A30 Factsheet

(All the things you ever wanted to know but were too sensible to ask)

The proposed new A30 Exeter to Honiton section is fifteen miles of dual carriageway which 
will run from junction 29 of the M5 and join on to the dual carriageway section of the 
existing road about three miles from Honiton.  

This dual carriageway section will be widened further and will involve the destruction 
of a house.

This section of  road will form part of two proposed Trans European Road Network (T.E.R.N.) 
routes.  It is part of the London to Penzance trunk road (M3/A303/A30) and the South Coast 
Road (A35/A30) Folkestone to Honiton.  

One of the principle reasons for its construction is that it will forge the "important" link 
between Honiton and the M5.

Many roads in this country are being built and upgraded to T.E.R.N.s to allow for the 
introduction of heavier lorries with an extra axle.  These vehicles are already in use in 
Europe.

If the new road is built, the existing A30 will be "de-trunked".  This means Devon County 
Council will have to foot the maintenance bill.  They have already admitted they will not 
be able to afford this and thus accident blackspots will remain, even though many drivers 
will still use the road.

If the existing road is de-trunked, the adjoining land will become open to "development".  
In the past, applications were always turned down because no more access roads were wanted 
from the A30.

The public enquiry for this section was held in 1992.  Clearance work began under 
government budget 3 months earlier than expected in late September 1994.  This involved 
the destruction of trees and hedgerows and the construction of a new pond built to replace 
one in line of the route.  In early October two Direct Action camps were set up at 
Allercombe and Fairmile.  In December 1994 it was announced that the road would be 
postponed while it went out to private tender under a new government scheme 
Design, Build, Finance and Operate (D.B.F.O.).  

Construction of the road was originally due to start in Spring 1995.  The clearance 
contract which ran four months past its deadline continued until April 1995.  Actions were 
held all through the winter to hamper this work with frequent clashes between Reliance 
Security and protesters.  The third direct action camp was set up after Beltane (early May).

D.B.F.O - How it works (or doesn't!)

• Land is bought by the government through compulsory purchase order.
• A private consortium comprising of construction firms, engineers and financial and legal advisors, finance, build and maintain the road for a period of up to 30 years.
• After this time the government pay back the consortium which will shift the burden onto a future government and thus, a future set of tax payers.
• The amount of money paid back depend on the amount of vehicles that have used the road. The more vehicles, the more profit made.
• It is therefore in the financial interests of the consortium to attract as much traffic as possible to use the road.

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