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Gov't support for large new road-building projects 'disappointing' - environmental campaigners

Campaign to Protect Rural England

2 min read

The Campaign to Protect Rural England responds to the Budget and expresses disappointment at the Government’s support for large new road-building projects.


CPRE has today expressed disappointment at the Government’s support for large new road-building projects, with billions of pounds of funding allocated for new roads in the Thames Estuary and the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.

This scale of expenditure stands in stark contrast to the limited investment for environmental improvements announced in the Budget today. The world’s leading climate change experts recently estimated that we only have 12 years to limit the worst effects of climate change, but the Government is continuing to favour grey infrastructure over green investment. 

The prioritisation of investment in road infrastructure over sustainable forms of transport and the wider environment, coupled with the government’s support for fracking, is completely at odds with the urgent need to tackle climate change and safeguard our countryside for the next generation.

Tom Fyans, director of campaigns and policy at the Campaign to Protect Rural England said:

"The disparity in investment between grey and green infrastructure contradicts the prime minister’s environmental ambitions, and the urgent need to tackle climate change.

"The latest IPCC report says we have just 12 years left to limit warming to 1.5ºC – but by continuing to accelerate road-building, the Government is acting as if we have 120.

"Rather than spending tens of billions on new road schemes, investment that completely undermines the nominal amount pledged for environmental measures such as tree planting, we need a comprehensive package of measures to tackle climate change and protect our treasured countryside and local communities."

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