We’ve just learned that tomorrow’s announcement by Highways England has been leaked a day early due to an error.

The decision is that Highways England has opted to build a dual carriageway through Rimrose Valley. This will send a seismic shockwave through our community that will without doubt galvanise us all to action.  Through the conversations we have had with many people over the months we are in no doubt that people will fight this decision by all legal means necessary.

Today’s announcement can only be described as a declaration of intended vandalism that the Government should be ashamed of, taking the last remaining decent, open green space – our essential green space – away from the people of Central Sefton.

• As a green transit route, children and adults alike use Rimrose Valley to get to and from school or work on foot or bike
• Rimrose Valley provides a space of quiet tranquillity and wellbeing in an otherwise heavily urbanised area; essential for the mind, body and spirit of the people
• Containing two wetland areas of local biological interest, Rimrose Valley is an outstanding educational resource, enabling children and adults to connect with the natural environment
• Rimrose Valley is a source of essential clean air – filtering out pollutants that are so excessive and concerning

The situation we find ourselves in is the result of a catalogue of bad decisions and terrible planning over the years.  The challenge of how to transit cargo to and from The Port of Liverpool should have been identified and tackled at the outset, before the plans to develop The Port of Liverpool were approved.  There needs to be a public enquiry into how this essential requirement could remain unaddressed until it’s too late and there needs to be a continued fight to halt this madness and come up with an acceptable alternative.  We reject the ‘carrot’ of mass job creation as false. It is merely spin, designed to cheat and manipulate us all into allowing this madness to prevail.  Where are the hundreds of promised new jobs?  They are nowhere to be seen, and when we ask for figures and proof we are repeatedly ignored.

The authorities can find better ways than road building when they want to in London and throughout other European cities.  We’ve been told the matter comes down to money. Lack of funds is not an acceptable excuse; our health and wellbeing is not for sale and cannot be traded with to save funds.  If the government cannot afford to transit goods to and from the docks, that should have been thought of before the port expansion was approved, it simply cannot be done on the cheap at the expense of the health and wellbeing of the people who live here. The people simply cannot take the fall for terrible planning and bad decisions.

Furthermore, the people who live along the A5036 Dunningsbridge Road/Church Road/Princess Way corridor are part of us.  They’re our neighbours, family and friends who are already suffering from poisoning levels of pollution and it has never been a viable option to further develop the A5036.  We’re glad that that there are no plans to worsen their fate, yet we want to be crystal clear that a road through Rimrose Valley has never been and never will be the solution. We maintain that it’s only by standing together and united that we can fight most effectively.  We will not rest as we defend Rimrose Valley and fight with all legal means until the Government listens and wakes up to the fact that the destruction of the environment in which we live is not and never will be an option.

Our children and future generations are counting on us.

Here are the Highways England documents:

A5036 Port of Liverpool Access – public consultation summary

A5036 Preferred Route Announcement

We will make a further announcement in due course.

The Board of Trustees
Rimrose Valley Friends