Press Releases

Press Release: Government's tunnel decision makes a mockery of Tony Blair's claims at Gleneagles

The Government's announcement that the construction of the second Tyne road tunnel is to go ahead is disastrous for the North-East, said the Tyne Crossings Alliance today. The transport campaign group, which has been fighting the tunnel project since it's inception, says that the tunnel just make an existing transport problem worse.

Alistair Darling, the minister responsible for the decision, has ignored his own words on road building, and the Prime Minister's principles on global warming.

Tyne Crossings Alliance spokesperson Paul Winch said,

"This decision doesn't make any sense. Mr Darling has conceded on more than one occasion that building more roads cannot solve congestion. In an interview with the Financial Times on May 4th 2005 Mr Darling reiterated that, "there is no way we can build our way out of the problems we face".

"Tony Blair has also voiced his concerns over the impacts of climate change. Road transport is currently responsible for around 22 per cent of the UK's carbon dioxide emissions, and that level is expected to rise. Permitting road building projects like the second Tyne road tunnel to go ahead will take us two steps back in the journey to solve climate change.

“In pursuing this project the Tyne and Wear PTA has spent millions of pounds of the public’s money in order to put the Tyne Tunnels, which are a public asset, into private hands which will have an interest in increasing traffic, which is the opposite of what the Region needs.

"This decision makes a nonsense of Mr Blair's climate change declarations at Gleneagles."

Contacts

Paul Winch: (0191) 483 5619
Bryan Atkinson: 0779 257 9827
Brian Paget: 0794 715 2782

Notes

1. Tyne Crossings Alliance consists of: CPRE, Friends of the Earth (FOE), Living Streets, North East Railway Development Society (railfuture NE), Roadpeace, The Green Party, Transport 2000, Tynebikes.

2. For further information on the campaign to stop the second Tyne road tunnel see the Tyne Crossings Alliance website:
http://www.tyne-crossings.org, and http://www.stopthetunnel.tk/

3. Under NEXUS’ project Orpheus a Metro rail extension between South Shields and North Shields was proposed. This proposal to cross the Tyne by public transport has been now dropped.

4. PM Tony Blair's comments on climate change: http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,,1305030,00.html

5. Alistair Darling MP and road building “...we cannot simply solve congestion by building more and more roads. There isn't the space to do it, especially in urban areas. And even if there was - it would be environmentally unacceptable."
From: http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/page/dft_roads_038153.hcsp

6. What the inspector said: http://www.tyne-crossings.org