Flooding on busy main road in Bognor Regis sparks fresh calls for improvements - ‘Doing nothing is not an option’

After half the month’s average rainfall fell in the last week of January, lower Bognor Road became ‘submerged by floodwater’.

This has sparked fresh calls for road improvements from Matt Stanley (Lib Dem), Arun District Council’s cabinet member for technical services.

He said: “Residents of Aldwick and Pagham are being left marooned as the lower Bognor Road is submerged by floodwater in two places. I raised concerns about the current state of lower Bognor Road back in September to the Conservative led West Sussex County Council who opted to do nothing.

“After a couple of days of moderate rain the road has flooded and all the county council are prepared to do is put up signs. The usage of this road will dramatically increase if the 3,500 houses earmarked for West Bersted and Pagham get built, doing nothing is not an option.”

The county council said it is ‘limited in what we can do in this instance’, with the water table ‘as it is at the moment’.

The highways deparment added that the drainage in the area is ‘reliant on feeding into watercourses and the ditch network’.

“Flood warning boards have been placed on site to alert motorists,” a spokesperson added. “We would also advise that there are two alternative routes for road users – via the A259 and Pagham Road.”

Mr Stanley said this is not a practical solution, adding: “There needs to be a longer term plan for improvements.

“If the housing developments come through as proposed, there will be thousands of extra cars using that road.”