A27 Arundel Bypass Public Consultation - HE response to my submission
Dear Highways England Company Limited,
I recently made the following submission in the A27 Arundel Bypass Public Consultation.
"Dear Sirs
A27 Arundel Bypass Public Consultation
For many years I have campaigned for the provision of an Arundel Bypass – until now!
I have always seen an Arundel Bypass as "enabling infrastructure" to enable the delivery of government housing and employment policies in the Arun District and, in particular, to assist the regeneration of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton – both of which have serious pockets of deprivation, amongst the bottom 10% in the country.
The council has planned most of its strategic housing development to the south and south east of Chichester – at Bersted (2,500), Pagham (1,200), and Barnham, Eastergate & Westergate (2,300) with only a relatively modest number of houses at Ford (1,500).
The Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling cancelled the A27 Chichester improvement scheme. At the same time the Minister made it clear that the Arundel Bypass would go ahead as planned. The council was aware of this when it voted on its Local Plan.
So, in essence, the council’s strategy is to locate a majority of its strategic housing where the A27 WILL NOT be improved and a relatively small part of its strategic housing where the A27 WILL be improved.
The strategic housing provision and infrastructure improvements are in different parts of the district! The housing and infrastructure investment MUST be aligned.
As things stand, the proposed A27 Arundel Bypass contributes little or nothing towards the delivery of government housing and employment policy, nor does it contribute towards the regeneration of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton.
Landowners at Ford are no longer promoting a new settlement of 5,000 houses and have withdrawn most of their land from consideration in the Arun Local Plan. This means that there can be no large scale new settlement or employment hub at Ford.
If the proposed Arundel Bypass does not contribute to the delivery of government housing and employment policy then can an investment of £250 million be justified to bypass a small town of only 3,400 inhabitants?
To attract inward investment to the Arun District we must first recognise that businesses need easy access to the Strategic Road Network (SRN) which, for Arun, means the east/west bound A27 and the north/south routes of the A3 and M3 in the west and the A24 and A23 in the east – all of which are largely dual carriageway and can support commercial traffic.
The exclusion of a grade separated junction on the Ford Road eliminates any opportunity to link Bognor Regis to the Strategic Road Network (SRN) in the east by creating a link road from the accident black spot at Comet Corner, bridging the railway line near Ford, and linking to the Arundel Bypass.
Note: an additional route would distribute local traffic more evenly and reduce congestion on existing routes (more beneficial than the realignment of an existing route).
Ford cannot now be developed to its full potential. As things currently stand, all other communities in the district must suffer the housing pressure, whilst Arundel (and through traffic) benefits from the infrastructure improvement.
Against this background how can an investment of £250 million be justified?
In July 2017, I put the following public question to the leader of Arun District Council;
“In a recent letter the Secretary of State for Transport makes it clear that the delivery of the A27 Arundel Bypass should continue as planned – according to Highways England work is due to commence in March 2020 and is scheduled for completion in 2022.
How does the council plan to capitalise on the government’s proposed £250 million investment in an Arundel Bypass?”
The response is minuted as:
“The Leader of the Council, Councillor Mrs Brown responded by stating that the Council was working very closely with Arundel Town Council to promote the positive benefits of providing an Arundel By-Pass. Only last week, she and Arun’s Chief Executive had met with the Chief Executive of Highways England, alongside a Member of Arundel Town Council and the Leader of West Sussex County Council. However, the proposed consultation document had yet to be published. When it was, the Council would formulate its detailed response.”
It’s clear from her response that the leader of the council could not provide an explanation as to how the council plans to capitalise on this investment. I am concerned that the council’s failure to utilise this long awaited infrastructure for the delivery of housing or employment puts this investment at risk.
At the same time, it is becoming increasingly clear that potential solutions at Chichester and Worthing are weak and underfunded.
Should the investment be diverted to where it can be used to genuinely assist the delivery of government housing and employment policy? Or should Arun’s Local Plan be adjusted to utilise this important infrastructure? (The EiP is taking place as I write this submission).
As things currently stand, and for the reasons stated above, I cannot support any of the three options.
The River Arun is the second fastest flowing river in the country. As part of the Eco Town proposals Ford Enterprise Hub suggested that consideration be given to incorporating river powered electricity generation into the design of an Arundel Bypass to provide renewable energy, which could power lighting on the bypass etc.
If the government decides to go ahead with an Arundel Bypass then please consider this opportunity – which would be relatively inexpensive too!
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob_ftabA...
Yours sincerely
Tony Dixon
Ford Enterprise Hub (former promoter of Ford Eco Town)"
In response, in a letter dated 29th September 2017, Alan Feist the Programme Manager said:
"You will appreciate that the local plan is still subject to considerable debate and the District Council have impressed upon us the importance of the Arundel Bypass in supporting their wider housing, employment and tourism ambitions."
