A417 archive

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust has raised concerns about Highways England’s preferred route for the A417 missing link at the Air Balloon roundabout, which will have a significant impact on two of its wildlife sites, Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake.

Highways England has promised that the ‘missing link’ road scheme will be landscape-led, repairing historic damage to the landscape and the wildlife it supports. Despite positive engagement, the designs released today are insufficient to prove that it will. They also overlook some of the most threatened species in this landscape.  

We are facing a biodiversity emergency, so Highways England need to deliver the aspirations of the Government’s own 25 Year Environment Plan, which calls for ‘net gain’ for wildlife, leaving the environment in a better state than it is now.  

“There is no information on how wildlife net gain will be achieved or how ecological networks will be protected. The proposed land bridge is welcome, but not wide enough to deliver connectivity for wildlife. And there are no assurances that sufficient budget will be allocated to ensure that commitments to protect and restore wildlife habitats are any more than lip-service.

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust believes that a poorly designed scheme would further fragment and degrade wildlife habitats, proving disastrous to the wildflower rich grasslands and bluebell-rich ancient woodlands of Crickley Hill, Barrow wake and Ullenwood. It would also threaten the internationally important Cotswolds beech woodlands and three other vital wildlife sites, including the headwaters of four rivers. 

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is calling on its members and the public to respond to the consultation and ask Highways England to make the following commitments:   

• Demonstrate how net biodiversity gain and restoration of ecological networks will be achieved.  

• Commit sufficient budget for environmental mitigation and enhancement, confirm what the budget is and ringfence it.    

• Deliver a land bridge with a central width of at least 80 metres to reconnect wildlife habitats between Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake. 

The A417 Air Balloon roundabout sits in a special part of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It separates Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake which are a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for their wildlife and geology. These sites are one of the few remaining strongholds for many threatened plants and animals.  

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust jointly owns and manages Crickley Hill with the National Trust. Together, and in consultation with Natural England, the Environment Agency and Historic England, it is developing a master plan for how the road scheme can restore local ecological networks, whilst protecting habitats and other important environmental features in this landscape, both for wildlife and for people.  

The public consultation drop-in events organised by Highways England are:

• Monday 30 September, Gloucester Rugby Club, 2pm - 8pm
• Thursday 3 October, National Star College, 2pm - 7pm
• Saturday 5 October, Witcombe and Bentham Village Hall, 11am - 6pm
• Monday 7 October, St Andrews Church Hall, 11am - 6pm
• Wednesday 9 October, Birdlip Church, 2pm - 7pm
• Friday 11 October, Cirencester Town Council, 11am - 6pm
• Tuesday 15 October, Churchdown Community Association, 2pm - 8pm

Highways England have today put forward their proposed revisions to the A417 Missing Link road scheme, addressing some of the concerns raised in feedback from the October 2019 public consultation.

Collectively, the Cotswolds Conservation Board (operating as Cotswolds National Landscape), Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and the National Trust are encouraged by recent discussions with Highways England and believe that the proposed changes in this second statutory consultation have the potential to improve the scheme.

However, Highways England are aware we still have areas of concern, including the functionality and design of some of the crossings and overbridges. The three overbridges must deliver their intended outcomes – connecting habitats via wildlife corridors and counteracting the negative impacts of the new dual carriageway on protected wildlife sites. The crossings and overbridges should also be visually in tune with the special characteristics of the Cotswolds landscape.

We share concerns about the impact on Sites of Special Scientific Interest, in particular high priority habitats (such as lowland calcareous grassland). Careful design and mitigation can help to reduce biodiversity losses but we are encouraging Highways England go further and seek biodiversity net gain.

The organisations remain committed to constructive discussions with Highways England. We support the need to resolve safety and congestion issues but believe equal consideration should be given to reducing and mitigating environmental impacts as to engineering design. This would help to ensure the right level of protection for the natural beauty, diverse wildlife and unique heritage of the Cotswolds.

It is essential that the scheme brings benefits for people, the landscape and wildlife at a time when the importance of nature and outdoor green space has become clearer and more precious than ever. Highways England has a real opportunity to deliver on their landscape-led vision, meet the Government’s call to ‘build better, build greener’ and honour the Prime Minister’s renewed commitment to support the recovery of nature.

Each organisation will now closely examine the details published today and submit full individual responses in due course.

