Future of the A38 expansion
For official updates on the A38 expansion (or A38 Derby Junctions scheme) check the Planning Inspectorate website. All the planning documents can also be found on the Planning Inspectorate website.
National Highways (previously Highways England) are responsible for delivering this scheme. Grant Shapps is the Secretary of State for Transport and head of the Department for Transport which grants development consent orders to national infrastructure projects such as the A38 scheme. The Planning Inspectorate is an independent body which reviews national infrastructure projects and checks that the applicants (National Highways in this case) scheme meets all the planning and legal criteria. The Planning Inspectorate will then give recommendations to the Secretary of State for Transport who will make the final decision.
We launched a legal challenge to stop this destructive road scheme which was successful but the Transport Minister Grant Shapps may still push it through. So the campaign to Stop the A38 expansion is not over yet.
We have launched another Crowd Justice fundraiser to cover costs for legal experts to submit a response to the statement of matters and National Highways’ further representations. Please support it if you can. Our representations were submitted on the 26 October 2021 and the Planning Inspectorate website will be updated with these soon.
Our legal challenge was successful in March 2021 as Grant Shapps conceded to one of the grounds of our challenge. However most media outlets refused to publish the news until the court had officially quashed the development consent order (DCO). We shared the legal documents and put reporters in contact with the solicitors representing the Stop the A38 campaign. Yet still they would not publish the news. Thankfully an independent Derby news outlet did.
Prior to the official court news, Highways England (now National Highways) was publishing misleading information implying that the court was yet to make a final decision and the A38 works may still go ahead. However that was not the case, Grant Shapps admitted he acted unlawfully by breaching IEA regulation.. So the court was merely doing the paperwork to officially quash the illegal development consent order.
So what’s happening next?
Highways England (now National Highways) is claiming on their website they are confident the work will go ahead…
But for this to happen, they must submit further evidence to the Planning Inspectorate for the Secretary of State for Transport to review to be granted a legal development consent order.
“Following the High Court’s Order dated 8 July 2021 quashing the decision to grant development consent for the A38 Derby Junctions scheme, the Secretary of State has issued his Statement of Matters (PDF, 154KB) and invites the Applicant to make further representations for the purposes of the re-determination of the application by 23:59 on 31 August 2021.
Following this, the Secretary of State then invites Interested Parties to submit further representations on the Applicant’s response and on all other matters in this Statement of Matters. The deadline for any such response is 23:59 on 19 October 2021.”
Members of the Stop the A38 expansion campaign will be scrutinising and responding to the evidence submitted by National Highways to ensure environmental regulations are not breached again.
Some of the Derby residents who support the Stop the A38 campaign standing under the 300 year old veteran oak tree near Markeaton Park which is one of the thousands of trees threatened by the road scheme.
What can you do to help Stop the A38 expansion?
Donate and / or share to the Crowd Justice fundraiser to cover costs for legal experts to submit a response to National Highways further representations.
Write your objections to the Planning Inspectorate at A38derbyjunctions@planninginspectorate.gov.uk
Write to Derby City Council (your Councillors) asking that they withdraw support for the A38 and prioritise public transport and active travel to reduce congestion and pollution from road transport
Share this news post on your social media and your networks
To volunteer your skills with the A38 campaign email SavetheA38trees@protonmail.com
Why the A38 Expansion is a Disaster
There is no justification for this road scheme given the climate and ecological emergency. 2021 has seen an unprecedented series of deadly climate disasters. The latest IPCC report issued a “code red warning for humanity”.
Scientists are warning us that every gram of carbon matters as there may be no “safe carbon budget”.
A recent study calculated the mortality cost of carbon . As the A38 expansion will increase carbon emissions, it has a mortality cost. This basically means the A38 expansion will kill people due to the green house gases it puts into the atmosphere and the global heating it contributes to.
But won’t improving traffic flow reduce emissions?
This is a common misconception. The A38 Derby junctions planning documents explicitly show an increase in carbon emissions…both from the construction and induced traffic. Carbon literacy is very important. The savings from a car idling less will not negate the carbon emitted from the scheme. There will still be an increase. A do nothing scenario has lower carbon emissions. While reducing road traffic by giving people cleaner alternative forms of transport use, will reduce carbon emissions the most. Read more about it on our fact check page.
The reason Grant Shapps conceded to our legal challenge was because he failed to consider the cumulative impacts of the carbon emissions. If the scheme was going to reduce carbon overall and be positive for the climate then why would the Government minister concede to the legal challenge on a climate ground?
Recently the Department for Transport released a decarbonising transport paper which made several references to reducing the number of cars on the roads by encouraging people to switch to walking, cycling and public transport where possible.
