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Arundel Bypass Update Summer 2021

Two member groups of SCATE, A27 Arundel Bypass Neighbourhood Committee and Arundel SCATE recently held a demonstration against the route chosen by Highways England to bypass Arundel. This “Grey route” would severely affect the villages of Tortington and Binsted as well as ploughing through an internationally important area for bats. The increased capacity on the road would encourage more traffic – creating more air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.  Residents from Arundel, and the three villages that will be seriously damaged if the 8 km Arundel Bypass goes ahead, gathered at the site of one of the proposed bridges. Their protest was surrounded by historic and wildlife-rich landscape.

Highways England has carried out two rounds of consultation to decide the preferred route but have gone against the overwhelming majority of locals. Only 7% of local respondents chose the grey option. There was however, majority support (61%) for “doing nothing” or to upgrads the current course of the road. These options would have less environmental impacts; both in terms of carbon emissions and ecological damage. . On-line upgrades are supported by Arundel SCATE and Arundel Bypass Neighbourhood Committee. 

Arundel SCATE has proposed the A27 Alternative: a series of improvements to local transport to ease congestion whilst minimising road capacity increases. The alternative plans include upgrades to the current road, restored half hourly bus services to Southampton (currently hourly) and increased walking and cycling connectivity (particularly to Ford railway station, making Arundel a two station town).

The current situation is that Highways England has appointed a contractor to build the road despite the fact that the formal statutory consultation has not yet begun. Geological and Ecological surveys are happening, and are operating out of the compounds set up on the current A27. 

BUT THERE IS INCREASING HOPE… The statutory consultation for the bypass is yet to start, and the campaign effort is fighting hard for the scrapping of the scheme.

What can you do to help?

Post Election Update on SCATE’s Sustainable Transport Pledges

As you probably saw over the period of the council elections SCATE asked candidates to sign up to a series of sustainable transport pledges. Here’s a quick update on that work. 

We asked candidates across East Sussex, West Sussex and Hampshire to sign up to pledges that covered general commitments such as reducing transport related emissions, as well as specific ones such as opposing road expansions and campaigning for rail upgrades. You can see the full list here: scate.org.uk/council-elections-2021-the-scate-sustainable-transport-pledges/

We emailed all the Conservative, Green, Labour and Lib Dem party groups across the three counties and we had around 35 responses. Some were from individuals, some representing an entire group of candidates from a party. The vast majority of those who signed up, signed up to all of the pledges we proposed. Here’s the response rates for each of the political parties:

 

17 of the candidates that responded, were subsequently elected. We’ve now written to the newly elected councillors congratulating them on their election result and sharing our transport vision with them (scate.org.uk/transport-studies/a-new-transport-vision/). We’ve also proposed meetings to discuss local and strategic issues. 

If there are particular local transport issues or campaigns that would benefit from a local champion on the council it may be worth getting in touch with these councillors. Also keep your ears to the ground for news that we have arranged meetings with councillors as it would be good to have local representation as part of those.

Here is the full list of who signed up to what, and whether they were elected:

 

Tell Highways England to do it again!

We are calling on Highways England to re-run a full public consultation on the A27 Arundel Bypass with all errors and misleading images and statements removed. The additional consultation that it is currently running presents the list of corrections (where Highways England has admitted there were errors in the previous consultation run in 2019) in a confusing format. In addition, it has still failed to correct all errors and misleading statements.

Apart from the most forensically minded, it is difficult to fully understand what has changed in this latest consultation and therefore most people will struggle to engage. For many, inertia will probably mean they won’t change their mind. However, had the information been presented properly and accurately the first time around, they might have come to a different conclusion then. Highways England further deters people from responding by saying it doesn’t change anything in terms of their conclusions.

We are urging people to email Highways England: A27ArundelBypass@highwaysengland.co.uk
to call on them to rerun a proper consultation, not least because the current consultation is deeply flawed because:

  • Not everyone who responded previously has been notified about this consultation (we weren’t)
  • The way the errors are presented is confusing and difficult to follow and will deter people from responding in any meaningful way
  • Most people will not remember what information they used to come to their conclusions – many could have responded based on the initial documents which had even more errors, which are not highlighted here
  • Highways England are discouraging people from responding by saying that the errors do not change any of their conclusions. People will think why bother if it will make no difference?
  • Highways England has still failed to correct seriously misleading information in its consultation documents

Please email Highways England by 23:59, Sunday, 1st March, 2020. Thanks!

Please use the above bullets (in your own words) including any other concerns you have.  Don’t forget to include your name and postal address.

Email: A27ArundelBypass@highwaysengland.co.uk

Join the consultation on a new rail ticket system!

The Rail Delivery Group (made up of Train Operating Companies)  along with the rail passenger organisation, Transport Focus are asking for public comments on how to restructure and simplify train fares. The consultation is open and runs until 10 September 2018.

This is the first major review of how train fares are structured since the early 1990s. That’s before the Internet became widely used and before contactless payments were invented. The rail fare system is still based on a clunky magnetic ticketing system which is very difficult to modify and change.

