PRESS RELEASE

Road bulldozed through nationally important landscapes

Responding to the granting of the DCO planning approval [1] for the £1.5 billion A66 Northern Trans Pennine road scheme [2] Transport Action Network’s Director, Chris Todd, said:

“The A66 mega-road scheme is the worst value for money scheme in the roads programme. It will cost far more than it will ever generate in economic benefits. Not only that, but it would harm precious landscapes, damage internationally important habitats, destroy a seven-centuries old gypsy horse fair site, and increase carbon emissions by over 2.7 million tonnes [3].

“Rather than drive a massive dual carriageway through this nationally important landscape, National Highways should be looking at smaller scale safety improvements. This road scheme is entirely incompatible with our environmental and climate commitments.

“We will be looking very carefully at the Decision Letter and will be considering our options.”

– ENDS – 

Notes to Editors:

[1] The decision letter was published on 7 March, 2024

[2] The A66 Northern Trans Pennine project was costed at £1.49 billion in the Funding Statement, submitted by National Highways as part of the examination into the Development Consent Order (DCO) application. This is likely to be an underestimate of the true cost. The project is part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP), and comprises eight separate projects under one Development Consent Order. More information on the Planning Inspectorate website, or National Highways scheme page.

[3] TAN has participated throughout the A66 consultations and examination. For a summary of the scheme impacts, please see our website. To see our consultation responses on the A66, please see the Planning Inspectorate website