Policy aims - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 176

continue to lobby for transport investment in their areas as an impetus to economic
regeneration. This is a good example of where differentiating between the issues
involved is important to sound decision-making. As highlighted in the Eddington
Report (24.5) such proposals need to be examined to determine whether they generate
a net gain in national productivity (and if so whether this is being achieved cost-
effectively) or whether they are primarily a matter of redistributing it (i.e. of bringing
benefits to disadvantaged areas). Both are legitimate concerns but one is economic
in nature whilst the other is social and it should be a matter of public debate and
political choice as to the relative importance attached to them. The value accorded to
a particular investment would vary accordingly.
Environmental issues
Environmental damage of various kinds is an inevitable consequence of motorised
transport. A key element in public decision-making is therefore the issue of
environmental protection and enhancement applicable to both the impact of
existing traffic movements and transport infrastructure and to the adverse effects of
additional travel and any new or expanded facility built to accommodate it. In some
circumstances the two may apply concurrently. In the case of a bypass proposal for
example, the environmental gains from removing through traffic from a settlement
have to be weighed against the environmental losses which would be caused by the
new road and the redirected traffic along it.
Environmental issues can be viewed at two levels - local and non-local. At the
extreme, non-local issues are literally global in nature, as is the case with the emission
of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from transport sources. Pollutants
which contribute to acid rain have a more geographically specific, but still potentially
international significance . Emissions contributing to the formation of smog have a
narrower significance, but still more than purely local. Because there is no direct spatial
association between source and effect, actions addressing these issues have to be agreed
and enforced at national and international levels. Although they are presented here
as 'environmental' the concern underlying them may be partly economic in nature,
e.g. to lessen losses in capital or productive output, or to avoid resources having to be
expended later on remedial measures.
Local environmental issues by contrast vary in their significance according to where
the effects are generated and the impacts occur. The importance of drainage, vegetation,
micro-climate etc. - features which will be altered by new transport infrastructure -
will depend on the ecology of the immediate area. Likewise the importance of local
levels of noise, air pollution and perceived danger caused by transport movements
will depend on the character of the places affected and the sensitivity of the activities
being carried on within them.
With new works there is the opportunity to minimise environmental impacts through
a combination of good design and remedial measures. The alignment of new routes is
constrained by concerns to protect 'listed' buildings of architectural or historic interest,
conservation areas, national parks or other areas of high landscape value and sites
of special scientific interest. Listed buildings and the like are the subject of national
designation. Central government may also impose noise and air quality standards as a
matter of national policy. Beyond these, however, the consideration to be given to local
environmental impacts is essentially a matter for local decision since, whatever approach
is taken, the results are not normally 'exported' to neighbouring areas.