News Date: Sunday 29th January 2006
Tim chairs packed meeting at Broadwater Parish Rooms
It was standing room only at the public meeting organised by Broadwater Conservatives to discuss the changes to the A27 around Grove Lodge at the parish rooms last Saturday afternoon.
The meeting was organised by Conservative campaign team member Simon Studd and Broadwater Conservative councillor Kevin Skepper. Tim Loughton chaired the meeting as a follow up to the original event held last year whilst the roundabout works were being undertaken following many objections from local residents. At the meeting, a presentation was given followed by questions involving Highways Agency Area Performance Manager Simon Duke and his colleague Kevin Jeapes together with representatives from road managers InterRoute Deborah Simms and Selva Sriram.
On a straw poll no one in the audience agreed that the lights had brought improvements to traffic flow with particular concerns expressed about the impact on tailbacks along the tributary roads from Broadwater Green. The Highways representatives confirmed that the roundabout would be monitored by CCTV cameras to improve regulation of traffic flow after an agreement had been finalised with the County Council in May. It was hoped this would improve the situation.
There were also calls for the roundabout to be tidied up and the lights turned off outside peak periods. Some residents of Findon Valley however said that there had also been knock-on improvements to congestion on the A24 and welcomed the news that a pedestrian crossing on Warren Road close to the Offington roundabout is likely to get the go-ahead.
Chairing the meeting Tim Loughton said that he would be writing to the Highways Agency and County Council with a whole list of the issues that had been raised and would circulate the replies to residents.
Broadwater campaign team member Simon Studd, who helped organise the meeting and who says that his commute time to Brighton along the A27 has lengthened by more than 20 minutes each day, also promised to re-distribute the In Touch survey forms to local residents about the impact of the changes that had gone out last summer. Simon Studd commented:
"This was a very useful and well attended meeting and it was made very clear to the senior managers from the Highways agency that the majority of local people are not happy with the changes and want to see improvements or else the scheme abandoned. We will make sure that our residents receive full replies to all the concerns they raised and we will be monitoring the situation closely."
Note to Editors:
1) The meeting was held in the afternoon of Saturday 21st January.
?, Tim Loughton MP , 2006
