Today I received some amazing news about the campaign against the Westbury Bypass, which we supported pre-Charity pot. They won their case! The bypass threatened to destroy countryide such as a chalk valley and pollute a local water source in the area so this is a tremendous victory for the environment, congratulations White Horse Alliance and all those involved in the campaign!
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Late last week we got some fantastic news: the Westbury Bypass was rejected by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. His decision backed up that of the planning inspector from the public inquiry. The scheme was categorically thrown out – not enough vehicles, not the right solution, appalling landscape impact. Having spoken to the Department for Transport (who sounded somewhat relieved) the scheme won’t be coming back for a very, very long time indeed – if ever.
The local group, the White Horse Alliance, fought a fantastic battle throughout the public inquiry, and provided more than enough information to enable the inspector to reject it. They’re understandably over the moon, especially because rumours that the scheme was about to be approved, doubtless started by Wiltshire Council, had been floating around over the past couple of weeks.
Victories like this, with such categorical rejection of the case for road building, don’t come along as often as we like, so I thought you’d appreciate being informed, and also wanted to thank you for your much-needed financial support. With a number of other road schemes coming up for public inquiry, we hope this is the beginning of a sensible approach to transport…
To find out more about the campaign, please visit their website www.westbury-wilts-bypass.info
