A24 Alliance

Press Release

For Immediate Release                    11th April 2003

Safety or the Environment, that’s the agonising choice residents of Findon Village have to make, as they witness the frightening number of crashes that occur on the section of A24 close to their homes.

This, and the relentless rise in the volume of traffic, was the theme that ran throughout the Findon meeting, the latest in a series of public meetings being held at various locations along the length of the A24 by the A24 Alliance ⁽¹⁾

Peter Finch, spokesman for the A24 Alliance said: “It’s outrageous to think that residents living in picturesque Findon Village, now have to see the Downland section of the A24, which over the years has turned into a speedway, fitted with ‘blot on the landscape’ motorway style barriers erected to prevent speeding drivers crossing the central reserve and crashing into on coming traffic”.

Continuing Peter Finch Said: “How is it, that traffic is allowed to go so fast that these crashes occur. Is it a lack of law enforcement or just bad driving? If the latter, then all those millions of pounds spent on advertising campaigns to educate drivers in safe driving have been wasted. On the other hand if it’s due to lack of law enforcement, then the dramatic increase in the Police Authority Budget, which comes out of the Council Tax, hasn’t been spent on traffic policing”.

Finally Peter Finch said: “Our visit to Findon Village has hardened our determination to stop this A24 madness. We will not allow residents of Findon or any other village along the A24 to be bullied into accepting a motorway by stealth. Stopping crashes and saving lives is not done by building an expressway through the countryside, it’s done by firm policing and driver education”.

Ends

Notes for Editors.