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PRESS RELEASE: teach the tunnel truth
Local and national transport campaign group Tyne Crossings Alliance, which is campaigning to stop the construction of the proposed second Tyne road tunnel, is urging local education chiefs in an open letter to be cautious over any use of the alleged educational website xingthetyne.
The website, under the guise of an educational resource, was created by North and South Tyneside Education and Business Partnerships (EBPs), and is supposed to teach children about the tunnels and encourage student participation in democracy and citizenship. However, the site and accompanying material is heavily biased in the corporate interests of the body supporting the second tunnel project, the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority (TWPTA).
Tyne Crossings spokesperson Brian Paget said:
"The bodies involved in creating the site and supplementary information packs refuse to do anything to remedy the obvious flaws in the material, which is hardly surprising as the TWPTA has an interest in ensuring that their objectives are shown in the most positive light.
"However, this doesn’t make for an impartial view of the project. All we are asking of the local education authorities is that they either abandon using the site as an educational resource, or treat the material with the objectivity that its creators failed to do and balance it with information and opinions from opposing viewpoints."
Open letter attached, and available at http://www.tyne-crossings.org/.
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