Crowdfunding for bypass challenge

An opponent of Highways England’s plan to build an A27 Arundel Bypass through watermeadows and the South Downs National Park has launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund a judicial review. Emma Tristram says Highways England’s consultation last year did not reveal the full environmental impact of the preferred option (5A). She said Highways England’s recently published scheme assessment report contained important differences from the consultation. “The consultation’s benefit:cost ratio made 5A look good value for money, but now it looks much poorer. The consultation information made 5A seem less ecologically damaging than Option 3, but now they are both assessed at the worst level, ‘Very Large Adverse’. If this had been declared at the time of the consultation, it would have affected public and local authority views on 5A.” The South Downs National Park Authority has already launched proceedings for a judicial review (LTT 08 Jun).