December 2014
- Good news - River Lavant flowing again
- Bad news - Arundel bypass
River Lavant flowing again
 |
| My collage inspired by the Lavant (2012) |
I headed into Chichester on
Monday morning (8th December) to drop off my paintings for the Journeys exhibition at the Oxmarket Centre of Arts. After this and a few bits of Christmas shopping,
I headed to The Trundle, following our
regular walking route out of the city to East Lavant and along the valley up
Haye's Down to The Trundle. Though it wasn't the frosty morning we'd had along
the Severn over the weekend, it was clear and bright, if cold in the north
wind. I had to be quick sketching today, beginning with the view towards the
church at East Lavant from the SW with The Trundle behind. During my brief
lunch stop, gulls and crows in the valley at the foot of Haye's Down.
When I got to East Lavant
and crossed Sheepwash Lane to take the path across the footbridge and along the
valley, I was pleased to see the River Lavant flowing again. When I last looked at the beginning of November, it
was still dry, but I'd hoped it would be flowing again by now. Rainfall during
October and November made up for the shortfall in September. By now, some of
this rainfall should have percolated through the soil into chalk to raise the
water table once again. It still looked a bit low: it's still fairly early in
the season, with the rainfall during the latter half of November possibly still
to infiltrate. According to Centre for Ecology and Hydrology,
the groundwater level in the Chilgrove well, on the chalk to the west of
Chichester, dropped rapidly from the highs of last winter and was still below
the long term average depth at the end of October. It still had some catching
up to do after the exceptionally dry September.
Unsustainable developments
along the Arun
.JPG)
At the
beginning of December 2014, the government announced a string road “improvements” . Many in southern England are
along the south coast, along the M27-A27 corridor between Southampton and
Lewes. Those in densely populated south Hampshire (mainly road widening) are
closer to home. However, I feel more strongly against the proposals for the A27
through rural Sussex, especially The Arundel bypass. This and the new Chichester
bypass (also on again) were dropped by the Blair government in 2003 on the
grounds that they would be too environmentally damaging. Sadly now, it seems
that protecting the environment, the countryside or people’s health and
wellbeing in the future is deemed less important than growing the economy for
the benefit of vested interests in the road lobby.
The £15 billion
programme comes despite the Chancellor’s insistence that the deficit between public spending and
tax revenue must be cut during the next parliament: reportedly
to the tune of £55 billion. If true, public services – including health, social care,
public transport and local authority budgets would take an even heavier
hammering than they've done up to now. That isn't belt tightening: more twisted prioritising favour of vested interests.
When I first heard
about Arundel in Emma Tristram’s letter to The Guardian, 3rd
December, I was depressed, disappointed and angry. This is a
part of the country I've come to love as an artist, river and downland walker over
several decades. As southeast England goes, this area has remained relatively
unspoilt until now, though the traffic in the area is already off-putting.
The
existing bypass built in the 1970s comprises the A27 coming down the hill from
Crossbush to the east, crossing the railway near the train station; a left turn
at the roundabout; across the Arun downstream of the town centre; then uphill
to the west; with the A284 coming in from the north at another roundabout. The
narrow stretch of road across the railway line near the train station is oppressive.
Though there is a pelican crossing near the roundabout, there is no footway
across the railway bridge. Crossing the A27 here on foot to reach Crossbush Lane
to Warningcamp and Burpham can be nigh impossible. Clearly, then there is big room for
improvement here, but wouldn't it be better to simply widen the existing road and improve the juncitons here rather than build a beefed-up trunk road to the south. SCATE, the South Coast Alliance for Transport and the Environment, have some constructive and
more sustainable ideas here. Not only would they be less environmentally damaging, they would also benefit a wider cross-section of people, including walkers, cyclists and overdue investment in public transport.
The new dual carriageway,
to the south and west of Arundel, will cut across the floodplain and intrude
into the South Downs National Park. To the west of Arundel, it will either
slice through a large area of woodland within the National Park, or damage
the villages of Tortington, Binsted and Walberton. Until now, when I've
walked from Ford to Arundel along the River Arun, I've enjoyed the view
of north upriver to the town and Castle with the Downs behind (picture above, last August). The new road
will cut straight through that. And what will it be like with all the noise,
dust and lorry movements while the road is being built?
If it really must be built,
how about firstly ensuring safe, pedestrian and cycle access along the more
minor but busy roads all along the valley. I’d still like to be able to get off
the train at Ford and walk into Arundel along the river without having to take
my life into my hands crossing a trunk road. Currently, the footpath along the
west bank of the Arun passes under the A27 at the existing bypass bridge. Further
up the valley how about safer crossings where the South Downs Way crosses the
A29 and B2139 across the river at Houghton? There is no footway along the B’road
through Houghton and the traffic over Houghton Bridge is oppressive. This is a
busy road, apparently a cut-through between the A29 and A283 at Storrington.
Experience on the road network
so far has shown that new roads generate more traffic. Before long, the roads
are just as, or even more, congested than they were before - M25, M27 and A34
all notable examples in the south. All the more with chronic under-investment
in public transport, walking or cycling.
The Sussex area is being squeezed at both ends: the growth of outer London
to the north; and ribbon urban development along the south coast. Calls for
expansion of Gatwick Airport with a second runway are growing louder and louder. A decision here looms in 2015. As if the latest road building announcement isn’t enough, I understand from the government report that a study into an orbital
motorway around the M25 is in the offing. I’m also concerned about the potential impacts
of fracking, ie exploitation of shale gas in the Sussex Weald, including
Fernhurst near Blackdown.
The transport sector, particularly road and air, is a major contributor to
human-induced climate change through greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution
through particulates, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide.
Receiving considerably less attention during the first week of December
were press releases about both these issues. The Met. Office say that 2014 was
the hottest year in the UK and globally.
There has been a cluster of such announcements during the past twenty to
thirty years, with records broken seemingly ever year or every other year. If this warming doesn’t reflect the rising levels of greenhouse
gases through human activities – including traffic – what else is doing it?
UK and global temperature
records, 2014
Then, as if to indicate completely disjointed thinking in government,
came a press release from Parliament.uk,
also reported on the BBC News website, about the urgent need to tackle
increasing levels of air pollution.
To quote from the press release from the Department of Transport published on 1st December:
·investing around £350 million to transform the A27, with a new bypass
at Arundel to complete the ‘missing link’, plus further improvements around
Worthing, Lancing and Lewes - this will help the A27 link together as a single
route, supporting the development of the local economy and removing notorious
congestion hotspots .
Uncritical news coverage
and local media give the impression of unanimous public support. According
to SCATE discussions about alternatives to the new bypass were
completely off the agenda during the run-up to the announcement. Subsequently, there’s
has been a drought of follow up news reports or debate, the media quickly
moving on. I don't remember this being so much the case in the 1990s amid the
controversial Twyford Down or the Newbury Bypass. At Twyford Down, near Winchester, the M3 is now routed through an ugly gash in the Downs, instead of a less
visually intrusive but more costly tunnel (unlike on the A3 at Hindhead). Unlike now, road
protests were reported widely. The A34 is the link road between Southampton and the M40 / Midland. It now skirts Newbury and slices
through the Wessex Downs. Unlocking the A34 there has simply shifted the traffic jams north to Oxford.
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