Please help save our vision for a new greenway, connecting communities between Bradford, Keighley and Halifax in West Yorkshire. National Highways managed to hoodwink the previous Roads Minister, Lilian Greenwood MP, into agreeing to block up Queensbury Tunnel, a 1.4 mile long Victorian railway tunnel, which it is meant to be looking after. This risks destroying a valuable local asset.

However, we now have a new Roads Minister, in charge of National Highways, Simon Lightwood MP. This gives us an opportunity to ask him to review the decision and to force National Highways to produce the evidence that the tunnel cannot be repaired. This is critical as National Highways has form when it comes to destroying or blocking up old railways bridges and tunnels, even when communities want to put them to new uses.

In 2020, Grant Shapps MP, then Transport Secretary, stopped National Highways from infilling parts of Queensbury Tunnel so it could be retained for future transport use. Over £7m was spent making it safe. Now that money looks set to be wasted along with millions more to be spent making the tunnel unusable. It is absolute madness to be wasting taxpayers’ money to achieve no public benefit whatsoever. Especially when we know that a new greenway through the tunnel would boost the local economy and be good for public health.

We have strong local political backing but we need your help to make the Labour government, and the new Minister, see sense, to stop Labour being the ‘blockers’ to our greenway vision. Just put your name, address and email in the ‘Take Action’ panel, then click the ‘Start Writing’ button to send a letter to the new Minister asking him to review the decision. You can edit the suggested text to say whatever you feel is appropriate. When you’re ready, hit ‘Send Letter’. The whole process can take less a minute.

Many thanks,

Norah,

Leader, Queensbury Tunnel Society