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This is a preliminary briefing in advance of the publication of the final details of the Leigh Guided Busway by GMPTE, it attempts to set out as much details as possible about the scheme, and its off shoots, as well as tackling issues relating to campaign and the decision making process. At the end there is a useful list of links and contacts.
The Proposed Scheme
The proposed scheme has a mixture of priority on road bus lanes with off road fixed tracks (more detail later), these consist of concrete troughs that allows the bus to be semi automatically steered at high speed. The route runs from Leigh to Walkden in mainly guided busway/off road section, with the remaining route, on or adjacent to existing roads, taking it through to the centre of Manchester. The early proposals were for a 6 minute service, with an overall journey time of 40 minutes.
The Route
The terminal is the Leigh Bus Station (although there are proposals for an extension to the Xanadu site, with other routes running to Wigan and Bolton, the Bolton section is already running). Travelling along Spinning Jenny Way, Princess Street, through what is now a haulage yard, picking up the first section of off road track, which uses the route of the old rail line, cutting across Holden Road, which will be its first stop.
We now continue for around 5 miles on the old rail line, which has re-naturalised since its closure by Beeching in the late 60s, the route is at present part made up footpaths, part bridleway and part overgrown footpaths. There is an abundance of wildlife along the proposed route including Great Crested Newts (more on that later). We go through Bedford Woods, across Millers Lane and Cooling Lane, at Astley Street in Tyldesley on what is now a recreation area it is proposed to create an interchange, where buses will be able to leave and join to serve the Tyldesley area.
There will be a possible link at Cooling Lane to Sandringham Drive to serve Higher Folds, the buses would use on road routes once they reach Sandringham Lane.
On from there across Well Street, to Upton Lane and Hough Lane where there will be stops, running parallel with Chester Road, crossing Sale lane where there will be a further stop, past the Bankfield Industrial Estate to City road where there will be another stop, coming to Newearth Road where the buses leave the off road section, the primary route will be to turn right into Newearth Road, some services will though turn left to call at Walkden Station.
Concern was raised by locals about a statement in early documents that the route would carry on straight across Newearth Road, using the route of the existing walkway/cycleway, GMPTE have since back tracked on this, but that section still needs to be watched in case it is again suggested.
From Newearth Road buses would join a new bus lane on the East Lancs Road built alongside the existing carriageway in the verge. This lane would continue to Walkden Road where a new set of traffic lights would enable buses to rejoin the main traffic flow to pass through the junction.
A new bus lane adjacent to the existing road would give priority to buses throughout the next section of the East Lancs Road, passing through new traffic lights at a junction which would allow access to a proposed new park and ride site (more on these later). The bus lane would continue to the junction with Old Clough Lane, where the introduction of new traffic lights would enable buses to rejoin the main traffic flow. No bus priority is proposed between Old Clough Lane and the M60.
Throughout the motorway interchange buses would join a new guided busway section constructed between the existing Manchester bound carriageway and the retaining wall. The Busway would cross the slip road off the M60 at a new signal controlled junction before becoming a standard bus lane to the junction with Moorside Road.
From Moorside Road buses would operate along a new on highway bus lane created by the conversion of the existing nearside lane as far as Lancaster Road. Buses would continue through the underpass at Irlams o th Height before rejoining new bus lanes on the road to Pendleton Church`.
Once we get to Pendleton Church things get a little confused with no certain proposals being made. The final section details will be added once we know the details.
Opposition
Opposition to the Busway is from two main Campaigns, the Busway No Way Campaign, assisted by CfPS and the Worseley Civic Society. The Busway No Way Campaign is concerned primarily with the off road section, does not oppose the principle of a Busway, would prefer a rail option on a different route, but would accept a busway route running along the A580. Whereas the Civic Society are primarily concerned with the section of the site in and around Walkden, and oppose the whole project, they consider (rightly) that the Busway will create as many problems as it solves on the route into Manchester. Both Campaigns oppose the proposed Park and Rides.
There were in the early days a number of public meetings, these were all well attended, a poll held by the Leigh Journal saw 96% over 3000 voters opposing the scheme. It can be safely stated that the proposals are not welcome by the majority of residents along the entire route.
