A QUESTION: which two words link the following four items from the past week?s press? Rail fares set for an above-inflation rise next year. Gordon Brown announces a freeze of car fuel duty. Over 1,000 people die in devastating storms in the Philippines. Cllr Roger Mathew criticises the decision not to build a dual carriageway through the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (Letters, December 2). The answer: climate change. Road transport in the UK produces a quarter of our carbon dioxide emissions, the most significant greenhouse gas. These emissions are likely to rise in coming years. Why? Because whilst the true cost of motoring has fallen by over 10% over the past six years, in the same period the cost of rail travel has risen by over 20%. Having priced people out of public transport and into their cars, the government then gives the Highways Agency over £4-billion each year to meet the demand for road space. Meanwhile, there has been a threefold increase in major natural disasters since the 1960s and according to the World Health Organisation, climate change is already causing 160,000 deaths each year. The people of the Blackdown Hills were absolutely right to fight the road building lobby to protect the local and global environment. I am sure the people of West Devon would fight similar plans threatening Dartmoor or the Tamar Valley AONB. Scientists believe that we can limit global warming to less than 20C provided we reverse current trends in global emissions over the next 10-15 years. I would urge people to respond to Devon County Council?s current consultation on its local transport plan 2006-2011 and ask that future transport policy should give top priority to tackling climate change through investment in public transport and provision of improved cycling and pedestrian routes. Martin Quinn Co-ordinator of West Devon Green Party 61 Old Exeter Road Tavistock CLLR Mathew (Letters December 2) appears to believe that the only consideration which should affect government decisions are purely commercial ones. Easing the passage of large lorries and tourists into Devon is only one aspect of this. Another is the preservation of a unique landscape lying across East Devon and Somerset; the Blackdown Hills. Dualling the A303 through this area would have involved extensive tree felling, the destruction of a tranquil rural area and an unsightly rash of petrol stations and concrete. Ancient pastures and their farms would disappear. Yet another instance of environmental vandalism. What would have been left for tourists if this had all been swept away? There is no reason why lorries and caravans should not use the A358 and M5. Many already do. This would leave the A303 for those who appreciate it. Future generations will not thank us for destroying yet another irreplaceable landscape. Cllr Matthew shows too clearly his bias in favour of ?development? and against conservation. Judith Davies 43 Parkwood Road Tavistock
