My England: The New A27 Road will Cut Across this Landscape.

[@mehmetkosal6344]

Your efforts to be sensitive to nature and your environment and convey these beauties to other people are truly admirable. I wish more people like you. I hope that the value of this natural coherence and harmony that relieves people will be realized. Otherwise, living for physical needs without thinking about other creatures makes humanity a despicable beast. We follow you.

[@lesleymetthews4590]

I agree with you Mehmet

[@mehmetkosal6344]

@Kyle Abbott I do not know English as much as you do. There are so many different people in our given world. Along with other creatures, man has been given many abilities and emotions. For example, mind, empathy, choosing, wondering about your future. When he can use these abilities correctly, he can make all the beings around him and himself happy. Sometimes mishaps and apparently ugliness can occur. Effort is from us, from the creator of help. Good luck with you all the time.

[@tallpojjy]

A very sensitive video, wonderful music and beautiful scenery. Such a pity if it were lost forever.

[@thecaptainjones]

Good video Richard. "Progress" seems inevitable so thank you for documenting a bit of "what it was like before".

[@jonathanfox1355]

Heartbreaking. Thank you B.E for highlighting these things. Keep up the good work

[@marksadventures3889]

Put more freight on rails, take more wagons off roads, increase tax and costs on Chelsea Tractors and cut all tax on electric vehicles. As for places to build there are enough Brown sites all over the UK that can be used. It's social housing we need not palatial penthouses for the rich and greedy instant profits. In Burnley I counted over 200 empty properties for dereliction and Bury, Accrington, Blackburn and more have the same problem.

[@davidbarlow350]

Welcome to Comrade Johnson's Marxist Britain. You'll certainly fit in.

[@andrewbaker6214]

How about having to retake your driving test every 3 years ie earn the right to be able to drive a vehicle and drive it properly and respect other road users - not expect to be entitled to drive a vehicle and screw other road users - that might get quite a lot off the road. Make vehicles that cannot exceed 70mph and vans 50mph. All lorries/buses to be electric.

[@shirleylynch7529]

Very moving comments. What a beautiful place and so sad to think that a good bit of it will soon be a busy road. But as you say what can we do. We are like the lone voice in the wilderness. Beautiful music very apt.

[@denniskavanagh3075]

Thanks Richard for this very emotional Video and Talk. They will probably keep the existing A27 open as an alternative route for when the new 4 lane A27 is clogged with traffic!!

[@MrGreatplum]

A very thoughtful video The A27 alternates along its route from being fit for purpose and woefully inadequate. The route west from the weird half built interchange at cross bush (where you can see where the road was originally planned to continue) up to the point where it becomes dual carriageway again west of Arundel can be pretty grim. What I don’t understand is why the existing road couldn’t be improved / widened with much less impact on the countryside. The only “positive” I can think of is that the number of petrol / diesel cars will start to decrease rapidly over the next 10-20 years so it will reduce pollution and noise but that doesn’t outweigh the loss of the land.

[@RichardVobes]

There is such a small stretch that would need to be widened too

[@MrNas42]

the solution is to REDUCE car use!

[@grantkelley6840]

Well recorded Richard. It’s a very sore subject. But I agree with you. There’s to much building of roads and house. 👍👍👍👍

[@tw2210]

Thanks for the video Richard.

[@helenyoung8012]

It is very difficult for Farmers to stop their land being purchased. We lost out when they needed to build a new sewerage works for Selsey. They don’t make land anymore. Once built over it is gone.😢

[@mawkernewek]

only the Dutch, and since #Brexit...

[@philliphammond399]

Hi Richard, totally agree with all you said. Thank you for the information.

[@jonnyhuk2]

Trouble is, we have a growing population and a huge demand for housing. Literally 10s of thousands of homes are being built along the South Coast and you need the infrastructure to support that growing population. Currently the A27 passes through Arundel with regular stop start traffic. It can take half an hour to do the few miles that this proposed route will bypass. Don't forget you create a lot less pollution when cruising through at 70mph than if you're in a stop start traffic jam. Just a few miles west, the Chichester to Havant A27 bypass was opened around 1990. That was built on farm land. No one is complaining about it now, certainly not the residents in the villages along the old route (now the A259) but boy, what a difference that road made to travel times!

[@chuengueyhwang8558]

Fantastic capture. Thank you for sharing it.

[@jym225]

Many thanks for this very informative video. Much appreciated. Sadly, this country of ours is too overcrowded, so this countryside destruction will continue. It’s awful.

