Representation by Mair Bain
- Date submitted
- 10 June 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I object to the proposed scheme at Simister Island Interchange. Rather than increasing capacity, National Highways should be seeking to reduce demand. Instead of dealing with the severe air and noise pollution already faced by local people, this scheme would make things worse for many local residents. National Highways have only ever proposed or examined variations of a road building proposal, never non-roadbuilding alternatives to reduce demand or its impact. Construction will take place at night over a three and half year period, causing unacceptable noise and disturbance to local residents. With or without the scheme, air pollution levels will still be unacceptably high and above safe limits and in some places will be made worse. National Highways should be examining solutions that will decrease the unacceptable level of noise and air pollution caused by the existing road. There are no significant benefits to the scheme, only small time savings. This results in the scheme being low value for money with a Benefit to Cost Ratio of just 1.17. The scheme barely pays its way, with every £1 spent on the scheme, taxpayers only see £1.17 of benefits. This situation could easily change with any cost overruns. 68 hectares of land surrounding Junction 18 is in the Green Belt. Carbon emissions would be increased by 62,013 tonnes during construction, and 151,090 tonnes over 60 years due to the increased traffic. This makes it even harder for the UK to reach its legally binding climate targets when it is already struggling to do so. The UK Government's Net Zero strategy and carbon budget delivery pathway were found unlawful on two occasions at the high court. The Government's own Committee on Climate Change has recommended the UK Government reviews building new roads due to the increase in emissions from construction and increased traffic. The Government is continuing to build new roads that will increase emissions without checking if they are compatible with Net Zero targets as the plans so far have been found unlawful.