LETTER: What were the instructions?

I read with some concern your report of the statement made by the Highways England senior project manager for the A27 consultation.

She said that: “It is clear from the thousands of conversations we had with local people that upgrading the A27 is a high priority for Chichester.”

This is totally misleading. I know that in very many of those conversations the ‘upgrading’ which people wanted was actually a northern bypass (which, many people might not know, is exactly what is wanted by the Road Transport Association). We were told this was no longer on the agenda and the consultation was now only about upgrading of the access roundabouts on the A27 to improve flow of through traffic. But Option 2 is not an upgrade. It is a proto-southern bypass which would cost more than a simple northern bypass, would cause years of chaos from road building, and would be generally catastrophic for people on the Manhood peninsula.

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When pressed about this she said Highways England could only do what government instructed them to do.

What precisely were those instructions? We know that Option 2 is being vigorously promoted by ‘northern interests’.

Theresa May has said: “The Government I lead will be driven not by the interests of the privileged few.”

Is this to be a test case?

Professor Harold Baum

Hersee Way

Selsey