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The A57 / A628 Mottram -
Hollingworth - Tintwistle bypass and the Glossop spur
Longdendale bypass 2.0?
Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon unveiled plans for transport expansion in the north west - including a scaled-down Mottram bypass - in Manchester on Wednesday, May 13, 2009.
High Peak Labour MP Tom Levitt
welcomed the announcement. Because it is now a local authority - rather
than national - plan, he believes that construction can begin within
months.
Indefatigable bypass objector John
Hall from Denton had already revealed that the Mottram –
Hollingworth – Tintwistle bypass project was
being
revised and will now form a bypass
of Mottram (only) in conjunction with the Glossop Spur, according
to minutes of a meeting of the Association
of Greater Manchester Authorities on Friday (May 8).
Meanwhile, the nomottrambypass
blog has an exchange of emails (also uncovered
by John Hall)
between Brenda Taplin,
programme officer for the Public Inquiry, and Alex Bywaters, the
Highways Agency's project officer, which suggests that no-one quite
knows how to end the Public Inquiry.
John Hall has also asked the Planning Inspectorate under the Freedom of Information Act for the total cost of the Public Inquiry.
Their reply says there is no unit cost for inquiries but they expect to
charge £56,700 for 90 days of the Inspector's time, plus travel and
subsistence. Plus the cost of employing Persona Associates to run the website, which is
"likely to have been dealt with" by the Highways Authority. Details here. |
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Inspector John
Watson opened the public
inquiry
into the Highways Agency's revised proposals for the Longdendale bypass
on Tuesday, June 26, 2007
at Stalybridge Civic Hall, Trinity Street, Stalybridge. It was adjourned on Thursday, July 12 and
resumed on Tuesday, September 4.
September 2007
The inquiry
was dramatically adjourned
again on Tuesday, September 11 after the Highways
Agency admitted it had got its figures wrong.
The inquiry resumed on Wednesday, September 19
and then adjourned again
to allow the Highways Agency to work out its corrections.
November
2007
The inquiry resumed on
Tuesday, November 6 but the Highways Agency asked for another adjournment
after its own checks revealed mistakes in the revised evidence.
John Hall, who
represents the people of Denton and Audenshaw, said he found the
Highways Agency's actions 'unbelievable'.
He said:
"The incompetence is absolutely staggering and it is an insult to the
inquiry. This is going to descend into more farce than it is at the
moment."
Mr Hall
repeated earlier calls for the hearing to be halted as it was
'no longer credible'.
Mr Watson
said: "It is an extraordinary situation, but it is not one we can't
cope with."
He said he
would adjourn the hearing again until Tuesday, December 18.
The transcript of the hearing
on Tuesday, November 6 is available here.
December
2007
When the inquiry reopened on Tuesday, December 18
it was
adjourned indefinitely
"pending the publication of revised evidence by the Highways Agency and
Tameside MBC".
The Highways Agency
had lodged a new document (HA/73)
which says: "The HA intend to revise the original Proofs of Evidence,
Environmental Statement and other relevant documents. It is
expected that this information will not be available until after Easter
2008. This is because the traffic forecasts upon which
much of the evidence is based will not be finalised until early 2008."
The transcript of the hearing
on Tuesday, December 18 is available here.
January
2008
Stephen Greenhalgh,
the Highways Agency's project leader for the bypass, has moved on and
been replaced by Alex
Bywaters. A Highways Agency spokesman told the Tameside Reporter
(31 January 2008): "As with most organisations, the Highways Agency
workers change jobs from time to time and are offered promotion
opportunities. The previous project manager has been asked to take on
several new schemes within the agency and a replacement has been
appointed."
The inquiry has now been adjourned four times to allow the Highways
Agency to correct their figures. The bypass, if approved, is expected
to cost £183 millions. The project has already cost
£13.7 millions.
March 2008
The Highways Agency
told Inspector John
Watson on Monday, March 10 that their revised
evidence will not now be available until October 2008.
Details here.
John Hall from
Denton, one of the objectors to the bypass, has written to the
inspector saying that the public inquiry is being held under
"deliberate and knowingly false
pretences and the Bypass objectives have been kept hidden
by TMBC [Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council] Councillors and those
within the administration, plus The Highways Agency, UK Government, and
developers and speculators".
