Local residents take to the Ridge on Thursday 16 May to highlight the predicted 26% increase in traffic if the Link Road is built.

Press release
22 May 2013
Combe Haven Defenders [1]

ANGRY RESIDENTS OPPOSE “GATEWAY ROAD” PROPOSAL
Stall gathers over 130 objections in just four hours as Seachange CEO refuses to reveal cost of project

Angry local residents have already submitted over 130 objections to Seachange Sussex’s planning application for a “Gateway Road” joining the £100m Bexhill-Hastings Link Road to Wrestwood Road in Bexhill.

Grounds for the objections – which were gathered in just four hours at a stall held in Devonshire Road last Friday (17 May) and Saturday (18 May) – included “loss of greenfield land”, “increased carbon emissions”, “damages to wildlife habitat”, “loss of amenity areas” and “not fitting in with the character of the area”.

Seachange Sussex submitted a planning application [2] for the so-called “Gateway Road” – a key step in developers’ long-term plans to build a 50,000 m2  “business park” [3] north east of Bexhill and a massive housing complex north west of Pebsham [4] – on 30 April 2013. Objections to the application – which can be submitted through http://tinyurl.com/gatewayroadobjections – must be submitted no later than 31 May 2013.

Andrea Needham, a spokesperson for the Combe Haven Defenders, said: “The land on which this “Gateway Road” would be built – like the land that would be built upon in the next phase of development – is all owned by Trinity College Cambridge [4], the richest of the Oxbridge Colleges. How much they will be paid for this land has not been revealed. Moreover, in a recent meeting with opponents of the Link Road that I attended, Seachange CEO John Shaw refused to say how much the “Gateway Road” would cost, or where the money would come from – and he did not rule out accepting public funds.”

In other news, members and friends of local group Grannies Are in Action (GAIA) took to the Ridge last Thursday (16 May), to highlight the predicted 26% increase in traffic [5] if the Link Road is built. The Combe Haven Defenders will also be holding a spring walk in the Combe Haven valley this Sunday (26 May): meet 2pm, Crowhurst recreation ground.

[1] http://www.combehavendefenders.org.uk
[2] http://ocellaweb.rother.gov.uk/portal/pls/portal/ROTHERWEB.RPT_DETAILS.show?p_arg_names=reference&p_arg_values=RR/2013/899/P
[3] See pages 15 and 17 of http://ocellaweb.rother.gov.uk/images/dv_pl_files/RR_2013_899_P/RR_2013_899_P-SI_1.pdf
[4] http://combehavendefenders.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/trinity-college-cashing-in-on-the-link-road/
[5] See p.11 of http://combehavendefenders.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/ha-07-1.pdf

East Sussex County Council changed considerably after the local elections in May: the Conservatives lost a number of seats and are no longer in overall control.  The council is now made up of 20 Conservatives, ten Liberal Democrats, seven Labour, seven UKIP and five independents.

What do they think about the road?
The Hastings Alliance has contacted all the current councillors about the Link Road.  However, a personal contact from a constituent is also valuable, so why not drop your councillor an email, particularly if s/he is new?

Ask them what they know about the road, and whether they support it.  Let them know your particular concerns, whether those are wildlife, carbon emissions, destruction of the countryside, increased car use or something else.

Tell us what they say

We want to know what they think, so if you have any interesting replies, please do get in touch with us.

You can find details of your councillor, and how to contact them, here.

The proposed “Gateway Road”

On 30 April 2013 ‘Seachange Sussex’ submitted a planning application for a so-called “Gateway Road” joining the £100m still-to-be-built Bexhill-Hastings Link Road (BHLR) to Wrestwood Road – a key step in developers’ long-term plans to build a 50,000 square meter  “business park” north east of Bexhill and a massive housing complex north west of Pebsham.

