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Environment Agency: ‘inadequate flood risk assessment’. |
Hastings Alliance on TV
28 October 2007
The Hastings Alliance will gain valuable publicity when it appears in an ITV programme. ...more
Hastings Alliance's own objection as submitted to the council in August 2007
7 August 2007
The Hastings Alliance, an umbrella group of organizations opposed the the building of the Bexhill to Hastings link road, submitted its own official objection in August 2007. ...more
Natural England officially objects to proposed road
7 October 2007
Natural England - the Statutory Environment Body formed through a merger between the Countryside Agency and English Nature - has put in an official objection to the proposed Bexhill-Hastings Link Road. ...more
Over 1800 objections received by the Council
14 September 2007
The County Council have received 1,854 objections to the proposed link road, 49 expressions of support, and 8 "other". Council staff are still working their way through the flood of objections. You can read some of the objections here ...more
Environment Agency objects to proposed road
20 July 2007
The environment agency has put in an official objection to the plans for the proposed Bexhill-Hastings link road, describing the flood risk assessment as "inadequate" and the ecological impact as "unacceptable". ...more
Plans officially unveiled - objection period starts
25 May 2007
On 25th May 2007, the Council officially unveiled the plans for the proposed link road, and the official 6-week objection started. ...more
Council could have forseen costs of flooding work
14 May 2007
The Hastings Alliance is questioning the competence of transport planners at County Hall for not establishing more accurate costs for the proposed Link Road between Hastings and Bexhill. The government approved £47 million of national funding for the scheme back in 2004 with the condition that it received proper planning approval and that the costs did not rise. Yet East Sussex County Council has recently re-estimated the costs at £89 million - a rise of £42 million. ...more
Call to re-think
6 March 2007
In a response to the National Audit Commission report on the number and costs of road casualties, the Hastings Alliance Against the Link Road call for greater investment in walking, cycling and public transport in Hastings and Bexhill. ...more
Alternatives not properly considered
6 March 2007
National environmental organisations today backed a call for a number of highly environmentally damaging road schemes - including the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road - to be sent back to the drawing board. They are seeking a meeting with Secretary of State for Transport Douglas Alexander to discuss what can only be described as a failure to properly interpret government transport and environment policy. This call follows publication of a report by traffic expert and government adviser Dr Denvil Coombe on the consideration of non-road alternatives to BHLR. The report - "Bexhill to Hastings Link Road: Investigation of Alternatives" found that in the case of BHLR, the scheme had been chosen before all options had been developed and considered for further appraisal. ...more
Cost of proposed link road has nearly doubled
27 February 2007
"The recent announcement from East Sussex County Council that the estimated costs of the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road (BHLR) have risen to a staggering £89 million appear to completely ignore conditions placed on the government's approval for the scheme" says Derrick Coffee, County Officer for East Sussex Transport 2000, the local sustainable transport pressure group. "Government approval was given with conditions attached. One of these was that 'the gross and net costs of the scheme remain unchanged'. The latest figure is almost double the original figure of £47.12 million and in the light of this we will certainly be asking the Secretary of State for Transport to reconsider the whole scheme." said Derrick Coffee. ...more
Countryside agency ignoring own report
27 December 2006
The Countryside Agency (a statutory organisation designated to protect the countryside) does not intend to make a formal objection to the proposed Bexhill-Hastings Link Road (BHLR) despite significant environmental concerns raised by its own internal advisory report. ...more
Press Release: County Council's Link Road Leaflet "misleading and inaccurate"
5 September 2006
The County Council's Link Road Leaflet is "misleading and inaccurate" claims Hastings Alliance Speaking for the Hastings Alliance (a coalition of local and national organisations opposed to the BHLR), its chairman Nick Bingham said: "The leaflet glosses over the environmental damage the road will bring about, fails to mention that BHLR will lead to more, not less, traffic in Hastings and Bexhill, and in doing so will dump an extra annual 5,426 tonnes of greenhouse gas CO2 into the atmosphere at a time when climate change is supposedly at the top of local and national governments' agendas. All this is admitted by East Sussex County Council (ESCC) in its own studies, then conveniently ignored in its leaflet. "The complete absence of any information in the leaflet on alternatives to the car, and the many other ways to reduce traffic, confirms what the Alliance, and expert consultants have said repeatedly; that ESCC other BHLR supporters have failed to properly examine alternatives to car travel. It's a very serious matter and shameful when Hastings has a high level (39%) of households with no access to a car. BHLR is a seriously flawed road scheme." ...more
Press Release: New roads are creating massive traffic growth
4 July 2006
Road building often leads to much faster traffic growth than forecast, according to a new study commissioned by CPRE and the Countryside Agency. The report specifically highlights how the infamous Newbury Bypass failed, by generating massive traffic growth in the area. The Hastings Alliance welcomes the CPRE report, and believes it undermines the case for the proposed Bexhill to Hastings Link Road being put forward by East Sussex County Council. ...more
Proposals for Junction to A21
12 June 2006
The Highways Agency has published possible layouts for the junction at the Hastings end of the proposed road. The proposal for a Hastings-Bexhill link road had the obvious weakness that it would have created a problem where Queensway joins with the Ridge and the A21. Well, what do you do if your proposed road is going to create a problem? Build another road of course! ...more