1. Getting Around Lightly
Saturday 8 November, Polegate
Stephen Hardy, MBE
Trustee
CPRE Rother and Hastings

2. Have we been here before?
2002 South Coast Corridor Multi-Modal Study or
1992 Folkestone - Honiton Trunk Route
1946 Trunk Roads Act
If you love the Sussex countryside

3. Have we been here before?
At least then we were aware of the vision
Now it seems it is road-building by stealth.
What did SoCoMms propose?
If you love the Sussex countryside

4. Have we been here before?
Surprisingly it suggested
Local initiatives:
improved facilities for local journeys, by bus, walking and cycling
green travel plans to work
safer routes to school
education about transport
better planning of new development
If you love the Sussex countryside

5. Have we been here before?
Local public transport improvements:
quality bus partnerships
improved bus services, particularly in the evening and at weekends
bus priority measures
improved interchanges
cross ticketing
better information systems
If you love the Sussex countryside

6. Have we been here before?
Rail improvements:
high frequency service Hastings to Eastbourne
double track from Hastings to Ashford
half-hourly service Ashford to Southampton
new stations
light rapid transit in the Southampton area
If you love the Sussex countryside

7. Have we been here before?
Demand management:
increased parking charges in town centres
charges for workplace parking in towns
more park and ride
If you love the Sussex countryside

8. Have we been here before?
Roads:
improvement to Chichester by-pass
A29/A27 junction improvements
Arundel by-pass
improvements to Worthing-Lancing road
Beddingham level crossing replacement
on and off-line improvements at Selmeston and Wilmington
Bexhill-Hastings Link Road
If you love the Sussex countryside

9. So what have we got now on the 2014 agenda?
Just the roads – apart from those that have already been developed But all the rest of the SoCoMms agenda should come first
If you love the Sussex countryside

10. What is our local experience?
We have the Hastings to Bexhill Link Road (aka the Road to Nowhere) being built at the moment - original estimate £50m; current cost £113m and rising
does not link with the A21
simply a tool to move the development boundaries in Hastings and Bexhill
no attempt at public transport improvements
If you love the Sussex countryside

11. What is our local experience?
What has happened with the Polegate by-pass?
opened in 2002
in a CPRE study in 2005, one year after opening, total traffic in the area had grown by 27%
no reduction in accidents
reduction in the use of Polegate for shopping
14 years on, the scar of Cophall roundabout still remains
If you love the Sussex countryside

12. Summary
Governments, both national and local, have got their current priorities wrong.
We need to get back to using alternative solutions to road building for the sake of
our environment
our personal safety
our personal economy
If you love the Sussex countryside