The hidden agenda, he says, is that Tameside is co-ordinating proposals
for a North European Trade
Axis - an "M62 mark 2". Details here.
Secretary
of State for Transport, Tom Harris,
told Robert
Goodwill MP (Scarborough and Whitby) in a written
answer on May 6, 2008 that the public inquiry had sat for 15
days between June 26 and December 15, 2007 and that the the scheme had
incurred costs of £15
millions.
June
2008
John Watson,
the
inspector holding the public
inquiry, gave The
Highways Agency a week (from Wednesday,
June 4) to reply to these questions:
"Does
the
Highways Agency still intend to submit revised evidence to the inquiry?
And if so when?"
The inquiry was adjourned indefinitely
in December 2007
"pending the publication of revised evidence by the Highways Agency and
Tameside MBC".
The
Highways Agency
told the inspector in March 2008 that: "It is anticipated that
initial revised traffic forecast information for the scheme and the
Glossop Spur will be produced by the
end of May 2008, and that a firm
programme will be available then."
The Highways Agency replied
to the Inspector's questions on Wednesday,
June 11:
"It is still
the Highways Agency’s current intention to submit revised
evidence to the Inquiry"
and
"Our current
developing programme still indicates that revised evidence will be available in October 2008.
Natural England
wrote to Chris Banks,
the inquiry programme officer, on Monday, June
16 asking:
"When will
the 'firm programme' envisaged as being available by the end of May
2008, now be available?"
July 2008
The cost of the proposed
Longdendale bypass could reach £315 million,
according to a Highways Agency document revealed by the nomottrambypass blog
on July 17, 2008.
This is an increase of 71% on the figure in the Nichols Report of 2007 and 283% on
the original 2003 estimate of £90 million.
The blog recently revealed the cost of the Glossop spur road
had risen by 54% from £7.18 million in 2000 to
£11.07 million.
August 2008
The Highways
Agency will not now be able to submit its
revised Environmental Statement about the proposed Longdendale
bypass to the public
inquiry until May
2009, according to the
nomottrambypass blog.
HA's 'update on progress' August 2008 is here.
It says that a "consultation strategy is being developed and will be
issued as an HA document in September 2008". And "it is planned to
submit the revised Environmental Statement, the Statement of Case,
Economic Appraisal Report and Proofs of Evidence to the Inquiry in May
2009".
[The Highways Agency
is spending £3.8 million to correct a £1.5 million
scheme
on the M56 at Bowdon after their traffic modelling programme "got it wrong",
according to the Manchester
Evening News.]
September 2008
The Highways Agency's latest document says that a series of exhibitions will be held in May/June 2009 to explain its revised evidence to the adjourned Public Inquiry, which could possibly resume in the autumn of 2009.
November 2008
Paul Clark (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport) told Robert Goodwill, Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby, that the scheme has now incurred costs of £16,000,000. (Hansard, 13 November 2008)
The
new Transport Secretary, Geoff Hoon (right), met local
MPs Tom Levitt and James Purnell with Tameside
Council Leader Roy Oldham last week (November 2008), according to High Peak Labour MP Tom Levitt.
The
meeting was called to try to get the road plans for
the A628 / A57 (the Longdendale bypass and Glossop spur) back on track after the public enquiry
ran into "technical problems".
Tom Levitt says: "A
number of ways forward were discussed and some were ruled out. For example, local politicians
and the Highways Agency agreed that there
was no credible alternative route for the road."
Tom said that Glossop's economic development
relied heavily on the bypass and the associated
Glossop Spur being built together.
Geoff
Hoon knows
the area - he was the Euro-MEP until 1994. He said that officials would explore options
to bring the plans back on course quickly.
December 2008
On December 18, 2008, exactly a year after the adjournment of the public inquiry, Inspector John
Watson issued document X20, Preparation for the Resumption of the Inquiry.
Transport campaigners are demanding an explanation from Geoff Hoon, the Secretary of State for Transport, about his role as the decision-maker for the Longdendale bypass, according to the Buxton Advertiser.
Friends of the Peak District and the Campaign for National Parks have asked him to explain reports about a recent meeting he held with pro-bypass lobbyists.
After the meeting, High Peak Labour MP Tom Levitt
was quoted in the local press saying that "local politicians and the
Highways Agency agreed that there was no credible alternative route for
the road." He said that it was also accepted that the bypass and the
additional Glossop spur road were now "welded together."
The nomottrambypass blog
has published notes of the 'official' version of the meeting - obtained by bypass objector John Hall - in which
the Secretary of State said he was "awaiting formal advice from the
relevant regional authorities before making a decision". Which raises
the question of what the adjourned public inquiry is for?
February 2009
On February 20, 2009, the regional leaders' forum, 4NW, decided to defer the start on the bypass until 2015/2016. Details here.
March 2009
The Highways Agency announced on Tuesday, March 24, 2009, that it was withdrawing from the Public Inquiry. Details here.
On Friday, March 27, Manchester City Council chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein put a shorter, cheaper alternative to the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities. They will decide next month whether to ask the Government to reinstate the project.
On March 31 the Inspector issued document X21,
asking the Highways Agency and Tameside Borough to let him know within
15 days if they intended to withdraw the draft Orders for the scheme,
so that he could close the Inquiry.
On April 15 Tameside added their response, saying they expected to withdraw the Orders by the end of April.
May 2009
The Longdendale bypass scheme has cost £1,176,000 in the six months since November 13, 2008, according to Paul Clark, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Transport in a reply to a written question from Robert Goodwill, Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby, prompted by bypass objector John Hall from Denton. (Hansard, Tuesday, May 5, 2009). The cost up to November 13, 2008 was £16 million.
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Bypass plan back on the road - Manchester Evening News - 30 March 09
Mottram bypass - (MEN video)
Fury after bypass inquiry collapses - Manchester Evening News - 25 March 09
Bypass inquiry to be scrapped - Manchester Evening News - 24 March 09
Bypass blocked (video)
Six year delay for bypass - Glossop Advertiser - 4 March 09
Bypass plans on hold for 7 years - Manchester Evening News - 28 February 09
Rules bypassed on road inquiry? - Buxton Advertiser - 24 December 08
Unbuilt
bypass costs
£16
million - Manchester
Evening News - 19 November 08
Bypass plans shoot up by another £1 million - Glossop
Advertiser - 19 November 08
Don't Swallow up our wood - Glossop Advertiser - 5 November 08
Bypass
inquiry on road to record - Manchester
Evening News - 29 August 08
Bypass cost may treble - Manchester
Evening News - 29 July 08
Delay hits bypass inquiry, again - Manchester Evening News
- 20 June 08
Bypass scheme has incurred costs of £15millions - Hansard
- 8 May 08
Views from both sides of the road - Glossop Advertiser
- 27 February 08
£800,000 on the road to nowhere - Manchester Evening News
- 19 February 08
Bypass
delays 'costing business' - Manchester Evening News
- 22 January 08
Bypass inquiry costs of
£13.7m - Glossop Advertiser
- 16 January 08
Tunnel demo 'victory' - Glossop Advertiser
- 16 January 08
Fight stepped up save rail tunnel - Glossop Advertiser
- 9 January 08
Campaign with tunnel vision - Glossop Advertiser
- 2 January 08
More hold-ups - Glossop Chronicle 20 December 07
Bypass inquiry now off until Easter 2008 - Glossop Advertiser 19
December 07
Bypass inquiry hits another jam - Manchester Evening News
- 17 December 07
Rising costs of bypass protest - Glossop
Advertiser - 5 December 07
Bypass
hearing delayed, again - Manchester Evening News
- 7 November 07
Bypass inquiry delayed again - Glossop Advertiser
- 7 November 07
Bypass probe put on hold again - Manchester Evening News
- 20 September 07
Cyclists put spoke in whell of bypass - Glossop Advertiser
- 19 September 07
Bypass cable shock - Glossop Advertiser
- 19 September 07
Cyclists protest against bypass plan - Manchester Evening News
- 18 September 07
Inquiry into bypass halted - Manchester Evening News
- 12 September 07
Peak bypass battle - Manchester Evening News
- 6 September 07
'Traffic should go round park' - Glossop Advertiser
- 5 September 07
Battle of Peak bypass begins - Manchester Evening News
- 5 September 07
'Underground alternative' to bypass - Manchester Evening News
- 31 August 07
Bypass protest gathers speed - Glossop Chronicle
- 31 August 07
Bypass parks threat - Glossop Advertiser
- 29 August 07
Bypass alternatives: your say - Glossop Advertiser
- 29 August 07
Bypass bike demo support is critical - Glossop Advertiser
- 15 August 07
Bypass is a 'crime' - Glossop Advertiser - 18 July 07
Bypass sparks
inquiry battle - Glossop Advertiser - 11 July 07
'Bypass is only
option' - Glossop
Advertiser -
5 July 07
Bypass inquiry
up and running - Glossop Chronicle, 5 July 07
Channel
M video
report, including Glossop taxi owner Chris
Woodward
Agency slammed
at bypass inquiry - Manchester Evening News, 27 June 07
Call for better
access to plans - Glossop Advertiser - 2 May 07
Bypass showdown
- Glossop Advertiser - 25 April 07
Cost of bypass
set to double to £184 million - Glossop Advertiser - 28 March 07
The objectors' alternatives can be
downloaded here (PDF,
2.5 Mb)
The Longdendale
bypass
has a page on Wikipedia.
