Angry residents reply to Yob Councillor.

A swift rebuttal has come from local residents following the extraordinary outburst reported in the West Sussex County Times and Worthing Herald, when Councillor Pemberton, West Sussex County Council cabinet member for highways and transport said of the A24 Alliance: "I've come to think of the Alliance as a group who oppose road safety and accident reduction. I see them clutching at any straw in the attempt to stop road safety and accident reduction".

Councillor Pemberton has also been reported of accusing the Alliance of being alarmist when they focused on the blight caused by the proposed road scheme, and of praising the skill, professionalism and experience of highways consultants.

Among the letters sent to the local press slating the councillor were:

From John Workman.

I am at a loss to understand "Lt. Col." Pemberton's outburst in last week's paper. His attack on the A24 Alliance is totally unwarranted. He obviously has not taken the trouble to take a look at the Aims of the Alliance, which I have added later on in this letter. I cannot see anything contentious in the Aims at all. It all is plain commonsense, a quality which seems to be lacking in County Hall. Our major consideration is for road safety, accident and speed reduction. We are not against it at all. We think that he should show at least some respect for the perfectly reasonable and legitimate views of the council taxpayers who want to see value for their hard-earned "levies".

We accept that the County Council employs highly qualified road engineers and consultants whose mission in life is to build nice roads. The trouble is that a road once built and widened and "improved " is there forever. Not like houses or barns or shops and many other constructions, which can be bought or knocked down for expediency's sake. We would like the County Council to take its head out of the sand and have another long hard think about what they are proposing and to pay heed to what their employers are saying.

There has been talk of cost benefit analysis of motorway style junctions vis a vis roundabouts. However, to my knowledge, no figures have been published. And in any case the Government has, I understand, changed the method of calculation of cost benefits. So, I ask myself, do the figures really have any meaning? 

I should also like to remind "Lt. Col." Pemberton that his power base depends on a cross on a piece of paper next week .He might find that treating the electorate with lack of consideration for their sensitivities and intelligence could result in him being just an ordinary councillor with no enhanced pay, privileges and expenses. "As ye sow so shall ye reap." 

The any persons who support the A24 Alliance are not nimbys because they are not directly affected by the impact of these wasteful proposals but still view them with a very critical eye. Those that are affected are just being ignored and not even being supported by their local Councillors, some of whom have questioned the extravagance of the scheme but fall into line when it comes to a vote. Is NO ONE prepared to stand up and be counted? Except those who pay the bills.

What about those local residents and business owners who are blighted by the overhand for years of possible Compulsory Purchase Orders or loss of the value of their homes and businesses? They are now stuck in a cleft of uncertainty. They are burning whilst the County Council fiddles.

The trouble is that "Lt. Col." Pemberton and the officers of the County Council have now painted themselves into a corner. There is no money for the grand scheme for four plus years so what happens now to the gaps and crossings? The County Council is not addressing the problem of accidents and road safety because they cannot. They are the last organization to be accusing the A24 Alliance of not being interested in road safety when they are not doing anything about it themselves! The remedy is very simple do as we have been suggesting for the best part of four years- build two roundabouts at Dial Post and the Steyning Road, close the gaps and crossing points and then improve the Buck Barn Crossroads by sorting out the lights sequence and the confusing road configuration when leaving the service station.

Yours faithfully

John Workman

PS .For "Lt. Col." Pemberton's benefit the following are the Aims of the A24
Alliance:-

Against a Regional Route

The A24 Alliance is against the A24 being transformed into a superhighway for regional through traffic connecting the A27 to the M25 which would

. Increase capacity
. Increase speed, resulting in more severe accidents
. Persuade more people to use the private car creating more congestion
. Be unlikely to assist the local economy
. Enable increased opportunities for new large-scale housing such as
doubling the size of Horsham.

For a safe local route

The A24 Alliance is for a safe local route which
. Is for the local, countywide, community and not primarily long-distance
through traffic
. Respects the amenities of the people who live alongside the road
. Respects the amenities of people who live in the broader community
. Is safe for all who use the road whether by car, public transport, cycling
, on foot or on horseback
. Is safe for all who cross the road
. Enable increased use of public transport, cycling and other non-car uses


For protecting the Environment

The A24 Alliance is for a route which
. Does not further damage the environment through which it passes
. Does not further damage natural habitats
. Is no noisier, and preferably quieter, than at present
. Takes no further large quantities of land
. Has a minimum visible aspect on the countryside

The A24 Alliance recognises that changes to the A24 over time may be
necessary, but any such work should be low key and low impact and be in
accord with these aims. Such work could include measures safely to manage
traffic, reduce speed, and stimulate driver concentration

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From Bernard Wiggins.