[@Gez-C]

Great video! I would imagine when the new road is built the current road would be used as a service road, further afield I know when they built the Hindhead tunnel the old road was converted back in to woodland and can walk along it now

[@damien1166]

Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone they paved paradise put up a parking lot. (Joni Mitchell -1970)

[@francisbee69]

Great song, great lyrics, even more appropriate now. Love Joni.

[@the-beatles-01]

I understand what you are saying, we all hate change, the fields I played in as a child is now a housing estate, your house was built on a place that was a beautiful field once I am sure.

[@CharlieCooper3101]

Good video Richard, it is sad they have to put part of the A27 through a lovely forest and woodland and farmland, but if they have to I guess they have too. It looks like a lovely place to go. I'm gunna have to go there one day before they build the new road. A nice little stream and bridge there too.

[@scottglasspool01]

Thank you so much for highlighting the blight that will be the new road. From Binsted the road will cut through past the Black horse pub, over Yapton lane and into the grounds of the Avisford park hotel. Past the back of Walberton primary school and into Tye lane where it will have it's maximum impact towards a human population and at the cost of £450 million. Plenty of protest signs in Walberton, also a stunningly beautiful village with a 1000 year old yew tree at the village church and lovely pond.

[@jonnyboy2128]

With all the blighting of the landscape maybe that’s why it’s called Blighty? 😀 Tragedy. Maybe there are just too many people in beautiful England?

[@SteveKxyz]

I'm with you Richard. It's all so depressing. Also you loose the peace and quiet; it seems you cannot get away from road noise these days. Houses up to the bypass - I wouldn't be surprised.

[@CosmicClaire99]

I had to force myself to watch this Richard as I knew it would upset me to see the beautiful Sussex countryside that I grew up in under the axe like this. Here too in Yorkshire most of the spaces around in my little valley that were green when I came here twenty five years ago have been built on. It's not the fault of the people who need houses but rather the planners who mastermind the social engineering and the immigration for purely economic ends, of which they are the principle beneficiaries.

[@leighlawson4854]

There has been a lot of publicity in the area, on social media and elsewhere about this for a long time, with petitions etc but all to no avail it seems. You made a good video 'Save Binsted Woods' talking to Emma Tristram in July 2018.

[@robintripp8164]

What a profound video Richard, especially the section where you listen to the beautiful silence. This war on nature and landscape is sadly not a new phenomena, which at least in the area that I live ( Ruislip in North west London ) has been raging since at least the 1930's. The ancient woodland of Ruislip was only narrowly saved from developers that long ago, and further devastation in the area only averted strangely enough by the coming of WW2. What was saved back then is now being butchered by HS2.

[@andyjarman4958]

The opening scene of the Vicar of Dibley features a chalk hill riven in two by such a road. You know, someone mortgaged their home to pay the legal fees to fight that road going through. Can't watch the repeats without wondering where that gallant soul lives now.

[@idol782001]

Wow! 200 subs more to 20k congrats Richard!👍

[@RichardVobes]

Thanks! 😃

[@jillageinthevillage8481]

There is a lot of opposition against the road from Binsted and Walberton where most people will be affected. There has been a lot of signs up but they seem to mysteriously disappear.

[@lindakane4717]

This video left me feeling tearful. I feel your sadness, Richard . I guess maybe those affected by the road have almost stopped 'banging their heads against the brick wall 'of what is seen as ' progress'- absolutely no consideration taken of the views of locals as is always the case nowadays . The only 'good' thing about this route is that it avoids most of Binstead Woods. Maybe speak again to Emma Tristram who was in the video you made about the possibility of the road going through them. That route was turned down and the decision by the Highways Agency for this' grey' route was announced in the middle of the pandemic ( Oct 2020) !!!! Much opposition to it as it divides villages, runs just yards from Binstead Church and will require compulsory purchase of some newly built houses !! and of course goes across prime farm land . Will involve long sections of viaduct high above the flood plain too. Also the longest and most expensive option. I'm sure widening the existing road would be less damaging ie Crossbush to join the existing dual carriageway .

[@scottfw7169]

"If you can hear the silence" :)

[@vishengro]

I’m completely with you on this one!

