A66 Upgrade Consultation Update 8th November 2023 The Secretary of State for Transport has extended the Development Consent Order decision for the A66 Northern Trans-Pennine project. The deadline for a decision to be made has been extended to 7 March 2024. Read more: A66 delay delivers a reprieve for the landscape and Cumbria's Net Zero Ambitions Update 6th September 2022 Friends of the Lake District is a membership organisation supported by 12000 members and supporters and is the representative for The Countryside Charity (CPRE) in Cumbria. It is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the natural beauty of Cumbria's landscapes for the benefit of our local communities, visitors, wildlife and Cumbria’s unique habitats. The landscape damage, loss of wildlife, severance of hedgerows and destruction of farmland that this road proposal will cause is of huge concern to us as a landscape charity and in particular, the section of road which will drive through the landscape north and east of Kirkby Thore and at Warcop where the road infractructure extends into the North Pennines AONB. The development of the road and the extra mileage around Kirby Thore and Warcop will increase the length of the road considerably resulting in a considerable loss of mature hedgerows and trees. This would have a major impact on habitats supporting wildlife such as bats, badgers and rare and threatened bird species as well as tranquillity and views into and out of the AONB. We are aware of the road’s poor record on safety, the traffic issues endured by many using the route and the importance and urgency of its improvement for the benefit of local people, visitors and the local economy. We believe however that these issues could be mitigated through junction improvements, changes to alignment and lower speed limits. Throughout the route evaluation process, we have made numerous requests to National Highways to look at upgrading junctions and building underpasses or bridges for farm and local traffic that needs to cross the main road to increase safety on the A66, rather than wholesale dualling it. We do not consider that the proposal has adequately assessed all the options - a legal requirement of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations - and we remain unclear as to why safety upgrades without dualling were not considered as part of the evaluation. Friends of the Lake District works with partners locally and nationally to research climate change impacts on the Cumbrian landscape and look for practical solutions to issues such as flood risk, erosion, carbon sequestration and changing agricultural methods. As a landscape charity, we have witnessed first-hand the impacts of flooding and severe weather events on Cumbria including impacts on our own land holdings. We raised money via an appeal providing the financial support to restore access to the landscape by helping to fund replacement bridges and the restoration of paths across the county as well as hands-on help with the clear up at Glenridding and Patterdale by Friends of the Lake District staff and volunteers following Storm Desmond. Figures from National Highways themselves demonstrate that the road will increase carbon emissions over the 60 year appraisal period by 3,308,479 extra tonnes of carbon (the fourth biggest emitting scheme in the Government’s roads programme). Upgrading this road will go a long way towards busting the UK’s carbon budget making it harder to meet the Government’s legally mandated carbon budgets, including reducing emissions by 78% by 2035 (sixth carbon budget), and 68% by 2030 (Paris Agreement). In summary: Our main areas of concern National Highways own evaluation of the project in their Environmental Statement indicates it is very poor value for money. The Benefit-Cost ratio is below 1, so for every £1 spent, there will only be 92p of “benefit” and this is before high inflation is taken into account. This is a questionable project to be brought forward and paid for by the public purse during a cost of living crisis, high interest rates and a recession when it does not even break even. The Department for Transport’s own evaluation cost-benefit ratio methodology shows that all the damage that the road will do to the landscape, wildlife, heritage and the negative impact it will have on people’s lives will not even bring an overall benefit. The Government’s own Planning Policy rules for major road upgrades states that damage to AONBs should only ever take place where the “benefits significantly outweigh the costs” No alternatives to improve safety have been explored; the plan from the Department for Transport has always been to dual the road. As detailed previously, the road could be made significantly safer through junction improvements, under/overpasses for farm and local traffic, speed limits and other measures that don’t involve driving a dual carriageway through open countryside The bridges, embankments, service roads and other infrastructure will cause damage to the