MP claims bypass is a green measure

That claim was made by Hilton Dawson following an impassioned plea for the link road by Geraldine Smith during an adjournment debate in the Commons on Tuesday.

Geraldine challenged Transport Minister Keith Hill to come clean on the Government's position regarding the proposed M6 road link road.

She told the Commons: "In my opinion it would be highly perverse of the Government on the one hand to recognise that the district urgently needs assistance to regenerate itself and then fail to remove the biggest barrier to regeneration, which is the appalling road access links that exist.

"There is growing evidence that Heysham Port's further development is being put at risk by its poor road access. It would be a grave mistake to allow this flourishing enterprise to be strangled by its own success. The Government must ensure this does not happen."

She also addressed criticisms of the proposed link made by the Local Plan Inspector saying they were now invalid because the new road had been redesigned.

She said: "Despite the reduction in specification the new scheme retains virtually all the economic benefits and road congestion relief capabilities of the originally envisaged dual carriageway."

Explaining why she brought up the subject in the House, she added: "I wanted to ensure the Government clearly understood that the local, county and regional levels of government were united in pressing for the Western bypass. Following the Local Plan Inspector's report they appeared to be getting mixed messages and I felt it was important that the real facts were placed on the public record."

Geraldine's plea was supported by Hilton.

He said: "The provision of funding for the Western Bypass would be the single best thing that this Government could do for Lancaster. The Western bypass is a green measure. Not only would it significantly improve Lancaster's environment, it would also relieve rural roads."