Representation by Sheffield Green Party (Sheffield Green Party)
- Date submitted
- 16 September 2021
- Submitted by
- Non-statutory organisations
We believe that a reduction in road transport and radical moves towards a transport network based largely on public transport is essential to meet the challenges of air pollution and climate change. Therefore, all new road expansion proposals need to be examined carefully, at a time when travel habits and policy are rapidly changing. Heavy traffic through Mottram has long been an issue. The link roads are designed partly to relieve this but would push the most serious congestion further east. Tintwistle and Glossop, particularly Dinting Vale, already have almost continuous day-time congestion which is largely independent of the Mottram congestion, but worsened by the latter. Given that new roads nearly always attract greater volumes of traffic, we should assume those areas will suffer even more. Yet there is a much more serious and wider issue that is not being addressed. This is to urgently reduce greenhouse gas emissions to address the climate emergency that Parliament and local authorities across the country have recognised. In October 2019, High Peak Council declared a Climate Emergency and “pledged to work towards a carbon neutral High Peak by 2030”. In November 2019, Derbyshire County Council pledged to become carbon neutral by 2032. In February 2020, Tameside Council declared a Climate Emergency and is now committed to become ‘carbon neutral’ by 2042 with 13.1% year on year reductions in climate emissions. The link road proposals should be assessed against these ambitions. However, the Government’s own official climate advisory body, the CCC, has repeatedly warned that current policies will not put the UK on a path towards meeting the legally binding Climate Change Act. Its recent recommendations for more rapid emissions reductions (by 68% rather than 61% by 2030) have been accepted. The Government clearly accepts the need for more rapid action but there is still a wide gap between the targets and the policies designed to meet them. We therefore believe it appropriate to compare the stated impacts of the scheme to the Tameside Council climate ambitions, which are supported by recent robust evidence. [ https://carbonbudget.manchester.ac.uk/reports/E08000008/ ] This Tyndall Centre report shows that Tameside has a carbon budget of 4.57 MtCO2e for the period 2025-2032 [see Figure 1]. If the proportion of this for surface transport is 27%, as it is nationally [PEIR 14.4.1], this would be 1.23 MtCO2e. If the construction emissions are accounted for evenly between 2025 and 2032 and in the transport sector, total emissions from the scheme up to the end of 2032 (the end of the national Fifth Carbon Budget period) would be 84884t. This represents 7% of Tameside’s notional transport carbon budget. For just two link roads, that is clearly a disproportionate share of the total emissions targets for an entire Local Authority area. The various authorities in the area need to develop a transport strategy which recognises how quickly greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced. It would also bring air quality within legal limits. These new link roads cannot reasonably fit with any such plan. New road building will have to be minimised, in common with everywhere else in the UK. Authorities and their partners in both Manchester and Sheffield are developing transport strategies that involve substantial reductions in road traffic. These involve a much greater emphasis on providing facilities local to where people live, active travel and public transport. These plans would be hampered by increased road traffic between the two cities. The tranquillity of the Peak District National Park in between them would also be clearly harmed. We urge that this scheme be rejected.