One of the things I’ve been working on over the last few years is the community podcast ‘We Said No!’ about the fight to save Rimrose Valley Country Park in Sefton, Merseyside.

I suggested the idea of doing a podcast to the friends group and they were excited by the prospect. Since then, we’ve put together a small core team, initially planning 6 episodes focusing on different aspects, such as the parks history, how National Highways operates and Peel Ports role in all this. We’ve learnt a lot, particularly about air quality and public health and how destructive the plans are where already the life expectancy is a shocking 12 years less for residents who live close to the port. Building another 4 lane highway in the area is not the solution.

It’s been a great collaborative project, from developing the script, to looking at positive alternatives to road building, that seem to be a win win for everyone in the long term. Next year, the consultation by #nationalhighways begins so it will be interesting to see what we can uncover about that process, which will be useful I’m sure for other places in the country fighting to stop the building of these polluting, unnecessary roads.