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The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Dr. Stephen Ladyman): I begin by congratulating the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Nick Herbert) on securing the debate and on the passion with which he has put his case. I am delighted to hear that he spends his Sunday evenings watching my brief appearance on television. I regard it as no shame whatever that Dame Ellen beat my time very considerably. I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman watched last night and saw that Nigel Mansell did even better, which I put down to the fact that I had lunch with him on Tuesday and gave him a few tips.
I hear the case that the hon. Gentleman makes and I understand his passion and that of his hon. Friends who have intervened in the debate. I rather suspect that, while I am fortunate enough to hold this office, I will hear more and more questions, address more and more Adjournment debates and have more and more meetings with the relevant Conservative Members as we take the process forward.
I remind the hon. Gentleman that he said that it has been 20 years since the scheme was first proposed. By my arithmetic, that means that the Government whom he supported ignored it for 12 years. He might like to take that point up with the hon. Member for Worthing, West (Peter Bottomley), who is in his place behind him and was a transport Minister for part of that time.
Tim Loughton:
Let me offer the Minister a truce. Rather than having lots of meetings with me and other West Sussex Members or face Adjournment debates at this late hour, will he agree to come down to West Sussex, as I have requested before, and see for himself at first hand the congestion and problems that occur on the A27 in Worthing, Lancing, Chichester and Arundel? I, for one, would refrain from detaining him here late at
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night if only he would offer to come and meet some local people who have to face those problems every day of every year.
Dr. Ladyman: I would not rule out visiting the area at some point in the future, but I would like to see the regional advice first and then I will need to prioritise the various visits that I make around the country. I will certainly come down at some point, but I am not promising to do so in the immediate future.
Peter Bottomley: I am grateful to the Minister, who is a good fellow, for giving way. Twenty years ago, I had not yet become the Minister for Roads and Traffic; my predecessor was in office. When I was a Minister and saw what happened at Crossbush, I asked my officials whether it would be right to build the Crossbush section. They said yes, so we did it at Clapham and Patching. I suggest that the Minister ask his officials whether it would be right to build the Arundel bypass and then get on with relieving Chichester, Worthing, Shoreham and Lancing. He might then find that the ratio was right. In my day, Ministers said, "Is it necessary, is it right, will it work? Let's do it."
Dr. Ladyman: That is no different from what Ministers say these days. In fact, that was the reason why we commissioned the south coast multi-modal study, which the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs mentioned. Our continuing strategy is based on that study. I would ask Conservative Members to acknowledge at least that the area through which the A27 runs is environmentally sensitive. Indeed, for the greater part of its length through the two counties, the A27 is either inside or forms the boundary of the South Downs area of outstanding natural beauty. That was the principal reason why we asked the Highways Agency to work in partnership with local authorities and statutory environmental bodies to identify less environmentally damaging, alternative schemes to those recommended by the SoCoMMS report.
Good progress is being made on all these proposals. The first outcome of the partnership in West Sussex was the public consultation on a package of transport proposalssome road-based and some public transport-basedfor the city of Chichester. The public exhibition in November and December 2004 setting out the proposals was attended by 2,600 people and the Highways Agency received nearly 10,000 responses. It has completed its analysis of them and is finalising the scheme assessment, taking on board the views expressed during the consultation.
In East Sussex, the public inquiry into the Southerham to Beddingham improvement to the east of Lewes ended last month. The inspector's report is expected early next year, so I am severely limited in the detail that I can go into, but subject to the inquiry's outcome, that scheme is still on target for a programmed commencement of works in 200607. Following the SoCoMMS decision, other ongoing work includes major studies of traffic issues at both Arundel and Worthing. It is generally agreed that there is no simple solution to the problems in those towns.
As the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs said, the A27 separates the old town centre of Arundel, including the cathedral and the castle, from the more
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recent, mainly residential development to the south of the town. Approximately four out of five vehicles on the A27 at Arundel are through trafficin other words, both their origin and destination is outside the town. On the other hand, the surrounding countryside is environmentally sensitive and borders the South Downs area of outstanding natural beauty. There are also other designated sites near Arundel, so any outer bypass of the town would seriously affect that landscape. That was the case for the proposals recommended by SoCoMMS.
At Worthing, the trunk road route passes through densely developed urban areas, and I appreciate the problems that that brings to the town. However, the proposals recommended by SoCoMMS consisted of a series of four tunnels each up to 2 km long, with major road developments in betweenall located within the South Downs area of outstanding natural beauty. Not only was the scheme environmentally damaging, the cost of the tunnels alone would have made it unaffordable. I remind Members present that I recently called for a review of the Stonehenge tunnel when that scheme's cost rose to £470 million. The Stonehenge scheme involved just one 2 km tunnel, not four.
The problems at Worthing are exacerbated not only by the dense urban areas but, as I said earlier, by the fact that the boundary of the South Downs area of outstanding natural beauty comes right up to the urban area of Worthing and Lancing. It is therefore proving to be very difficult to find an acceptable working solution to the problems associated with the A27 at that location.
Mr. Tyrie: I agree that the Minister is a good chap, as my hon. Friend the Member for Worthing, West (Peter Bottomley) said a moment ago, but I really do think that he is slightly off the rails now. He has said four times that the proposed road improvements are close to an area of outstanding natural beauty and that they might cause environmental damage. Surely we need some joined-up government, particularly in the Chichester area but throughout the region. Will the Minister speak to his opposite numbers and do something about the huge amount of house building that is going on, which is creating the demand on the road and generating the pressure? One lot are building the houses while the other lot are saying that we cannot improve the road because it is near an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Dr. Ladyman: I assure the hon. Gentleman that in respect of all the assessments that I have mentioned this evening, I have asked the Highways Agency, in undertaking them, to take account of any proposed house building in the area. The fact that development will take place in the area will be taken into account when the road building decisions are made.
I want to say a little more about the scheme in East Sussex that complements the major Southerham to Beddingham improvement scheme. In line with our announcement on the multi-modal study, the Highways Agency has been working in partnership with the county council and the statutory environmental bodies to identify longer-term improvements to the single carriageway length of trunk road between Beddingham, east of Lewes, and Polegate, north of Eastbourne, including possible bypasses at Selmeston and Wilmington. Again, that is an environmentally sensitive area and it is proving difficult to find solutions.
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On the points that the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs made about the regional funding allocation process, we expect to receive by the end of January 2006 the South East England Regional Assembly's advice on which transport schemes should be given funding priority.
With the exception of the Southerham to Beddingham improvement scheme, which is already committed to, all the A27 improvement schemes that I have mentioned so farat Chichester, Arundel, Worthing, Selmeston and Wilmingtonhave been included in the prioritisation exercise. It seems to me, therefore, that the hon. Gentleman would do well to make his representations in the region, to raise the priority of the proposals. He says that the schemes are strongly supported, but is the support strong enough for the region to put them into the top priority category of the schemes that it wishes to move forward most urgently?
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