Next steps against Arundel bypass

There’s still time to object to the selected grey route for the Arundel bypass.

The next stage is a statutory consultation on the grey route only.  Highways England expects to publish this between October 2021 and March 2022.  Highways England then applies for planning permission for the route (a Development Control Order) to the Planning Inspectorate.  An ‘Examination in Public’ follows, with opportunities for objections. .

The Planning Inspector then decides whether or not to recommend approval of the scheme.  The Secretary of State for Transport makes the final decision. If the Inspector rejects the scheme, the Secretary of State may still approve it. Legal challenges are then possible.

So, it’s well worth keeping up pressure against the grey route. The Arundel Bypass Neighbourhood Committee is inviting people to sign a petition (https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/a27-arundel-bypass) asking decision-makers to:

– Reject the grey route for the Arundel bypass which severs the Arun valley watermeadows, Tortington and Binsted and Walberton villages, our beautiful countryside and rural heritage.

– Recommend that another option, less damaging to countryside and villages, should be preferred by the Department for Transport: the Arundel Alternative, a short, wide-single carriageway bypass. The Arundel Alternative provides all we need to keep traffic sufficiently moving – and it doesn’t cost the earth.

Find out about the Arundel Alternative www.ArundelAlternative.org 

Watch an aerial photography video of the grey route https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtbx34LtlkM