Objections to the application must be submitted no later than 31 May 2013. These can be submitted online here (you will need to click on the link that says “Comment on this application”). The CHD has also produced a double-sided A4 tick-box template – available here as a PDF file.

The land on which the road would be built – and which would be built upon in the next phase of development – is all owned by Trinity College Cambridge.  How much they will be paid for the land has not been revealed.  In a recent meeting with opponents of the Link Road, Seachange CEO John Shaw refused to say how much the road would cost, or where the money would come from.  He did not rule out accepting public funds.

Like the Link Road itself the “Gateway Road” will lead to further loss of greenfield land and damage to wildlife habitat, increased carbon emissions, loss of amenity areas and large-scale changes to the character of the area.

Moreover, the “business park” will not solve the area’s economic problems. Indeed, the whole Link Road project – of which the business park is just one part – is expected to generate barely 500 local jobs.*

You can find more background about the “Gateway Road” (from its promoters’ perspective) here.

Those wanting to make a more detailed objection can find a useful guide here.

Global mean land-ocean temperature change from 1880–2012, relative to the 1951–1980 mean. The black line is the annual mean and the red line is the 5-year running mean. The green bars show uncertainty estimates. Source: NASA GISS

HASTINGS ROAD PROTESTORS TO RAISE CLIMATE DEFENCE AT TRIAL
Campaigners to appear in Hastings Magistrates Court for pre-trial review this afternoon

Campaigners arrested during peaceful protests against the controversial £100m Bexhill-Hastings Link Road (BHLR) will today flag their intention to mount a “climate change defence” at their trials in September.

Road transport currently accounts for over a fifth of the UK’s domestic greenhouse gas emissions [2].

The peaceful protests against the Road – which have resulted in 29 arrests to date – have already received national attention [3]. The BHLR is the ‘first and the worst’ of over 190 new road projects that the Government, big business & local councils are pushing throughout England and Wales [4].

Several of the defendants – including physicist Patrick Nicholson and environmental educator Rosa Canadas – will be appearing at Hastings Magistrates Court [5] this afternoon (15 May) for a pre-trial review.

Patrick Nicholson, 48, a medical physicist, of High Street, Hastings said: “I’m pleased that today’s hearing gave us the chance to begin explaining why we had to take peaceful action against the Link Road and in favour of more sustainable alternatives. We will continue fighting for a better deal for local people AND the environment, and to stop this road-to-nowhere and the many others in the pipeline nationally.”

Rosa Canadas, 33, an environmental educator, also of Hastings Old Town, said: “In a week when carbon dioxide levels have reached 400 parts per million for the first time in 3 million years [6], it is governments and corporation who should be in the dock for failing to tackle the massive threat of climate change.”

[1] http://www.combehavendefenders.org.uk
[2] “In 2009, domestic transport accounted for 24% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions with the vast majority of this, at around 90% of emissions, coming from road transport.” http://www.dft.gov.uk/vca/fcb/cars-and-carbon-dioxide.asp
[3] http://combehavendefenders.wordpress.com/recent-media-coverage/
[4] https://combehavendefenders.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/stop-the-zombie-roads-hastings-halloween-action-on-30-october/
[5] The Law Courts Horntye Park Bohemia Road Hastings East Sussex England TN34 1ND
[6] http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/may/10/carbon-dioxide-highest-level-greenhouse-gas

Campaigners against the Link Road make their presence felt at the “how we will build the road” exhibition in Queensway, organised by East Sussex County Council and road contractors Vinci and Hochtief. Photo: Combe Haven Defenders.

LINK ROAD PROTESTORS HAVE HALF CHARGES DROPPED AS LOCALS VOICE ANGER AT “CONSTRUCTION EXHIBITIONS”
Campaigners to appear in Hastings Magistrates Court for pre-trial review this afternoon

Over two-thirds of those charged in connection with the peaceful protests against the controversial £100m Bexhill-Hastings Link Road (BHLR) have had half of their charges dropped.

