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Photo: Cyclist on a Quiet LaneOur campaign for Quiet Lanes seeks to improve the countryside experience for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. Photo: © CPRE

Help campaign for Quiet Lanes

You could also consider starting a campaign to have rural roads in your area designated as Quiet Lanes. Your Local Transport Plan will include details of any road networks that are already being considered for such a designation. For more information on how to campaign for a Quiet Lanes designation, read CPRE's Guide to Quiet Lanes.

Lorries that use rural roads as short cuts or to avoid heavier traffic elsewhere break rural tranquillity, causing noise and pollution, as well as threatening road safety. We have produced a checklist, Losing to Lanes to Lorries, which shows you how to campaign against this problem.

Influence or stop a new local road from being built
You can find out from your local highways authority (County Council, Unitary Authority or Metropolitan Borough) whether new road schemes are being proposed for your area, and discuss with them any concerns you have about particular schemes. Encourage the authority to sign up to CPRE's Clutter Challenge too, and help protect local country roads from excessive road signs.

Undertake an analysis of a recently completed local road scheme to find out if it's contributing to congestion and having a detrimental impact on your local countryside. Local authorities are required to evaluate new roads, and you can use the data they collect to find out if your local scheme has produced the promised outcomes. If it hasn't, use this evidence to argue against any new projects, and to generate publicity for your campaign.

The Campaign for Better Transport has a useful online guide and tips for helping you to take action on new roads.
> Campaign for Better Transport website: How to stop a road from being built

Have your say on transport plans
Local Transport Plans set out your highway authority's policy priorities and spending plans for all forms of local transport over a five-year period. Current plans cover the period 2005-2011, so read it to check what to expect in your area, and read the annual progress report. Contact your local authority and ask for a copy.

When a Local Transport Plan is prepared, the public has the right to comment on drafts. Find out about the process of consultation for future plans and ask to be involved when the time comes. You could argue for the plan to promote more alternatives to car use, for example

Your region also produces a strategy for transport, the Regional Transport Strategy (RTS), as part of its Regional Spatial Strategy. The RTS provides the regional context for all the Local Transport Plans in a region, and should include policies which reduce the need to travel, and coordinate spending across different forms of transport.

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Get involved with a local CPRE branch or regional group
CPRE has 200 district groups, 43 branches and 9 regional groups across England – many of whom are working on this campaign.
> Local and regional groups

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If you've seen some good ideas, and you think a friend might be interested, you can send them a link to this page.
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