Better Transport

While it's not easy to stop a road from being built, campaigners have had successes. The past few years have seen some great wins:

• in July 2009 the M4 motorway through the Gwent Levels Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) near Newport in Wales was stopped, thanks to the combined efforts of the CALM Alliance. The motorway would have devastated important wildlife sites, including six SSSIs
• In July 2009 campaigners finally convinced regional and central governments to drop the proposed £444 million A120 Braintree to Marks Tey scheme in Essex, which would have destroyed countryside and prime farming land, increasing traffic, noise and carbon emissions.
• In July 2009 local campaigners succeeded in stopping the proposed Westbury Bypass, when it was refused planning permission. For years we'd been supporting the local efforts to stop this road, which would have damaged the countryside around Westbury and done nothing to solve the town's traffic problems.
• In February 2009, a disastrous road through the Peak District National Park was rejected for funding, and in March 2009 the Highways Agency abandoned their public inquiry. The A57/A628 Mottram-Tintwistle Bypass probably won't be built at all. We've been fighting this terrible road for many years, along with local groups Save Swallow's Wood and Friends of the Peak District. 
• In December 2008, Durham County Council dropped its plan to build a new road through Durham. A local group, Save the Valley, had been fighting the proposed road for three years because it would have destroyed Green Belt and ancient woodland and increased noise pollution – and done nothing to reduce congestion or to encourage more sustainable travel.
• Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, dropped plans to build the Thames Gateway Bridge. The bridge was rejected by the public inquiry inspector in 2006, only for the Government to demand a new inquiry with a new inspector. The Mayor told the London Assembly that he was "not pursuing the current proposal" which was neither "well sited or well thought out".
• In December 2007 the Government scrapped plans for a new and very controversial dual carriageway through the Stonehenge World Heritage Site after years of campaigning by Campaign for Better Transport and other groups. Instead they plan to implement small-scale improvements to existing roads, and possibly close the A344 which runs right through the stone complex.
• Plans for a Harnham Relief Road and Brunel Link Road (also known as the Salisbury Bypass) have been rejected. The road would have destroyed water meadows near Salisbury Cathedral. Thankfully Wiltshire County Council has dropped the scheme and our local group is campaigning now for sustainable transport solutions instead.
• In July 2006 we won a decade-long battle to stop the widening of the A47 Acle Straight in the Norfolk Broads when the Government announced it wouldn’t widen the road and would instead put money into improving the road’s safety.