Seventeen people are currently awaiting trial in connection with peaceful direct action protests against the Road in December 2012 and January 2013. Of these, thirteen had been charged with the offence of “obstructing an enforcement officer engaged to execute a High Court writ”. These charges have now been dropped, leaving the thirteen charged only with “aggravated trespass”.

Several defendants – including local physicist Patrick Nicholson and environmental educator Rosa Canadas – will be appearing at Hastings Magistrates Court  [2] this afternoon for a pre-trial review.

Patrick Nicholson, 48, a medical physicist, of High Street, Hastings said: “I’m pleased that today’s hearing gave us the chance to begin explaining why we had to take peaceful action against the Link Road and in favour of more sustainable alternatives. We will continue fighting for a better deal for local people AND the environment, and to stop this road-to-nowhere and the many others in the pipeline nationally.”

Rosa Canadas, 33, an environmental educator, also of Hastings Old Town, said: “In a week when carbon dioxide levels have reached 400 parts per million for the first time in 3 million years [3], it is governments and corporation who should be in the dock for failing to tackle the massive threat of climate change.”

The peaceful protests against the Road – which have resulted in 29 arrests to date – have already received national attention [4]. The BHLR is the ‘first and the worst’ of over 190 new road projects that the Government, big business & local councils are pushing throughout England and Wales [5].

In other news, angry local residents have been making their voices heard at two “construction exhibitions” in Sidley (8 May) and Queensway (13 May), organised by East Sussex County Council and road contractors Hochtief and Vinci, including demonstrations inside both events.

[1] http://www.combehavendefenders.org.uk
[2] The Law Courts Horntye Park Bohemia Road Hastings East Sussex England TN34 1ND
[3] http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/may/10/carbon-dioxide-highest-level-greenhouse-gas
[4] http://combehavendefenders.wordpress.com/recent-media-coverage/
[5] https://combehavendefenders.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/stop-the-zombie-roads-hastings-halloween-action-on-30-october/

A walk through the valley….

Join us for a spring walk through the Combe Haven valley.  See for
yourself where the Link Road would go, and the devastation it would
cause to what ESCC has described as ‘probably the finest medium-sized
valley in East Sussex, outside of Areas of Outstanding Natural
Beauty’.   As well as a lovely walk, it’s also a chance to meet other
people opposed to the road, and to do some plotting and planning!

Where will we go?

These walks will follow public footpaths and bridleways, and are
completely legal.  We won’t follow the proposed route of the road (which
would involve going onto land which has been compulsorily purchased by
the County Council) but will cross the route in several places, in order
to give partipants a good understanding of where the road would run.

How far?

The walk is about 5 miles.  The walking is gentle but it may be muddy
underfoot if we’ve had rain.  There is a slightly shorter option, about
3 1/2 miles, for those who don’t want to cover the whole route.
Alternatively, walkers may wish to walk some way into the valley with
us, then double back to the pub!

Details:
Dates: Sunday May 12, Sunday May 26, 2pm (we’ll wait for walkers on the train which arrives at Crowhurst at 13.38)
Where: Meet Crowhurst recreation ground.  The recreation ground is about 20 mins walk from Crowhurst station, and almost next to the pub should you need some pre- or post-walk refreshment. There may be a lift available from Hastings: email rachel.holtom@yahoo.com.
Who: everyone is welcome including dogs on leads.  We’ll be taking a leisurely place, with time to stop and look at what’s going on in the valley.

Contact: 07926 423 033

The giant letters as seen from the Hastings Jack-in-the-Green celebrations on the West Hill.

Press release
7 May 2013
Combe Haven Defenders [1]

CAMPAIGNERS TAKE ANTI-LINK ROAD MESSAGE TO EAST HILL DURING HASTINGS JACK-IN-THE-GREEN
Giant seven-foot-high letters spell out “No Link Road” as national newspaper covers secret Link Road docs and anti-Link Road Councillors elected

Opponents of the controversial £100m Bexhil-Hastings Link Road (BHLR) spelled out the words “NO LINK ROAD” in giant seven-foot-tall letters on the East Hill this Monday (6 May) during Hastings Jack-in-the-Green.

