Green Councillors Call For Rail Investment Ahead of Plans To Widen Major Road
Today’s announcement that Liverpool City Council and Sefton Council have entered into a joint venture to widen one of the key corridor routes into the city has faced criticism from Green councillors and local campaigners.
The City Council have released plans that they say will make the journey from North to South Liverpool a more pleasurable one for road users, but have failed to acknowledge that their plans are also to increase the numbers and frequency of heavy goods vehicles travelling along the route.
The news comes days after an announcement that Peel Ports is to commence work on a 24 hour HGV refueling facility next to a well used footpath to Crosby beach,
‘This absolutely flies in the face of common sense,’ said the Leader of the Liverpool Green Party and metro mayor hopeful, Councillor Tom Crone. ‘We’ve called on both councils to look at the facts, and they have ignored us, and the local residents we’re fighting for.’
‘It is clear that rail is a much cleaner mode of transport for freight and there are disused lines which, with a bit of thought and imagination, could be brought back into service. We need investment in sustainable forms of transport to move goods and people around the region, not bigger and wider roads which increase pollution for local communities. We cannot invest in creating poorer air quality and reduced quality of life for our communities and call it progress.’
Councillor Crone, who has visited many parts of the Liverpool City Region over the past few weeks as part of his campaign for Metro-Mayor has witnessed the same emphasis on road based development, threatening protected Green Belt land, despite protests and concerns from local residents.
“The Florida Farm North lorry park development in St. Helens is another example of Labour led councils pushing through their agenda, despite genuine and real concerns from the people it affects most. Again, we’re seeing an investment into a road based solution that ties in with Liverpool and Sefton Council’s development. I’m calling for local community voices to be heard and real change towards a greener city region to be made. I’ve made Liverpool my home over 16 years, and cannot sit back whilst it gets ripped up and polluted.”