Acerca de

By Hand

To: Mark Whitworth  
Peel Ports
Maritime Centre
Port of Liverpool
L21 1LA

From: Stuart Bennett
Save Rimrose Valley & Rimrose Valley Friends
stu@rimrosevalleyfriends.org

Friday 20th August, 2021

 

Dear Mr Whitworth,

Re. The Port of Liverpool Access Scheme

We are holding this march today to and from the Port of Liverpool to highlight the impact of Peel Ports’ operations on the surrounding communities here in South Sefton.

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Specifically, we are here to protest Highways England’s Port of Liverpool Access Scheme and its plans to build a dual carriageway through Rimrose Valley Country Park; the primary objective of which being to facilitate the increase in HGVs resulting from your port’s continued expansion.

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As you may be aware, freedom of information requests submitted by our campaign indicate that your company lobbied government for this solution and have worked collaboratively with Highways England on this project to date.  Rather than being a mere stakeholder, we believe that Peel Ports is the driving force behind – and primary beneficiary of – this taxpayer-funded road proposal.

The arrival of bigger cranes and ships are regularly in our news, yet you have been publicly silent on the above road proposal throughout and make no reference as to how you expect containers to find their way from the Port of Liverpool once they have arrived.

Neither of the options presented to the public in Highways England’s 2017 consultation are acceptable to our communities.  We maintain that freight does not belong on roads in residential areas, passing our homes, schools and places of work and the prospect of yet another road, through a country park, at a time of climate emergency is grim.

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Rather, we believe that a progressive, long-term, sustainable solution to the movement of freight is urgently required which not only protects the essential green space that is Rimrose Valley, but also removes as many HGVs as possible from the existing A5036 route, alleviating the terrible living conditions experienced by many of the adjacent communities today.

 

 

We are therefore calling on you to:

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• Withdraw your support for this destructive road proposal and acknowledge that another road is not the answer

• Work positively and proactively with Sefton Council and the Department for Transport on non-road, sustainable solutions to the movement of freight in and out of your port, building on the council’s 2020 ARUP Report

• Acknowledge and respect the health and wellbeing of those living in the communities surrounding the port and the importance of green space in this heavily urbanised part of Sefton; the borough in which you make your money

• Engage with the public through the establishment of a forum with other community groups and residents’ associations in South Sefton to address the ongoing impact of the port’s operations including air, noise and light pollution from both HGVs and ships whilst they are in port

 

Our campaign against this road proposal will go on until it is cancelled, and we will continue to highlight the Port of Liverpool’s role in this.

This letter is being handed to you by one of our charity’s Trustees and her children, on behalf of ALL the children in South Sefton who want to breathe clean air and have a brighter future.

 

Please act now.

 

 

Stuart Bennett

on behalf of Rimrose Valley Friends and the Save Rimrose Valley Campaign