Issues

The fact of the traffic beleaguered villagers of Longdendale and their wish for something to be done to alleviate the problems has been well documented, however, there are a number of issues that surround the decision making and consultation process that have led to today's position. MPs, Councillors and the Highways Agency insist that a bypass is the only way that the traffic problems can be resolved, but is this really the case, and how much benefit will this bring us in the long-term?

The Countryside Pays the Price

If the case is to be made for a road surely it must rely on facts. With this in mind, it is displeasing to see within the Highways Agency's statutory appraisal that the landscape will "benefit slightly" from the preferred route and that biodiversity is to experience only a "slightly adverse" impact.

This is particularly interesting when it is considered alongside the report examining the impacts of the brown and the grey routes (of which the brown route, now known as the preferred route was considered alongside an alternative) that were put to the public consultation. In this report, the now preferred route was determined to be the most damaging to agriculture, landscape and recreation, and the environment. These concerns, when weighed against the traffic, economic, demolition, and construction benefits were deemed to be a price worth paying [1].

The report makes the following observations to this effect, stating that:

"The route crosses Swallow's Wood Nature Reserve where it would have a significant impact"

and;

"East of Arnfield Reservoir the Brown Route crosses open fields, divided by stone walls with a few mature tress, causing significant scarring of the landscape in the National Park below Tintwistle Low Moor".

[1] A57/A628 Mottram - Hollingworth - Tintwistle Bypass: Selection of Routes for Public Consultation

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