landscape and setting of the North Pennines AONB There will be a considerable loss of tranquillity right along the road corridor due to increased traffic and faster vehicles There will be significant visual intrusion of major road infrastructure into open countryside. The development of the road and the extra milage around Kirby Thore and Warcop will cause a considerable loss of mature hedgerows, trees and other habitats. These habitats support wildlife such as bats, badgers and rare and threatened bird species. The upgraded road will induce extra traffic meaning that more and longer journeys will be taken, increasing carbon emissions and vehicle numbers. The principle of construction of a major road upgrade during a time of climate crisis when carbon reduction should be the primary consideration of government makes no sense at all. Carbon emissions from both construction and from increased traffic numbers and speeds will all add to the total of carbon emitted taking us further from net zero rather than bringing us towards the target. Update 24 August 2022 Friends of the Lake District registers with the Planning Inspectorate for the A66 Examination. Our initial representation to the A66 Upgrade Consultation is here – and will be followed later in the Examination process with more detailed written representations. 18 August 2022 The A66 Northern Trans-Pennine Project application has been accepted for Examination (like a public inquiry) by the Planning Inspectorate (PINS). If you want to get involved and comment on the application or to give evidence at the Examination, you must register on the PINS website to do so. You must indicate why you want to be involved and can outline your concerns, in up to 500 words, in a text box on the registration page, here: A66 Northern Trans-Pennine Project: register on PINS website The Environmental Statement is also available on the PINS website. Our main areas of concern are: National Highways evaluation of the project in their Environmental Statement indicates it is very poor value for money. The Benefit-Cost ratio is below 1, so for every £1 spent, there will only be 92p of “benefit” and this is before high inflation is taken into account. This is a questionable project to be brought forward and paid for by the public purse during a cost of living crisis, high interest rates and a recession when it does not even break even The Department for Transport’s own evaluation cost-benefit ratio methodology shows that all the damage that the road will do to the landscape, wildlife, heritage and the negative impact it will have on people’s lives will not even bring an overall benefit. No alternatives to improve safety have been explored; the plan from the Department for Transport has always been to dual the road. As detailed below, the road could be made significantly safer through junction improvements, under/overpasses for farm and local traffic, speed limits and other measures that don’t involve driving a dual carriageway through open countryside The bridges, embankments, service roads and other infrastructure will cause damage to the landscape and setting of the North Pennines AONB There will be a considerable loss of tranquillity in places due to increased traffic and faster vehicles There will be significant visual intrusion of major road infrastructure into open countryside The development of the road and the extra milage around Kirby Thore and Warcop will cause a considerable loss of mature hedgerows, trees and other habitats. These habitats support wildlife such as bats, badgers and rare and threatened bird species. The upgraded road will induce extra traffic meaning that more and longer journeys will be taken, increasing carbon emissions The principle of construction of a major road upgrade during a time of climate crisis when carbon reduction should be the primary consideration of government makes no sense at all. Carbon emissions from both construction and from increased traffic numbers and speeds will all add to the total of carbon emitted taking us further from net zero rather than bringing us towards the target. 1st February 2022 We have today submitted comment to the project director A66 Highways detailing what we consider to be the inadequacies of the A66 Northern Trans-Pennine Upgrade Consultation. The full document can be viewed at the link. Our concluding comments detailed in this letter follow. Friends of the Lake District Inadequacies of A66 Consultation letter to National Highways (pdf) Conclusions: a. National Highways should not proceed with a DCO planning application until they have consulted properly and are clear which option is being progressed, and consult on those proposals. b. National Highways should have put forward an option to improve the safety of the A66 through junction upgrades, underpasses and bridges and use of average speed cameras without making the road a dual carriageway. We want to know why this option was not considered. c. Upgrading the A66 to a dual carriageway for its entire