Link road has ‘no proven benefit’ says BBC Environment Analyst

February 12, 2014 by combehavendefenders

Press release
12 February 2014
Combe Haven Defenders [1]

LINK ROAD HAS ‘NO PROVEN BENEFIT’ SAYS BBC ENVINRONMENT ANALYST
Roads linked to flooding via climate change, say local campaigners

The BBC’s Environment Analyst Roger Harrabin has today noted that the controversial Bexhill-Hastings Link Road (BHLR) has ‘no proven benefit’. In an analysis piece on the floods, Harrabin – who reported on the protests against the BHLR in January 2013 [2] writes: “Every £1 spent on flood defences gives £8 of benefit. Yet other schemes – like a relief road in Hastings – have no proven benefit” [3].

A £13m increase in the cost of the BHLR means that it is now a “low value for money” project [4].

Members of Grannies Are in Action (GAIA) stage a car wash in the flood waters of Combe Haven, 12 January 2014.

Gabriel Carlyle, a spokesperson for the Combe Haven Defenders, said: “Roger Harrabin is right to compare the proven benefits of flood defences with the “low value” provided by the BHLR, but there is another link between flooding and roads. As a major source of greenhouse gases emissions [5], road transport is a significant driver of global warming which – according to the Met Office’s chief scientist – “all the evidence suggests” [6] is linked to the current extreme weather hitting the UK. We need a sustainable transport system, not this £113m white-elephant road across Combe Haven.”

“Flooding is the greatest threat to the UK posed by climate change, with up to 3.6 million people at risk by the middle of the century, according to a report published … by the environment department” last month [7].

[1] http://www.combehavendefenders.org.uk
[2] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20962794
[3] See the ‘analysis’ sidebar halfway down this page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26148379
[4] https://combehavendefenders.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/rising-costs-mean-link-road-is-now-low-value-for-money/
[5] Road transport currently accounts for more than 20% of the UK’s domestic greenhouse gas emissions – see DfT factsheet here: https://combehavendefenders.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/climatechangefactsheets-1.pdf
[6] According to the Met Office’s chief scientist: “all the evidence suggests” that the current extreme weather hitting the UK is “link[ed] to climate change”, and “[t]here is no evidence to counter the basic premise that a warmer world will lead to more intense daily and hourly rain events.” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26084625)
[7] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jan/26/floods-worst-climate-change-uk.