My submission above argues that the council does not have any meaningful plans to capitalise on the government’s proposed £250 million investment in an Arundel Bypass and that it is not utilising this investment for the delivery of government housing or employment policy. When I put a question on this to the council the response was evasive (see above).
Therefore, may I please request all communications between the council and HE (or Highways Agency) that show HOW the council intends to capitalise on this investment - in particular I want to see any communications that substantiate Mr Feist's comment that " the District Council have impressed upon us the importance of the Arundel Bypass in supporting their wider housing, employment and tourism ambitions"
FOI law requires public bodies to take account of requestor's preferred means of communication. Therefore, to ensure transparency and openness would you please publish any response to this FOI request to this WhatDoTheyKnow web site.
Yours faithfully,
Tony Dixon
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6. mailto:[Highways England request email]
Dear Mr Dixon
Thank you for your request for information about the A27 Arundel Bypass Public Consultation dated 29 September 2017. I am dealing with it under the terms of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
This is because the information requested concerns measures and activities affecting or likely to affect elements of the environment or affect factors such as noise, pollution discharges and other releases into the environment.
The due date for issuing a response is 27 October 2017.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote reference number 755,735 in any future communications.
Yours sincerely
A27 Arundel Project Team
Highways England | Bridge House | 1 Walnut Tree Close | Guildford | GU1 4LZ
Web: http://roads.highways.gov.uk/projects/a2...
Registered in England and Wales No. 9346363
Dear Mr Dixon
I am writing to confirm that we have now completed our search for the information, which you requested on 29 September 2017, for communications between the council and Highways England (or Highways Agency) that show how the council intends to capitalise on this investment - in particular I want to see any communications that substantiate Mr Feist's comment that " the District Council have impressed upon us the importance of the Arundel Bypass in supporting their wider housing, employment and tourism ambitions".
Mr Alan Feist, Programme Leader (Area 4), advised that he provided a briefing to Arun District Councillors on Tuesday 19th September 2017.
At that briefing , a number of Councillors highlighted the importance of the A27 Arundel bypass, and other A27 schemes, to support local economic growth. The issue of a possible junction with Ford Road as part of Option 3 or 5a was identified by some councillors as being helpful in supporting the District Council’s pressures in that area that are being articulated by developers through the Local Plan process.
This was the basis for his statement.
We are not aware of any written communication supporting this statement.
If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request you may ask for an internal review within 2 months of the date of this response for Freedom of Information requests and within 40 days for Environmental Information Regulations requests.
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If you require a print copy, please phone the Information Line on 0300 123 5000; or e-mail [Highways England request email]. You should contact me if you wish to complain.
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If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote reference number 755,735 in any future communications.
Yours sincerely
A27 Arundel Project Team
Highways England | Bridge House | 1 Walnut Tree Close | Guildford | GU1 4LZ
Web: http://roads.highways.gov.uk/projects/a2...
Registered in England and Wales No. 9346363
Dear A27 Arundel Bypass,
Many thanks for your response.
There is a world of difference between "Councillors highlighting the importance of the A27 Arundel bypass, and other A27 schemes, to support local economic growth" and producing actual evidence to demonstrate how the council plans to capitalise on this investment.
It's quite clear from this response that the council has not provide Highways England with any actual evidence to substantiate how it intends to capitalise on this investment, and that Highways England appears to have accepted the word of the council without properly scrutinising the council's claims.
Government investment on this scale should not be made on the basis of unsubstantiated claims by local councillors - it should be justified with hard evidence.
Yours sincerely,
Tony Dixon
Dear Sir/Madam
We are pleased to let you know that we have made a decision on the
preferred route for the A27 Arundel Bypass, please see the attached letter
for details. The brochure and other documents can also be found on our
website [1]www.highways.gov.uk/a27arundel/ (from 16 May the address will
be [2]www.highwaysengland.co.uk/a27arundel ).
Kind regards,
A27 Arundel Bypass Project Team
Highways England | Bridge House | 1 Walnut Tree Close | Guildford | GU1
4LZ
Web: [3]http://roads.highways.gov.uk/projects/a2...
[4]Highways Agency. Safe roads, reliable journeys, informed travellers
Registered in England and Wales No. 9346363
This email may contain information which is confidential and is intended
only for use of the recipient/s named above. If you are not an intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any copying, distribution,
disclosure, reliance upon or other use of the contents of this email is
strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and destroy it.
Highways England Company Limited | General enquiries: 0300 123 5000
|National Traffic Operations Centre, 3 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park,
Birmingham B32 1AF |
[5]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati... |
[6][Highways England request email]
Registered in England and Wales no 9346363 | Registered Office: Bridge
House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4LZ
Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really
need to.
References
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3. http://roads.highways.gov.uk/projects/a2...
4. http://www.highways.gov.uk/
5. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
6. mailto:[Highways England request email]
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