[@bexhil7]

Another great video on The New A27 Road will Cut Across this Landscape.!.😍

[@jamesgilbart2672]

Yes, it's difficult to reconcile the pressure to improve roads and building houses with the preservation of the countryside. On the A27 issue, I think that sorting the route through Worthing should be the priority - preferably via a long tunnel to prevent any new road from spoiling the downs around the town

[@MrFalconhead]

Living in Brighton i have travelled the A27 a lot and it was always wierd and fun in a way, to see the end of the original plan for the A27. The bypass just comes to a stop suddenly, you have to take the offramp but the bypass continued just a little bit, then fields. I guess they didnt have the permission but was certain they would get it but never did. If you look on a map and come along from the east towards Arundel, you can see where its wierd and has to go around those fields, it always facinated me that. I will make an effort to go and see these beautiful looking spots before they are gone forever.

[@orange70383]

The government will set-up wonderful virtual hikes for the people, they'll experience all of natures subtle sounds through their earbuds and feel a crisp spring mornings breeze if they pay extra for the fan.

[@rgibbfan]

Well this has the feel of the Bexhill to Hastings link road - which was carved through beautiful countryside to apparently ease traffic congestion on the coast road between Bexhill and Hastings (which oddly is still congested). The development of 100's of houses along it has now begun.........

[@craigjackson3744]

Could not agree more Richard totally runins the great British countryside by building new house's on such beautiful landscapes.

[@raybeverton9969]

Thanks Richard, for the informative video. Let’s hope that the new road keeps the traffic away from some of the beauty spots! Is all the “building work” really needed, or is it just to keep people employed? I suspect that the ordinary “man in the street” is constructively kept in ignorance, for reasons not known to me! Please keep on exploring and revealing the Nature and History surrounding us.

[@davidbarlow350]

They already built by-pass around Arundel,and the expansion road , of the dual carriageway is already in place by the services .Why can't they simply extend that road to just beyond Arundel by the Swan pub,and simply extend the dual carriageway? As per usual it's maximum destruction and to hell with it. In my experience the A27 has never been that much of a problem,and not having to wind through Arundel made a massive improvement.

[@briandavis6984]

Such lovely countryside destroyed forever . It's the same where I live where woodland is earmarked for warehousing . A place of beauty gone and nature . A place to escape the rush of modern life .

[@FredWilbury]

This video made me so sad Richard especially when you were stood on that little bridge 😢 fred

[@tammieparrishmiller3669]

They've done the same over here Richard. The homes are gawdy and grossly too large for a family to live without so much of it wasted. When I grew up, we didn't have much, but we lived with my Grandmother and she lived in a nice home, but it was rather ridiculous because we didn't have much in the way of clothes. I'm getting off topic. It's just a shame to see your beautiful countryside turn into a concrete speedway. People should come together to protest! It's hard to believe they aren't!

[@errollwithtwolsplease1038]

As always, Richard, a very interesting video, thank you. Perhaps you could get someone from Arundel Alternative on to talk about their solution to the problem, which seems to make sense.

[@martinbeardmore7533]

I remember my mother taking my brother and l, before we were old enough to go to school, for summer walks in a beatuful area with large mature trees and open fields. The sense of space and fresh air inspired me however one day we were stopped by large yellow diggers carving great muddy swathes into the quiet lane and the trees being felled. It was a shock and felt awful. That area is now the Chelmsley Wood housing estate in Birmigham a massive development built in the 60s. I remember returning home that day shocked and dissapointed. Like taking a beautiful oil painting and shredding it. Its the same today. The reality of progress. We are a progressive nation and we gobble up land. Let's hope the new A27 is done sensitively.

[@kezzaba1]

How many years will it be before the new bit of road starts to snarl up? There will be talk of widening and so it goes on. It’s like all this house building going on where I live. Each plan is getting bigger and bigger. The latest is for 2500 houses on a flood plain and once again we are promised lots of affordable homes. Not for the people who already live here. But as the developer is the Grosvenor Estates owned by the Duke of Westminster it is clear what they see as affordable!

[@MrR777]

very important video. thankyou for highlighting this great sadness. surely it should be us that changes and not the landscape. instead of pouring millions into roads why don't they pour millions into cheap and effective public transport, like in Holland. People dont go by train because the trains are crap, ridiculously expensive and inefficient. make it easy, cheap and convenient and cheaper than owning a car and the world would change. Beeching was a dark moment in history. Would love to see you explore West Grinstead.

[@credenza1]

This is the last generation in which a large number of people have connection to the landscape through relatives or friends in farming or forestry. With the aggregation of farms and the mechanization of agriculture, the population becomes increasingly disconnected from the land, and therefore their own genetic and cultural roots. All culture comes in the first instance from the landscape. This is what gives a culture its authenticity and beauty. Disconnected populations can only have an artificial, manufactured culture, full of contradictions, conflicts and ugliness.

