A595 De-Trunking - a betrayal of West Cumbria

The government's decision to downgrade the A595 is as disgraceful as it is unfortunate. Only a few months ago - before the general election - government minister Patricia Hewitt promised that all government decisions would be "West Cumbria proofed." This fine sounding promise has fallen at the first hurdle. The most shocking thing about this betrayal is that it isn't really a surprise. Downgrading public services in West Cumbria, especially in the South of Copeland, seems increasingly to be the pattern.

De-trunking the A595 south of Calder Bridge may seem perfectly logical when you are applying national criteria while sitting in a government office in London. But if "West Cumbria proofing" meant anything, it should have meant listening to people who know the area. The proposal to de-trunk the A595 was opposed by both Copeland Borough council and Cumbria County council. (There were legitimate arguments about how strong that opposition was, but those of us who attended the public inquiry and heard the county's barrister in action concluded that he had not been briefed to pull his punches.)

De-trunking was opposed with varying degrees of active participation by all six candidates for the Copeland seat in this year's general election: I gave evidence against it at the inquiry, as did a former Lib/Dem parliamentary candidate. So did both Labour and Conservative County and Borough councillors. So did the Neighbourhood Forum, and every parish and town council in the affected area. So did representatives of local employers, from BNFL down to small businesses, and groups representing local residents. The government ignored every one of those views, including local councillors and representatives of their own party.

I entirely agree with the comment posted to this blog by Andrew from Millom, who made some good points about the problems with the road. He was, of course also right that there are also some huge advantages to living here - that's why I and my family decided to stay in Copeland after our disappointment in the election.

This week's announcement on De-Trunking must not be the end of the story. We must continue to campaign. Whether the A595 is a trunk road or not, it is vital to the economic health of West Cumbria, especially the South of Copeland Borough, that we fight to improve it. But that would have been easier to achieve if the road had retained trunk status. Labour's promises to West Cumbria have been weighed in the balance - and found wanting.

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