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Lord Baker of Dorking: My Lords, will the Minister give way?

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, the noble Lord will take time away from my speech if he interrupts.

Lord Baker of Dorking: My Lords, does the Minister recall that I said that, when there was public consultation, 58 per cent of the local people wanted a dual carriageway over the level crossing? In another survey last year, that rose to 95 per cent. If he wants to talk about democracy, let us have a referendum in the local area to decide on that issue. I will not intervene again but, while he is talking about this road, who made the decision to reduce it from four lanes to three? Was it the Highways Agency or a Minister, and why? We have the width, and four lanes or three lanes are environmentally virtually the same.

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, the noble Lord says that it is environmentally the same, but that is not the view of others. We have to take those issues into account. The road is three lanes rather than four to minimise the environmental effect. He may attest that he has substantial public opinion on his side, but we know the strength of local pressure groups and local opinion on environmental considerations. If one concern unites the nation at present, it is the desperate concern—although we need to improve transport by building better roads and improving roads that we
 
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have—about the extent to which we are obliged to concrete over our environment. Our country is awash with large numbers of people who hold that view.

We must strike a balance between environmental considerations and road building, particularly in an area such as this. As my noble friend Lord Rea indicated, not only is this an area of outstanding natural beauty; it will be a new national park if the current boundaries for the proposed South Downs national park are accepted. So, these are issues which we have to balance.

Our evolving strategy for the A27/A259 trunk road is principally based on decisions which we took following the multi-modal study, to which reference has been made by a number of noble Lords tonight. The study was commissioned by the Government to address the long-term requirements of transport, including road schemes. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport asked the Highways Agency in partnership with local authorities and statutory environmental bodies to look into less environmentally damaging alternative road-based schemes to those recommended by the report. The first outcome of the partnership in West Sussex was a public consultation which we carried out into a package of transport proposals, including road-based and public transport proposals for the City of Chichester, to which the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, referred. The noble Baroness, Lady Fookes, also mentioned the problems around Chichester.

The public exhibition in November and December last year setting out the proposals was well attended by over 2,500 people. The Highways Agency has currently received 4,000 responses. When the consultation is completed at the end of February 2005 the Highways Agency will analyse the responses and report back to transport Ministers. I know that that is not the rather facile suggestion by the noble Lord, Lord Baker, that there should be a referendum. The noble Lord knows only too well that referendums are conditioned by the nature of the question that is addressed. This is a proper consultation carried out in the framework of the development of roads and I think we shall have more insightful answers as a result of this exercise.

Other ongoing work following the multi-modal decision has been the major studies into the traffic issues at both Arundel and Worthing, which have been informed by extensive traffic modelling of the areas. It is generally agreed that there is no simple solution to the problem of traffic congestion in these towns. As has been indicated in this debate—the noble Baroness, Lady Fookes, in particular emphasised this—the route of the trunk road is through densely developed urban areas. The noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, also made that point. In Arundel the road separates the old town centre, including the cathedral and the castle, from the more recent mainly residential development to the south of the town. At this location, approximately four out of five of the vehicles which the A27 is carrying are through traffic; that is, both their origin and destination are away from Arundel. On the other hand, the surrounding countryside is environmentally sensitive and borders the South Downs area of outstanding natural beauty. There
 
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are also other designated sites all round Arundel. The landscape would be seriously affected by an outer bypass of the town. It is for that reason that my right honourable friend reconsidered the issue of the proposal of a bypass for the town. Again, we have to balance these factors.

The Government have asked the Highways Agency, West Sussex and the statutory environmental bodies to look at new proposals for improving the trunk road at Arundel and Worthing. Members from West Sussex County Council met the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Transport in December and were strongly supportive of the joint working at Chichester. If we accept the options for consultation, the next step would be a public consultation to obtain the views of the public and other stakeholders in the region on the way forward for this area.

In East Sussex, complementing and including the major Southerham to Beddingham improvement scheme, the Highways Agency has been working in partnership with the county council and the statutory environment bodies to develop a strategy for the single carriageway length of the trunk road between Beddingham east of Lewes and Polegate, north of Eastbourne. That was the subject of a great deal of the remarks made by the noble Lord, Lord Baker. That study has now been completed and the Highways Agency will be reporting back to Ministers soon with the options for the way forward. If those are acceptable, the next stage will be a public consultation exercise.

There is no doubt that the A27 and the A259 are roads of regional importance. We shall therefore seek advice from regional partners on their priorities for trunk road schemes. They have considered these schemes alongside proposed transport investment by local authorities. However, I take the opportunity of disabusing any notion of the construction of a fresh motorway in this area. I think there was reference to the question of a motorway. Certainly, that is not a realistic proposition.

