WE SAID NO

We’re approaching the end of winter and spring is on its way! With that in mind, we decided to take a closer look at one of the most popular projects our charity, Rimrose Valley Friends, has delivered in recent years. The creation of a wildflower meadow at the centre of the old Chaffers’ running track reinvigorated a neglected section of the parkland and received incredible financial support from the surrounding community and environmental funders alike. Since its original sowing in 2019, the wildflower meadow has become an annual attraction and has become both an incredible visual display and a new habitat for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators… scooping a prestigious Defra award in the process. But what has this got to do with the campaign to Save Rimrose Valley? Well, the purpose of the project was to raise the profile of Rimrose Valley, to attract new visitors and to encourage people to care about it enough to fight for its future. In this episode you will hear how it is very much ‘mission accomplished’ and that the once disused running track has now become one of the jewels of this incredible parkland and a vital, free facility - benefiting people’s health and wellbeing. 

As 2022 comes to an end, members of our campaign team caught up to mull over the year, to reflect on some of the key developments, and to revisit some of the other projects undertaken by our charity, Rimrose Valley Friends.2023 is set to be a pivotal year in the fight against the road proposal, with National Highways expected to hold its long awaited statutory consultation on its final road design.We'll be calling for people to reject this outright, and to instead demand non-road, sustainable alternatives to port access which respect our communities, our health and wellbeing and the environment.Stay tuned for more information on how you can play your part throughout the year.This recording was made prior to the news that our fellow campaigner and former trustee, Hazel Davies, had passed away.  Our thoughts go out to her family and friends and our work will continue in her memory.

On Friday 26th August, a group of Save Rimrose Valley campaigners consisting of children, parents and grandparents hit the road and boarded a coach to Manchester.  The trip was the campaign’s latest protest as they took the fight to the regional headquarters of National Highways - the public body responsible for the plans to bulldoze Rimrose Valley.  Joined by other campaigners from the North West and members of staff from long-time allies, outdoor clothing store Patagonia, they marched through the streets of Manchester to deliver letters and materials produced by local school children.  Would National Highways come out to accept them?  Find out in our latest podcast.

In this episode we focus on the game of football and how Rimrose Valley and the green space surrounding it hosts numerous, pitches clubs and leagues. We look at the massive physical and mental health benefits that come with people of all ages playing our national game all year round, and how National Highway’s proposed road through the valley will affect thousands of participants.Having seen how the recent Euro 2022 victory for England's Lionesses gave the whole nation a well needed shot in the arm, why is National Highways even considering ploughing a four lane carriageway through many of these sporting facilities?We talk to local, grass roots players and organisers about how they feel about the potential loss of their football pitches and the effect it will have on their lives and wellbeing. And how the football clubs on Rimrose Valley and the surrounding spaces could be lost.

A question our campaign is often asked is; why can’t Sefton’s network of railway lines solve the problem of port access? Many members of the community have pointed out the number of disused railway lines running from the dock that were active up until the 1980’s.  In this episode we investigate how these used to operate by visiting some of the locations with former lorry driver, John Wilson. We then discuss the wider picture of rail freight distribution in the UK with Maggie Simpson, Director General of Rail Freight Group, the representative body for rail freight in the UK.  We conclude by bringing things right up to date and taking a look at the government’s latest plans for rail enhancements in the North West. Is our region getting the investment it so badly needs?

It's been an eventful and a positive year for the campaign. We've had protest events that were covered nationally. Activities and educational events on the valley for the first time in what seems like forever. In a year where most of us haven't had the best of times, here's our review of some of the good things that have happened in 2021.

In 2020, Sefton Council commissioned engineering consultancy firm ARUP, world leaders in sustainable infrastructure, to look at different ways of transporting freight containers in and out of busy ports in locations such as ours.Among the options presented was Underground Freight Transport (UFT); a pioneering technology owned by Cambridgeshire-based Mole Solutions Ltd.In this episode, we meet with senior members of their team to better understand the technology and to explore how this could be used in our setting. We hear just how many of today’s problems this technology would solve, the long-term benefits it would deliver and how, far from being a pipedream, this could become a reality.Over the course of the last 4 years, we have repeatedly been told by National Highways, the Department for Transport and Peel Ports that their road proposal is the only way to address the problems created by the Port of Liverpool’s expansion.It isn’t.We believe that this episode represents the first, major step towards a brighter future for the Port of Liverpool, the people of South Sefton and our environment.Enjoy.For more information on Mole Solutions Ltd, Underground Freight Transport and their other technologies, visit www.molesolutions.co.uk

Rimrose Valley means so much to so many people of all ages. In a fascinating departure from our investigative episodes of the We Said No podcast series, we’ll talk to people who have a wealth of stories and experiences about the park. Their park.Esther recently attended her first ever protest event. On the 20th August 2021, along with nearly 1000 others, she marched to the gates of Peel Ports to add her voice to the increasing calls to halt this destructive government-backed scheme and look at alternatives that work for the communities that surround this vital green space. Rather than simply benefit the privately-owned Peel Ports.At the age of 91, Esther walked the entire length of the protest march. Not only an amazing achievement, but a powerful illustration of how this scheme will affect people of every age, young and old. And how people of every age want to make their voice heard.This is Esther’s story.

