Dear Mr Chatfield

The Environmental Impact of the A14 Proposals

I am writing on behalf of 15 communities that lie close to the A14.  Since the first public consultation, there has been growing concern amongst the communities along the A14 corridor that the proposals made by the Highways Agency for the new road system appear to make inadequate provision for the protection of the local environment.  The concern by residents on environmental impact is not route specific and applies to all the route options. 

The latest round of Exhibitions was seen by many as short of detail.  This may be all that is possible at this stage of the project but it does raise serious concerns amongst our residents that the final design will be to the advantage of the strategic road system whilst failing to provide adequate levels of amelioration for the communities along the route.  This deep level of concern is understandable.  Residents in this part of Cambridgeshire have had first hand experience of the functional and environmental design inadequacies of the present A14 and fear that similar shortcomings will be repeated, thus condemning them to decades of environmental blight.

In the light of these concerns, a significant number of the affected communities have agreed to cooperate and to form a joint action forum to ensure that adequate environmental protection measures are incorporated as part of the fundamental design.  These communities have recently met and have agreed to be joint signatories to this letter under the administrative lead of the Hilton Parish Council.

The purpose of this letter is to draw your attention to the deep concern felt by the signatory communities about the level of environmental protection and mitigation being offered by your current proposals and to seek your assurances that adequate mitigation will be provided in the design phase and thereafter, financially ring fenced until the work has been finished.

The summary of our major specific concerns are described in the Annex to this letter but in addition, there are a number of systemic concerns which exacerbate these individual problem areas.  Perhaps the most important of these is a sense of lack of cooperation between different Government departments and local authorities to take full account of the cumulative impact of concurrent schemes.  This is particularly acute regarding the combined impact of the A14 and other schemes such as Northstowe, the A428 and the huge planned rise in housing levels throughout the A14 corridor on  noise, local traffic patterns, drainage and flooding as well as a number of other topics.  Another systemic concern of us all is that your specialists at the exhibitions seemed only to offer mitigation schemes and compensation against the lowest standards and criteria.  We believe, as a matter of policy, that the Agency should adopt the highest possible standards of mitigation.

When everything has been done to reduce environmental damage through design and mitigation, including damage to the quality of life for local communities, any remaining unavoidable damage should be offset through compensation.  This should extend beyond individual financial compensation to include support to communities such as vehicle weight limits, traffic calming, new cycleways or footpaths, leisure facilities.  In this way the Government would be behaving as other developers must when they are required to make contributions to local communities as part of the planning process.

We also ask that, in line with the promise of your chief executive, in his letter to Jonathon Djanogly MP, referenced CEO121/21/06 dated 11 April 2006, that you will engage with the local communities during the detailed design process to enable us to influence the design before the contract is let and that the overall design will include mitigation for environmental damage.  Moreover, and where necessary, solutions to local concerns can be innovative and state of the art.  Finally, many communities felt that a full public enquiry would be an important forum in which to ensure that there was adequate attention given to mitigation.  I have also copied this letter to the Chief Executive of the County Council and others so that they too may note our concerns, particularly those regarding the need to address the cumulative impact of multiple projects and that they will be encouraged to take the steps necessary to demonstrate that the overall environmental impact of all the projects in this area are satisfactory to residents.

In summary, we ask you to pay regard to the joint concerns of the signatories regarding the impact of the A14 proposals on the local environment and to work with us to incorporate adequate and financially ring fenced amelioration measures as part of the fundamental design of the road. 

Yours sincerely,

F J Wright

On behalf of:

Copies to:

Rt Hon Douglas.Alexander MP, Minister for Transport
Mr J Djanogly MP
Mr A Lansley MP
Chief Executive to Cambridgeshire County Council
Chief Executive to Huntingdonshire County Council
DC Bates Leader of Huntingdon District Council
DC Stevens
Environment Agency
Chairmen of Signatory Parish Councils

Annex

Environmental Concerns Arising from the A14 Proposals

Noise.  The majority of communities feel that noise from the A14 is perhaps their major concern and one which has been treated inadequately by the Highways Agency thus far.  A six-lane highway with today's traffic density will generate high noise levels and your proposals to elevate some areas of the road will exacerbate the noise problem.  We also expect the noise problem to increase in line with the inevitable rise in vehicle numbers expected over time.  Moreover, the Agency has only considered noise profiles up to 300 meters from the road and has based guidance on the differential impacts of the alternative routes on this information.  Three hundred metres is insufficient.  Experience with the existing A14 and other roads shows that the noise pollution footprint is likely to be very much larger and could have a detrimental impact on the tranquility of a wide stretch of our countryside.  A greater level of amelioration than has been seen to date will be needed to mitigate the significant noise impact likely from the new road.

