Study of village’s through traffic in bid to reduce vehicle numbers

The move is a direct result of a letter sent to the Secretary of State for Transport, signed by West Sussex county councillor Frank Wilkinson, Horsham District councillors Ray Dawe, Chris Mason, Jim Sanson and Roger Arthur, along with Storrington and Sullington Parish Council vice chairman, Anna Worthington-Leese.

For some years Storrington and Sullington Parish Council has been working with its neighbouring Parish Councils, local Horsham District councillors and County councillor Frank Wilkinson, to find ways to reduce the traffic problems in Storrington.

It is known that there are about 18,000 vehicles a day going through Storrington High Street, the large majority ‘through’ traffic avoiding the bottlenecks on the A27 of Arundel and Worthing.

Short of the construction of by-passes for these two towns, deemed unlikely in the current financial climate, solutions such as weight and height restrictions on Houghton Bridge and the introduction of a low emissions zone in the High Street have been considered.

In addition, restricting the use of the B2139/A283 route by HGVs has always been high on the agenda and would be a major step forward.

Despite these efforts, there had been little success in resolving the issues, but following a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport, signed by representatives of the local parish councils, district councillors and Cllr Wilkinson, West Sussex County Council has agreed to fund a Traffic Study into the use by HGVs of the B2139/A283 Amberley Road/Storrington High Street.

This will involve the use of state of the art vehicle recognition cameras on all major routes in and out of Storrington to establish the origin and destination of traffic.

Once this information is collected, a decision will be made about what actions can be taken to reduce pollution levels and through traffic.

Storrington and Sullington Parish Council chairman, Ray Dawe, said: “I am really pleased to hear that this traffic study has now been commissioned.

“We have been urging such action for years and it has been a long struggle to get these traffic issues recognised. Now, by using information gathered from this study, we can continue pushing for a robust plan to combat the problems. We are also now hopeful of further funds to look into the possibility of creating a monitored low emissions zone which would really help us.”

County councillor Frank Wilkinson said: “This is a significant step forward in achieving a credible solution to the air quality problems and to the traffic issues experienced throughout Storrington and the other Downland villages. By gathering this information we will know what the footprint is for Storrington and clarify the difference between genuine village and through traffic and what action can be taken to deal with the latter.”