The annual festival [2] – which draws thousands to the coastal town each year – was this year held on the nearby West Hill, from which the anti-Link Road message was clearly visible for three hours.

The action took place in the same week that a national newspaper ran a major story [3] on the recently released Department for Transport (DfT) recommendations about the use of public money to fund the BHLR [4], and the election to East Sussex County Councillor of two new Councillors known to be opposed to the scheme [5].

The two-page article in the Independent on Sunday pointed to the BHLR as a “vivid example” of how “George Osborne is pushing ahead with a massive nationwide road-building programme despite high-level concerns from ministers and Department for Transport (DfT) officials that there is little evidence it will boost the economy”. The piece goes on to note that the DfT documents “revealed that [Osborne] spent £57m on a controversial new road through an environmentally and archaeologically important stretch of countryside despite a warning by Transport officials that the scheme offered little value for money.” [3]

PHOTOS
(a) The “NO LINK ROAD” letters as seen from the East Hill: http://tinyurl.com/hastingseasthill (Photo: Marta Lefler)
(b) The “NO LINK ROAD” letters as seen from the West Hill during Jack-in-the-Green: http://tinyurl.com/hastingswesthill (Photo:L Marta Lefler)

NOTES
[1] http://www.combehavendefenders.org.uk
[2] http://www.hastingsjack.co.uk
[3] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exclusive-george-osborne-digs-himself-a-hole-uneconomical-roads-to-get-goahead-8604127.html
[4] https://combehavendefenders.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/campaigners-win-release-of-secret-link-road-documents/
[5] Stuart Earle – Independent (Bexhill West), and Laurence Keeley – UKIP (Hailsham and Herstmonceux)

“No Link Road” badges distributed during the Hastings Jack-in-the-Green

Photo: JJ Waller. http://www.jjwaller.com

Photo: JJ Waller. http://www.jjwaller.com

Photo: JJ Waller. http://www.jjwaller.com

Photo: JJ Waller. http://www.jjwaller.com

Photo: JJ Waller. http://www.jjwaller.com

[Note added 2 May: Please note that, following a direct request from the Hastings Traditional Jack-in-the-Green (JITG) committee – including the suggestion that “anybody distributing fliers w[ould] be politely asked not to do so” – we will no longer be distributing fliers at this year’s Hastings JITG. We’re saddened by this request – not least because, while the spirit of Jack is rising in Hastings, Hastings Borough Council is willing to crush, obliterate and tarmac him across the Combe Haven valley – but judge that, on balance, it is best to refrain from distributing these fliers at this year’s JITG.]

Spring is (finally) in the air. And where better to take the message about the looming destruction of Combe Haven – and the opportunities for peaceful resistance – than the Hastings Jack-in-the-Green festival!*

The Combe Haven Defenders have produced a special Jack-themed flier – featuring two wonderful images by local artists Emily Johns and Lorna Miller – for distribution during the Grand Procession on the Monday, and are looking for volunteers to help distribute them. Meet 12 noon, Monday 6 May at the children’s playground on the West Hill (Castle Hill, TN34 3RD. Map here). Green facepaint provided!

If you’re able to text us in advance to let us know you’re coming then that would be useful: 07926 423 033

* It may be worth noting that the chair of the Hastings Jack in the Green (Keith Leech) is himself, personally, a vociferous opponent of the Link Road.

Picture by Lorna Miller

Last December, in a letter to the Hastings Observer he noted that:

“The people of Hastings are being duped again. Can we stop calling this the ‘Link Road’ and call it what it really is. It is the ‘Combe Valley Industrial Park and Housing Estate’.

