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The A65 Working Group - A65 Bypass Order

A65 Update - September 2007

 On June 8 2007 the Highways Agency published a draft Order under the Highways Act 1980 proposing the detrunking of the section of the A65 between the M6 Junction 36 to the Roundabout Junction with the A59 (Skipton).  There were seven or eight objections made to this order including a statutory holding objection from North Yorkshire County Council.  Following these a Public Craven Area Meeting was held at the end of August where speakers from the Highways Agency discussed the Detrunking Order.  Further meetings are to be held with the County Councils from Lancashire, Cumbria and North Yorkshire and responses are awaited from both Craven District Council and NYCC. 

If the statutory objections are resolved and withdrawn it is expected the detrunking could take place as early as April 2008; if the statutory objections are formalised a Public Inquiry is likely.  Additionally the Highways Agency will still need to take the non-statutory objections – if these have not been withdrawn - to Government and these may or may not require a Public Inquiry in their own right (ie without the need for statutory objections).  If this were the case detrunking would be delayed.

For Long Preston it is now a matter of ‘wait and see’ as the inevitable question of a bypass will eventually be raised once again when we know which authority will be responsible for the A65.  At that time we will need to reassess the need for a minimum length bypass.
 

The following Letters are now being received from the Highways Agency by those who objected to the Revocation of the Bypass Orders.

Highways Agency        
710        
 City Tower        
 Piccadilly Plaza        
 Manchester M1 4BE        

                                                         Direct Line:   0161 930 5629                                                                   Fax:   0161 930 5610

 Dear #######

 A65 GARGRAVE AND HELLIFIELD & LONG PRESTON BYPASS

Thank you for your letter of ##### containing your objection to the draft Revocation Orders. We have now had an opportunity to consider your objection and would make the following comments. 

During the early 1990s the bypass schemes at Gargrave and Hellifield & Long Preston were procedurally well advanced. However, when the Government conducted its review of the Roads Programme in 1998 the resultant White Paper, 'A New Deal for Trunk Roads^'. removed these schemes from the Agency's programme. It was further proposed that the A65 should become part of the non-core network which would be detrunked and transferred into the care of North Yorkshire County Council who would become the local highway authority for the road. 

To detrunk the A65 the Highways Agency must revoke the current Orders. This will remove any blight and uncertainty that exists while the Orders remain in place.

Clearly, the construction of the bypasses would bring environmental benefits to the villages by removing through traffic. However, the A65 is lightly trafficked by trunk road standards (carrying some 9300 vehicles per day with 11% HGVs) and the schemes are not being promoted due to doubts about the degree of environmental and economic benefits they would bring in today's circumstances. The economic appraisal of the Hellifield & Long Preston Bypass indicates that the costs would exceed the benefits. Given that the A65 is expected to be detrunked. there is no possibility of these schemes being promoted by central government in the foreseeable future. 

North Yorkshire CC, mindful of local pressures/expectations employed independent consultants to review the costs and benefits of the A65 bypasses. Their report concluded that the schemes provided relatively little benefit for the anticipated level of expenditure. 

Given these findings. there is no possibility of the Highways Agency promoting the original bypass proposals and in these circumstances there seems to be little benefit in maintaining route protection for these schemes. Accordingly, we believe the Orders that have been made should be revoked as soon as possible.

I should be pleased if, in these circumstances, you would write to confirm that you are content to withdraw your objection to the draft bypass revocation orders.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Ann Farquhar
MP North Team M2

Email: ann.farquhar@highways.gsi.gov.uk

Your committee advises that you DO NOT agree to withdraw your objection.

• We are not aware of any pressing "blight" resulting from protecting the bypass line, as suggested in paragraph 3.
   
• Assuming that most of the traffic is between 6am and 7pm then 9300 vehicles a day is equivalent to 715/hour or 12/min (or one every 5 seconds) if taken as a uniform rate over 13 hours. This does not seem to me to be "light traffic".  Your committee is trying to locate the actual details of the quoted survey, so that we can examine the data.

Questions that spring to mind are:

What days of the week was the survey carried out?
What times of day was the survey taken.
Did it include any calculation for a Bank Holiday weekend?
Did it include traffic that splits off along the Gisburn Rd?

• It would appear to us that the main purpose for the Highways Agency seeking the withdrawal of objections is so that they can get on with passing the buck of the A65's upkeep over to NYCC - i.e. detrunking it - and we all know that this is likely to lead to potentially lower expenditure on the A65's upkeep as it is unlikely the NYCC will ever have as much available funding as the HA (and will certainly never have the funds for a bypass). However, this funding is a grey area and we will be investigating the differences between the HA's and NYCC's spending power for the A65's upkeep on an annual basis - based on any agreements the HA may have made with NYCC for the short and long term.
   
• We do not yet know whether the Craven District Council or NYCC will be retracting their objections -  which might result in there being no Public Enquiry.

Revocation of A65 Bypass Order

The Highways Agency has issued a Public Notice regarding a draft Revocation Order for the A65 Bypass Order for Gargrave, Hellifield and Long Preston.

This will enable them, together with an agreement from North Yorkshire County Council, to dispose of the land along the old proposed bypass route.  If that happens, Long Preston will never have a chance of obtaining a bypass.  Any person may object to this order no later than 22nd April 2005.

If there are objections, then this agreement cannot be implemented and ultimately a public enquiry would have to be held to determine if this could be done.

Whether you agree with the bypass or not, the loss of the land will prevent future possibilities, even if traffic volumes increase.

If you want the chance of a bypass, as many people as possible need to object to the Highways Agency.  This doesn’t mean anything more than a simple letter which should be in your own words.  This is because “standard” letters carry less weight.

 Your letter needed to arrive by 22 April
       and should have been addressed to:-

The Highways Agency,
Operations Division,
Room 710, Sunley Tower,
Piccadilly Plaza
Manchester 
M1 4BE

   It should quote the Reference:  HA 65/1/52

   It needs to say:

• You are objecting to the Hellifield and Long Preston bypass revocation order.

•  And give grounds for your objection.
   
  

Some suggestions are:-
 

• The high volume of traffic and HGVs in the village.

• The high accident rate around Long Preston

• The danger to pedestrians because of the narrow road and pavements.

• The danger to pedestrians crossing the road.

• The structural damage to houses and the current road itself.

• Nearly 9 out of 10 villagers who voted on the A65 in the village plan agreed that a bypass being built was the most important issue to them.

• The noise, dust and pollution caused in the village.

• The current road goes through a conservation area.

• The current road fails European standards.

You can choose your own objections or any or all of the above.

• You will need to give your name and address so the Highways Agency will know it is a genuine objection. 
  They won’t want anything else from you.

If you prefer, you can email the objection instead to ann.farquhar@highways.gsi.gov.uk

Please help us to help you .

If you want to know more, contact a LoPRA committee member,
 or phone John Rodgers (840886)
 or Ian Evans (840505).