The Campaign
The primary aim of the Campaign is against the proposals as they now are. The rallying cry must be that we say no to the destruction of 7 miles of open countryside, whilst we would prefer an alternative route, we are not faced with that choice, therefore the only option open to us is objection to the whole scheme. That then is the position of all groups involved, and we will fight united in that respect.
There is a loose structure at the moment to the organisation, but this will hopefully be put to rights in the near future with public meetings and re-election of officers, if you feel that you want to be involved in the campaign either as a general supporter, or as an active member of the action committee, please contact us, as we need all the support we can muster, if you are unable to offer any physical support, please do consider a donation to the campaign (see fund raising section).
Park and Ride
There is one firm proposal for a park and ride on the northern side of the East Lancs Road between Walkden Road and the Roe Green linear footpath. And a potential park and ride being proposed by the Highways Agency at Junction 15 of the M60.
Walkden Park and Ride
This as proposed will be an initial 250 space car park with the potential to increase as demand dictates, they do not say what the potential maximum size would be. There would also be secure cycle lockers and a facilities building at the eastern end. It is also suggested that additional buses would be used to serve Manchester and Salford if the demand is there.
Junction 15 Park and Ride
No firm details of this are known as yet, but it is considered that if the Highways Agency are making the proposal it would have to be of a significant size in order to make any impact on vehicle numbers on the M60, which is the rational behind the proposal.
It is a proven fact that Park and Ride does not work, all that is achieved is that people already using public transport use their cars to drive to the park and ride thereby increasing local car use. There would be little benefit in journey times, with an estimated saving in the region of 6 minutes, which is lost on waiting times for buses.
Studies in Oxford and Bristol show that the economics of park and rides are such that they will never operate a profit, therefore any proposals will always have to ensure adequate public funding for many years to come. Two reports by Dr Graham Parkhurst sets out some of the problems associated with Park and Ride copies of these are available on request or by going to
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/transport-studies/tsu/tpab9903.htm Does Bus-Based Park and Ride Assist the Integration of Local Transport and http://www.ucl.ac.uk/transport-studies/tsu/tpab9904.htm Environmental Cost-Benefits of Bus-based Park and Ride Systems.CfPS is opposed to both of these schemes as an expensive (in environmental, and land usage terms) means of dealing with adverse traffic conditions on the Leigh to Manchester route. We are also firmly of the opinion that park and ride simply fails in its objective of cutting traffic, with quite often the reverse applying, that is that present users of public transport simply switch from one form of public transport to another, but instead of walking they drive, thereby increasing local traffic. Further as shown in the Oxford and Bristol studies the proposals are not cost effective, requiring long term public subsidy.
Cycleways, Bridleways and Footpaths
The proposals will see the scrapping of all the existing footpaths and bridleways, to be replaced with what is described as a purpose built bridleway and footpaths along the side of the guided Busway. The horse riding community has expressed horror at the thought of having buses silently speeding by at high speed only inches away from horses. Already large sums of public funds has been expended on putting in place purpose made footpaths, on at least one third of the off road section. These will be ripped up, with walkers needing to walk alongside the Busways. The proposals will though allow for cyclist to use the whole off road section, which is an improvement on the present situation, but could potentially be deadly, as horses, walkers and cyclist compete, whilst on occasion horses could threaten riders, cyclists and walkers after being startled by the speeding buses.
The Decision Making Procedure
The decision making process is different from normal planning applications, where instead of a planning application, there is an application to the Secretary of State for the Environment Transport and the Regions for a Transport and Works Act Order, which would then adverse the proposed scheme in the local media and on posts along the proposed route. There will then be a 3 week period for objections (it is very important that people do put in objections during this period), followed by a public inquiry, CfPS and the Worseley Civic Society will make representation to that inquiry. The Inquiry Inspector will then report with recommendations to the Secretary of State who will make the final decision (the Secretary of State is in reality the North West Government Office, although a Minister has to physically sign the Order, and may have direct input to a decision of this size The Minister would be Lord McDonald the Transport Minister).
EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment)
The off road section of the Busway will be classed as a new road, and therefore subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment, the development being one coming under Schedule 2 10(f) to the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment)(England and Wales) Regulations 1999, due to the fact that the proposal will be greater than 1 hectare and it will be of more than local importance, affecting a site which contains protected species. This is good for us, as it allows us to really peck up our arguments, gives us greater grounds of challenge, and means that every aspect of the development must be justified, including providing details of all other routes and options considered.