Recommendations will be made to the government in the autumn following the consultation and SCATE hope that it will bring about a much fairer, more equitable and easier fare system. However the computer experts and ticket administrators sitting in their offices don’t necessarily have all the best ideas so this is our opportunity to tell them what we want. Please make your comments:

Click HERE to give your views

This consultation is not about the quality of service or lack of it, dealing with overcrowding or resolving the chaotic way in which the rail companies introduced timetable changes. Yes, all these things need to be dealt with but it is really important to take advantage of this consultation and make suggestions of how you would to improve the rail ticket system. Please do tell them what you think by clicking on the above link. Thanks!

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Clean Air Strategy Consultation – closes 14th Aug 2018

Following the latest legal challenge by the organisation ‘ClientEarth‘, the government has had to comply with a court order and publish an Air Quality Strategy Plan. The government is consulting on this plan NOW, – following which it will be finalised by October 2018. Click on the image to the right which will take you to the consultation and a questionnaire. The more people that comment the more the government will have to take this seriously.

Why not have a go and tell the government what you think should be done? Alternatively/or as well tell us of your views [Click Here] and we will include your comments in our submission to the consultation. Remember the  Clean Air Strategy Consultation – closes 14th Aug 2018

Sadly, the UK Government’s strategy contains very few new ideas as to how the government could get a grip on the problem but it does contain some very useful statistical information about the amount of air pollution and what types of chemicals are being pumped into the air.

This consultation is a golden opportunity for members of the public and campaigning organisations to suggest measures to reduce air pollution which could be included in the final draft. Obviously one measure which could be adopted by the Secretary of State for the Environment (Defra), Michael Gove,  could be the bringing forward of the banning of all petrol & diesel cars/vans before 2040.  Mayors of large cities in the UK have suggested perhaps 2030.

However there are other issues which the public will have the opportunity of raising with the government through this consultation. For instance reducing journey times for commuters by creating employment opportunities near new housing or making it much easier for motorists to transfer to rail services. Other measures could be, – building rail links instead of building motorway-style roads or investing in electric buses powered by solar energy (yes it is possible). Here is an example right here in Sussex where electric buses have been introduced:

The Big Lemon bus company in Brighton & Hove has fully electric, zero emissions vehicles powered by solar panels on the roof of the bus depot. See: https://thebiglemon.com/

 

New vision launches across Sussex

SCATE’s soon to be published New Transport Vision for the Sussex Coast is being launched at a series of local events along the Sussex coast.  The events are open to all and will outline some of the key principles and findings of the report.

Saturday, 21st April – Lewes Town Hall – doors open at 10am for 10:30am – 12:30pm (book a place on Eventbrite – event is free to attend)

Friday, 4th May – Bassil Shippam Centre, Tozer Way, Chichester, PO19 7LG – doors open at 1:30pm for 2pm–3:30pm (book a place on Eventbrite – event is free to attend)

Thursday, 17th May – Arundel Town Hall, from 7:30pm

Air pollution hearing fast-tracked

ClientEarth action

ClientEarth, the group of environmental lawyers who have successfully challenged the Government to date about its sloth like action on tackling air pollution, are set to be back in court on 18 and 19th of October.  A High Court Judge recently approved their request for the process to be speeded up.

Last year they were successful in getting the Supreme Court to order the Government to produce an Air Quality Action Plan by the end of 2015.  The Government met this target but as expected produced an action plan that was underwhelming it is ambition and would fail to improve air quality “as quickly as possible”.  The plan was also based in some instances on dodgy data as it claimed air pollution in Brighton was already under legal limits when in reality it is still well above them, if improving.

Nevertheless, even though the process has been speeded up, it is likely that waiting for 4 months before holding the hearing will result in a further 13,000 premature deaths occurring in that period due to air pollution.  So even this speeded up process is costing lives and proceeding far too slowly.

Every Breath We Take

Too-many-cars-Clock-Tower-Btn-1

One of the most polluted places in Sussex: Queens Road, Brighton, not far from The Clock Tower

“Every breath you take, every step you take, I’ll be watching you…” is a famous lyric from 1980s pop band The Police, whose lead singer was Sting.  Whilst this song is about love, this extract from the lyrics summarises the current Government position on air pollution very well: it knows full well the impact air pollution is having on people but is doing very little to tackle the problem; it’s doing little more than watching.

That is why this new report, ‘Every Breath We Take: the lifelong impact of air pollution‘, from the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is a welcome reminder that air pollution is not just killing people or ruining their lives, it is also costing the UK economy around £20 billion a year, or 16% of the current NHS budget.  While this Government doesn’t seem to get the environment or indeed health, in the true sense of the word, it does get economics.  When the NHS is under immense strain financially and overwhelmed by demand, this report gives a clear signal to Government that it needs to act urgently on air pollution. Doing so could help ease the pressure on the NHS on both these levels as well as improving the economy and people’s quality of life.

