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PRESS RELEASE
Immediate Release: Thursday, 17th April 2008

Highways Agency admit to misleading maps

The Chief Executive of the Highways Agency has written to Welwyn Hatfield's MP to apologies for "misleading maps" previously provided with reference to proposed resurfacing work on the A1M motorway through the Borough.

In a letter to the MP Archie Robertson admitted that the previous information hadn't been entirely accurate and pledged to provide up-to-date maps which have now been received by the areas campaigning MP.

Grant Shapps said: "The principle difference appears to be that whereas the area around Lemsford Lane in Handside was previously shown as having already been completely resurfaced, these new maps reveal that a crucial northbound section hasn't been touched."

In fact the new resurfacing maps show a 'structurally sound' section of motorway meaning that some Handside residents who are worst affected by motorway noise will continue to suffer.

Commenting on the letter and new maps (which are available for download at http://www.Quieter-A1M.com ) Grant Shapps said: "We've been arguing that this section of the motorway was still far too noisy and now we know why. Whereas the Government had previously claimed that resurfacing had been completed on this stretch of the motorway, it now turns out that it has in fact only been completed in one direction. No wonder it is still quite so noisy."

The MP has arranged to discuss the situation with a Government Transport Minister and has pledged to take local Councillors with him to the meeting.

By contrast the new resurfacing maps do hold out hope for long suffering residents of Hatfield, the Ayots and Welwyn all of whom can expect a reduction in noise due to resurfacing during the financial years of 2008/9 and 2009/10.

Both maps are available for download on the home page of http://www.Quieter-A1M.com

ENDS.

 

PRESS RELEASE
Immediate Release: Monday, 26 March 2007

MP and Councillors refuse to keep quiet over noisy motorway

A group led by Welwyn Hatfield’s MP has said that they are “extremely disappointed” by the way that the Government’s Highways Agency has responded to a pledge to carry out a noise survey into the outcome of resurfacing work between Junctions 1 and 7 of the A1(M) motorway.

Now Quieter A1(M) Campaigners say that nearly one year on from the promised survey -- designed to measure the sound from the motorway before and after the current resurfacing works -- they have still to see a copy of the report which has apparently been bogged down by officialdom and bureaucratic delay.

Officials now say that the survey is due to be published in May, but the campaign group is not only disappointed that the findings are taking too long, but that no additional work is planned to measure the noise improvement following the latest resurfacing work. Commenting on the situation Grant Shapps said ‘It’s an absolute shambles, we’ve already waited the best part of a year and now we’re expected to wait another two months to see a report which we now know is in itself flawed because of serious concerns about the way in which it was carried out.”

The MP, along with Borough Councillors Dr Dennis Lewis, Tony Skottowe and County Councillor Malcolm Cowan also said that they were worried about the quality of the sound measurements taken after reports suggested that the Motorway Agency neglected to follow the correct methodology for taking the sound readings. Having been promise a noise survey based on four survey points the in reality only two locations were used, neither of which were in the noisiest areas.

The Quieter A1M group now plans to wait until the noise report is issued in May, but they’ve already indicated that they may be forced to raise funds in order to conduct their own sound survey to challenge the official results.

Grant explained: ‘With money being spent on resurfacing we’d actually like to know whether it has worked from a scientific noise reduction point of view. We are very concerned about the slow progress on publishing this report and are further worried by the methods use to gather the data. Unfortunately we might have to take matters into our own hands by commissioning our own independent noise survey because it seems that the Government just doesn’t seem to take this kind of noise pollution seriously.”

ENDS
More info:
Grant Shapps on 020 7219 8497
Broadcast ISDN on 01707 662814


Notes to editors:-
• The campaign website can be accessed at www.quieter-a1m.com and new resurfacing maps are now available at that location for download.

• The website displays the most recent plans for works between Junctions 1 and 7.

• Additional quotes:

Handside ward Councillor Dr Dennis Lewis said:
"For years, the residents in the south west of WGC have been complaining to me and the MP about the unacceptable noise levels they have to endure. During the summer the traffic roar in my garden is such that I have to have the radio turned up very loud in order to be able to hear it. With the resurfacing that's taken place we have been making progress under Grant Shapps' leadership but the Highways Agency is letting us down badly, so we're going to work together to renew our efforts to reduce the A1(M) noise."


