Leading EU politician backs HGV ban for Settle town centre (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Leading EU politician backs HGV ban for Settle town centre

4:00pm Saturday 13th October 2012 in News

A SENIOR member of the European Parliament has backed calls for a ban on heavy goods vehicles driving through a Dales market town.

Edward McMillan-Scott, European Parliament vice-president for human rights and democracy, has supported the recommendations of an independent report that assessed options for the regeneration of Settle.

Mr McMillan Scott, a Liberal Democrat MEP for Yorkshire and Humber, said it was a ‘timely and important study’.

He also pledged his support to a new action group, the Friends of Upper Ribblesdale (FOUR), which is campaigning for the recommendations of the report to be carried out.

Mr McMillan Scott said: “I was delighted to find that such a wide-ranging selection of people and organisations have an interest in the regeneration of Settle and the surrounding area.

“I was particularly interested in the environmental elements of the study, specifically the revelation of the detrimental impact heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are having on historical market towns like Settle.

“I second the study’s recommendations that there should be a restriction on the movement of HGVs through Settle so that quarry traffic is prevented from passing through the town centre and that the national park authority should insist that the bulk of mineral extraction from the quarries in Upper Ribblesdale is transported by rail to ensure that the national park continues to be a place for quiet, peaceful recreation.

“To achieve these vital aims, I pledge my support to the FOUR action group and encourage the necessary organisations and authorities to put into action these two recommendations.”

However, a proposed ban on HGV traffic in Settle is not universally supported.

The Settle and District Chamber of Trade recently said: “Anyone who has lived and/or worked in Settle for many years will be aware that the issue of lorries travelling through the town centre has always been contentious and divisive.

“The chamber has not expressed a view simply because banning the lorries would be beneficial to some members but detrimental to others.”