Forum Brief: Road plans

Alistair Darling has unveiled a major overhaul of the government's road building plans.

The transport secretary backed controversial plans for the biggest road building programme since Labour took power in 1997.

Forum Response: Woodland Trust

A spokesman for the Woodland Trust told ePolitix.com: "The Woodland Trust strongly opposes developments that would damage ancient woodland (land continually wooded since at least AD1600).

"We are concerned that these proposals could lead to further destruction of this dwindling resource. We have lost nearly 50 per cent of our ancient woods since the 1930s and this would only serve to further increase the loss.

"We are also concerned about the impact upon the natural environment generally of these proposals and the signals they send out about the government's view of sustainable development. They suggest a worrying, fundamental shift in government policy.

"We believe that Alistair Darling should instead be looking at investing in sustainable forms of transport such as the railways which also demand urgent attention and have a far less detrimental effect upon the environment."

Forum Response: English Nature

A spokesman for English Nature said: "English Nature is supportive in principle of the 10 year transport plan, the multi-modal studies and the local transport plan process.

"We seek imaginative, integrated solutions to transport problems which deliver gains for the environment. We welcome measures to achieve modal shift towards greater bus and public transport usage and the delivery of other more environmentally sustainable solutions.

"The emphasis for the government should be on reducing car usage and the provision instead of alternatives. We believe that congestion charging has an important role to play in this regard.

"We accept that small-scale infrastructure measures may be required on certain parts of the road network to address problems of safety and congestion but the emphasis should be on demand management and better use of existing capacity.

"Large road building plans should only be considered as a last resort once all other alternatives have been examined and ruled out as less sustainable."

Forum Response: Countryside Alliance

Richard Burge, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: "We will wait and see what the actual proposals are, but at present it looks like the rural community has once again been sidelined by an urban-focused government.

"It is true that the national road network is in dire need of upgrading, but the idea that Mr Darling is to encourage less car use shows how little he understands of life outside the M25.

"Rural services are at an all time low - buses are too infrequent to be reliable, so the only means of transport open to the rural community is private car. Until the government provides a decent public transport system, this is not going to change."

Forum Response: Transport for London

A spokesman for Transport for London told ePolitix.com: "Today's announcement by the government that it is giving no extra funding for London's roads is extremely disappointing.

"It is also interesting to note that the government has also dropped plans to widen the M25, proposed earlier this year, which is crucial to London's prosperity. London's roads have suffered from years of under-spending and need a greater cash boost.

"Transport for London (TfL) is now spending over £440 million this year alone on our roads. This money is not just being spent on the roads under TfL's direct control. It is being used in partnership with the Boroughs to upgrade, repair and enhance the safety of local roads as well.

"This massive investment is being targeted at essential repair and resurfacing work; major new schemes to unblock bottlenecks at Vauxhall Cross and Shoreditch Triangle; on bus priority measures; road safety; state-of-the-art traffic management systems and of course, congestion charging."