A27 Arundel Bypass Report on Further Consultation Appendix D: Other written responses from organisations (vol.2) Pacific House (Second Floor) Hazelwick Avenue Three Bridges Crawley RH10 1EX 01293 305965 coast2capital.org.uk By e-mail 23 October 2019 Dear Highways England, I am writing on behalf of Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership in response to Highways England A27 Arundel Bypass Further Consultation. Coast to Capital is a unique business-led collaboration between the private, public and education sectors across a diverse area which includes East Surrey, Greater Brighton and West Sussex. The consultation material summarises well the national and regional significance of the A27, “As the main route serving the south coast, the A27 corridor is crucial to the region’s success. A population of more than 1 million people rely on the A27, and growth plans for the region mean this number is only set to increase.” The need to reduce congestion and improve movement of people and goods along the A27 from Brighton to Portsmouth is widely recognised, specifically in order to increase the local and regional economy, with widespread support for an appropriate intervention at Arundel. The limitations of the A27 are part of a wider picture of infrastructure challenges in the Coast to Capital area that restrict our economic growth compared to other parts of the South East. The national significance of this scheme is recognised in Government’s own 2015-2020 Road Investment Strategy (RIS1). We are pleased that Highways England continues to take a consultative approach to this important scheme. The need to support growth must also be carefully balanced with environmental and social impacts given the setting of existing and proposed routes. This is something that was firmly recognised in the previous consultation exercise and has, in part, lead to these new proposals. We would encourage Coast to Capital Registered in England (One Bell Lane, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1JU) Company Number: 8166412 Highways England to continue to listen to these concerns in this latest consultation phase. We recognise local support by Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council, as well as other local groups including the Coastal West Sussex Partnership, for Magenta as the preferred route and we would add our own support to it, on balance of minimising social and environmental impact and providing value for money. In short, Cyan and Beige routes are considered to impact too heavily on Arundel itself as well as the South Downs National Park, while Crimson route would also have a heavy impact on the South Downs and a large swathe of Ancient Woodland. This would leave three remaining options – Amber, Magenta and Grey routes. Of these Magenta would be our preference for the reasons of balance stated above. While Magenta route would help to reduce environmental impacts, we would urge Highway’s England to invest in innovative ways to mitigate as far as possible the short and long term impact of the new road, on flora and fauna and local communities. This would include construction methods and materials but also design elements to aid the transit of people and wildlife in particular. Biodiversity gain should be an aspiration of the scheme where possible in terms of habitat creation, rather than simply the minimum degree of loss. We consider that, given the timing of this scheme in relation to the growing understanding and acceptance of climate change risks, it is imperative to design in necessary measures now that will allow us to manage and reduce these risks for the future. We therefore encourage Highways England to think ahead creatively – with us, our partners and with other Government departments – as to future vehicle use of the A27 and other roads. This would apply not only in terms of zero-emission modes of individual transport (i.e. private car and freight vehicles) but also raising the collective ambition to promote and encourage forms of mass transit. Much of the current congestion is exacerbated by local movements across and along stretches of the A27 by private car where no viable public transport or cycling alternative exist and where measures to enable such alternatives to be delivered in the future can be designed in now. The relationship between road and rail networks, as part of future consideration of rail franchising models based on local commuter movement is also key. The consultation material acknowledges that rail take-up is low in the Arundel area, which should not simply be taken as a given but rather an opportunity to balance and reduce future use of the A27. Potential solutions to move longer vehicle journeys off the A27 and onto the West Coastway Rail Service may well lie in the ability to move more local rail journeys onto mass transmit road options, thereby enabling the railway to deliver more express journeys with a net reduction in demand on the road. Coast to Capital Registered in England (One Bell Lane, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1JU) Company Number: 8166412 We look forward to Highways England’s response to this latest stage of consultation and future design proposals. Yours sincerely, Chief Executive Coast to Capital Registered in England (One Bell Lane, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1JU) Company Number: 8166412 Coastal West Sussex Partnership Worthing Town Hall Worthing BN1 1HA 3rd October 2019 Dear Colleagues, As the Chair of the CWS Partnership Board, I welcome the opportunity to be able to comment on the scheme proposals to improve the A27 at Arundel. This response has been sent on behalf of the CWS Partnership Board and it is requested that Highways England give due consideration to its contents before making its recommendations to the Secretary of State. The Coastal West Sussex Economic Partnership brings together leaders from business, education and the public sector to work collectively on economic issues that affect the coastal strip. Geographically it covers the areas of Chichester, Adur, Arun and Worthing. Both the CWS Partnership (and its Executive Board) aim to add value and focus on the key ‘"larger than local’" issues that impact on our coastal economy whilst supporting business development and promoting sustainable economic growth across the area. The A27 is the main arterial route along the West Sussex coast and as such, it is the most important transport connection between Portsmouth and Brighton so it is imperative that the A27 works effectively for the benefit of both the local, regional and national economy. In a recent survey carried out by the CWS Partnership, 90% of respondents said the A27 in West Sussex was important to their company In considering the 6 options being proposed for the A27 at Arundel, 3 options would be favoured by the CWS Partnership Board: - Magenta - Amber - Grey These three options all provide a dualling and bypass solution that avoids dividing the town of Arundel and have less impact on the South Downs National Park. Of these three options then the Magenta option would be preferable as it has minimal impact on the SDNP (affecting just under 0.74 acres of the Park) and would be around £50Million less to deliver than the other preferred option that bypass the SDNP completely. Page 1 of 3 We would not support the Beige or Cyan route because of its impact on Arundel and the impact of local traffic trying to access the A27 from the Ford Road. The Crimson route would also not be supported because of its huge impact on the South Downs National Park. In responding to the consultation, the CWS Partnership would also like to encourage Highways England to consider any potential modifications that would: - Consider a full junction option for Ford Road because of the increasing levels of commercial and residential traffic that use this route from the urban centres of Littlehampton and Bognor Regis whilst also future proofing the road network for future development in Ford. - Create appropriate cycle routes that promote commuter opportunities but that also support more leisure cycling and open routes along the River Arun to connect the coastline to Arundel and the South Downs National Park. The dualling options being proposed for the A27 at Arundel are very welcome but we also recognise that there are other obvious bottle necks along the A27 in West Sussex. The CWS Partnership would like to encourage Highways England to take a more holistic and joined up approach to deliver improvements along the whole stretch of the A27 in West Sussex, particularly in Worthing, Lancing and Chichester as collectively, this would have a much greater and more positive impact on the regional economy and yield greater economic return in the longer term. Any infrastructure investment into this area needs to deliver: - Improved journey times - East to West along the whole stretch of the A27 from Brighton to Portsmouth - Improved journey time reliability and resilience against unplanned incidents - Removal of choke points and stop/start traffic need to use longer routes with the consequent poor levels of air quality along the road and in affected towns and villages such as Storrington. - Improve the attractiveness of the area as a place to do business by improving connectivity to/from the West Sussex coast - Better access for visitors to both the coast and the South Downs National Park - A broader recruitment pool for businesses located in the area by improving connectivity to/from urban areas - Improvement in the journey times and access for businesses and residents to the north and south of the A27 - Complement improvements to other transport investment that is already being made; eg A284 Lyminster bypass and the A259 corridor improvements at Littlehampton, because unlike other areas there are few acceptable alternative routes for users to use at times of congestion on the A27.