OUT IN THE FIELD: Sad sudden closure of popular Eastbourne shop

I find myself having conflicted views with protesters trying to stop a new A27 being built between Eastbourne and Lewes. SCATE – the South Coast Alliance for Transport and the Environment – held a high profile demonstration on Monday just gone vetoing any plan to turn the existing A27 into a superhighway to ease congestion on the road. I am as much of a tree hugger and lover of the countryside as the next person and agree wholeheartedly that to turn that already lethal stretch of road into a dual carriageway in each direction would be a horrendous idea. A dual carriageway would be highly visible in the landscape as well as noisier than the present road. In my humble opinion the A27 should be more of a country lane accessing all the picturesque villages along the way and a peaceful route through the South Downs National Park on our doorstep. But reading through the SCATE literature, I see the group is also fiercely opposed to any off-line single or dual carriageway new road, preferred by some politicians, and say it would also be highly intrusive at this point. I disagree. A mile a minute dual carriageway off Cophall Roundabout to the Beddingham junction has been on the cards for some years and would be an ideal alternative. SCATE make some valid points in their documentation and rightly question some of the Highways England facts, figures and calculations on the environmental impact and damage to bio-diversity. But while the group is quick to highlight problems, they offer no solutions to their concerns. We all know the A27 is a political hot potato and a massive problem but we all need to work together to find a solution. Businesses have left town because of the road. Too many people have died on it. Now is the time to sort it out. Or we will have missed our chance and the government’s cash. And yet again it will be another generation’s problem to sort out.