Memorandum from Nicky Walker

 

 

I am writing to express my feelings about the south west's transport infrastructure.

 

In 1993 there was preliminary appraisal and subsequent enquiry into the A38 Saltash to Trerulefoot Improvement, which resulted in no action being taken to by-pass Landrake and Tideford. Instead, traffic-calming measures were implemented and a footbridge built across the main road to link houses on each side of the village of Landrake.

 

The stretch of road from Carkeel to Trerulefoot winds through 3 valleys-all of which are historical landscapes with species rich flora and fauna.

 

There have been several fatalities on this road. Most, if not all, have been caused by careless driving; reckless overtaking on double white lines, speeding and falling asleep at the wheel (Tideford recently at 3am); one from drinking.

 

Since the A30 was upgraded and made the major route into Cornwall, the A38 has seen a fall in the number of cars using the road. The famous scouts 'breakfast bar' running on a Saturday morning in the Sir Robert Geffrey Hall in Landrake has long gone. On a hot Saturday, during the summer, there will be a tail back to Carkeel from 11-12, when all the world decides to get out of bed and go to the beach. There are times when the traffic moves a little more slowly during the rush hour in the morning and evening-although not significantly. Most people using this stretch of road, recognise the importance of its landscape value and are happy to slow down at the villages, where speed limits have been imposed, along with speed cameras and traffic calming measures. It is only those people who are thoughtless and inconsiderate who take the risks associated with major accidents.

 

If any upgrade between Carkeel and Trerulefoot were to be considered, a very important and beautiful part of south east Cornwall would be lost forever resulting in hardly any benefit to commerce. The extra 2 minutes gained from dualling this stretch would mean only the loss of an important ancient and historical part of Cornwall.

 

The following email was sent to me only yesterday-it shows how the people who live in Cornwall want to preserve their heritage and landscape. We are a tiny county with a unique and varied landscape-hills and valleys here in the south east of the county, rugged wild coastline further west. We do not have room for vast swathes of dual carriageway. CoaST clearly believes in this preservation and the future of sustainable transport in improved train and bus services.

 

Please consider the above thoughts when contemplating covering our county with concrete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annex A

 

Dear CoaST members,

 

Just a quick reminder of a couple of fantastic low impact/high quality transport links to add to your website, and on-site information to visitors, including those crucial moments of face to face chatting and making them feel at home...

 

To those of you have not yet used it, the Park and Ride into Truro is a delight. It's clean, inexpensive, comfortable, friendly, reliable, popular with children (always a bonus!)and whips you into the heart of Truro-much, much easier for visitors who may not know their way round the one way system, or where the car parks are. And that's without noting the cracking carbon benefit!

 

And I have the say, the huge billowing waves of wild flowers across the pick up site are a joy-worth going just for that! We at CoaST use it as individuals with our families, and for going into Truro for meetings. Perfect!

 

We say,.congratulations to Cornwall Council for developing and running such a fantastic example of high quality carbon crunching public transport. Huzzah!

 

So, just make sure your visitors know it's there if they're going up to Truro from the west. They can't help but be impressed. The link is:

http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=6999

 

And, we were lucky enough to have Professor Harold Goodwin, of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism, down here with us last week, to chat to and visit some of our members, as well as speak at our birthday celebration. He was pretty much bowled over with the quality and diversity of what you guys are doing. Keep at it, all of you-your efforts are now REALLY being noticed! See what he says on his blog...!

 

He was also exceedingly impressed with the sleeper train.and encourages more businesses to promote it to encourage people out of their cars if possible, especially if they're whizzing down for a special weekend break away from it all-very intelligent use of time and carbon! (we have to agree-we use it to go up to meetings in London

 

So-a fantastic credit and acknowledgement to what you members are achieving on the ground; and two excellent high quality/low impact transport ideas to use, and promote, straight away. A good way to start the week!

 

Manda at the CoaST Office