[@andyjarman4958]

There IS a limit to how much can be squeezed into a little island. Trouble is as the point gets closer and closer people acclimatise and accept the 'new normal' state of degradation.

[@francisbee69]

Excellent video. The word progress is vastly overused and misused. Progress towards what one wonders? The ‘progress’ we have been witnessing is actually taking us further away from where we should be going, towards localism, smaller self supporting communities. Whether this road and others like it actually get built or not, I feel strongly that we are turning a corner toward a much more enlightened age.

[@MrAg272]

Hello Richard. A beautiful Vlog of your walk. This is happening right here where I live. In Penrith NSW Australia. Plus all over Australia. Roads are being bulldozed through prime farming land. Four lane and six lane Motorways Bulldozed through Pristine land destroying trees and forests that have been there thousands of years. None of these roads are needed here. Within three years the huge Motorways like WestConnex and SouthConnex here will be carparks. We need decent fast trains here. We need decent bus routes here. But no, Developers control All the city Councils in Australia. Developers control All our State governments. Mega rich Developers building roads to nowhere. Why? Just to make Big money on these huge road projects. By the way, ALL these Rich Developers live Nowhere near these motorways. I feel the same is in the UK, Greedy Developers only in it for the Big money. Do not give a damn about the people who will being living with these noisy roads right up to the back fences of their homes. I hope this A27 new road is Stopped.

[@darrenhowell7855]

If you go on the Walberton Against A27 Grey Route on Facebook, it tells you everything about it.

[@lizwilliams14]

I loved your video but it made me sad at the same time. It’s such shame that the lovely quiet countryside has to be blighted like that. When I moved to Canada, my parents lived in Westerham, Kent. It was a lovely drive through small towns from Purley where I lived, to get there. The second time I went for a holiday the M25 had been built. It was several visits later before I realized as we belted along surrounded by other cars, that Clacket Lane services was actually Westerham although it bore no resemblance to what I remembered! More countryside ruined.

[@davidreidy2263]

Do not worry, Westerham still exists. Winston Churchill still sits large upon the green and at least the lorries on the M25, no longer go through the village. 👍

[@lizwilliams14]

@@davidreidy2263 yes. I suppose the residents of Arundel etc get fed up with traffic thundering through there too. Pluses and minuses I guess.

[@scottfw7169]

Paused at 2:27 to write this, after backing up from the 3:00 point. Looking at existing A-27 through Arundel on Google Maps satellite view, it looks like it could be widened with little destruction of existing structures until what I'm going to call a bottleneck at west side of traffic circle between Park Bottom and Torton Hill Road. Wonder what new A-27 route is going to do to the environment, and hence business, at Brooklands Barn Retreat, and Hanger Down House Bed and Breakfast, and Billycan Camping, there between Arundel and Tortington?

[@johnbyrne2756]

A27 STOP STOP START (verse 3 of 6) Once the wheel was duly invented Huge challenges were presented Now lorries to docks Hauling cup cakes and clocks Use the road far more than intended JB 19 (to be continued)

[@imranzazai7404]

England is very interesting country.

[@peterhobbs7609]

Another great video Richard, such a shame that so much beautiful countryside will be lost now and in the future, so difficult to balance preservation against so called progress to accommodate the motor car, getting more like the USA everyday sadly, but I guess you can’t stop progress and the need for everyone to everywhere quickly

[@bullettube9863]

The problem I see from America is that England is a small country with a lot of people. It's amazing when I see your highways jammed with thousands of vehicles and how little space you have to build upon. You whole country is becoming like California without the sunshine and you really need to carefully think about what you are doing with your land. Building a bypass on the A27 will alleviate traffic problems, and make travel on the southern coast more efficient, and does go around the Downs park. But super highways take up a lot of land, and poses a barrier to the movement of wildlife and water. Losing farmland in a country that already can't feed itself should also be a prime concern. Here's hoping you figure it out!

[@steamsearcher]

In fact there are YOUNG PEOPLE who are also passionate about our country and what is happening to it. And indeed got to meet one of the most vocal messengers standing up for things. In fact got to know him personally and even went camping with. The trouble was that the government wanted to put him in Prison and indeed did. So it seems that we are STUFFED. I cant even say his name on here! STUFFED. David and Lily.

[@journeyswithjodi621]

One thing I always loved when I lived in Britain and traveled there was using the public transportation, especially trains. I love train travel. Are more people driving instead nowadays?

