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Construction of the A21 Lamberhurst bypass HAS STARTED.

Many trees have already been felled.

By all modern standards this bypass would never have been approved. Unfortunately approval was originally given in 1991 and a full review has never happened since.

The bypass is destroying the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (A.O.N.B.) in the rural Kent countryside. The bypass will carve up National Trust land and run just metres from a Site of Special Scientific Interest (S.S.S.I). The photo above will have a dual carriageway on a raised embankment in the foreground between the photographer and the first tree in the field. Not only this but the habitat of many protected species is going to be destroyed: dormice, great crested newts, bats, badgers and now grass snakes. English Nature is attempting to re-introduce the dormouse at secret locations, yet another government agency (Highways Agency) will be killing them when this road is built.

FACTS ABOUT THE PROPOSED BYPASS:

The Lamberhurst bypass is absolutely WRONG for all of these reasons:

There are no traffic jams in Lamberhurst even in the rush hour! As the A21 is a trunk road fitted with Traffic Master sensors you just need to take a look at the Traffic Master data on traffic speeds. The only time there is a queue is when there has been an accident or road works. Follow this Traffic Master link to see the REAL-TIME traffic speeds through the Lamberhurst area- when there are queues they are always miles north of the village and will not be eased at all by the imminent bypass. Lamberhurst traffic is relatively light compared with anywhere else in the South East.

The Highways Agency’s newsletter of October 2001 states that "A number of protected species have been identified". Of course this is played down as much as possible in their literature, in fact so little regard is given to it that it does not even state which species have been found. They have since admitted that these species include the almost extinct dormouse, great crested newt, badgers and bats. These have been found in Piercefield Shaw wood AND in the National Trust woodland, both of which are being destroyed as you read this.

The road is due to be constructed alongside an SSSI, threatening its integrity. Much woodland has already been destroyed, including almost all of Piercefield Shaw bluebell wood, much National Trust woodland, plus an almost 300 year old oak tree where the public footpath from Lamberhurst Church crosses the river Teise.

National Trust land at Scotney Castle will be split in two and ruined. Scotney Castle is widely viewed as "One of England’s most romantic gardens". This degradation will be another threat to our tourism economy.

The environment. This is no ordinary landscape. The bypass will destroy the currently unspoiled Teise river valley which is enjoyed by many as it is the view which meets the eye from Lamberhurst Church and golf course. In the photos you will see a river valley topped with lush woodland, with banks of hop gardens, rolling fields, a river full of trout and teeming with wildlife. This is a peaceful and tranquil and above all, beautiful place.

The bypass is viewed by many environmental action groups as being as disgusting as the infamous Newbury bypass. The security costs could again mount into millions of pounds. The cost of the bypass was estimated as £12M in 1997. Follow this DTLR link: http://www.dtlr.gov.uk/itwp/trunkroads/43.htm . The cost must be nearer to £20M by 2002 prices when the new land bridge is included. (How much NHS equipment would that buy?)

This small area is the prime hop growing land in the U.K. The bypass has caused the abandoning and dismantling of the wooden pole and wire framework of hop gardens on Forstal Farm because the road is due to be built straight through the middle of the hop garden. The hop industry has already had a massive decline in this country, and this farm is one of the very few still operating as a hop producer. This reduction in size will threaten the future of yet another hop farm. English beer will have to be made from even more imported hops.

Last but not least, this whole area is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty! The status of A.O.N.B.s is now recognised by the government as equivalent to that of National Park, according to Friends of the Earth. Can you imagine building such a road in the Lake District or Snowdonia?

Photograph of the National Trust’s Scotney Castle. The Lamberhurst bypass will run through the woodland just 600 metres from the Castle.

Apparently the bypass scheme was re-approved by John Prescott in 1996 in order to improve links to the "deprived" south coast town of Hastings, 21 miles south of Lamberhurst. Coastal towns will always have problems of deprivation as there is no passing traffic or trade on the coastal side. How will shaving sixty seconds from the two hour long journey from Hastings to London have the slightest impact on the economy of a town 21 miles away?

However, the Highways Agency seems to be attempting to justify the bypass purely on the grounds of appeasing Lamberhurst residents. Yet nobody was forced to move to Lamberhurst or live next to a road. The road has been in Lamberhurst much longer than any of the residents have. Maybe these residents will not be so happy about the bypass when the inevitable in-fill housing developments start and the small village turns into a town.

Traffic flow in Lamberhurst could very easily be improved by cheap, simple measures such as roundabouts particularly at the A21/A262 junction, and right hand turn slip (waiting) lanes at the B2162 and B2163 junctions. This would require slight road widening but that is far more acceptable, cheaper, quicker to implement, and environmentally friendly than this bypass. So why don't the H.A. do this? It begs the question that someone at the H.A. has a vested interest in this bypass- maybe to gain financially.

