Political opinion with Josh Babarinde MP: Severe traffic delays leave town at a standstill 

Many residents may have seen or been caught up in the severe traffic delays in Polegate last week, caused by temporary traffic lights on the A27.

I was shocked to hear about the scale of the disruption and was contacted by several residents struggling to get to school, work and important appointments.

I wrote to senior executives at National Highways, who are responsible for looking after main roads, to raise these concerns and press for urgent action.

I’m grateful that additional resources were deployed to assess the situation and implement changes to traffic management arrangements, which have since helped improve traffic flow.

I have since followed up with National Highways for answers about why such severe disruption occurred and what steps can be taken to prevent a repeat incident in the future. 

Severe Drought Announced in Sussex

I was deeply concerned to hear that parts of Sussex have officially been classified as being in a state of ‘severe drought’. Water levels at a local reservoir (Ardingly) have fallen below 20%!

South East Water has been implementing short-term measures, including repairing leaks and connecting water networks across the county.

While these short-term measures are necessary, I have been clear to South East Water's new CEO that we urgently need long-term investment in water infrastructure to ensure supply keeps pace with growing demand, which water companies have failed to do since the industry was privatised in the 1980’s. 

Since then an estimated £85 billion has been extracted from the water industry and paid out directly to shareholders and investors rather than being reinvested in the water system.

As a result, no new reservoir has been completed in the South East since the 1970s, and more than 100 million litres of water are lost through leaks every day due to ageing infrastructure. This is simply unacceptable. 

Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch has described the privatisation of the water industry as a “success” - I strongly disagree.

I will continue to hold water companies to account for their persistent failures and ensure that residents have access to a reliable and affordable water supply.