[@voicesfromtheshed9221]

I live in the area and do hope that you come back to our villages and walk the rest of the route from Binsted across the rife valley and in to Walberton to see just how much destruction this route will cause. Truly a blight. This is the worst route option and if you come in to walberton you will see much more in the way of protest signs.

[@traceystickland-mottram8021]

A sad reflection on how little our beautiful island is valued. It seems to be happening all over. Once you get a new bypass, that's a green light for infill housing, more housing, more people, more cars on and on it goes.😢

[@jeaniepullen9434]

Why do we have to devastate our countryside for the sake of yet another dual carriageway. Thanks Richard for a great video, even though sad

[@johnbrownboots9884]

No need to build new roads if we turned around what Beeching did Most of the tunnels , bridges, cuttings , embankments etc, are still there . They should be used.

[@jg9752]

In the last public consultation only 7% of respondents favoured the Grey Route but Highways England selected it anyway. HE is a road building company so for them the longer the better. The Grey Route does not pass south of Binstead village but cuts it in two and passes within 10 metre of the wall of its Grade 2 listed church. It also passes close to a primary school and has already blighted a new housing development (on a green field site of course) because who wants to live next to a 4 lane highway. BTW, the Binstead area is of significant historical importance (Anglo-Saxon) and is one of the most biodiverse parts of the country with rare and endangered species such as dormice and a large number of species of bats. Contrary to the claims that the Grey Route saves both ancient woodland and the South Downs National Park it does neither as it severs the patchwork of habitats, threatening the existence of wildlife species and impact the setting to the national park. There is a cheaper and far less destructive alternative but HE refused to put it forward as an option for consideration it because they said it would be at capacity by something like 2046. If government transport policy is going to allow the number of road vehicles to rise unabated into the future then our problems are clearly very serious.

[@RichardVobes]

I hope to go back and see where the route is going.

[@michaelmiller641]

Salut D'amour! It is sad what's happening to the countryside, it's happening here in Chatham, more precisely, Darland

[@chriskirk966]

Man has been re-engineering his environment to improve his economics since he first arrived in the landscape, as many of your videos show us. This particular development is a bit strange in that it will allow motorists to hurtle from the traffic jam in Chichester to the traffic jam in Worthing 10 minutes quicker than they do at the moment. Probably be another 100 years before they blast it all the way through to Eastbourne. Why can't we have a proper blighting of the countryside like HS2 is doing. Still they are doing their level best for the residents of Tortington, there's a monster refuse incinerator projected to the south of them that should shower them with pollutants and fill their country lanes with HGVs.

[@johnbyrne2756]

A27 STOP STOP START (verse 2 of 6) He built his new road in a day Made mainly of some sort of clay Not a motor in sight It was clear day and night Not the merest hint of delay JB 19 (to be continued)

[@credenza1]

I suggest they dig a deep ditch for the A27 to run along, thereby diminishing the degradation of the landscape. It could be called the A27-hole.

[@katherinekinnaird4408]

I live in Bakersfield California USA and Freeway 99 foes exactly that for a few miles right through town. 8 also cuts down in the noise to have the roadway in a hole. I'm sorry for those who want to keep their lane . What is rightfully already theirs. God bless you all.

[@charliegould5865]

I was born and bred in a small Sussex village, I’ve always lived in Sussex and I don’t want to live anywhere else other than Sussex. So I’m deeply saddened at what’s happening to my beloved Sussex, it’s slowly disappearing under new developments all over the place. All the small villages and hamlets all being expanded out of all proportion, they are losing their character and charm because of the rate of expansion.places like Southwater and Billingshurst are now totally unrecognisable from what they were 40 years ago. Indeed just a couple of miles south of Billingshurst, Adversane which is at the moment just a crossroad junction with a pub and a few houses is under threat of having 3,000 houses dumped on it. These are just a very few examples, there are loads of other places which the developers have completely ruined. Our biggest problem in Sussex is it’s not far enough from London, it’s easy to live in Sussex and work in London. Hence our eye watering house prices due to high salary earners being able to pay top prices for any house they fancy. Most young people starting out now can’t afford to live here and are having to move away, or never be able to buy a home of their own. It’s happened in Cornwall with the weekend cottages or second occasional home epidemic, it’s happening in Sussex as well. Any unused farm buildings are now converted into houses that have been well over priced to satisfy the city dwellers need for the country cottage to be used at the odd weekend. And now since the pandemic there’s even more people who now want to move out of the city into the countryside, they don’t realise that by doing so the housing developments that will have to be built are destroying the beautiful countryside they want to come and live in! It’s heartbreaking to see huge areas disappearing forever under housing and road developments. Just like the new bypass around Arundel. The next problem will be at Worthing with that section of the A27, I can see yet another huge swath of countryside disappearing somewhen in the future.

