Reason for 20mph limit

In the briefing note to councillors it is made clear that WSCC cannot (or at least doesn’t have the political will to) use any of the £2.6m for anything other than ‘additional road maintenance’, as specified by the Department for Transport.

So much for localism and the end of top down Government? Especially given the Worthing 20’s Plenty campaign has cross-party support from the locally elected Borough Council.

The problem with WSCC’s transport spending - in total 89 per cent goes on roads - 10 per cent on building more of them, 76 per cent on maintaining them and less than 2 per cent on safety (despite the fact that WSCC’s annual road casualty costs amount to £157m!).

The alternatives to motoring (for the 25 per cent of West Sussex households who don’t have a car and the 40 per cent or so of the population including children who don’t own driving licences) get next to nothing:

Less than 2 per cent for public transport

2 per cent for cycling (or less than 1 per cent if you take out the Shoreham foot/cycle bridge)

6 per cent for footways

WSCC continues to spend £250,000 on ‘safer routes to schools’ (improved crossing points, a few dropped kerbs and bollards right outside some of the county’s schools- hardly a route to school) and school safety zones (unenforceable intermittent 20mph and some anti-skid to help the motorists who haven’t bothered slowing down). This would have paid for 20’s Plenty for Worthing and Chichester - improving safety for not just children, but pedestrians, older people, the disabled and cyclists across the whole of both towns at all times of day.

Until WSCC start spending some of the main budget on sustainable transport we will continue to suffer not just the £157m road casualty costs, but also the £187m physical inactivity costs every year, and we will continue to encourage more congestion, pollution, noise and danger.

Bob Smytherman

Chairman of the Worthing County Local Committee and county councillor for Tarring division.

Goring Chase,

The Strand, Worthing