TfN’s Decarbonisation Strategy Consultation: Why this is relevant and why we need YOU to respond!

Transport for the North (TfN) are consulting again, and this offers a fresh opportunity for us to have OUR say on how we go about decarbonising transport, tackling climate change and thinking of what kind of future we want for the generations that follow.

As ever, there’s an opportunity to link this debate to Highways England’s, or rather “National Highways” Port of Liverpool Access Scheme, which is about as short-term and planet destructive as it gets.

We need to grasp EVERY chance we have to draw this disastrous scheme to the attention of the powers that be.

The deadline for responding is midday on Tuesday 31st August, so you only have around a week to submit your response.

Why is this relevant?

As you know, our friends at Transport Action Network are leading efforts to challenge the government’s £27.5bn roadbuilding programme and one of the strongest arguments is that roads – both their construction and subsequent use – fly in the face of what we need to be doing to decarbonise our transport and tackle the climate emergency.

At our recent demo, Chris Todd spoke about the importance of not only turning up to protest, but also ‘doing the boring stuff’ like this to help us keep momentum, so it’s really important we all follow their advice.

They have put together a brilliant hints and tips document, with links to the strategy itself and highlight some of the key issues and messages to include in your response.

BUT please remember to make your response specific to what matters to YOU… otherwise it risks being lumped together with others.

Specifically, we would like you to mention:

• How the strategy doesn’t do enough to address roadbuilding
• How damaging new roads are
• The A5036 Port of Liverpool Access Scheme
• The destruction of Rimrose Valley
• Demand non-road, sustainable, low-carbon solutions to the movement of freight to and from the Port of Liverpool, as outlined in the Sefton Council-ARUP report

To view this, click here.

How do I respond?

You have the option of responding via their website BUT we’ve found this to be a little time-consuming and restrictive and we want this process to be as simple and pain-free as possible.

So, we recommend you respond by email to:

response@tfndecarbonisationstrategy.com

This will allow you to say what YOU want in the way you want to say it.

Alternatively, you can write to them at the address shown on the hints and tips page above.

This might seem like another boring piece of admin (… because it is!) but please, PLEASE take part and you’ll be doing your bit to help stop this disastrous, planet-wrecking proposal.

Again, the deadline for responding is midday on Tuesday 31st August.  Please don’t put this off – do it now, while it’s fresh in your mind.

Thank you!