[@MrNas42]

This bypass, is being built to bypass an existing bypass, that has been chocked beyond it's capacity. If this project is completed, it will likely offer free flow of traffic for no longer than ten years, before it too, starts to become congested. Until we, and I mean ALL of us, stop expecting to travel where we wish, when we wish, by private transport (cars), this will continue exponentially. Now where is my jet pack???

[@davidbarlow350]

Surely the congestion is caused by the two roundabouts either end of the existing by-pass? Why not simply use the already constructed dual carriageway extension road by the services and route the road to near the Swan pub which would free the traffic? You don't need to cut through acres of farmland to sort the problem out.

[@johnbyrne2756]

I suppose those living in the small jammed bottle necked villages that the A27 has by-passed over the years must see a new road around their territory as a godsend and I include Chichester in that.....

[@davidbarlow350]

@@johnbyrne2756 There are no "jammed bottle neck villages"as the A27 is all dual carriageway,apart from about a mile westbound out of Arundel,and this already avoids all the villages. Go visit the Black Horse at Binstead,of the A27 and not "bottle necked".

[@Angloman516]

@@davidbarlow350 It was very much a consideration of mine, a flyover over the river and existing roundabout connecting up with existing dual carriageway west of the Swan. As I understand it there was much local opposition in Arundel to that idea being so close to the town.

[@davidbarlow350]

@@Angloman516 I don't quite see why they objected considering it would have taken traffic further away from the town,and there's not many houses on the route (if any).

[@barryrice157]

Brilliant video Richard. I sometimes wonder what will happen when humans are gone. Will there be another technologically advanced species? Will they discover our remains ? Will they know that we built roads for transport and built houses to live in? What will they make of our landfills? Will they realise that we were destroying the world? Or will we eventually master interstellar travel and move out across the galaxy like a plague?

[@johnbyrne2756]

Brilliant stuff Barry -- what an imagination! Give this man an extra house point Richard!

[@barryrice157]

@@johnbyrne2756 thank you.

[@orangeedo]

Every 200 years or so the sun lets out a solar flare big enough to put us back to the stone age. We're about due. The quiet sun has allowed this. Some humans will survive but they'll be back to living in balance.

[@johnbyrne2756]

@@barryrice157 Very thought provoking Mr Rice and what is needed....

[@barryrice157]

@@johnbyrne2756 we now, more than ever, need to learn to control our population growth and not the environment in which we live. We can not continue to infinitely grow in finite space with finite resources. We've seen what happened to the Aztecs, Incas, ancient Egypt when they became to big.

[@heidicash4772]

The way this country is going we will literally have no countryside left ,very sad

[@warrengile1034]

Hi Richard I love using my local footpaths and travel yonder far but now they are going to build on the area. I am saddened about how little care is being taken toward our natural land. How do you cope with this ecocide? It depresses me, footpaths are the most beautiful and free way of cleansing the mind.

[@RichardVobes]

It is a very sad thing.

[@Rovinman]

They build roads across fields, because it's CHEAPER. It costs MONEY to buy peoples property. Maybe they should double stack the road, over the existing road. I don't think that will go down too well ! Actually the noise polution should, in time, decrease, as electric vehicles take over. So it might not disturb the countryside as much as you think. With appropriate reforestation and planting, and charging the planning departments £10,000 (?) per tree ring, per tree cut down. In Malaysia it was worthwhile MOVING a tree, which was going to be too costly to cut down, at the Twin Towers, in KL. So there are ways round the problems. Good luck with this one ! Stu xx

[@G0TLU]

This is so unnecessary. I drive along the A27 from Worthing to Chichester and back twice a day in connection with my work. The congestion is from the Ford Road roundabout to Crossbush. This would be solved by the 'Arundel Alternative' proposed by local people, without destroying Binsted and Tortington. If the new road is built it will save just a few minutes, and just move the problems along to Fontwell and Worthing.

[@trevilley]

What some forget or don't know is we are part of nature and nature is part of us. It seems planning rules for the minions are rigid, yet it seems govt can buy up houses and land for the car. All those rail lines which were closed were a big mistake, as far as housing goes, yes we need more but what are the underlying reasons why we need more?

[@andrewnorris1]

It’s not just the loss of land that blights the area but the noise carries for miles. I doubt that the farmers profited very much as most are in debt to the banks so the banks are profiting, no surprise there!