At Appendix B we reproduce for your benefit Schedule 3 and 4 of the Regulations, which sets out the criteria that must be included in an EIA, CfPS have also produce a separate report on EIA developments.
The public have a right to inspect and comment on the Environmental Impact Assessment, and those comments MUST be taken into account by the decision maker. The term environmental statement is a little misleading, as it implies only information relating to the environment, but that is not the case. Issues such as the main alternatives that have been considered must be included, as should land take, the design, size and location, and it must include full information, decisions of the courts have made it very clear that consideration of the merits of mitigation and other such issues cannot be left to the reserved matters stage
This will be very important as we point to the relevant information that decision makers must take into account, extending the degree of required information, and helping us to prove that mitigation measures rarely work, that local residents will be adversely affected, and that they have not given sufficient regard to alternatives.
How to object
There are several avenues to follow, the first is to write to your local councillors, MP and MEP, a list is available in the contacts section. Write objections direct to GMPTE and the Highways Authority, the Secretary of State, and finally to the two local authorities, Wigan and Salford. In all reality better success might be had from Salford than Wigan, as they dug their heels into the ground for longer than Wigan, who are strong supporters of the project. However the most important letter must be to the Secretary of State, a preliminary standard letter can be found in Appendix A. This letter though deals with primarily the alternatives, see section below on alternatives. Addresses can be found in the list of contacts at the end of this briefing.
There is a further section of public bodies that need lobbying, and that is the Agencies, The Environment Agency, Greater Manchester Ecology Unit, English Nature There is also a need to lobby businesses that might be affected, those along the route that may have business disrupted or affected by the bus lanes, those that may be affected as trade is diminished by the buses taking shoppers to other centres that might have better facilities, and those businesses that may find that additional congestion in the route into Manchester means greater delay in deliveries and workers commuting along this route. Obviously each of these need different approaches, we list below some of the points that you may include in these specialist letters. We ask that those that know affected businesses might also approach them to make donation to the fighting fund, or alternatively to donate prizes to raffles.
Alternatives to the Busway.
There has been no less than 3 reports on the provision of a transport link between Leigh and Manchester, the final report by WSAtkins in September 1999 Leigh to Manchester Quality Bus Route Independent Review (copies on request). From reading this it is clear that the preferred option is for a heavy rail link called the Chat Moss Link, which would come off the main line at Kenyon, up the side of the Atherleigh Way to a station adjacent to King Street, The only way of course of achieving this would be to cut across the old line alongside of the Xanadu Site to where the allotments are, which is the only viable station site in that area.
What CfPS are putting forward, goes much further than this, whilst we use the same route up the Atherleigh Way we cut under the road along the side of the golf course (which is to be moved to an 18 hole course on the other side of the Flash) to a station in the top corner by the canal. But we do not stop there instead we come back out, run flash side of the canal until we come to Platt Lane Canal Bridge, cutting across the road, following the old track route to meet up with the Bickershaw Colliery line, which still has a good part of it in place, and following that all the way through to the main West Coast Line. This would open up Leigh, Bickershaw and Prat Bridge to rail, would be the least environmentally damaging of all the options, albeit parts of the Flash would be effected, this would be minimal compared to the destruction of the present proposal. And would cause the least adverse effects for the local communities along the route. Most importantly it would re connect Leigh to the Rail Network.
The cost of this taken from figures in the Atkins report would be around £17m as opposed to the Busways £25m, they stated that the rail option would cost £80m and take 10 years to put in place, what we are proposing here is 50% already in-place. Our proposed option is then both viable, cost effective and could be up and running in a relative quick time scale.
The other alternative is the one most frequently put forward that of running the Busway along the A580, whilst this is the preferred option, if we are to be forced to have a Busway as opposed to rail, it has many limitation. The main problem is exactly the same as that of the existing proposal, there are no problems with the traffic flows until the buses reach Walkden, from then on the existing and the A580 options would both run along the same routes, and this would cause traffic snarl ups. It must then be simply looked at as the best of the worst options.
