Save Swallow's Wood

The public inquiry into the Mottram-Tintwistle Bypass through the Peak District National Park has been adjourned indefinitely. Ask your MP to demand that the inquiry be abandoned and alternatives to this disastrous road investigated.

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 an estimated £184 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 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!

The groups listed in the 'Local campaigning' section have supplied text about themselves. Campaign for Better Transport cannot take responsibility for the accuracy of this text, and does not necessarily share the views expressed.

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