The A38 Derby junctions scheme was planned decades ago. Before the climate emergency. Before the COVID 19 pandemic changed travel and working patterns. Before the economic crisis and budget deficit from the pandemic. Before the Department for Transport was required to publish a decarbonising transport plan to meet net zero 2050 law. This road scheme was designed to facilitate traffic growth...to allow more cars on the roads. Both the Secretary of State and Derby City Council mention that the A38 expansion will unlock land in the west of Derby for a minimum of 11,000 developments. This completely contradicts the need to reduce road traffic to meet climate targets. Also housing developers should be building houses with good public transport and active travel links, not car dependent housing.
The A38 expansion will not reduce congestion …but getting cars off the roads will.
But won’t electric vehicles mean there’s no carbon emissions soon?
The electric or hydrogen vehicle revolution will not happen fast enough to meet climate targets to prevent catastrophic global heating impacts. Currently the UK Government seems to be hoping consumers will all switch to EVs with some grant incentives of up to £2500 and an end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030. These minor policy interventions are not fast or ambitious enough to ensure road transport emissions will reduce enough to meet climate targets.
Charging infrastructure is also lacking. The CCC recommends that the Government should aim for there to be around 150,000 public charge points operating by 2025 across all regions of the UK. In 2021, there are only about 12,000 public charging points.
Although electric vehicles are zero emissions while they operate, they are not as low carbon as walking, cycling or public transport due to embodied carbon in manufacturing and the energy sources required to power them. Lithium mining for the batteries also has devastating ecological impacts.
There is also the affordability issue of electric vehicles and the problems some households face with installing charging infrastructure.
Articles on why EV's are not the only solution to decarbonising transport:
Surface transport carbon emissions must reduce to meet legally binding climate targets
Surface transport is currently the largest emitting sector of the UK economy, making up 23% of total UK territorial emissions in 2019 or 113 MtCO2e. Emissions from this sector have been broadly flat over the past decade, falling just 1% between 2009 and 2019. They need to fall by 90% by 2050 to meet the economy-wide Net Zero target.
The urgency of the climate crisis cannot be overstated. Yet the transport sector is currently the number one contributor to the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions and little progress has been made in over the past three decades in reducing emissions.
Even if all new cars and vans are zero-emission by 2030, which will reduce emissions significantly, it will still be necessary to reduce miles driven. The scale of traffic reduction required may be in the order of 20-60% by 2030, depending upon the implementation of other policy measures. We therefore need to develop and assess policy scenarios that could achieve large reductions in traffic volume. There is significant scope to shift car journeys (and mileage) to other modes. There is most potential for change in urban areas, but we will need to reduce traffic elsewhere too.
The current focus of transport policy on building new roads will make matters worse, because it will increase car dependency and traffic. The government should therefore cancel all new road construction until transport carbon emissions are in line with carbon budgets, and use the money to invest in sustainable transport infrastructure and services. This will not only help us work towards net zero emissions by 2050, but will also result in better air quality, safer roads, healthier lifestyles and more vibrant and convivial towns and cities.
Traffic on roads is increasing faster than UK population
The UK population has increased by about 18 million since 1950. While the number of private and light goods vehicles has increased from 2.5 million in 1950 to 38.6 million in December 2020.
So that’s a 36.1 million increase in road vehicles but a population increase of 18 million.
This is not working. We can not keep allowing road traffic to increase and keep destroying areas of nature. Especially when the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world and we are facing a global biodiversity crisis.
We are not saying there cannot be any cars in the future…
…but right now there are too many and road transport is contributing to climate breakdown, air pollution deaths, congestion and road accidents. The UK transport system must change so road traffic is reduced. This will prevent deaths and injury caused by climate disasters, air pollution and road accidents.
Cars will still be part of the transport system mix but there must be a lot less
Some people with mobility issues are dependent on cars. While some jobs such as emergency services, carers and deliveries/ logistics require private vehicles. Also people in remote, rural areas may require private vehicles where bus services can not operate. However the majority of existing road vehicles trips could be made by other forms of transport.
Friends of Earth recommend that road traffic must reduce by 40 - 60% in Derby by 2030 and it’s completely possible. Data shows that the majority of private car trips in Derby could be completed by foot, bike or bus if enough investment was given to cycling infrastructure and improving bus services. Community car clubs and car sharing apps are another way that road traffic can be reduced.
This graphic from the National Travel Survey shows the majority of car trips are under 5 miles while the majority of trip purposes are for leisure. The majority of trips can be shifted to other forms of transport or simply avoided. We are facing an existential threat with the climate crisis. Transport infrastructure and individual’s travel habits must change if we want to reduce emissions, tackle the crisis and avoid millions of deaths.