Bypassing has its place and is a good thing when:

The area is of low natural beauty

The area is subject to very long traffic jams

The impact on the environment is minimal

The Lamberhurst bypass scheme fails ALL of these criteria and is blatantly WRONG. If the Highways Agency universally applied the criteria being applied to Lamberhurst they would be building bypasses round every town, village, and hamlet in the country.

This scheme urgently needs a FULL review before it is too late.

Please object to this unnecessary and environmentally offensive bypass by writing to David Jamieson, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Transport, via email: david.jamieson@dft.gsi.gov.uk or at:

David Jamieson MP,
House of Commons,
London,
SW1A 0AA

Or at:

David Jamieson MP,
Headquarters and Ministerial Offices
Eland House
Bressenden Place
LONDON SW1E 5DU

Or write to John Spellar, Minister of Transport:

Rt. Hon. John Spellar,
Headquarters and Ministerial Offices
Eland House
Bressenden Place
LONDON SW1E 5DU

john.spellar@dft.gsi.gov.uk

Or write to Alistair Darling (Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions), via email: alistair.darling@dft.gsi.gov.uk or at:

Rt. Hon. Alistair Darling,
House of Commons,
London,
SW1A 0AA

Or write to your own M.P. You can find contact details for your M.P. by following this link: http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/contactingmp.htm

More links:

INTERACTIVE_PAGES…
Now you can add YOUR comments about the bypass to the new interactive section of the website. Click_here to contribute, good or bad, all comments are welcome. Loads of thanks to River for the web-design and hosting of the interactive area.

Highways Agency newsletter June 2001. CLICK HERE. For some reason the woodland being destroyed containing dormice is not shown on their map. Curious… The bypass is to go straight through the middle of this wood (Piercefield Shaw). Just another 600 metres and they could have built the road through Scotney Castle itself. (Why not just knock down the old relic, rebuild it out of plastic and call it Scotney Castle drivethru?)

Another picture of the A.O.N.B. which will be destroyed click here.

A photograph from the Guardian of the Lamberhurst floods in October 2000 click here. The Highways Agency claim to have addressed the issue of the new road acting as a dam and increasing flooding in the village. They have reviewed their design to include flood relief culverts and re-channeling of the river (concrete river banks are so much nicer to look at than those old natural ones). However, an independent civil engineer has described these culverts as inadequate to cope with a similar event, requiring a far more expensive and ugly viaduct. (Have we got to £30M yet? How many hospital wings does that buy?)

Another picture of National Trust’s Scotney Castle click here.

You can contact me here: l.b@zoom.co.uk

UPDATES…

JUNE 2003 UPDATE:

Construction is expected to start this month at the southern (Scotney) end of the proposed route. Test digs have already been made. Many of the trees have been felled. So… GET OFF YOUR BACKSIDES AND STOP THIS HAPPENING!

OCTOBER 2002 UPDATE:

The Highways Agency have felled many trees including the centuries old hollow oak on the river Teise crossing below Lamberhurst Church. Apparently this is to stop bats roosting in them. More likely the reason is that sporadic sneaky progress makes it difficult for protesters to take direct action.

AUGUST 2002 UPDATE:

THE HIGHWAYS AGENCY HAS STARTED FELLING TREES AND GRUBBING OUT HEDGES IN THE PROTECTED SPECIES HABITAT WOODLAND AT PIERCEFIELD SHAW. OTHER WORK IS ONGOING- TIME IS RUNNING OUT.

FEB 2002 UPDATE:

The Highways Agency have at last admitted that the bypass will destroy the habitat of not just the dormouse, but the great crested newt, badgers, and bats, ALL of which are protected species. Yet they continue with their "species relocation" undeterred. "Species relocation" is of course their euphemism for destruction of habitat and trapping (and presumably frightening half to death) species which are endangered because they are unable to cope with man's interference. For more details see the December 2001 update below.

DECEMBER 2001 UPDATE:

The almost extinct dormouse, a protected species under U.K. and European law, has been discovered in woodland which will be destroyed by the bypass. The dormouse is one of the UK’s rarest mammals (see this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1422000/1422622.stm)), is a key indicator of ancient woodland and has priority status in the species recovery programme of English Nature. Under UK law it is illegal to kill it, disturb it, or destroy its habitat without a special license. The Highways Agency have permission to do just this when they bulldoze right through the middle of Piercefield Shaw. They are able to ‘coppice its habitat’ to encourage it to move on. But the only places it will be able to go to are the banks of the new dual carriageway which will form the bypass, where it will die out. English Nature is spending time and money on its programme to re-introduce the dormouse at secret locations in the UK, yet the Highways Agency has a license to permanently destroy its territory by building a noisy dual carriageway directly through the centre of one of its last remaining habitats.