Hundreds sign petition against village bypass
PLANS for a controversial relief road have gathered strong opposition.
A total of 1,632 people have now signed a petition calling for the Carrington relief road to avoid Carrington Moss.
The Moss is home to a number of endangered species, including birds, newts and mammals.
It is also a valuable carbon sink due to its peat bogs and local campaigners have hit back at the council’s plans to cross the land for the new road.
Earlier this month, Trafford council’s executive chose its preferred route for the relief road – which crosses the Moss.
In that meeting, executive members said environmental surveys of the planned route would be conducted in full as part of the planning applications process. But local campaigners aren’t convinced and said they feel ‘voiceless’ over the matter.
In a petition discussed at Trafford council’s full council meeting on Wednesday, the undersigned said: “We respectfully request that Trafford council do not agree to build any new roads across or through Carrington Moss. The proposal to build a bridge across the Manchester Ship Canal, as set out in Trafford’s 2012 Core Strategy, should be fully explored.
“We believe this would be a much more effective solution to alleviate the existing traffic problems in the area, without impacting the health and wellbeing of the local populations of both humans and wildlife.”
Any petition that gains more than 500 signatures has to be debated by the council.
At last night’s meeting, mum-of -three and secretary of Friends of Carrington Moss group, Anna Chopping,
presented the petition.
She said: “These signatures represent a community that is feeling voiceless and overwhelmed by this tidal wave of development in our area. We are asking for more consultation, we are asking for alternative options to the building of roads across Carrington Moss and we are asking for more consideration of the environmental impact of this road proposal.”
She added the village is ‘desperately’ seeking an end to the ‘huge number’ of HGVs passing through it everyday – but said the preferred route across the Moss is not a solution.
Coun James Wright, executive member for housing, said: “I’m afraid I fundamentally disagree with this petition.
“We want to provide people with that most fundamental of benefits a home of their own and the prosperity and opportunity that derives from full and secure employment.”
He explained that limited amounts of peat found during initial investigations on the Moss were unlikely to be disturbed or removed due to its depth and the road is part of a wider network of transport improvements planned for the area.
But Coun Nathan Evans, Conservative group leader, said: “There is no doubt we need better links to those areas. We need to come up with a solution, but this certainly isn’t climate action.”