'Not our fault' say landowners at centre of dispute over West Sussex road closure
Landowners at the centre of a legal dispute over repairs to a major West Sussex road have hit out at claims they are holding up action.
The A29 at Church Hill in Pulborough first faced problems in December 2022 when West Sussex County Council closed the road following a landslip.
It remained shut for months before reopening to single-lane traffic, controlled by traffic lights in April 2023, and with concrete blocks installed on both sides of the road.
It has remained single-lane since that time amid legal wrangling between the council and the owners of the roadside land – much to the anger and frustration of local residents. But the landowners say that the hold-ups have not been their fault.
Last week, the council again shut the road to carry out ‘essential tree safety works’ but said work was temporarily stopped after the landowners took out a legal injunction.
The council finally reopened the road again to single-lane traffic on Monday (May 4). Meanwhile, one of the landowners posted a message on social media to local residents saying that they had given permission to remove trees at the side of the road two years ago.
They said that the council ‘do not accept responsibility for the embankments’ and that “any requests for access have always been accepted we have had multiple surveyors and engineers access our property over the last three years to assess the problem.”
And, they claimed that the council would not pay for ‘any work necessary to make the road safe.’
However, a council spokesperson declined to respond to the landowner’s claims. A spokesperson said this week: “Whilst matters are ongoing we are unable to comment on statements issued publicly.”
They said: “The A29, Church Hill in Pulborough was re-opened at approximately 1pm on Monday May 4. The concrete blocks were re-instated to allow for single file flow of traffic.”