Light.  There are concerns that carriageway lighting will generate significant light pollution in this rural area, especially for those communities close to junctions where it is intended to install overhead illumination.  Moreover, the Highways Agency cannot assure communities that the whole carriageway will not be illuminated at some time in the future.  If this were to happen it would have a much increased environmental impact and would pollute the local area over a considerable area.  Light pollution from vehicle headlights is also seen as a problem, especially on the elevated crossovers.

Visual Impact.  The new road will be very visible for some considerable distance and will be unsightly in this low lying rural landscape.  This was felt to be a major concern by a number of communities especially those near to major junctions and again at those communities where the road is currently shown as significantly elevated. A number of communities are also concerned at the height of bridges that will cross over the A14.  Adequate screening is required to hide or soften the visible scar of the road.

Flood Risk.  Much of this part of Cambridgeshire lies in a flood-prone area and the local ditches and drains are already close to maximum capacity during heavy rain. There was a general feeling that, despite assurances to the contrary, recent housing and other development such as Cambourne has lead to increased run off and more frequent local flooding events.  In this context there is major concern that the new road will generate high levels of water run-off which will exacerbate the flooding risk.  Residents feel strongly that all the other projects along the A14 corridor need to be considered as a whole and not piecemeal which seems to be case at present.  The risk of flooding was seen as a major concern by the majority of communities.

Air Quality.  There is no doubt that over time the new road will attract additional traffic which will add to local air pollution levels.  This was most acute for those communities where the new A14 will run in close proximity to settlements, and especially so where the A1 and the A14 will run together in a 12 lane formation.  All the communities feel that the new road will have a detrimental impact on air quality and seek ways to mitigate the impact.

Wildlife.  Concerns have been expressed at the adequacy of the Highways Agency's initial assessment for the impact of the A14 on wildlife.  The Agency has stated informally that the full environmental study would be better.  However, there remains concern that   there was a tendency to concentrate on specific designated sites rather that on the wildlife environment as a whole. 

Footpaths, Bridleways, Cycle paths.  All the communities are concerned that access to bridleways, footpaths and cycle paths needs to be maintained, as well as the preservation of current quiet roads which are used by walkers and cyclists.  Communities were concerned that other projects in the area had already, or were expected, to terminate footpaths etc and unless action is taken, villages could quickly become isolated to non vehicular access.  There was insufficient evidence from the exhibitions and other documentation that these non vehicle accesses were being taken seriously enough by the Highways Agency.  Communities require that all the various agencies and local authorities must work together to form solutions which took full account of the combined impact of developments.

Local Traffic.  In common with many areas, local traffic patterns are complex and sensitive to change.  In addition to the A14 proposal itself, there are a large number of major concurrent projects in being or planned which will impact on the local roads.  These include, Northstow, A428 development, future of the Huntingdon viaduct, the various major additional housing projects along the A14 corridor as well as the junction options for the A14.  Together these projects are likely to have a major and unpredictable impact on local communities.  Communities were not confident that these changes are being sufficiently coordinated and they felt strongly that there was the need for much more work by all levels of Government to ensure that the impact on local roads and villages is adequately assessed and then minimized.  The communities feel that amelioration of adverse conditions created by increased "through-traffic" resulting from the A14 needs to be given greater emphasis

Other Issues.  The residents of some communities were particularly concerned that adequate consideration does not appear to have been given to the question of access to local land, of vital importance to the area.  There may be other areas where similar situations occur and the communities wish to see a mechanism in place which enabled compensation to be delivered when the impact of the work could not be satisfactorily mitigated.  In addition, all of the proposed routes proposed for the new road pierce areas of potential archeological interest.  The communities understand that there is legal minima for archeological surveys but ask that this potentially high yield area should be treated sympathetically.