County Councillor Malcolm Cowan said:
"The road was designed and built in the mid-1960s, before the problem of traffic noise was appreciated. Local people have thus had to put up with the problem for longer than almost anywhere else in the country, and we seem to be at the back of the queue for effective measures to really cut down the noise that affects so many of us."


Handside Councillor Tony Skottowe said:
"Blind reliance on modelling, without any attempt to verify the model is correct by doing a few checks at critical points, is not what I would expect from a government agency."

 

 

PRESS RELEASE
Immediate Release: Monday, 05 June 2006

Major victory in fight for quieter A1(M) through Welwyn Hatfield

Local campaigners, led by Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps, have claimed a major breakthrough in their fight for a quieter A1(M) through the area, as the Highways Agency has now agreed for important stretches of the road to be resurfaced.

Resurfacing with “whisper quiet” tarmac is to be carried out on large north and southbound parts of the A1(M) between North Mymms and Welwyn.

The Highways Agency has granted the significant concessions, following a recent meeting between MP Grant Shapps, and Councillors Malcolm Cowan and Dennis Lewis.

Grant said “After six years of campaigning people power has triumphed and I am delighted that thousands of people through Welwyn Hatfield will benefit from reduced noise. This isn’t the end of the story as there will still be a few gaps, but residents can rest assured, I won’t stop battling until every last inch of our noisy motorway is resurfaced.”

Cllr Malcolm Cowan said “This breakthrough has come about through the increasingly vocal and active local residents”, whilst Cllr Dennis Lewis said that the decision was “a watershed in our efforts to fight the noise pollution generated by the A1(M).”

Grant Shapps had previously set up the website – www.Quieter-A1M.com to enable constituents to keep up with the campaign and says that its online petition has received thousands of signatures.

“I am keeping up the pressure on behalf of the local residents. This meeting is a real breakthrough and we have come a long way – but there is some way to go until we get the entire road resurfaced. I won’t stop until this noise pollution is cut for all Welwyn Hatfield residents.”

ENDS
For more info call Grant on 020 7219 8497.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





 



Celebrating a victory

Grant Shapps MP with Cllr Lewis, Cllr Cowan, Sue Collins, Paul Williams (HA) and Martin Heeley (Mouchelparkman).

 

 


 

PRESS RELEASE
Immediate Release:
Tuesday, 06 September 2005

Campaigners welcome quieter A1(M) proposal

Welwyn Hatfield residents anxious to see the noisy A1(M) motorway quietened down are optimistic that a resurfacing plan will bring partial relief next year.

Recently elected MP, Grant Shapps, met with the Highways Agency during the summer and has confirmed that a project to resurface between Junctions 4 and 5 is now on the cards for the financial year 2006 / 2007.

Clearly delighted, Grant said: “This is by no means the end of the matter, but it’s a start for the long-suffering residents of Stanborough and Handside. Unfortunately the proposed resurfacing is halfway from junction 4 to 5 and then halfway from 5 to 4, so there’s only a very short section where the whisper quiet surface will meet in both directions at the midpoint between these two junctions. However, evidence from further up the motorway, at junction 6, does suggest that even resurfacing on one carriageway knocks the noise levels back quite significantly.”

The MP vowed to continue fighting until the entire A1(M) through Welwyn Hatfield has been resurfaced in both directions adding: “I’ve already been battling for a new quieter surface on the A1(M) for five years, this limited amount of resurfacing is just a small victory, but it’s in the right direction and every resident can rest assured that I will continue to battle to reduce the noise pollution.”

More information (including a map of the proposed resurfacing) visit Grant’s Quieter A1(M) campaign at
www.Quieter-A1M.com

The Highways Agency has said that the project will be subject to funding approval.


ENDS
More info:
Grant Shapps on 07968 070097


 

 

 

Download PDF map of proposed resurfacing between junctions 4 and 5 here.

Press Release
Wednesday, 08 September 2004
Release Immediate
 

Shapps Digs At Highways Agency With Pneumatic Drill



Parliamentary Spokesman, Grant Shapps, has dramatically drilled home community concern about the high level of noise from the A1(M) Motorway, by hiring a pneumatic drill and digging outside of the Highways Agency’s own offices in Welwyn Hatfield.

