Better Transport

• Lillian Burns send them a message
• Tel: 01625 829492
• NW TAR website

Many important transport decisions are made on a regional level. To effect these decisions, lots of different groups concerned with sustainable transport work together through Regional Transport Activists' Roundtables (TARs). There are eight Regional TARs across England.

The North West Transport Activists Roundtable (NW TAR) focuses much of its efforts on trying to get sustainable transport and land use policies adopted at the regional and sub-regional level. Acting as an umbrella body on behalf of many organisations and individuals, we endeavour to influence emerging transport and planning strategies and decisions by taking part in a variety of fora, seminars and conferences, responding to strategic consultations, lobbying elected representatives, officers and board members of public and non-governmental bodies, appearing at public inquiries and examinations in public and serving on a number of regional bodies.  From time to time we make submissions directly – or indirectly via national environmental and sustainable transport bodies – in response to national government invitations for comments on emerging transport policies and to inquiries being run by the House of Commons Transport Committee and we produce occasional reports aimed at influencing decision-makers on a wide range of transport-related issues.

Latest News :

NW TAR is currently participating in consultations on the modifications stage of the North West Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) and also the Partial Review of the RSS that is running in tandem with it. As and when the region moves to one single spatial/ economic strategy, we will engage with that as much as we are able. We also hope to be more involved in the review of the Regional Funding Allocations for transport than we were in the original decision-making process which was far from inclusive.

We are objectors to plans by the Highways Agency and Tameside MBC to build the Mottram-Tintwistle Bypass and the co-dependent Glossop Spur, which would impact on the Peak District National Park and the Greater Manchester Green Belt. To this end, we are members of the A57/A628 Corridor Alliance, led by Friends of the Peak District, opposing these roads at a public inquiry.  We also oppose Halton MBC’s proposals for a massive new road bridge (the ‘Mersey Gateway’) which we believe will generate more through traffic in Widnes, Runcorn and beyond, lead to pressures to widen the M56 and have serious environmental and health consequences. 

NW TAR will be watching with interest the hard-shoulder running initiatives announced by the Secretary of State for Transport in relation to the M6 and M62 motorways and will continue to press for public transport schemes to be enacted which were recommended for those corridors and others in the Multi-Modal Studies and Route Management Strategies. We want the promised extra rail carriages for the region delivered without delay, along with all the improvements recommended in Network Rail’s Route Utilisation Strategies, and we look forward to the footpath and cycling route enhancements which were part of Sustrans’ successful Lottery bid. We support the public transport improvements which Greater Manchester seeks as part of its TIF funding bid, but not the extra highway capacity they want to build, nor the unsustainably situated park and ride sites.

Most of all we would like to see much greater emphasis across the region on smaller transport interventions which can cumulatively deliver big benefits and much more concern for CO2 emissions.