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust has raised concerns about Highways England’s revised design for the A417 ‘missing link’ at the Air Balloon roundabout. The scheme design has improved; however, it still increases severance of two GWT nature reserves – covering the Barrow Wake and Crickley Hill Site of Special Scientific interest (SSSI) - and fails to deliver Biodiversity Net Gain. This is at odds with the Government’s commitment to ‘build better, build greener’ and the 25 Year Environment Plan, as well as the Prime Minister’s personal pledge to protect and expand the most important wildlife habitats.   

Highways England has long promised that the ‘missing link’ road scheme will be landscape-led, repairing historic damage to the landscape and the wildlife it supports. For over five years GWT has worked with Highways England, alongside the Cotswolds National Landscape and the National Trust, acting constructively, pragmatically and at our own cost to support the design of an appropriate scheme. 

The changes proposed in this second statutory consultation represent an improvement to the scheme – notably the reduced gradient of the road as it climbs Crickley Hill, the revised location of the crossing point for the Cotswolds Way and the inclusion of a new crossing near Shab Hill. However, three significant wildlife issues remain unresolved:

1) The road expansion increases severance and destruction within the nationally important Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake SSSI. These are some of the last remaining pockets of flower-rich grassland in the Cotswolds, supporting many threatened species. The link between them is a vital connection in Gloucestershire’s Nature Recovery Network. The Trust is calling for a minimum 50-metre wide wildlife bridge at the Shab Hill crossing, which combined with targeted habitat creation can mitigate the impact of the road scheme. 

2) Despite previous assurances, the proposed scheme will result in a net loss of wildlife habitat. The Trust feels that achieving an increase of high-quality wildlife habitat ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’, guided by the Nature Recovery Network, is a fundamental measure of success for a truly ‘landscape led’ scheme. 

3) At a time when the importance of nature and outdoor natural green spaces has become clearer and more precious than ever, it is essential that the scheme brings benefits for people, whilst avoiding increased impact on the most sensitive wildlife habitat.   

New road schemes are not conducive with tackling the climate and ecological emergencies, but the Trust recognises the need to resolve safety and congestion issues at the Air Balloon roundabout. The Trust urges Highways England to give equal consideration to environmental issues as to engineering design to demonstrate their commitment to being landscape led.  This will help to ensure the right level of protection is given to the special wildlife and unique natural heritage of the Cotswolds. 

Yesterday Transport Minister Huw Merriman MP approved the A417 'Missing Link' - an important landscape-led road project that will improve road safety, reduce traffic congestion, and improve connectivity for road users and local communities, while unlocking economic growth in Gloucestershire and beyond.

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust has been working closely with colleagues at the National Trust and Cotswolds National Landscape as stakeholders of this project, and we have issued the below joint statement: 

We note the decision has been made to move ahead with the A417 ‘Missing Link’ road scheme, addressing long standing traffic and safety concerns.

Cotswolds National Landscape, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and the National Trust have worked collaboratively to help National Highways move towards a genuinely landscape-led road scheme that can deliver a lasting, beneficial legacy for the Cotswolds landscape, its wildlife, people and history. 

Our engagement has resulted in positive changes and, whilst we recognise efforts from National Highways to improve protections for wildlife, we remain disappointed that the scheme will not deliver overall biodiversity net gain. 

We are passionate about our role in protecting the natural beauty, diverse wildlife and unique heritage of this important landscape. We will continue to engage with National Highways to ensure the protections set out in the planning application (DCO) are delivered, and to identify additional opportunities to improve the outcomes for nature and people.

Between 22–25 November, the Highways England project team will be out and about in National Highways’ mobile exhibition van and ready to answer any questions local people may have. Dates, times and locations are as follows:

- Tuesday 22 November 2022, 11am–4pm, The Royal George Hotel, Birdlip, GL4 8JH
- Wednesday 23 November 2022, 9am–5pm, National Star College, Ullenwood Manor Road, Cheltenham, GL53 9QU
- Thursday 24 November 2022, 9am–5pm, Brockworth Community Centre, Court Road, Brockworth, GL3 4ET
- Friday 25 November 2022, 8am-2pm,, 173 High Street, Cheltenham, GL50 1DF

To find out more about the events and construction, visit National Highways’ website and read its latest newsletter: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/south-west/a417-missing-link/. Here you can also see National Highways' latest fly-through animation and see what the road will look like when it’s built.