PUBLIC OVERWHELMINGLY SAY NO TO HEYSHAM M6 LINK IN LANCASHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL QUESTIONNAIRE

Local people have told Lancashire County Council exactly what they think of the proposal to build the Northern Route from Heysham Port to the M6 and overwhelmingly it is a resounding NO.

People who attended Lancashire County Council’s public exhibitions last May were invited to complete a questionnaire after viewing the plans. The results were only made available following a Freedom of Information Act request by Transport Solutions for Lancaster and Morecambe (TSLM). No wonder LCC kept the results to themselves. They show only 21% support for the road and 76% opposition. People also resoundingly told them that the road would not solve the traffic problems, that it would cause pollution and it would impact on the environment.

One of the questions asked: How strongly do you support or oppose the completion of the Heysham M6 Link? The answers were as follows:-

Strongly support 15.5% Tend to support  5.0% Neither support nor oppose 2.8% Tend to oppose 7.8% Strongly oppose 68.6% No opinion 0.3%

People were also asked what they thought the 3 main ‘disbenefits’ of the scheme were

Route will not solve the traffic problems of Lancaster 253 Visual noise and atmospheric pollution changes 204 Impact on natural environment 172

The public were asked what they thought the 3 main benefits were

Improvement in road connections between Port of Heysham and M6 121 Replacement of existing inadequate M6 junction 34 78 Potential expansion of local economy due to better road access 71

“When the public was consulted in 2001, no-one had any clear idea what LCC had in mind. In 2005 we can all see that their road would be highly damaging and is not designed to relieve congestion” said David Gate, Chair of TSLM.
“These results are from people who attended the Council’s exhibitions and saw for themselves the plans for this damaging road. The results are in line with our own polls which show overwhelming public opposition to the building of the road.
“Lancashire County Council is doing nothing about these results and carrying on regardless, continuing to spend vast amounts of money without public support. They have a duty to listen to what people are telling them. This scheme has become an expensive embarrassment to LCC. They should stop it now and spend the money on achievable alternatives.”

Notes:

Lancashire County Council held public exhibitions of the plans for the Heysham M6 Link Road in Carnforth, Halton, Torrisholme, Skerton and Slyne from 9^th to 13^th May 2005. The exhibitions cost £4,000 for hire of venues, displays and printing. This is part of the total expenditure of £637,000 on the Road from September 2004 to June 2005. Before that, LCC spent £1,742,000 on the Road from January 2001 to August 2004.
For the question “How strongly do you support or oppose the completion of the Heysham M6 Link?” the figures were:

Strongly support 50 Tend to support  16 Neither support nor oppose 9 Tend to oppose 25 Strongly oppose 221 No opinion 1 Total 322

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