Highways England has approached Rimrose Valley Friends inviting us to be part of a steering group to look at the issues in relation to the construction of a dual carriageway through Rimrose Valley and how best to mitigate against them.
Rimrose Valley Friends has rejected the invitation because it’s crystal clear and already fully understood that it will not be possible to mitigate against the damage and harm that a surface dual carriageway through the heart of our essential green space will cause to people and the environment in which we live. We have instead invited Highways England to come back to us with a sensible and acceptable proposal, at which point we will be prepared to reconsider our position.
Si Smith, Chair of Rimrose Valley Friends, said “A surface dual carriageway down the centre of Rimrose Valley Country Park would decimate the landscape, destroy its peace and quiet, sever community links and increase air pollution, all of which would severely impact on residents’ health and well-being. We feel it would be impossible to mitigate these impacts in any meaningful way and therefore we have declined Highways England’s invitation. Also, we have pointed out to Highways England that we are all unpaid volunteers who do not have resources to spare to help them to do their jobs. It is for Highways England to firstly come up with a satisfactory solution to the traffic problem and then to make sure it does not impinge on the lives and quality of health of the people in the local area. When an acceptable set of proposals is put forward, we will then be willing to engage and review them.”
What you can do now:
