28th September 2010
At the meeting of the South Chichester County Local Committee it was announced that the consultation period for the Provisional West Sussex Transport Plan 2011-2026 has been extended. I therefore wish to submit the following comments on behalf of East Broyle Residents' Association.
We are concerned that the Implementation Plan proposed for Chichester (Part 2 pp 72-75) is not sufficiently robust to tackle the increasing traffic problems in the City. The initiatives stated in the provisional plan are both laudable and mostly welcome, but you must be aware that the traffic problems are already acute and are getting worse. At times there is gridlock on some town roads that access and exit the City and only minor incidents can bring the City to a virtual halt. Air Quality has already been adversely affected and I understand that Chichester has one of the poorest records for any town in the County.
We do not believe that initiatives to persuade people to walk or cycle will not have more than a minimal improvement on our traffic problems and travel planning is destined to have a similarly limited impact. While we would not want to deter the County from developing these projects our point is that they will not solve, or even significantly ease,the fundamental problems of traffic congestion in Chichester.
Chichester is, and always has been,an expensive place to live both in terms of house prices and living costs generally. No amount of additional housebulding will change this. It is also a very desirable place to live being close to the Downs and the sea/harbour. The effect of these factors is that a lot of people travel from outside Chichester to work in the City and conversely there are many 'migrants'who live in Chichester and travel to work in neighbouring areas. The resulting traffic flows in and out of the City cause much of the congestion.
While improvements to the A27 (whenever these may be implemented in the future!) may ease the congestion, we do not believe they will cure the problems on the town roads because people will still need to move in and out of the City.
Our major concern is about the impact of future development.New housing on the Barracks and Graylingwell sites will make the current situation a great deal worse by bringing hundreds more vehicles onto already congested roads. Further development being considered by Chichester District Council as part of the LDF process will undoubtedly exacerbate the problems many fold.
Notwithstanding that the LDF process is on hold for a few months, we believe the County Council should not stand by and watch Chichester snarl up with traffic while it decides where to affix the next metaphorical highways 'sticking plaster'. Instead it needs to adopt a radical approach.
Until it can be demonstrated, conclusively, that Chichester can cope with additional traffic it should oppose any further major housing development in the City.
Please acknowledge receipt of this email and confirm that the comments will be considered as part of the consultation on the Plan.
Yours sincerely
Chris Lindsay
Chairman,
East Broyle Residents' Association