Warning delay may derail link road

Earlier this month the Observer revealed a final decision on the scheme would now not be made until after the anticipated general election.

Hastings MP Michael Foster denied it was a political move designed to put off any bad news until after the nation's votes had been counted.

He said instead it was a result of East Sussex County Council (ESCC) being slow in preparing its case for the recent public inquiry.

That inquiry looked into the legality of a series of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) which are vital to the scheme.

Planning permission for the three-mile stretch of road has already been given, but the future of the road relies heavily on the CPOs being given the green light.

Mr Foster said he was confident the road would go ahead, despite the unfortunate delay.

And this week, the head of ESCC rebuffed Mr Foster's claims the delay was the fault of the council and issued his own stark warning.

Cllr Peter Jones believes any delay in government announcement could derail the scheme by a year or more.

He said: "We have to respect certain seasonal factors in relation to some creatures and if we can't start soon, we will be unable to get going this year.

"Mr Foster claims that we are not ready to start. This is untrue.

"We are ready and itching to get on with this project which is vital to the regeneration of Hastings and Bexhill.

"Unlike the government, we have put up the front end costs of nearly 13m and it is the government which has made us jump through inumerable hoops, delayed the start of the enquiry and expanded its scope."

Greg Barker, Bexhill's MP, said: "Labour promised a bypass in 2001 and scrapped it straight after the general election.

"This delay is straight out of Lord Mandelson's book of New Labour tricks.

"It doesn't matter what Michael Foster says, Labour will scrap the road again if they claw back for a fourth time at the general election.

"If people care about new jobs and the economic future of our area they must kick out Labour and vote for Amber Rudd in Hastings and Rye."