… and what’s what
Department for Transport
Department for Transport develops transport policy for the UK and commissions Highways England to undertake trunk road building and maintenance.
In its spending review 2014, the Treasury allocated a total of £350m to development of the A27 at Arundel, Worthing, Lancing and Polegate. Major road-building proposals for Chichester (separately funded) were abandoned early 2017. Proposals for Worthing and Lancing are now limited to junction improvements and will keep much of the existing single carriageway route.
The Secretary of State for Transport will make the ultimate decision on road options following public consultation and National Highways submission for Development Consent to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS). The proposals are expected to go to PINS later in 2022.
National Highways
National Highways (NH) is the new name for Highways England. It is a road-building company wholly owned by the government. It ‘operates, maintains and improves England’s motorways and major A roads.’ This is the Strategic Road Network (SRN) of trunk roads.
The A27 is included in the SRN but does not exhibit the traffic characteristics of a typical trunk road: there is very little long distance traffic at Arundel – three quarters is travelling less than 9 miles and one in five vehicles less than 3 miles. HGVs account for about 5% of vehicles, about half that of a typical trunk road.
NH currently uses consultants WSP.
Current information on plans at Arundel: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-work/south-east/a27-arundel-bypass/
Contact at NH for the scheme is A27ArundelBypass@HighwaysEngland.co.uk (the old domain name is retained)
NH project manager for the A27 is Andrew Jackson – andrew.jackson2@highwaysengland.co.uk
West Sussex County Council
West Sussex County Council is the Local Transport Authority and is responsible for all non-private roads in the county that are not trunk roads. It is a key consultee for National Highways road schemes but is not a decision-maker on them.
WSCC has campaigned for dualling the length of the A27, including at Arundel, arguing that road expansion is needed for the economy. There is no real evidence to support this and considerable evidence that a dual carriageway at Arundel cannot be economically justified.
Leader of the council is Paul Marshall – paul.marshall@westsussex.gov.uk.
South Downs National Park Authority
South Downs National Park Authority is the planning authority for the National Park and is an important consultee on any development proposed within the National Park or outside, that impacts on the Park. They have a duty to ensure the park’s special qualities are ‘understood, appreciated, conserved and enhanced’. It has been critical of NH’s proposal at Arundel and its environs.
http://www.southdowns.gov.uk/discover/why-are-we-a-national-park
The Park authority board comprises representatives of local authorities and national appointees.
The Park authority board comprises representatives of local authorities and national appointees.
To see their position and discussion of the whole A27 as well as Arundel, go here:
http://www.southdowns.gov.uk/a27-breaking-the-bottleneck
Chair of the SDNPA board is Ian Phillips – ian.phillips@southdowns.gov.uk
Chief Executive is Trevor Beattie – trevor.beattie@southdowns.gov.uk
Local Authorities
Arun District Council the planning authority for Arun and is also an important consultee for any developments. It backs an offline dual carriageway route at Arundel.
Chief Executive is Nigel Lynn – nigel.lynn@arun.gov.uk
Arun District councillors for Arundel are:
Faye Catterson – cllr.faye.catterson@arun.gov.uk – opposes the National Highways scheme.
Paul Dendle – cllr.paul.dendle@arun.gov.uk – supports the National Highways scheme.
Grant Roberts – cllr.grant.roberts@arun.gov.uk – support a major bypass but has criticised the Grey route.
MP
Andrew Griffith – andrew.griffith.mp@parliament.uk
Our MP was instrumental in seeking an increase in budget for a more costly bypass. MPs are seen as key players in identifying support or opposition to major schemes like the Arundel Bypass.
Arundel Town Council
At parish level, the town council has few powers but is regarded as representative of local opinion. The council’s position on the A27 is to support the magenta route. There has been effectively no debate on the issues in the last 17 years.
Mayor Tony Hudson – mayor@arundeltowncouncil.gov.uk
Town Clerk – Carolyn Baines – townclerk@arundeltowncouncil.gov.uk
Arundel Bypass Neighbourhood Committee (ABNC)
This Binsted and Walberton-based residents group, established in the 1980s to oppose early plans for a bypass through Binsted, is very active. They have raised the profile of the area in the path of bypass route options, its wildlife and heritage and provide LOTS of information and links at their website: www.arundelbypass.co.uk/
The group is supportive of the Arundel Alternative: https://www.arundelalternative.org/
FB: Arundel Bypass Twitter: @ArundelBypass
South Coast Alliance for Transport and Environment (SCATE)
This is a network of various groups and landowners along the A27 who are concerned about road plans. Reports and updates can be found at: http://www.scate.org.uk
Transport Action Network
TAN is a national body supporting communities across the country seeking sustainable transport and opposing major roads. It is an active supporter of SCATE.
https://transportactionnetwork.org.uk
Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)
This is a national charity with a Sussex branch. CPRE has done some recent research on road-building schemes across the UK which shows that new roads do not live up to their promise of relieving congestion or economic benefit. A very short video explaining their findings and their report are available here: https://www.cpre.org.uk/resources/transport/roads/item/4543-the-end-of-the-road-challenging-the-road-building-consensus
CPRE Sussex is a member of SCATE.