Better Transport

• Emma Lawrence send them a message
• Tel: 0845 226 3392
• Save Swallow's Wood website

The proposed Mottram-Tintwistle Bypass would bypass the villages of Mottram, Tintwistle and Hollingworth in Cheshire and Derbyshire, with a 5.6km road that would link the M67 to the A628 Woodhead Pass.

When the scheme entered the Targeted Programme of Improvements in 2001, the cost was estimated at £90 million. This has now risen to £315 million.

The last 1.2km of the proposed bypass would be within the Peak District National Park and decimate a quarry site used by climbers, walkers, and locals alike. A local nature reserve, Swallow's Wood, would be damaged by a 65ft bridge and earth work, carrying three lanes of traffic over what was once a beautiful, quiet wildlife site.

The scheme would lead to increases in traffic on many local roads, including the A628 through the National Park, where traffic levels would increase by 40%. Airborne pollutants and climate changing gases are forecast to increase, with an estimated 19,000 tonnes per year of CO2 generated as a result of the scheme.

Campaigners are calling for rail-freight alternatives and a weight restriction combined with improved public transport measures to restrict the movement of HGVs through the National Park and reduce congestion caused by local commuter traffic.

The group holds regular meetings in the Mottram / Glossop area: email for more details.

Latest News :

March 2009: More welcome news - the Highways Agency has announced that it will pull out of the public inquiry into the bypass.

February 2009: Save Swallow's Wood welcomes the news that funding for the Mottram Tintwistle bypass will be deferred until 2016/2017. 4NW, the Regional Leaders Forum for the northwest of England, has made the decision in order to bring their budget within the allowed 20% overspend.

Emma Lawrence from Save Swallow’s Wood said: "Of all the schemes being proposed Mottram Tintwistle was the most expensive and the most environmentally damaging. This is the first time a sensible decision has been made relating to the bypass and is a real cause for optimism amongst campaigners, as it effectively kicks it into the long grass.

"We asked our supporters to respond to the consultation on the funding decision, which they did. Over 100 responses were submitted and we would like to think this effort contributed to the decision."

January 2009: Decision-makers in the North West region want to spend regional funding on building the Mottram Tintwistle bypass.

July 2008: Revised figures, published last week by the Department for Transport, now estimate that the bypass will cost between £223 and £315 million, a 20% to 71% increase on the £184 million estimate published in March 2007. The scheme first entered the Government's Targeted Programme of Improvements in 2001 at an estimated £90 million. Save Swallow's Wood put out a press release about the increase (PDF, 96K).

March 2008: The Highways Agency has now informed the inquiry Inspector that it does not anticipate having its new evidence ready until Autumn 2008, so it is unlikely the inquiry can start before then. A Parliamentary Question on 18 February revealed that the inquiry had already cost £11.8 million, without any evidence having been heard!

January 2008: The public inquiry into the Mottram-Tintwistle Bypass, which began in June 2007, reopened on December 18th to hear details of the latest errors in the Highways Agency's evidence. They announced that because of the extent of the errors they had uncovered with the traffic model, all evidence and supporting documentation submitted to the inquiry by supporters, objectors and promoters should be disregarded.

The Inspector adjourned the inquiry indefinitely, and it is unlikely to resume until after the Environmental Statement has been republished, which the Highways Agency say will not happen before May 2008.

A Freedom of Information request revealed that the Highways Agency has so far spent £13.7 million on consultancy, legal and staff costs, of which £4 million has been spent on the inquiry. The estimated cost of the scheme is £184 million, but with increasing consultants' costs and claims for compensation from objectors, this figure is set to rise.

Campaigners are calling for an end to the inquiry. Please sign the petition online.

December 2007: Save Swallow's Wood with the perfect Christmas gift! The group is selling limited-edition T-shirts on its website. You can order the T-shirts online and if you live locally the group will deliver them by bike.

September 2007: The group has posted a video online!