The report highlights that around 40,000 deaths a year in the UK are due to outdoor air pollution (which is mostly down to traffic) with more due to indoor pollution.  It states that this pollution has been linked to cancer, asthma, stroke and heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and changes linked to dementia which affect millions.  It also believes that the current pollution limits set by Government and the World Health Organisation are not safe as they leave certain groups vulnerable to harmful impacts.

To reduce air pollution one of the top suggestions in the report is for people to alter the way they travel and to try alternatives to the car, preferably taking the active option of a bus, train, walking or cycling.  This though is against a background of big cuts to supported bus services and still pitiful levels of funding for walking and cycling.  Only road and rail infrastructure are getting any significant investment at present and then the investment in road building is likely to increase air pollution and undermine active travel.

The report’s authors want people to be better informed of air pollution in their locality and for there to be more effective monitoring, the results of which should be communicated to the public in a clear and meaningful way.  In contrast there have been significant budget cuts in monitoring both nationally and locally and a lack of political will to take air pollution seriously.

Another recommendation is that local authorities must have the power to close roads or reduce traffic levels when air pollution levels are high, particularly near schools.  This is probably a power that local authorities would be keen to have, but without the investment in adequate monitoring, it would be meaningless and do little to avoid harmful exposure to air pollution.

Whilst the VW scandal has undoubtedly raised awareness of air pollution, the incentive to do something about it seems to be falling away.  Much like the banker’s scandal when the bankers were villified for what they had done to the economy, years later hardly anyone has been held to account and the rules are being relaxed again.

It is also somewhat ironic that the current debate around the EU centres on bringing power back to this country, yet on air pollution we have all the powers we need to take effective action. Given that the Government seems content on doing very little to safeguard our health (and our economy) for both current and future generations, maybe we should be “sending out an SOS”.

 

New directions in LEPland?

It’s all change at the top of the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) in Sussex.  In the South East LEP, there appears to be some bad blood between the Board and Peter Jones (former leader of East Sussex County Council and supporter of the Bexhill Hastings Link Road and various associated roads and failed business parks).  In the summer, he reported to Government that he had been sacked after the South East LEP failed to reappoint him as chair.

To some extent this might be linked to the proposal to split the South East LEP into smaller and more manageable areas.  However, it would seem that there is more to it than that.  Local campaigners are hopeful that the ‘sacking’ of  Peter Jones will lead to the LEP appointing a chair with more vision who can deliver better public transport alongside real and sustainable jobs in East Sussex.

Less dramatically, Coast to Capital has just announced that Jonathan Sharrock will succeed Ron Crank as its new chief executive in January 2016, when Ron Crank is due to retire.  Jonathan Sharrock comes from the Department for Transport where he has spent the last three years developing the HS2 high speed rail project.

Previously responsible he was responsible for overseeing Government transport interests for the 2012 Olympics and also has significant experience working with the aviation industry. Whether he has the experience and knowledge to understand that large scale road building isn’t the answer to issues on the south coast and that instead we need integrated transport solutions remains to be seen.

LEPs are important as they are increasingly taking responsibility for spending public money on local infrastructure, much of that being transport and roads.  While they contain some council representation, they are dominated by business representatives and are not democratically accountable.

Lack of vision drives rail strategy

Have we lost that pioneering spirit?

Have we lost that pioneering spirit?

Network Rail recently published its Sussex Area Route Study following a rather low key consultation earlier in the year.  Whilst the study does at least acknowledge the strength of support for re-opening the Uckfield – Lewes line, like a stick of rock, it has the wording ‘No’ as a common thread throughout the document.

Fundamentally, it reiterates that what it has planned is the right thing to do and any suggestions for improvements such as Uckfield – Lewes, speeding up the West Coastway, a new station at Stone Cross, etc, are quickly dismissed as too difficult, impractical or not ‘cost-effective’.  In short it appears stuck in a mindset of a ‘cannot’ mentality, rather than a ‘can do’ one.

It also fails to fully explore the issues behind these requests or suggestions, looking at them in a very narrow economic perspective.  For example, there are no opportunities to widen the West Coastway to four tracks to allow faster trains to overtake slower ones because of the amount of development alongside the line, so they say.  However, to allow overtaking do we actually need four tracks or could it be done with three?  In addition, there are places where there isn’t so much development and some widening could be accommodated which would allow overtaking in those sections.  It might not be ideal, but if it allowed the services to be improved it should be properly investigated.

Finally, just because there is development near the line, it doesn’t mean that it cannot be widened.  Just take the A27 through Worthing for example, where Highways England has no such qualms of suggesting options which involve widescale demolition of homes along the A27 to accommodate a widened dual carriageway through the town.  Indeed, that is clearly their preferred option judging by what they offered up at a recent so called consultation event.

While it is clear that the rail network as a whole is dysfunctional and lacks accountability, whether a renationalised railway would resolve this is debatable.  Fundamentally, it is the lack of local or regional accountability and the absence of a holistic transport strategy (locally and nationally) which is causing so many problems and wasting so much public money.  There has to be a better way forward, but at the moment common sense appears to have hit the buffers as we appear to be travelling in completely the wrong direction.