Reduce Number of HGVs Travelling Through Settle and Upper Ribblesdale

There are three active quarries in Upper Ribblesdale; Dry Rigg, Arcow and Horton

The quarries are owned by very large multi-national corporations:

Dry Rigg is owned by Lafarge
Arcow is owned by Anglo American
Horton is owned by Heidelberg

The combined 2011 operating profit for these three companies was £7,800 million (i.e. £7.8 billion)

All the aggregate from the quarries is currently transported by road. - up to 400 HGVs / day travel through the centre of Settle and through the National Park.

Only a small proportion of the HGVs are owned or driven by local people. (These HGVs will always be needed to transport aggregate that cannot be moved by rail).

The Settle-Carlisle railway line passes very close to all the quarries.

There is an alternative road route that avoids Settle Town Centre and which would greatly reduce the economic impact that the HGVs have on the town.

The positive benefits of restricting heavy traffic from Town Centres are exemplified by towns such as Skipton and Kirkby Stephen.

The positive benefits of transporting aggregate by rail rather than road are exemplified by Upper Wharfedale where the majority of aggregate from Swinden Quarry is transported by rail.

We are not asking for any of the Ribblesdale Quarries to be closed or for their activity be restricted or curtailed - We are only asking that changes be made to the method and routes by which the aggregate is transported.

We do not believe our proposals will put any local quarry-related jobs at risk.

Settle town centre is hugely valued by local people as a place to shop, relax and do business.

The majority of businesses in Settle town centre (shops, cafes, inns etc) cannot survive on local customers. The sustainability of these businesses absolutely depends on their ability to attract visitors from outside of the town.

In the battle for customers, Settle is in competition with many other destinations e.g. Skipton, Kirkby Lonsdale, Grassington, Hawes. Clitheroe. To ‘hold its own’ in this competition, the town must strive to be as attractive for the visitor as possible. Only by doing this will people be encouraged to return to the town and to spend more time (and money!) on each visit.

An independent and very comprehensive study on the regeneration of Settle Town Centre (conducted in 2012) found that the major negative of the town centre was the number of HGV’s travelling through the narrow streets of the town centre. This was the majority view expressed by locals and visitors alike.

The visitor economy is the major economic driver within the Settle area and the only sector which has real opportunity for growth. The visitor economy has created many jobs for local people, both directly and indirectly, and has the opportunity, if managed effectively, to create many more jobs.

It is a fact that the large number of HGVs travelling through Settle town centre and along the narrow country roads of Upper Ribblesdale deter many people from visiting the town and are a real obstacle to the regeneration and ongoing sustainability of the local economy.

We must not let the economic interests of huge multi-national companies compromise the economic sustainability of Settle and Upper Ribblesdale.

Please support our petition if you wish to ensure a vibrant and sustainable future for Settle town centre and to restore peace and tranquillity to the roads within Upper Ribblesdale.