“As many of my constituents will be aware, National Highways are planning to plow a road through our much loved and used Rimrose Valley.

It is important that we protect our greenspaces, especially in a heavily urbanised area such as Bootle where Rimrose Valley is the last remaining space of its kind in this area.

The Valley is essential for community cohesion and provides a safe, clean and green commuter route for schoolchildren, as the park is surrounded by dozens of primary and secondary schools and nurseries.

It is an active travel corridor for people travelling to and from places of work and it helps to remove unnecessary car journeys, especially at peak times, and it offers a vital habitat to a huge diversity of wildlife, including protected species such as barn owls, bats, water voles and a vast array of birds and pollinators.

Those areas cannot simply be relocated, because it has taken centuries and maybe longer to reach this point.

Following my Westminster Hall debate on 7 September, this morning I asked the Secretary of State for Transport to ask Highways England to scrap these unwanted, unneeded and unnecessary plans.

The proposed £365m could be better utilised to support communities across Bootle in these very difficult times.”

~ Peter Dowd MP