[@RichardVobes]

Farmers are the guardians of the land - once it is lost they guard over it no more.

[@andrewnorris1]

@@RichardVobes These days they are guardians of the bank’s investment, and their practices subject to the whim of the banks.

[@stephenagger5565]

Yes it’s such a shame seeing these new roads scarring landscapes I’m against it

[@kenabell4978]

Sad but inevitable, I agree we need certain roads and housing, but build the houses on brown belt first, there's enough closed factories in shoreham they didn't need to built by the airport, the old cement works could be developed. I know your Worthing way, is there any bypass planned there, they have been talking about it for as long as I can remember.

[@jg9752]

Agreed about brownfield sites except that it depends on the brownfield site. Some brownfield sites are surprisingly rich in rare wildlife. The Swanscombe Peninsular is a case in point but even some smaller abandoned industrial sites can house rare invertebrates. There is, actually, quite a lot of spare housing. Either empty housing that needs to be redeveloped or renovated, holiday homes and a lot of empty 'investment' properties. The money for housing developers is in building identikit houses on green field sites in areas within commuting distance of the big cities.

[@williamclarke2020]

All in the name of progress. So sad to see such beautiful and peaceful landscape being savaged for a motorway. When will it ever end?

[@tonidaverodgers9721]

Well this news is definitely sore grapes isn't it. How sad that this beautiful land will become just another 4 lane highway. Who makes these decisions anyway? It is really a-shame.

[@meijiturtle3814]

As far as housing developments are concerned I always feel a whiff of hypocrisy coming on if I'm asked to protest against this or that development. Did someone object in 1969 to the estate where my present house is located or in the 1920s, 1903 or 1895 when previous properties I lived in were built. I'm fortunate to live in a village/town complex where infill development has been possible due to substantial amounts of land becoming available from former private schools, convents etc which closed or relocated thus mitigating urban sprawl.

[@JuliaHartley]

The difference is that we as a society have had time and easy access to information and need to learn from the past and change how we 'progress'. That change won't happen unless people speak up and talk about how we are shooting ourselves in the foot as things stand.

[@lesleydainton3140]

This debate has been going for years and those of us who sit in long jams at Arundel we really want to see a resolution. That's a major cause of pollution too, some might say even greater. The same arguments about destruction of the environment were advanced at Winchester and Newbury but now look at the contested sites. Major tree planting and growth in wildlife habitats. Realise you have a particular agenda but a little more balance and study of the factual evidence might be a good idea.

[@andrewbaker6214]

Changes to the character of villages like Binsted and Tortington and Walberton to save you 10 minutes to the next traffic jam at Fontwell, Boxgrove or Chichester - you obviously don't live there ! You selfish small minded people who are merely just passing through in your vehicle have no idea of the misery that is going to be caused to the residents of these historic places. The Arundel alternative is cheaper, shorter and will still get you to the next traffic jam in 10 minutes. Lucrative contracts for Boris' mates and the elite in comers who moved to Arundel, can push their property prices up even higher are the only ones who will benefit !

[@walthamwalker]

Is that your double at the begining getting out of the van How has that occured lol

[@martincannon1078]

You're right, what has happened there at 0.20secs? But the double goes back to the van...

[@whereinsussex]

@@martincannon1078 It's magic..... when he walks down that road, the magic van teleports to where he is going through the hedge. But there is a problem in the teleport software, which is why he has to lock the van a second time

[@RichardVobes]

That second person wasn't me or my van, and was further up the road.

[@martincannon1078]

@@RichardVobes But Richard when you walked from your van there were no vehicles and when you turned left we see a silver grey van? The mystery remains.

[@shereenlawford3220]

You're not alone I hate roads and new builds that take the country side, there is so much land that could be used for houses, and as far as roads are concerned perhaps they should look at offering a better way to travel, I'm going back to bike where I can

[@james-5560]

If we weren't continuing to grow in population year on year we would need all this building. Unfortunately there's too much migration and too much breeding.

[@guestandsons]

Yes it is sad the speed of change as the worlds population increases in speed and size......

[@orlas5861]

It’s called progress sadly Richard ! 😏🤔😧🤬 ✔️

[@wendysalter]

'We' (not 'us') seem hell-bent on self destruction with not a care for what or whom they destroy. Heart-breaking.