“As a regular user of the Bexhill Road I can say this will do nothing to alleviate the problems.

“To try to sell it as if it would is nothing short of a con trick …

“The road is and always was a smoke screen so that we will allow them to develop. Don’t let them tell you otherwise. I am sure that if people realised the truth there would be public outcry. Take off the blinkers Hastings before it’s too late.”

Campaigners outside the Department for Transport earlier this month. Photo: Guy Bell. http://www.gbphotos.com

Press Release
Combe Haven Defenders [1]
29 April 2013

CAMPAIGNERS WIN RELEASE OF SECRET LINK ROAD DOCUMENTS
Alternatives to controversial £100m road project had ‘not been fully worked through and tested’, documents show

Monday 29 April: Campaigners against the controversial £100m Bexhill-Hastings Link Road (BHLR) won a significant victory today, forcing the Department for Transport (DfT) to release [2] its formerly secret recommendations about whether or not public money should be used to fund the scheme – the ‘first and the worst’ of over 190 new road projects that the Government, big business & local councils are pushing across England and Wales [3].

The release of the documents is result of over a years’ efforts by groups including the Hastings Alliance [4], the Campaign for Better Transport [5], and the Combe Haven Defenders [1], culminating in a two-day attempt by campaigners to enter the DfT to get the documents themselves earlier this month, during which one person was arrested [6].

Among other things the documents reveal:

A) That the DfT fudged the question of whether or not public money should be used to fund the project, noting that one ‘emerging option’ was to ‘decline funding approval’ [7]. (The other ‘emerging option’ was to approve funding.)

B) That the DfT noted that ‘possible, alternative road-based solutions ha[d] not been fully worked through and tested’ at the time of the decision [8].

C) That the DfT assessed the BHLR as being of “low or medium value for money” – and was therefore not a project that the Department would normally consider funding [9].

D) That East Sussex County Council (ESCC) had “significantly overstate[d] the benefits of the scheme”, “double count[ing] productivity improvements” and exaggerating the number of jobs that the project would create [9].

Under strong pressure from the Treasury, the DfT announced its final approval of £57m of central goverment funding for the BHLR on 3 April [10]. Last week, the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) confirmed [11] that the recommendations were among the “incorrectly withheld” information that the ICO had ordered the DfT [12].

Gabriel Carlyle, a spokesperson for the Combe Haven Defenders, said: “Today’s release of the DfT’s recommendations about whether or not to fund the BHLR – documents that the DfT have wrongly withheld from the public for over a year – is a significant victory for anyone who cares about either the environment, the public purse or the public’s right to know. These documents show that, despite intense pressure from the Treasury, the DfT’s own civil servants suggested that the Department should consider cancelling the project, and were highly critical of the exaggerated picture of the Road’s merits put forward by East Sussex County Council. By forcing the DfT to give £57m of public money to fund this environmentally disastrous white-elephant project George Osborne has now lit the touchpaper for national peaceful resistance to the project.”

[1] http://www.combehavendefenders.org.uk
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bexhill-hastings-link-road–2
[3] https://combehavendefenders.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/stop-the-zombie-roads-hastings-halloween-action-on-30-october/
[4] http://hastingsalliance.com/
[5] http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/
[6] https://combehavendefenders.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/st-leonards-woman-arrested-in-peaceful-search-for-secret-link-road-documents/
[7] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/192923/120314-submission-bexhill-hastings-link-road.pdf (Para 2)
[8] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/192923/120314-submission-bexhill-hastings-link-road.pdf (Para 28)
[9] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/192924/120319-submission-bexhill-hastings-link-road.pdf (Para 5)
[10] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bexhill-hastings-link-road-full-approval-letter
[11] Email to Derrick Coffee of the Hastings Alliance, 25 April 2013
[12] https://combehavendefenders.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/information-commissioner-orders-release-of-more-link-road-info-but-keeps-secret-which-bits/