Campaign group Save Rimrose Valley to hold demonstration against proposed £250m port access road at National Highways’ regional HQ. Tony McDonough reports
Campaigners fighting a proposal to build a new £250m access road close to the Port of Liverpool are to protest outside the regional headquarters of National Highways.
They will travel from south Sefton to Manchester before marching to National Highways’ regional headquarters in the city centre on Friday, August 26.
Young supporters of the campaign will hand over letters and materials produced by local schoolchildren. They will request that plans to bulldoze Rimrose Valley Country Park be cancelled.
In April National Highways told LBN it was still “fully committed” to the three-and-a-half mile dual carriageway. The scheme was first proposed in 2017 and has met with strong local opposition.
It is designed to alleviate congestion on Dunningsbridge Road. But the plan would see Rimrose Valley Country Park cut in half by the proposed A5036 Princess Way. A pressure group – Save Rimrose Valley – was formed in 2017 to fight the proposals.
Sefton Council is also against the project. And in June Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram urged National Highways to rethink their plans. He said: “Based on what my colleagues are telling me in relation to this role proposal, true community engagement simply hasn’t taken place.”
This latest protest follows last year’s demonstration at the Port of Liverpool itself, which saw around 1,000 people turn out to demand that the port access road be cancelled.
Spokesperson for Save Rimrose Valley, Stuart Bennett, said: “We’re really excited to be taking our message direct to National Highways. We’ll be calling in on our friends at outdoor clothing company, Patagonia, who have supported our work for several years.
“We’ll then march through Manchester city centre to hand over some amazing letters and pictures prepared by local schoolchildren. These show just how much they care about Rimrose Valley. We hope they will strike a chord with senior management at National Highways.
“There are a handful of seats remaining on the coach, so if anyone wants to join us, they need to book quickly. This will be a positive and fun day out for old and young alike, but we’ll be delivering a serious message.
“It is completely unacceptable to be trashing a country park to enable more HGVs and traffic on our roads. We need better solutions which respect our local environment, our communities, our health and wellbeing and the planet.
“Roads do none of these things. Continued delays to this project are an indication of just how unpopular it has become. We must keep up the fight until this scheme is cancelled.”
For more details about the demo click here.