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The Highways Agency appointed Mowlem PLC under the
Highways Agency’s
Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) initiative, to take the scheme
forward. This allows for detailed planning work to be carried out while
the scheme is taken through the statutory procedures.
On 31st January 2006 The Secretary of State
published the proposals
in the form of Draft Orders. The published Orders included proposals to:
- Bypass sections of
the A57 and A628 passing through the villages of
Mottram, Hollingworth and Tintwistle within the Metropolitan Borough of
Tameside and the County of Derbyshire. The bypassed sections are
between the M67 eastern Terminal Roundabout at Hattersley and Townhead
Farm on the east side of Tintwistle over a distance of approximately 5
kilometres [Draft Line Order];
- Provide route
restraint measures on the bypass and at Flouch;
- Provide for a
length of the A57 and the A628 that is to be
superseded by the bypass, to cease to be a trunk road [Draft Detrunking
Order];
- Provide for the
stopping up of existing highways and private means
of access, to improve and alter existing highways and to construct new
highways and accesses that may be necessary for the construction of the
new bypass and the route restraint measures at Flouch [Draft Side Roads
Orders];
- Compulsorily
purchase land and rights required for the construction
of the scheme including essential mitigation works [Draft Compulsory
Purchase Order].
The public and other interested organisations were
allowed a period
of 13 weeks until 5th May 2006 to express their support, comment on, or
object to the proposals. A large number of people have written in with
their views and each person or organisation expressing a written view
will receive a full response to the points that they have raised.
The
Government has, for the first time, given regions a say in
decision-making about transport schemes that affect them at regional
and local levels. The Mottram to Tintwistle Bypass is one of those
schemes that is considered at a regional level. The North West Regional
Assembly presented advice to Ministers in January 2006 and provided a
revised sequencing of priority schemes in June 2006.
On 6th July 2006 The Secretary of State for
Transport responded to
this advice and confirmed that funding provision should be made for the
A628 Mottram -Hollingworth-Tintwistle bypass beyond 2010/11.
Accordingly, the Highways Agency will continue to progress the scheme
through the statutory procedures so that it is ready to start works as
soon as funding is available within the Regional Funding Allocation.
The change to the proposed timing of construction
and funding for
the project required a review of the published Environmental Statement
and its re publication together with the associated draft Orders.
Revised traffic modelling was undertaken to
represent the new
opening (2015) year for the scheme and the incorporation of additional
route restraint measures. The Secretary of State therefore published
the revised draft Orders and Environmental Statement on 9th February
2007.
The publication of the revised draft Orders
allowed interested
parties to examine the revised proposals and to offer comments in the
form of support, objections or other representations. The period for
these comments ended on 30 March 2007. Further letters of objection and
support were received during the Objection period.
Following the end of the Objection period the
Highways Agency issued
a letter to all parties who have provided comments on the original and
republished proposals. This confirmed the intention to hold a Public
Inquiry commencing on 26 June 2007.
The letter confirmed the appointment of Mr Chris
Banks of Persona
Associates as Programme Officer for the Inquiry. His role is to provide
the interface between the Inspector and those who participate in the
Inquiry, to arrange the Inquiry programme and to maintain the Inquiry
library.
