‘We don’t feel listened to’ over A2300 road widening near Burgess Hill

West Sussex County Council has secured Government funding to convert the existing road to a dual carriageway between the A23 and the proposed Northern Arc roundabout.

Preparation works, including the clearance of trees and vegetation, have already begun, but residents living in the surrounding roads have concerns about their impact.

Martin Kyndt, who has lived in Jobs Lane for 17 years, said they were not trying to stop the road widening, but merely wanted to limit both the impact on residents’ quality of life and the environment.

He said: “The residents feel very angry because the consultation process has been pitiful. We have not been consulted on a number of the things that have taken place.”

But the county council said it was considering residents’ concerns, which would be responded to in detail and said there had been careful consideration throughout the planning for the scheme to try wherever possible to minimise disruption for residents in the area, with this approach to continue through the construction stages.

Noise and traffic issues

Mr Kyndt described how since the foliage was cleared independent assessments of noise had shown it breached legal limits at several nearby properties.

Residents want to see acoustic barriers and a noise reducing surface material used for the new road.

Mr Kyndt argued they were ‘best placed to know how traffic behaves along the road’, but felt ‘none of the experience has been taken into consideration’.

On the road layout’s design, he described how they were already seeing traffic using shortcuts to avoid the A2300.

One of the main concerns is with limiting the eastern end of Jobs Lane to a left out only junction, potentially increasing the amount of commercial traffic using Bishopstone Lane and Jobs Lane.

The second issue is that after the dual carriageway is completed traffic exiting Bolney Grange Business Park wanting to use the A23 will have to drive all the way to the Cuckfield roundabout before doubling back on itself.

Mr Kyndt suggested the temptation would be for vehicles to turn right at Stairbridge Lane and use the A272 to access the A23 instead.

He said: “Why would you spend millions on widening a road that then does not encourage traffic to use it? It’s just a nonsense.”

He described how the surrounding roads such as Jobs Lane were used as recreational lanes for joggers, horses, cyclists and walkers.

He added: “The impact of forcing traffic down this lane means that people coming out of Burgess Hill wanting to walk along quiet lanes will not be able to do so.”

Another road issue centres around the integration of this project with the Northern Arc development so a bottleneck is not created at the new roundabout.

Environmental concerns

On their environmental concerns Mr Kyndt pointed to the clearing of a balancing pond home to a toad population, while since the clearance of foliage they had seen flooding issues in Jobs Lane.

Several oak trees, believed to be at least 150 years old, have already been felled and residents are desperate to see the last remaining oak tree saved.

Mr Kyndt described how it supports a whole ecosystem, and while the tree’s roots may be damaged during construction they wanted the contractors to leave it standing for now and ‘give it a chance’.

‘Plans flexible to allow for changes’

Joy Dennis, county councillor for Hurstpierpoint and Bolney, said she had been in contact with residents and has worked with council officers to minimise the impact of the works on residents.

She described how reviewing the movement of traffic in local lanes has been crucial and has pushed for highway engineering enhancements to encourage speed reduction/access.

Although the initial loss of hedgerows and trees was ‘disappointing’, Mrs Dennis described how the historical dimensions of a dual carriageway were different 30 years ago and to provide a comprehensive footpath and cycleway has meant greater width requirements.

However she pointed out there was comprehensive replanting planned, while the site offices and storage area has been moved to assist in providing acoustic screening during construction.

She added: “A key part of my role has been to ensure there is dialogue and that the plans were flexible enough to allow changes/requests which may arise.

“The appointed contractors agreed to my request to appoint a liaison officer as a conduit for residents and ‘pop in’ sessions will be initiated in the spring.”

County council responds

Meanwhile the county council confirmed it is liaising with Homes England and the district council over the Northern Arc development to ensure both projects are coordinated together.

On noise it has undertaken a full noise assessment which it says complies with statutory regulations and has ‘continued to work hard to reduce the impact wherever possible’.

Contractor Jackson Civil Engineering is arranging its site compound layouts in a way to provide some screening for houses in Jobs Lane during construction, while an alternative noise-reducing surfacing material for the new road has been identified.

Around 70 new trees and hedgerows will form part of the landscape design of the scheme and some of these will be planted near homes.

Back in 2018 the original plan would have seen the A2300/Jobs Lane/Bishopstone Lane junction fully closed but after concerns were raised about this it was revised to a left out to the A2300 only.

Traffic monitoring will be carried out after the new dual carriageway is built and if traffic flows are different to those predicted there will be a full review of this arrangement.

The county council also said residents’ concerns were still being considered and will be responded to in detail.

A spokesman added: “Amongst other things, it was explained that the clearance of trees and vegetation is essential for the project to enable pipework and utilities equipment to be moved and protected as the major road scheme progresses. Any decision to remove a tree is not taken lightly and there is always careful consideration.

“None of the trees to be cleared are subject to tree preservation orders and there will be a replanting scheme to mitigate any unavoidable loss of trees.

“We would also add that there has been careful consideration throughout the planning for the scheme to try, wherever possible, to minimise disruption for residents in the area and this approach will continue through the construction stages.”