[@johnbyrne2756]

A27 STOP STOP START (verse 4 of 6) Fifty minutes to cover a mile Is hardly to travel in style While tired drivers seethe With just poison to breath The exercise wholly futile JB19 (to be continued)

[@lesleyevans742]

People having their property purchased compulsorily are only being given 80% of it's value.

[@KitoTodd]

That is such a beautiful place💚🌲🌳it's a damn shame that their going to slice it up with a road and housing development😢build build build and destroy natural places it's all they know😡

[@richardgeorge8612]

very very sad state of affairs, is it down to greed to greed or our lovely government offering an olive branch to the farmers, "We will look after our farmers in this country", what a load of toss, cannot believe people trust the tories after all of they're false promises for years. Non of this countryside should be built on, we don't need any more houses or pollution

[@Angloman516]

With the increase in population and subsequently housing generating more mobility, Arundel has become a pinch point on the main A27 arterial trunk road along the South coast. The same situation exists at Worthing, either something is done or the increasing frequency of gridlock becomes something we have to live with. Undoubtedly it would be a dis-incentive to business/industry to locate here to support the income needs of an increasing population. Think most people consider it a necessity, after completion nature soon re-invades.

[@jg9752]

Habitat fragmentation means that nature will not return. Bats will not travel to feeding areas if they do not have the cover of a tree or hedge line. Barn owls become road traffic victims when they try to cross busy wide roads. Dormice need hedges and cannot cross roads. The solution is public transport, walking and cycling to reduce locally generated traffic. And it really isn't necessary to continue to attract people from other parts of the country which are already congested and are suffering from water scarcity (less available water per head than Morocco which means that the water company extracts water from aquifers and rivers resulting in losses of rare chalk streams). The £0.5bn or so that is going to be squandered on a road to bypass Arundel could be usefully spent regenerating the economy in deprived areas of the country.

[@Angloman516]

@@jg9752 No doubt you are aware of the large amount of housing development that has taken place over recent years, with yet more to come. The associated infrastructure has hardly kept pace with it, particularly the road system, which has been little changed to accommodate the growing traffic generated by those developments. Much as I dislike it's imposition, we are told it is necessary by our elected authorities. Again the A27 is the principle arterial highway along the South coast which in places is little better than a country lane. Imagine being without the Brighton bypass, the landscape and nature now having adjusted to it's presence, it's construction so many years ago undoubtedly relieved Brighton of gridlock today by been built. Change affects us all, man, animal, bird and insect, it is an unfortunate consequence of man's evolution down the centuries that our landscapes change and aren't always what they were. Today every consideration is given to minimising the immediate and future impact, which has much to do with the cost of these projects. There has been great publicity given to announcements about future investment being centred in the North and deprived areas.

[@johnbyrne2756]

A27 STOP STOP START (verse 1 of 6) When God built the A27 He claimed it was made on heaven Yet in a nutshell It's the highway from hell Where rush hour can last for eleven JB19 (to be continued)

[@stephenhowlett6345]

Why. What’s the point of another road that’s just going to be another traffic jam. Just travel on any motorway today and they are restricted to 50mph because they are being endlessly repaired so what’s the point. They don’t save any time whatsoever.

[@SidBonkers51]

With respect Richard the A27 bypass has nothing to do with building new houses its to reduce the traffic that blights the beautiful village of Arundel and return its quiet serenity. Having driven round Arundel on the A27 numerous times last year I think loosing a few acres of farmland is well worth it. Why do we need a bypass www.onearundel.co.uk/why

[@RichardVobes]

I wish it were just a few acres, Sid. Anyway, I didn't say this road had anything to do with houses, but I did say that governments seem to be determined to build on prime farmland, like, but not specifically, the type of land I was on.

[@JuliaHartley]

Sadly, where a road is built houses eventually follow.

[@andrewbaker6214]

So its ok to blight the 3 villages of Binsted, Walberton and Tortington so that the elite of Arundel incomers cannot see the traffic of the existing by pass. Anyway since when has Arundel been considered a village ? Its always been my home Town ! Ask a Mullet what they would prefer not those with an eye on their property prices !

[@markburgess6801]

Any ideas whether the construction is now underway on this section

[@RichardVobes]

I am not sure.

[@robertgordon1941]

Governments suffer from a scratch itch syndrome. We need more taxes so bring in more people then expenses to service the population grows so they need to raise more taxes so they bring in more people. This is like a disease

[@johnbyrne2756]

A27 STOP STOP START (verse 5 of 6) Once the Chichester ring is complete There'll be little about which to bleat Common sense will abound Fourteen minutes right round Both stop start and jam to defeat JB19 (to be continued)