On Friday 20th August more that 1,000 people gathered together on Rimrose Valley to make their views known and to hear from speakers that included local MPs and Councillors, national environmental groups and transport campaigners. We heard about the non-road alternatives that Highways England want to ignore. And calls for parity in how transport schemes are funded by central government in the north and the south.Reported as the ‘largest anti-road demonstration in decades’ the crowds then marched to the gates of Peel Ports, the major beneficiary of this devastatingly dangerous scheme. The call of the protesters was that Peel Ports acknowledge their role in supporting the road proposal and join the communities the scheme will affect the most by opposing it. The communities that live around the Port of Liverpool.This is the story of that day. The speakers, the marchers, the children, the families. All with one voice. We said No.

It is estimated that air pollution kills up to 40,000 people each year in the UK alone. But what does this shocking statistic have to do with Highways England’s proposed road through Rimrose Valley? In this episode we pick our way through the complicated issue of air quality in South Sefton. We hear from people already suffering the damaging effects of vehicle emissions from Highways England’s existing A5036 and from a local primary school which sits on the path of the proposed route. We speak to experts who explain what this pollution is and the harm it does to our bodies. We learn how environmental groups are questioning the value Highways England places on the public’s health in pursuit of its road building programme and ask what role the Port of Liverpool’s own shipping activity plays in air quality in our borough.We also cover the tragic story of 9-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah, who lost her life in 2013 due to the pollution she inhaled on her busy road. This is a tough but important listen and we thank everyone who contributed. How to get involved with the campaignhttps://www.saverimrosevalley.org/get-involvedBritish Heart Foundation - Information on air pollutionhttps://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-public-affairs/creating-healthier-environments/air-pollution

The controversial road proposal covered in this podcast series is called the Port of Liverpool Access Scheme and yet, whilst the port’s owners, Peel Ports, are regularly in the news cheering the expansion of their operations, you won’t hear them talking about their Port Access Road. Ever. So, we’ve done this for them. Here, we share the views and concerns of local residents, hear one HGV driver’s story and ask whether Peel Ports really contributes to the local economy and cares about the surrounding community. Or does its interest end at the port gates? Find out just how closely Peel Ports is working with Highways England and learn about Friends of the Earth’s efforts to engage with the company on the key issuesof pollution and the environmental damage resulting from its operations. Anyone who hasbeen keeping an eye on developments this past few years needs to listen to this powerfulepisode.

In Episode Two, we hear how a small, but committed team of people, determined to stop a road being built through their local country park, soon come to realise that this is part of a much bigger problem. They learn about the wider environmental and public health impacts of road-building and gain the support of leading, national organisations. This episode features contributions from Friends of the Earth, Transport Action Network and the Chief Executive of CPRE (the Campaign to Protect Rural England). We also hear how Highways England's public consultation presented just two options; neither of which was acceptable to local communities and ask why the outcome was ignored? Local people explain how history is repeating itself and talk about the devastation caused by another of Highways England's roads, decades before.

In episode 1, we learn about the origins and the history of Rimrose Valley and its creation. And how the plans by Highways England, the Government's own road building company, affected the communities that surrounded it. A community that relied upon it. Known as the green lung of Sefton, Rimrose Valley has grown and matured into a green space that is vital to those who live and work in the area. Here we listen to the stories of those who want not only to preserve it, but to fight for it. And when your battle is one with the UK Government and a powerful, privately-owned port working together, it takes determination.

In 2017, Highways England announced that they wanted to build a dual carriageway right through the middle of Rimrose Valley, a country park in Sefton near Liverpool. The only green space in a heavily populated and urbanised area. The purpose of this dual carriageway? To increase the capacity of the nearby Port of Liverpool, owned by Peel Ports. A privately owned organisation based in the Isle of Man. Please subscribe to the We Said No podcast and hear the story of how the campaign to fight the road and the damage - to both the environment and to public health - came to be. And how its actions brought a community together in defiance of the Government's plans.