Better Transport

After you have understood the process and players behind how a road gets built, you can begin to make a plan for stopping it.

Planning doesn’t have to be a very formal process and the campaign plan doesn’t have to be a huge document. When you start the campaign, talk through the issues and the possibilities for doing something. Put your agreed ideas on paper and there’s your campaign plan. You don’t have to work everything out in minute detail and cover every possible eventually – indeed, it’s best to allow for flexibility so that you can react to events.

In general, you will want to influence the formal decision-making processes and also the more informal, political decision-making processes. Almost certainly, you will need to work with others and employ creative techniques to get the attention of the public and the decision-makers and demonstrate support for your campaign. You will probably need to fundraise and may need to hire consultants.

Campaign plan checklist
Objective: What exactly are you trying to achieve? By when? Have you done the necessary research to establish that your objective is viable?
Targets: Who has the power to make that change happen? What will persuade those people to act?
Allies: Who can help you to influence your campaign targets?
Timeline: Have you created a timeline, covering the next 6-12 months and including external events that you will need to influence, like council meetings, as well as events whose timing you control, like meetings and press work?

First, get a handle on the situation
The first thing you will need to do is find the answers to a few key questions so you know where you’re starting from.

Who are your allies and opponents?

• Is there already a campaign group opposing the scheme? A web search should answer this question
• Have you been in touch with other groups that might have an interest in the scheme – for instance the parish councils, residents’ associations, local and regional branches and groups of Campaign for Better Transport, CPRE, Friends of the Earth, the Ramblers Association and cyclists’ organisations like CTC?
• Could you form alliances with these groups to oppose the scheme?
• If there is no group, could you set up a group? (Review our checklist of what makes a good group)
• Is there any other official opposition? What is the attitude of local councils? Search council meeting minutes or contact your local councillor. What is your MP’s attitude? Could you get him or her on side? Attend their next surgery and find out
• What are the attitudes of the statutory environmental bodies English Heritage, Natural England and The Environment Agency? Phone one of their regional offices to discuss the road scheme.

What stage is the road at?
Roads take many years to gain approval to be built. Your ability to influence decisions around it, and the tactics you will be able to use, depend on how far advanced plans are for the road.

• First, find out if the road is a Highways Agency scheme or a local council scheme.
• If it’s a Highways Agency road, is it already part of the Government’s Major Roads Programme? Have draft orders and the environmental statement been published? You can find information on the Highways Agency website
• If it’s a local authority road, has it already received provisional government approval into the DfT's Local Transport  Programme, and had funding earmarked, or is it just an aspiration of the council, with no funding awarded? Is the scheme included in the local transport plan? You can find information from your council. You can find local transport plans online on your council’s website – either county council or unitary authority – or at your local library

What are the major reasons to object to the road?

• What does the Appraisal Summary Table say about the key impacts (environmental, economic and transport) of the scheme? In particular, what is the carbon dioxide impact of the scheme? Will more traffic be generated by the scheme? What will be the additional carbon dioxide impact created every year by the scheme? What is the environmental impact of the scheme? Does it go through any designated protected sites or the habitats of protected species? Will it impact on flooding? Does it impact on any historic sites? What is the latest cost of the scheme? What else could be done with that money?

Now, get busy