Rimrose Valley

Rimrose Valley is a 3.5 km (2.2 mi) country park and valley which forms a border between Crosby and Litherland in the borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, with the Leeds and Liverpool Canal on its eastern edge.[1]

Rimrose Valley
Entrance to Park
LocationBetween Crosby and Litherland
Nearest cityLiverpool
Operated bySefton Council
OpenOpen all year round

Because the brook that runs through the park regularly floods, it remained clear of the housing developments that grew up on either side. However, the central area was used as a tip until 1978 and restoration began in 1993.[1] Rimrose is a Hybrid word from Old English hrim (modern "rim"), 'border' and Celtic ros meaning "moor" or "heath".

Following concern over young people riding scrambler bikes in the park,[2] resulting in at least one serious accident,[3] the police launched a crackdown in 2015.[4]

Formation
Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Rimrose Valley, October 2017

The formation of the valley in its current state can be dated back over the last 1.6 million years, during which time sand, peat and clay deposits have built up over parts of the valley, which itself has formed as a result of sandstone strata erosion. The outer edges of the valley were put to use as farmland, particularly on higher ground where flooding was less likely, though throughout the 20th century much of the farm land has been restricted to the northern most regions of the valley.[5]

Geology
Rimrose Valley Nature Reserve, run and managed by the Sefton Ranger Service

Rimrose Valley is now part of the Mersey Forest[1] and the most southerly extent of the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. The south of the valley contains the Brookvale Nature Reserve which is the only one in Sefton that is not on the coast and is, along with Fulwood Way in the north, a Site of Special Local Biological Interest.[1]

Layout

Because of the size of the park, the area has been divided into five colour-coded zones that allow people to narrow down their location if they need to contact the emergency services.[6] The north-south walking distance is approximately 6 km (3.7 mi), with a grade of moderate and an estimated walking time of 90 minutes.[5]

Highway proposals

In 2013 under - under the leadership and guidance of Peter Dowd - Sefton Council placed members of Sefton Council, including the Chief Executive, to the Port Access Steering Group to work with Highways England and Peel Ports ( together with other agencies ) to establish " a permanent highways solution " due to the expansion of the port. Sefton Council was chairing the Port Access Steering Group on behalf of Liverpool City Region ( LCR ). From this, in the same year, Sefton Council commissioned the Atkins Group to conduct a feasibility study for the road solution. The report/study was completed in February 2014.

" In November 2014, Atkins made a presentation to the LCR Port Access Steering Group, three of which (including the chair) are from Sefton Council.  On page 9 of the presentation, Atkins summarised the latest thinking in relation to the Online Option and the Offline and added ( "Considered tunnel options but cost-prohibitive") ".  THE ONLINE AND OFFLINE OPTION WOULD LATER BE KNOWN AS OPTION " A and B ".

Following the presentation, the Port Access Steering Group (chaired by Sefton Council) gave Highways England the task of deciding on option A or B. The announcement came two years after the completion (FEB. 2014) of the feasibility study.

In 2003 a similar study was conducted - commissioned by Sefton Council - and the preferred option then was Rimrose Valley.

Plans were announced in February 2016 which proposed a new £200m road could be built through Rimrose Valley to link directly into the A5758 Broom's Cross Road in an effort to reduce the heavy congestion on the A5036 Dunnings Bridge Road;[7] Sefton Council rejected the proposal in March 2017, citing the desire to instead build a tunnel to overcome the congestion concerns.[8] In December 2017, Highways England attempted to defend their position that a bypass road is the preferred option to provide a direct link between the Port of Liverpool and Switch Island junction, citing considerable cost and disruption if a tunnel, estimated to cost 6x as much, were to be constructed.[9]

In 2018, Sefton Council brought a judicial review against Highways England on the basis that it felt a tunnel should have been presented as an option. The High Court ruled in favour of Highways England, but the legal action resulted in a considerable delay to the project. In August 2019, Highways England were forced to publicly apologise for claiming that in this judicial review, a judge had upheld its preferred route for a road through Rimrose Valley. This was untrue; the judge had simply ruled that it was not legally required to consult on a tunnel option.

Save Rimrose Valley is a campaign formed to oppose Highways England's plans and to demand that sustainable, non-road solutions to the movement of freight to and from the Port of Liverpool are researched and presented to the public. In just over two years, the campaign has attracted a large and active following. They appeared on Jeremy Vine's BBC Radio 2 show in 2018 to debate the scheme with Highways England's Regional Delivery Director, Tim Gamon. It also staged what Campaign for Better Transport described as "the biggest anti road demonstration in recent memory" in September, 2018. "Hands Across the Valley" was attended by more than 700 people and was covered by BBC North West Tonight and Granada Reports. The event was attended by local MPs Bill Esterson and Peter Dowd, as well as Friends of the Earth and Campaign for Better Transport. Members of the public formed a giant heart on the parkland and linked arms along its central path. A film of the event can be viewed here.

In February 2019, members of the campaign met with Shadow Transport Minister Rachel Maskell MP to raise the issue and to ask for support. In March 2019, the campaign secured the support of Friends of the Earth's CEO, Craig Bennett. He visited the country park, spoke with local schoolchildren and members of the public and called for Highways England to scrap the scheme. A film of the event can be viewed here. Later in 2019, he went further, calling for Highway England itself to be scrapped, as no longer fit for purpose.

In July 2019, Highways England confirmed that the project was at least 2 years behind schedule. As of November 2019 there has been no announcement of the statutory consultation. The Save Rimrose Valley campaign continues its calls for the scheme to be scrapped.


References
  1. "Sefton marks Mersey Forest's twentieth anniversary". Liverpool Echo. January 6, 2013. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  2. Duffy, Tom (November 21, 2013). "Scrambler yobs 'put lives at risk' by pulling dangerous stunts". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  3. Pattinson, Rob (November 16, 2014). "Motorbike park crash teenagers still in critical condition". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  4. Thomas, Joe (May 3, 2015). "Crackdown on scrambler bikes launched by police in Litherland". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  5. "Walking - The Rimrose Valley". Discover The Mersey Forest. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  6. "Rimrose Park given 999 colour codes". BBC News. July 20, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  7. "Public meetings over proposed £200m road through Rimrose Valley park". Liverpool Echo. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  8. "Council wants highways bosses to build tunnel from Switch Island to new port of Liverpool". Liverpool Echo. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  9. "Bypass is best A5036 option says Highways England". Highways England. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
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