Dear Sir, 

What on earth makes LT Col Tex Pemberton think that he is the only one who knows best? Politicians always claim that they know best and regularly make bad decisions to the detriment of local people. Indeed history teaches us that those who have lost the argument usually turn to abuse.

If his inflammatory remarks in the WSCT last week, suggesting that the A24 Alliance is " a group opposed to road safety and accident reduction" were designed to offend, he has certainly hit his target. It is well known that the County Council want their own Motorway (M24), (clearly stated in meetings) to the South, WSCC are green with envy of the M23 which falls within the control of East Sussex CC, and far from the A24 Alliance not being interested in accident reduction, it is committed to it.

I travelled up the A24 to London last Saturday (23/4/05) at about noon, and there were two serious accidents southbound where cars had been wrapped round lampposts, and in both cases, the drivers looked to have lost control DUE TO EXCESSIVE SPEED. 

The A24 Alliance wants to stop this massive £24 million unjustified scheme (bound to be £35 million if it ever gets built), instead using roundabouts at a tenth of the cost of WSCC's motorway plan, and greater use of safety cameras at accident black spots. . I live adjacent to the A24, and see the traffic whizzing past my turning at 100 miles per hour plus, having built up speed from Buck Barn crossroads and ignoring the speed warnings at Partridge green B2135 junction. No wonder there is so many accidents at Old Barn Nurseries.

Excessive speed is the overriding reason that accidents happen, and massive grade separated junctions that will increase speeds, and will be paid for by increase council taxes for eternity, are not the answer. Most of the long runs on the A24 without roundabouts are the issue, as the traffic is travelling too fast, WSCC will not put in safety cameras, indeed I was informed at the meeting I attended that WSCC were against speed cameras "because the public don't like them". Well they are putting them on the M4 at Swindon now, so WSCC has a precedent to follow. 

This extremely populist reluctance to use safety cameras proves incontrovertibly that the WSCC plan is to create the M24 and has nothing to do with safety, safety is the "spin pretext". If WSCC were interested in safety, there would be many more mobile/fixed cameras to catch these 100mph+ suicide jockeys who risk other peoples lives as well as their own. Sadly WSCC has now granted itself planning permission, despite WSCC affirming in a Public meeting that it would not be granted until issues over land grab at Buck Barn, and the length of exits and entries to the A24 had been looked into.

Tex Pemberton thinks that he can push this through unchallenged, but is sadly mistaken. You can be sure that the A24 Alliance will fight this unnecessary and extremely expensive scheme to the bitter end, and his unpleasant accusations will ensure that efforts are redoubled. 

Yours faithfully 
Bernard Wiggins

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And on Cllr Pemberton's remark about 'skilled and experienced highways consultants, John Hughes wrote:

What! 'Professional, skilled and experienced highways consultants who have informed decision making of this project…'. mm I don't think so. (Alliance is baffled by A24 decision. WSCT, April 22).

As a 30.000 mile a year business driver, time and time again I see road schemes so badly designed It has made me wonder if it was done on purpose. I'll give just three examples from the patch I cover.

1) The grade separated junction (flyover) on the A27 with the A280 (Patching Pond). Built about 10 years ago to reduce crashes at the previous junction, it has failed miserably. One reason for that, is due to the badly marked out lanes where the slip road for traffic joining the westbound A27 is.

2) The Western roundabout at Fontwell. Who on earth made the decision to direct all westbound traffic into the outside lane? I've lost count of the number of times when either lorry's have clipped their offside rear wheels on the roundabout - due to the reduced manoeuvring area - and flipped over, or some clot has ignored the plan and cut up everyone on the inside.

3) The M27, A27, M275 junction. Traffic coming out of Portsmouth on the 2 lane M275 is faced with eastbound M27/A27 traffic joining one of those lanes blind at high speed. Traffic Police can give the graphic description of the carnage that has occurred there, just the thought of it makes me shudder.

Yours sincerely

John Hughes.

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Editors note.

I remember previous letters from Mr Hughes in which he complained bitterly over the recommendation to close the 'gap' on the A27 at the Hammerpot, preferring instead to see a 60mph limit there and undergrowth removed to improve visibility.

Consultants rejected that, closed the gap and installed camera to enforce a 70mph limit. Today a massive crash involving a 40-ton lorry closed the A27 in both directions there for most of the day.

Computer models will never be able to replace local knowledge and consultants (and councillors) would be wise to have open minds.