Bognor tip traffic causing '˜dangerous' queues on busy road

Pictures sent in by Peter Spicer from Yeomans, showing cars backed up onto the A29 Shripney Road

The queues of cars waiting to get in on Saturday were so long that vehicles were backed up onto the busy A29 Shripney Road, with one business owner saying he has seen some near accidents.

Richard Bone, who owns Darbon Motors in Arun Business Park, where the tip is also located, said: “There always seems to be queues outside now.

“It’s not affected us all that much because most of our business is by appointment.

Businesses could consider moving out if nothing is done, Mr Spicer said

“But there’s been queuing on the dual carriageway and we’ve seen a couple of near misses with cars.

“The problem has definitely got worse.”

Other businesses located at Arun Business Park say the increased traffic is directly affecting them.

Since the start of the month, the Bognor Regis Household Waste Recycling Site has gone from being open seven days a week to five, closing on Thursdays and Fridays from October 1.

Near accidents and fly tipping has been reported since the site went from seven to five days

New £4 charges have also been introduced for tyres and rubble bags of non-household waste, in a cost-saving measure introduced across a number of recycling sites by West Sussex County Council.

Since the changes were introduced there have been reports of increasing amounts of fly-tippers dumping piles of rubbish around the Bognor area.

Yeomans Nissan has written to MP Nick Gibb to ask for him to act before ‘an accident occurs or businesses withdraw from the estate’.

In a letter to Mr Gibb, Peter Spicer, aftersales manager, wrote: “As a direct result in the time approaching the opening of the tip it is near on impossible to access the estate in which us and numerous other businesses operate.

“We have seen regular queues that block access and overflow into the carriageway.

“I have raised these concerns with Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council via email who have thus far failed to reply.

“Bognor Town Hall have suggested I raise my concern at public question time which is scheduled November 21, I would argue that this matter requires immediate action and that waiting until the end of November to raise the concern is unacceptable.

“Regardless to the obvious disruption to businesses there is also a safety concern as the traffic for the tip and for normal business park overflows onto the A29.

“As our local MP I would ask for your help to come up with a solution before an accident occurs or businesses make a conscious decision to start withdrawing from the estate and the surrounding area.”

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