Explaining his move, Grant said: “It’s hard to escape the conclusion that the Government’s Highways Agency has been in the slow lane when it comes to getting the new ‘whisper quiet’ surface laid along the A1(M) through Welwyn Hatfield.

“After a great deal of lobbying I managed to get the Transport Agency to undertake fresh noise calculations earlier this year and they proved that noise levels are between 74 and 80 decibels in places. Shockingly, this is roughly equivalent to a pneumatic drill being permanently used just across the road from your house. Yet despite these unbearable noise levels, the agency still refuses to lay the new quieter asphalt motorway surface. Frustrated with meetings that were getting us nowhere, I simply thought that it was about time that the Highways Agency got to hear of the problem first hand.”

Grant Shapps hired a medium compressor pneumatic drill, stationed it outside the offices of Mouchel, the sub-contractor for the Highways Agency in Welwyn Hatfield, and invited the press along.

The Highways Agency was left in no doubt as to the strength of local feeling about A1(M) noise and Grant Shapps has vowed to continue the campaign until action is taken.

Residents are encouraged to sign the petition at:
http://www.Quieter-A1M.com

Ends.
More info: Grant on 07968 070097


 


Press Release
Saturday, 17 July 2004
Release Immediate


Shapps: Highways Agency Response To A1M Noise Problem Is “Disappointing”


Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman, Grant Shapps, has slammed the Highways Agency after it failed to provide a clear programme of improvement, despite the fact that fresh noise data has proved that the A1M motorway through Welwyn Hatfield has become much louder in recent years.

Grant explained: “I’ve now collected nearly a thousand signatures from locals concerned about the level of noise from the A1M and my pressure led to the Highways Agency carrying out new Welwyn Hatfield noise calculations. The results show that in Lemsford Village (for example) the rumble from motorway traffic officially reaches 79 decibels at first floor level, that’s roughly equivalent to standing only 50 feet from a pneumatic drill all the time.”

Unfortunately, despite these official high readings and other potential ones throughout Welwyn Hatfield, Mr Shapps reports that the upshot of his recent meeting with the Agency, an offshoot of the Dept. of Transport, was extremely disappointing saying: “The Highways Agency have fudged together a list of possible improvements which may or may not take place over the next few years. It’s so patchwork and completely provisional, that it isn’t even worth detailing the conversation. If the Agency thinks the people of Welwyn Hatfield are going to be fobbed off with some vague suggestions of improvements in several years time, then they are entirely wrong.”

Now Grant Shapps has vowed to complete the A1M Petition by doubling it in size to 2,000 names, saying: “Once I’m certain that everyone who wants to sign this noise petition has done so, I’ll arrange to present it to the Highways Agency in a blaze of publicity designed to further embarrass the authorities. It just isn’t acceptable to believe that people should sit in their own homes and suffer from this level of ongoing noise pollution when so called ‘whisper quiet’ asphalt would halve the sound level.”

Anyone who has yet to add their name to the A1M petition should go to http://www.Quieter-A1M.com – the website also provides a downloadable PDF version of the petition form, designed to be taking around to friends and neighbours who are also concerned about the A1M noise situation.

Ends.
More info: Grant on 07968 070097


 


Press Release
Monday, 24 May 2004
Release Immediate

Welwyn Hatfield A1(M) Noise:
Highways Agency to meet with Shapps

As a direct result of months of lobbying carried out by Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman, Grant Shapps, and Cllr Lance Stanbury, the Highways Agency agreed to undertake fresh noise calculations earlier this year and report back by the end of March.

Yet despite the study having actually taken place, the results and recommendations have yet to be published by the Agency.

Now Parliamentary Spokesman Grant Shapps has requested a meeting to investigate the delays and to keep the pressure up on the government department on behalf of frustrated residents in Welwyn Hatfield.

Grant Shapps said: "The Highways Agency has agreed to meet me on 16th June 04 and I have made it clear that people expect the results of the noise study to be available at that time. There seems little point in commissioning a study if the results are then sat on for months. Earlier this year I got hold of my own sound meter and carried out a set of noise readings, but people in Welwyn Hatfield want to hear the official results and proper recommendations to reduce noise, direct from the Agency."

