A27 Polegate to Lewes road needs sorting: Out in the Field

And while tolerance and patience have never been my strongest traits, I am these days even more frustrated when the simplest of things turn into some gargantuan effort tied up with endless reams of red tape and bureaucratic balderdash. This week I have rolled my eyes on countless occasions as able-bodied food delivery drivers continue to take over disabled spaces in Cornfield Road even though the regulations can now be enforced and they can be handed penalty notices for stopping there.

Then there’s the issue of litter in hedges with local authorities saying the rubbish can’t be cleared along busy A roads and dual carriageways unless lanes are closed. And to do that permits have to be issued. Presumably rubber-stamped with the blood of a Vietnamese warthog born under a full moon.

Everything takes so long to sort. And so much effort.

Like decent cycle paths so those of us on two wheels don’t take our life in our hands every time we hop on our bikes to go into town.

The latest saga to get my heckles rising and blood pressure at boiling point is the issue of the A27 Polegate to Lewes An email from the campaign group Scate East Sussex dropped into my inbox renewing its call for improvements to the existing – accident blackspot – road and opposition to any new offline dual carriageway, which has already been proposed from Cophall Roundabout to say Beddingham.

Ten miles in 10 minutes, a super highway if you like between Lewes and Polegate.

Such a plan would leave the A27 to become a far quieter road where people could pootle along visiting the quaint villages and it could become the gateway for the South Downs. Not according to Scate East Sussex though.

The group’s research shows a new offline road would “massively increase greenhouse gas emissions, quite apart from costing up to a billion pounds and causing catastrophic harm to the wildlife and environment”.

A spokesperson goes on to report the “sustainable alternative, based on brownfield land and the existing road and making judicious improvements to improve safety and traffic flow allied with better rail, bus and facilities for non-motorised users will deliver a safer road fit for purpose with significantly lower carbon emissions in construction and use and with minimal damage to the environment – all at a much lower cost to the public purse”.

That’s as maybe but we all know this is row has been going on for donkey’s years and this is our once in a lifetime chance to get something done, and attract back businesses who shipped out of town long ago due to the appalling transport route heading west towards Brighton and beyond.

That’s something for – this time next week – our newly elected councillors on East Sussex County Council to get their teeth into so this particular problem doesn’t take another 25 years to sort.

It’s election day across the county – and in Eastbourne for people living in Hampden Park and Sovereign wards – next Thursday (May 6) and without wanting to sound like a broken record, make sure you cast your vote.

Even in this day and age many people still do not have the right or freedom to vote in a democratic process. Make your voice heard.