Campaigners call for unity of the area’s two bypasses

Campaign group the Forgotten Link is fighting to stop a planned bypass from cutting through the heart of Lyminster, isolating much of the village’s community.

On Monday (October 6), more than a dozen members from the organisation mounted a roadside protest near the Beefeater, in Crossbush, to highlight their concerns.

It was attended by Arundel and South Downs MP Nick Herbert who said he agreed with their efforts.

Jane Vening, of Forgotten Link, said: “To bring the bypass through into our little road is just insane. They have never thought of the future.

“Our road can’t cope now. To put an extra 3,000 cars on it – which is what the county council has said – is just insane.

“How will the emergency services get down the road with all that extra traffic?”

Jane and her group told Mr Herbert they were fully supportive of the A27 Arundel bypass and hoped a Lyminster bypass could work in conjunction with it.

However, she felt current plans for Lyminster’s new through route were sited in the wrong place.

She would like to see a bypass of the village moved further east, passing near Brookfield and Calceto Lane and eventually joining with the A27.

“We fully recognise that we need a bypass,” she said. “However, if it ran north to beyond the barns at Calceto, it would have the advantage of cutting through farmland rather than houses and would help prevent the present bottleneck at the Crossbush roundabout.”

For the full story, see this week’s Gazette (Thursday, October 9).