Grant Shapps also promised to press the Highways Agency for its overall plan as regards resurfacing the Welwyn Hatfield stretch of the A1(M) with a whisper quiet surface, saying: "I am in possession of a letter from the Highways Agency dated 5th December 2003 where they clearly discuss plans to resurface Southbound through Junctions 5 to 4. Now I understand that no budget has been found and the program has been shelved. I simply won’t rest on this noise pollution issue until every inch of tarmac along the A1(M) throughout the whole of Welwyn Hatfield has been redone with a whisper quiet surface."


Ends.
More info: Grant on 07968 070097

 



Press Release
Thursday, 19 February 2004
Release Immediate

Highways Agency bows to pressure to carry out new A1M noise study

Following months of intense pressure by Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman Grant Shapps and Handside Councillor Lance Stanbury, the Highways Agency has agreed to undertake a fresh study into current noise levels from the A1M motorway through Welwyn Hatfield.

The new noise survey, which is expected to be completed by the end of March, was the outcome of a meeting attended by both the Highways Agency and their contractor Mouchel and hosted by Grant and Lance in Lemsford Lane, Welwyn Garden City yesterday.

Three sites, initially in Handside, have been selected by the agency and these will be used to make fresh noise calculations using an established formula. The Highways Agency will then draw up recommendations which could include the long called for resurfacing with whisper quiet asphalt and other noise reduction measures. However, it is being stressed that any eventual work will be dependent on government budgets.

Commented on the outcome of the meeting, Grant Shapps said: “This is an important breakthrough and we’re delighted that the Highways Agency is finally taking the concerns of residents in Welwyn Hatfield seriously. Over the past few months I’ve been actively collecting signatures on my www.quieter-a1m.com website and the sheer speed at which this campaign has gained momentum demonstrates that there is real concern out there over the level of noise generated by the A1M.”

A delighted Cllr Stanbury commented: “Handside is particularly badly hit by traffic noise from the motorway and standing in Lemsford Lane having to shout during discussions brought home the problem to the Highways Agency. We don’t want to get hopes up because a solution will depend on government budgets, but it’s good to know that they have finally agreed to get the facts by carrying out these fresh calculations.”

Ends: More info: Grant on 07968 070097

 

Everyone knows that the A1(M) is a very noisy motorway, but in order to quantify the sound levels, Grant Shapps has gone out with three local Councillors with a sound meter to measure the decibels at key locations.

Press Release
Wednesday, 03 December 2003
Release Immediate

A1(M) Noise Survey Reveals ‘Shock Results’

Local Conservatives have carried out a scientific study of noise levels from the A1(M) Motorway and have found the results to be so shocking that they’ve urgently forwarded their report to the Highways Agency requesting “immediate action”.

Using a Sound Level Meter, Grant Shapps and his team have measured the decibels created by the A1(M) motorway in various locations throughout the constituency and have found levels to be so seriously high that in several cases they breach the 65 decibel maximum adopted by most European countries as an acceptable motorway noise limit.

Grant explained: “In one street in Welwyn we measured a consistent 74 – 80 decibels right outside front doors, whilst in another road in Handside we found sound levels peaked at 100 dB’s. That immediately alarmed us because it’s known that eight hours exposed to 90 dB or above can cause serious damage to your ears.

“Frankly the recordings are so high that we’ve rushed our results to the Government’s Highways Agency, calling on them to carrying out urgent noise inspections of their own.”

The Conservatives originally started collecting signatures in Handside calling for resurfacing of the A1(M) with a modern “whisper quiet” road surface, but they quickly expanded their campaign throughout the constituency when it became apparent that the problem spread the entire length of the A1(M) through Welwyn Hatfield.


Notes to editor:

Sound level recordings were taken in three Welwyn Hatfield locations on the morning of Wed 12th Nov 03 (after rush hour) with sound measuring equipment stationed at Lemsford Lane in Handside, Crossway in Sherrards and Gwynfa Close in Welwyn. The results were as follows:


Lemsford Lane, Handside
Background noise 80 – 90 dB’s
Peak noise at 100 dB’s


Crossway, Sherrards
Background noise 70 dB’s
Peak noise at 72 dB’s


Gwynfa Close, Welwyn
Background noise 74 dB’s
Peak noise at 80 dB’s


All of these readings are above internationally agreed standards and in some cases they could be damaging to residents hearing.


Ends.
More info: Grant on 07968 070097
 

 














 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 






 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





 

 



Grant Shapps
Quieter-A1M
Campaign Organiser

 

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