On 27 April 2007 the Highways Agency published its
Statement of
Case. This is a written statement which contains full particulars of
the case which the Highways Agency proposes to put forward at the
Public Inquiry. In addition to the Statement of Case, the Highways
Agency provided details of the deposit points where a copy of every
document or relevant part of any document which is referred to or put
in evidence may be inspected free of charge. These deposit locations
are as follows:
- Stalybridge Civic
Hall Trinity Street, Stalybridge, Cheshire SK15 2BN
- Stocksbridge
Library, Manchester Road, Stocksbridge, Sheffield S36 1DH
A Pre Inquiry Meeting was held on 1 May 2007 at
Stalybridge Civic
Hall. Its purpose was to help all involved prepare for the Inquiry. A
copy of the notes produced following this meeting can be obtained by
contacting Chris Banks, the programme officer on 01403 217799. Chris
can also be contacted for details of the website that has been sent up
for the Public Inquiry.
The Public Inquiry commenced at 10 am
on 26 June at Stalybridge Civic Hall, Trinity Street, Stalybridge,
Cheshire. SK15 2BN. Evidence was presented by the Highways Agency for
the Bypass and by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council for the Glossop
Spur Road.
Evidence was heard in support of the Scheme from
various parties and
some objectors have also presented their case. The Inquiry adjourned on
12 July 2007 for the summer holidays. Further objections to the Scheme
will be heard when the Inquiry re-opens.
Several alternatives
to the Highways Agency’s Published scheme have been
suggested, and as
such, consideration is being given to each of them. Details of these
alternatives can be found in the booklet headed “A57/A628
Mottram
Tintwistle Bypass and A628/A616 Route Restraint Measures –
Objectors’
Alternative Proposals to the Draft Orders Published in February
2007”.
This booklet is found in the publications page of
this scheme
website. Anyone wishing to comment on the Objectors Alternative
proposals should do so as soon as possible (and by 13 September at the
latest) by writing to:
A57/A628 Mottram Tintwistle Team,
Highways Agency,
Stalybridge Civic Hall,
Trinity Street,
Stalybridge
SK15 2BN
The Highways Agency DOES NOT support these
alternative proposals.
All comments received will be passed to the Inspector for his
consideration.
The Inquiry will re convene on Tuesday 4 September at 10am
Following the Inquiry the Inspector will produce a
report making a
recommendation based on the evidence presented by the Highways Agency,
the objectors, the supporters and anybody who has made a representation
during the Inquiry
The decision whether to proceed with
the scheme will be
taken after the Secretary of State for Transport has considered the
Inspector’s Report.
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A
contract to build the Mottram-Hollingworth-Tintwistle bypass has been
awarded to Mowlem PLC (later bought by Carillion PLC).
In June
2006 the Northwest
Regional Assembly revised priorities for transport schemes
and on 6 July 2006 the Secretary of State for Transport, Douglas
Alexander (right), confirmed that funding provision for the
bypass should be made beyond 2010/11.
On Friday, February 9, 2007 the Secretary of State published revised
draft legal orders and environmental statement to reflect revised
traffic modelling for the new opening (2015) for the scheme.
Public
inquiry
The
public inquiry into proposals for the
bypass will take place early in 2007, Transport Minister Dr Stephen
Ladyman (right) announced on Thursday, June 1, 2006.
The public inquiry
into the revised proposals started on Tuesday, June
26 at 10.00am at Stalybridge Civic Hall, Trinity Street,
Stalybridge.
The
public inquiry website
http://www.persona.uk.com/mottram/
Bypass
links
Campaign against the Mottram and Tintwistle bypass
http://www.stopmottrambypass.org/
Campaign group for Mottram/Tintwistle bypass
http://www.longdendalebypass.co.uk/
GlossopSpur.com
http://www.glossopspur.com/
The Highways Agency
http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/5515.aspx
Mottram residents against the pypass
http://www.savemottram.org.uk/
Peak District National Park
http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/index/news/news-display-page.htm?id=11990
Road Alert Glossop
http://www.myspace.com/roadalert
Roadblock
http://www.roadblock.org.uk/exhibtion/mottram.htm
Save Swallows Wood
http://www.saveswallowswood.org.uk/
Stop Mottram Bypass
http://www.stopmottrambypass.org/
Stop the A57/A628
Bypass
http://www.nomottrambypass.blogspot.com/
Tom Levitt, Labour MP for the High Peak
http://www.tomlevitt.labour.co.uk/ViewPage.cfm?Page=14547
Woodhead
Against Increased Traffic
http://www.wait-campaign.co.uk/
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