Why do we need to even talk about other options. Leigh desperately needs a major public transport link. It is important to get it right as we will never have another opportunity. Rail must be the preferred option, it is the most sustainable ecologically, it is faster, and more reliable. Providing the provision is also linked to good bus connections to local communities and work places. We are not in the business of objecting for the sake of objecting, but instead we need to defend local communities against having adverse planning proposals forced upon them, whilst putting forward sound alternatives that better suit the needs of the local community, especially if those proposals have the support of the wider community.
Fund Raising
No campaign can flourish without funds, we will be up against determined and publicly funded supporters, all we have is our wits, the expertise of our volunteers, and the funds that you help raise, which will hopefully allow us to employ expert witnesses, and other specialists to represent us at the public inquiry, this could very well come to several thousand pounds, we will then in the initial stages be targeting to raise at least £5000.
We shall be setting up a special fund raising committee, charged with organising special events, and other fund raising activities, however our best chance of success is through your donations, especially those able to make regular monthly payments, even very small amounts, as this will allow us to plan with certainty, knowing how much we will have at any given stage of the planning process.
There is a standing order at Appendix D, this can be used to make regular payments (even amounts as low as £1 is acceptable), or alternatively one off donations can be made at any branch of the TSB, just copy the bank details found at the end of this section onto a paying in slip available at all branches, or you may send donations direct to the campaign, (please make cheques payable to Busway Noway, and send to Busway Noway, 97 Spa Crescent, Little Hulton, Gtr Manchester, M38 9TU.
BANK DETAILS
Account Name: Busway Noway
Sort Code: 75-59-01
Account Number: 44019860
Contact List
Busway Noway
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE)
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority (GMPTA)
WEB: Wigan MBC
WEB: Salford City Council
Secretary of State for Transport, Environment and the Regions
97 Spa Crescent
Little Hulton
Gtr Manchester
M38 9TU
Tel: 0161 278 3355
Fax: 0161 278 3344
Email: info@planningsanity.co.uk
WEB: http://www.planningsanity.co.uk/groups/busway/busway.htm
9 Portland Street
Piccadilly Gardens
Manchester
M60 1HX
Tel: 0161 242 6777
Fax: 0161 238 3291
Email: publicity@gmpte.gov.uk
Planning & Development
Civic Buildings
New Market Street
Wigan
WN1 1RP
Tel: 01942 - Fax: 01942
Email: planning@wiganmbc.gov.uk
Development Services
Salford Civic Centre
Chorley Road
Swinton
Salford
M27 5BW
Tel: 0161-794 4711
WEB: http://www.salford.gov.uk/address.htm
GONW
Sunley Towers
Piccadilly Plaza
Manchester
M1 4BE
The Planning Inspectorate
The Highways Agency
Countryside Agency
English Nature
Environment Agency (North Greater Manchester Ecology Unit
Tel: 0161 952 4000
Fax: 0161 952 4099
WEB: http://www.go-nw.gov.uk/
Tollgate House
Houlton Street
Bristol
BS2 9DJ
Tel: 0117 987 8927
Fax: 0117 987 6219
Email: mailto:enquiries.pins@gtnet.gov.uk
WEB: http://www.planning-inspectorate.gov.uk/
SUNLEY TOWER
Piccadilly Plaza
MANCHESTER
M1 4BE
Tel: 08459 55 65 75
Email: psarea15@highways.gsi.gov.uk
WEB: http://www.highways.gov.uk/
John Dower House
Crescent Place
Cheltenham
Glostershire
GL50 3RA
Tel: 01242 521381
Fax: 01242 584270
Email: info@countryside.gov.uk
WEB: http://www.countryside.gov.co.uk/
Northminster House
Peterborough
PE1 1UA
Tel: 01733 455100
Fax: 01733 455103
Email: enquiries@english-nature.org.uk
WEB: http://www.english-nature.org.uk/
North West Team
Pier House
Walgate
Wigan
WN3 4AL
Tel: 01942 820342
Fax: 01942 820364
Email: northwest@english.nature.org.uk
Richard Fairclough House
Knutsford Road
Warrington
Cheshire
WA4 1HG
Tel: 0645 333 111
Fax: 01925 634 840
Email: enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk
WEB: www.environment-agency.gov.uk
Coucil Offices
Wellington Rd.