length from Penrith to Scotch Corner will make it more difficult to secure a sustainable future for Cumbria’s landscapes, people and wildlife. Implementation of this scheme would lead to significant damaging impacts on the natural capital of Cumbria and the North Pennines. This damage would include harm to protected landscapes, loss of and damage to habitats, severing of wildlife corridors, loss of flora and fauna, increases in noise, light and air pollution; local community severance and issues with flooding and run-off. d. The extra traffic from the eight schemes would increase carbon emissions by up to 3 million tonnes over the lifetime of the scheme (Table 7-2 in the GHG Emissions Assessment Appendix) e. The emissions resulting from the construction of the scheme would cause up to 1.4 million extra tonnes of carbon (Table 7-1 in the GHG Emissions Assessment Appendix) f. In total the scheme would lead to an increase of up to 4.4 million extra tonnes of carbon from extra traffic and the construction process. This is completely unacceptable in a climate emergency, and takes us further away from reaching our 68% cut by 2030 required under the Paris Agreement.g. It is unacceptable that consultees and the public were asked to assess this scheme without being provided with photomontages. A fly through over an inaccurately rendered cartoon depiction of the landscape at 50m height does not provide the information needed as it does not represent how people see the landscape. h. We have serious concerns about the sections from Temple Sowerby to Appleby (particularly at Kirkby Thore) and Appleby to Brough where the road goes into the North Pennines AONB. Please take these representations as coming from Friends of the Lake District, CPRE Cumbria Branch. 10th November 2021 Friends of the Lake District responded to the National Highways consultation on the upgrade of the A66. We raised concerns over the impact of the road on the landscape around Kirkby Thore, and in the setting of the North Pennines AONB, around loss of and damage to wildlife, and we also raised concerns about the huge amount of carbon emissions that the road will incur both in construction and use. You can read our response here. 15th October 2021 The A66 Upgrade East of Penrith damages the North Pennines AONB, harms wildlife and flouts the Government’s carbon budget National Highways (formerly Highways England) are consulting on building a new dual carriageway road along the boundary of the North Pennines AONB through some of the county’s most beautiful landscapes. Friends of the Lake District is concerned that the proposals to make the road “safer” are actually an excuse to make the entire road a dual carriageway, encouraging the use of this unique landscape as a rat-run for HGVs to cross the country. The landscape damage, loss of wildlife, severance of hedgerows and destruction of farmland that this road proposal will cause is of huge concern to us as a landscape charity covering the whole county of Cumbria. We have particular issues with the section of the road which will drive through the landscape north and east of Kirkby Thore. This increases the length of the road significantly, impacting on wildlife habitats, tranquillity and views into and out of the AONB. Of great concern are figures from the National Highways themselves which demonstrate that the road will increase carbon emissions over the 60 year appraisal period by 3,308,479 extra tonnes of carbon (the fourth biggest emitting scheme in the Government’s roads programme). This is just the total for the additional traffic caused by the scheme, and does not include the carbon emissions caused by the construction of the road (materials, land loss, trees felled etc). Upgrading this road will go a long way towards busting the UK’s carbon budget making it harder to meet the Government’s legally mandated carbon budgets, including reducing emissions by 78% by 2035 (sixth carbon budget), and 68% by 2030 (Paris Agreement). Throughout the route evaluation process, Friends of the Lake District has been asking for National Highways to look at upgrading junctions and building underpasses for farm traffic to increase safety on the A66, rather than wholesale dualling it. We are aware of the road’s poor record on safety, but know that these issues could be addressed through junction improvements, changes to alignment and lower speed limits. However, National Highways have not even looked at this option in their appraisal of the route, solely fixating on dualling the whole road. On this basis we do not consider that the proposal has actually adequately assessed all the options which is a legal requirement of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations and we will be pushing for more information on why safety upgrades without dualling were never considered. You can see and respond to the proposals here https://highwaysengland.co.uk/our-work/a66-northern-trans-pennine/ Consultation closes on 4th November 2021. Manage Cookie Preferences