The Highways Agency has a three-year rolling programme of maintenance and smaller scale improvements to the trunk road. The noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, will be pleased to hear that next month, the construction of a pedestrian footbridge in Worthing will begin as will partial signalisation of the Ashcombe roundabout near Lewes, sometimes referred to as the Kingston roundabout. The noble Lord, Lord, Baker, will know that from time to time the Labour Party Conference is held in Brighton so we all have the opportunity to discover the delights of the A27 and surrounding roads near Brighton and Lewes. I shall join the noble Lord in the delights of the A27 if he will come to some of my northern horrors too and recognise the real difficulties in priority of road expenditure in this country. We shall also consider the development of two existing traffic lights at two locations in Worthing to upgrade them to improve pedestrian safety in the town and one junction, which will have a right-hand turn facility to improve turning for larger vehicles.

I appreciate the point made by my noble friend Lord Rea with regard to road noise. We are aware that the present surface on this quite fast road
 
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produces in many parts what he referred to as white noise generated by the concrete surface. We intend to tackle that. Work will begin next month on the first stage of the resurfacing of the A27 between Havant and Chichester with quieter road surfacing; so I bring a message about some improvement there. The cost of the scheme will be approximately £1 million in this financial year. The Highways Agency is currently considering a timetable for resurfacing the remainder of this section subject to the availability of funding.

Taken together the above proposals and agreed major road improvements, backed by quite significant investment, are an indication of the Government's policy of developing sustainable solutions to the transport problems of the south coast corridor. Ministers are aware of the myth which can surround the economies of certain coastal towns: that because in the past many compared favourably with other parts of the country they belong inevitably to the prosperous south-east with huge advantages over many other parts of the country. That is not the case. A number of town economies are suffering real deprivation and need a transport system which recognises that fact. We recognise that towns such as Hastings have had a more glorious past. Transport is an important factor. Road structure is of some importance.

We have been concerned to put in considerable investment into the region. The sum of £950 million was announced in December 2004 for investment in this southern region. There are many demands upon those resources but it is a reflection of a commitment of public expenditure on transport which other parties will do well to match. It is a reflection of our determination to ensure that the infrastructure for our economy in these terms is greatly improved.

That investment is not only an indication of the Government's policy of developing sustainable solutions to the transport problems of the south coast corridor but also a recognition of the interrelationship between economic development and transport. That is why we are also concerned to see the intensity of investment in all modes of transport—rail as well as road. Rail comes into the A27 equation; namely, the problem with the level crossing. Many level crossings up and down the country cause us concern. However, few roads of the significance of the A27 have a level crossing over such a significant railway line. I agree that the noble Lord, Lord Baker, has the right to express impatience that the issue has not been tackled previously. However, he indicated to the House that he has been campaigning on the issue over many years, so more than one administration has been involved with regard to seeking a successful solution to the problem.

We have had a most interesting debate. I do not underestimate the difficulties surrounding this issue. One of the problems is the enormous disparity between the standards of certain stretches of the road some of which are high. The noble Lord, Lord Baker, indicated that the stretch which runs past Falmouth, from Lewes towards Brighton, is of a high standard. One cannot think of a sharper contrast in that the same designated road is at the centre of two quite substantial towns to the west as it meanders through Arundel and Chichester.
 
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But it will also be recognised that we have real problems with widening and creating a significant development to that road. In other parts of the country, it may be that the land does not present such a challenge as in this part of the world. There is little room for manoeuvre around Worthing. The noble Lord will recognise that, unless we are prepared greatly to defile the countryside. Arundel, too, presents that problem. Chichester is also an extremely difficult town to negotiate in terms of road traffic. But I should tell the noble Lord that that is also the case in other parts of the country. Roads which find their ways across the Pennines also find it quite difficult to become triple and quadruple carriageways against a background where the sheer problems and costs of engineering in places such as that are so acute.

So, I wish to put the issue into context and tell the House that the noble Lord has performed an excellent service. He has done it on behalf, as I understand it, of a number of noble Lords who happen to live in the immediate vicinity. There is no harm in that, although I am not sure that we could produce the same force of argument for roads in other parts of the country as there has been for this part. Nevertheless, the noble Lord deployed his case with his customary skill and charm and he has identified the need for the improvements which we now have in train.

I do not have the slightest doubt that I have failed to reassure him on every single point he made regarding this road. But he will take some solace, I hope, in the recognition that along the length of the road we are effecting some improvements and, crucially, a major improvement for the benefit of road users' journey times. I pay tribute to the noble Lord for emphasising early in his remarks that the safety factor should equally be taken fully into account. Towards that end the construction of a bridge over the line of the present level crossing is an important contribution towards that end.

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