On 24 May 2018, the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) took a brave but fully justified position to seek leave for judicial review of Highways England’s consultation and options appraisal process.

It received a lot of flack from pro-bypass supporters unable to understand that the SDNPA was just doing its job and that if Highways England had done its job properly, then a judicial review could have been avoided.

To better explain why the SDNPA was taking this line the chair of the SDNPA issued a further statement on 8 June 2018.