Co-benefits of reducing the number of private vehicles on the roads
Failure to stay below 1.5°C of warming will have enormous social and economic costs. In contrast, the health and economic benefits of fewer and cleaner vehicles are sufficient to justify road traffic reduction policies in their own right, regardless of carbon reduction. The benefits include:
Better air quality: air pollution leads to around 28,000 to 36,000 early deaths per year at a cost of £20 billion or more , and road traffic is a major source of pollution. Meeting the Climate Change Act targets could cut NO2 and particulate matter (PM2.5) significantly, with significant public health benefits.
Safer roads: less traffic and lower speeds would reduce road deaths and injuries, estimated to cost society £31 billion a year.
Healthier population: more active travel would reduce levels of obesity-related diseases. Shifting less than 2% of car miles to walking and cycling has been estimated to provide health benefits worth over £2.5 billion per year in 2030.
Quieter neighbourhoods: less traffic would reduce noise. At low speeds (<20 mph), electric vehicles are quieter than petrol and diesel vehicles.
More convivial public spaces: demand management would reduce the space needed for parking and multi-lane roads in towns and cities, enabling creation of high-quality public realm. This means more space for outdoor seating, recreational areas and more footfall for shops and restaurants.
A fairer transport system: nearly a quarter of households (and nearly half of low income households) don’t have access to a car. These low-income households would benefit the most from measures to provide affordable good quality alternatives to driving.
Benefits to drivers: less traffic would mean fewer delays from congestion for essential road users. Nearly half of motorists find driving stressful, and more than half would like to reduce their car use, but feel constrained by the lack of alternative ways to meet their transport needs. An RAC survey found the majority of drivers would swap to public transport if the services were better.
The £250 million budgeted for this outdated, needless road expansion should be spent on sustainable transport for all to reduce road traffic.
Infographic about the co-benefits of decarbonising transport from the Department for Transport’s plan.
But will people will ever change and switch from their private car to bus, bike or car sharing?
It IS possible to reduce private car use and it's already happening - other places are changing people's transport habits by making public and active travel easier, cheaper and more attractive than driving.
Nearly half of motorists find driving stressful, and more than half would like to reduce their car use, but feel constrained by the lack of alternative ways to meet their transport needs. An RAC survey found the majority of drivers would swap to public transport if the services were better.
There's also car sharing and community car club options for when cars are needed.
Most private vehicles are parked 92% - 96% of the time. That's a huge waste of materials, manufacturing energy and space/ land.
Mass transit and active travel are more efficient, fair, affordable and sustainable forms of transport.
A CPRE study shows the UK could have an affordable bus serving every town and village in the UK, at least every hour for £2.7bn each year. A fraction of the £27bn the Government plans to spend on roads over the next 5 years. This would be a lower cost, more sustainable and more equitable use of public funds. Especially as the poorest households often can’t afford access to car.
Here are some inspiring examples of how local authorities and cities are responding to the climate emergency by changing how people travel:
What can Derby do?
Derby residents can change their travel habits by swapping the car for walking , cycling or public transport. Or even join a car sharing club like Co-Wheels in Derby.
We can also encourage friends, family and our community to switch to more sustainable forms of transport. Check out this “Walk to School” campaign by Living Streets or these free campaign resources by Clean Air Day.
However there is only so much individuals can do when public transport is expensive, infrequent and not running on convenient routes and cycling / walking paths are disjointed and unsafe. Local authorities and the Department for Transport must take the lead by investing more in active travel and public transport by diverting all funding for new roads. Existing roads can be maintained but new ones will only increase road traffic. Buses need to be more frequent with better routes and cheaper fares. Cycling and walking infrastructure needs to be safer and more connected.
Local Authorities must also stop granting planning permission to car dependent housing developments and ensure all new developments have good active travel and public transport links and limit the number of car parking spaces.
This Climate Action website has gathered data and presented tailored climate emergency actions for local authorities. These are the recommended transport targets for Derby to meet their climate commitments.
Currently 28% of commuter journeys are made by public transport, cycling and walking. The 2030 target should be 40% - 60%.
Currently there are 59 electric vehicle charging devices available. The 2030 target should be 1026.
The Local Government Association has reports on how local authorities can decarbonise transport. Derby City Council’s elected representatives should all be engaging with these reports and advocating for decarbonised transport solutions in Derby to ensure that Derby meets its climate targets.
One report states: "If the future depends on reducing travel demand and reducing the dominance of car mode share then the case for expanding roads is, at best, short-term. Similarly, building new car dependent housing simply adds to the scale of the challenge."
Here is a report for Local Authorities which identifies 27 actions that local authorities could take to make transport fit for the climate emergency. See also this brief summary from Friends of the Earth.
If you’d like to help, please write to your councillors and go to Council meetings, to let them know you want better public transport and active travel in Derby, not more cars, pollution and roads.