Road Wars

SSSIs Still Under Threat

Squall 12, Spring 1996, pg. 37.

Over 50 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in England are still under threat from new road construction, despite the abandonment of much of the Government’s road building programme last year.

In a written answer to Graham Allen (Labour MP for Nottingham) in January, Laurie Haynes, head of the Highways Agency, listed the SSSIs which will be permanently or indirectly damaged by trunk and motorway schemes for which routes had already been announced.

Thirty five SSSIs, including three at Newbury, will suffer permanent damage or complete destruction; a further 17 will be damaged indirectly although roads would not run over them; and five sites would be indirectly affected but the particular road schemes are under review.

The SSSIs include marshes, woodland, heathland and rivers which will be affected by schemes as far apart as Newbury, Birmingham, Wales and Dorset.