since when the Climate Change Act has increased the target from 80% to 100% net zero by 2050. Many authorities have declared a climate emergency and set much earlier net zero targets of between 2030 and 2040. The IPCC’s latest report ramped up the urgency even further. Carbon emissions must be tested against international and national legislation and guidance including the Paris Agreement, the 2008 Climate Change Act’s legally binding target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the UK Sixth Carbon Budget, science-based carbon budgets from the Tyndall Centre, and the National Planning Policy Framework which requires ‘radical reductions of greenhouse gas emissions’. Although air pollution improves for some areas, for others pollution levels remain above the legal limit, and the Air Quality Management Areas in Tintwistle and Glossop would still be needed. The scheme involves fragmentation, loss or displacement of diminishing wildlife habitats such as wet grazing meadows and of protected species, such as bats and barn owls. The impacts on the rich and diverse wildlife are minimised because species are considered only of ‘local value’. Local countryside, highly valued for its natural undeveloped character and open views, would be urbanised and the Green Belt would be cut in two. As above, it will affect areas within the National Park, affecting habitats and wildlife in an area which is designated as protecting and enhancing nature. Instead of the scheme, the funding should be spent on sustainable transport measures, technological improvements and behaviour change to reduce the need for motorised road transport, bring lasting benefits and avoid the above adverse impacts. But Highways England rejected this option. Far reaching changes since 2015 - the declaration of a climate emergency; the Covid-19 pandemic and increasing evidence of climate change and biodiversity loss ; make scrutiny of alternative options essential.