Letters of Objection |
CPRE 18 July 2002 Dear Sir, Planning Application TWA/02/APP/03 Proposed Second Tyne Road TunnelWe wish to register our objections to the plans for a new Tyne road tunnel and request that a Public Inquiry be called to examine the objectives of the scheme in the light of current government policy on roads, housing and economic development and to explore the full range of likely impacts. As members of the Tyne Crossings Alliance, CPRE endorse the main submission from the Alliance and the comments below should be viewed as supplementary to that submission. It should be noted that these objections are submitted jointly between CPRE NE Regional Group and the local CPRE Newcastle & North Tyneside District Group because we recognise that the proposed tunnel would have both local and regional impacts. Our main concerns, which we feel need to be
addressed through a Public Inquiry cover three main areas:
1: Purpose of the proposed tunnel There is an unresolved conflict as to the purpose of the tunnel. The local councils, the local MP and Nexus see the tunnel as resolving the issue of local traffic within the Tyneside area. The Highways Agency and One NorthEast view it as an essential element in opening up the “corridor” associated with the A19 trunk road identified as linking Teesside with North Tyneside and through to the A1 at Newcastle Great Park. Self-evidently, the tunnel cannot serve both these functions: the Highways Agency has clear policy that trunk roads should not be used for local journeys, while the applicants make it clear that the “economic development opportunities” created by the tunnel will generate increased levels of traffic. In our view, local congestion is best addressed by improved local transport provision eg by the cross-river Metro Link (as suggested in the Tyne Crossings Alliance submission), revived and restored ferry services opening up the Tyne as a transport conduit rather than a barrier, or dedicated bus services with priority access through the tunnel. This is in keeping with government transport policy which views road building as a last resort. The Highways Agency’s Route Management Strategy of the A19 Dishforth-South Tyneside identifies localised areas of congestion on the route, but nothing to require major improvements or upgrades during the next ten years. It does identify the use of the route by HGVs as a contributor to congestion and makes a commitment to reviewing the road’s use as a freight route. Such a commitment seems to us to challenge the basis of developing this road as a “corridor for industrial development”. Again, a Public Inquiry would help clarify this. 2: Industrial Development in North Tyneside: “Opening up” North Tyneside for industrial
development is given as one of the main economic benefits of the
proposed new Tyne road Tunnel. Plans for enhanced road links between the
tunnel and Newcastle Great Park, the A1 and the airport are
well-advanced and some parts are already under construction. The
improved access is to potential greenfield industrial sites in North
Tyneside (eg Killingworth Moor) even though the development of
greenfield industrial sites is given a low priority by government policy
and the emerging Regional Policy Guidance. The documentation associated with the application
gives no firmly based evidence clearly linking the creation of jobs on
North Tyneside or SE Northumberland with the proposed tunnel. Even if new jobs are created the use of the proposed new tunnel to allow access for South Tyneside residents to jobs in North Tyneside and SE Northumberland is contrary to government policy requiring travel to work to be minimised. No clear economic benefits to be obtained by enhanced road linkage between Teesside and North Tyneside are given. Development and enhancement of the existing rail links between Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Sunderland and through to Newcastle, in our view, offers a more sustainable link for both passengers and freight. 3: Environmental Impact Construction of the tunnel will have major impacts on the marine and estuarine ecology, and on local residents. And, amongst other impacts, the tunnel once in
place will generate:
In our view, the environmental disbenefits of this project are not fully covered in the documentation associated with the application and need to be explored more fully. In general, we believe that the longterm campaign for a second Tyne road Tunnel has been outstripped by modern transport and development policy rendering the project anachronistic. Yours faithfully N F Best |