Ashton-under-Lyn
OL6 6DL
Tel: 0161 342 3596
Email:
Preliminary letter of objection - Secretary of State
This letter is intended not to address the issues of the Busway and the adverse effects of the route, but to put forward the notion that there are alternatives that have not been considered, and also to clearly give the message that it is not the Busway that we object to, but the route. Also putting across that Leigh wants and needs a good public transport project, but not at any cost. A more in-depth letter will be available once the full details of the proposals are released. Please let us know if you want a copy of that letter, and the updated briefing.
NAME & ADDRESS
.
.
Date as postmark
Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
Sunley Towers
Piccadilly Plaza
Manchester
Dear Sir
RE: LEIGH GUIDED BUSWAY
I am very concerned about the proposed Leigh Guided Busway, this project will effectively take away a much used and loved local nature trail, that has re-naturalised since its closure as a rail line in the 1960s, the proposed route from beginning to end is teaming with a wide variety of wildlife, including Great Crested Newts and bats.
The proposed route is also used by pedestrians, horse riders and cyclist as a safe route from Leigh to Tyldesley, enabling horses to ride in safety undisturbed by motor vehicles, thereby causing both the horses and riders less stress. The natural exercise that this route brings to all its users is a local amenity that has been cherished for many years.
If the proposals are allowed, then all of this will change gone will be the natural habitats, gone will be the natural feel of the walk, gone will be the freedom to allow horses to ride in safety, as the distraction of high speed buses will be such as to cause the horses to give fright, causing danger to them selves their riders, pedestrians and cyclists, so much so that it is unlikely that this route will be considered a safe route for horses, most owners would instead prefer the perils of the ordinary roads that will not have such distractions, that of course must be undesirable, not only for the horses and riders but also for the traffic faced with an increase of riders on the public roads.
There are viable alternatives to the proposed Guided Busway. The principle one, which seems to have been ignored, is a rail link following the old Bickershaw colliery route, with a new station close to the town centre on the Atherleigh Way, on the site of what is now a 9 hole golf course, which is to be relocated in the near future. The majority of this route still has its track intact and will cause the least disruption to wildlife and local residents, bringing a far better public transport option to Leigh for a cost little more than that being put into the Leigh Guided Busway, and would link Leigh with Wigan and the main line to the North, London and the West Coast, as well as offering the ability for services to both Manchester and Liverpool, taking vehicles off the road, and very importantly would receive the support of a large section of the local community.
I would also like to point you to the Atkins Report (Sept 99) which gives a warm review to what is referred to as the Chat Moss Spur, this comes very close to the station proposed above, and could by changing the route slightly easily join with our proposal, thereby forming a through link between Wigan Leigh - Manchester, allowing trains to travel into Piccadilly, The cost of this whole proposal, taking figures given in the Atkins report would be £5 million for the Chat Moss line and £12 million for the Bickershaw link, making this proposal far less than the Busway proposal (17m as opposed to £25m for the Busway), having less effect on the environment, re-linking Leigh to the Main Rail Network and causing virtually no disamenity to the local communities affected.
A reserve plan to the above is to put in place an express bus corridor along side the existing A580, thereby offering an inexpensive alternative to the proposed Busway. However my concerns with both the proposed Busway and this suggested route is the bottle necks that will be created on that part of the route beyond Walkden, whilst parts of the route may very well see buses moving faster, other sections will see the buses having to rejoin the main traffic flow, thereby adding to an already congested route, similar problems would occur in those places where loss of part of the highway will reduce the area available to other road users.
Whilst I reserve the right to make further comments after the full details of the proposals are released I would ask that you register the above as my preliminary objection to the Leigh Guided Busway, and a plea to put influence upon GMPTE to look again at the rail option for Leigh after consideration of the proposals as briefly outlined above.
I look forward to your reply with interest.
Yours sincerely
Local resident
APPENDIX B
The characteristics of development must be considered having regard, in particular, to -
The environmental sensitivity of geographical areas likely to be affected by development must be considered, having regard, in particular, to -
The potential significant effects of development must be considered in relation to criteria set out under paragraphs 1 and 2 above, and having regard in particula