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The Newbury bypass, officially known as The Winchester-Preston Trunk Road (A34) (Newbury Bypass), is a stretch of dual carriageway road which bypasses the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It is located to the west of the town and forms part of the A34 road. Between January 1996 and April 1996 the clearance of approximately of land including of woodland, and the felling of nearly 10,000 mature trees to make way for the construction of the road, led to some of the largest anti-road protests in European history. Around 7,000 people demonstrated on the site of the bypass route in some way and over 800 arrests being made. The cost of policing the protest (known as 'Operation Prospect' and run jointly by Thames Valley Police and Hampshire Constabulary) had reached approximately £5 million by December 1996.〔Policing costs to December 1996 quoted in (Friends of the Earth Press Release, Anniversary of the Newbury Protest ), 10 January 1997. The total cost of £4.842 million (to December 1996) broke down as £4.16 million for Thames Valley Police and £0.682 million for Hampshire Constabulary.〕 An additional £30 million was spent on private security guards, security fencing, and security lighting while the works were in progress, of which only £7 million was budgeted for in the original contract.〔("A34 Newbury Bypass Opens" ), Highways Agency Press Release, 17 November 1998, NB348/98. Retrieved 20 January 2014.〕 The protest was known in some quarters as the ''Third Battle of Newbury'', a name which was also adopted by one of the main protest groups. The name was chosen in reference to the English Civil War battles that took place close to the town in 1643 and 1644. ==Proposals== The first Newbury bypass was built in 1963; however by the 1980s this proved insufficient to cope with the huge volume of traffic travelling through the Newbury area. In 1981 a new road to be built to the west of Newbury, mainly following the path of the disused Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway railway line, was proposed to bypass the town centre. This route was very controversial because it ran through three Sites of Special Scientific Interest — Snelsmore Common plus the Rivers Lambourn and Kennet; Penn Wood which was part of the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty); the English Heritage registered battlefield site of the first Battle of Newbury during the English Civil War in 1643; and The Chase, a National Trust nature reserve. It was also found that areas of the proposed bypass route were home to a rare snail, known as Desmoulin's whorl snail. A public inquiry into the plans was held in 1988, which found in favour of the road. Opponents argued that the decision was flawed and possibly illegal as there was no Environmental Impact Assessment — a legal requirement incorporated into British law two weeks after the start of the 1988 public enquiry. However, the inquiry decision was made in accordance with legislation at the time. The plans were passed in a closed session of Parliament, after a pro forma hearing, a procedure which many considered to be undemocratic. The road was originally approved for construction to begin in 1994. However, the then Secretary of State for Transport, Brian Mawhinney, announced that it would be delayed pending a further review. On 5 July 1995 Mawhinney announced that the building of the road was to proceed and then resigned half an hour later.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Newbury nightmare! )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Newbury bypass」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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