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Alliance
For Immediate Release 18 April 2005
News that FULL planning permission has been granted
for major road works on the A24 has baffled members of the A24 Alliance. In an
understanding given to the A24 Alliance by West Sussex County Council planning
services – development group, the planning permission was subject to the
conditions and informatives referred to in paragraph 383 (1) of the minutes of
the Planning Committee.
Although it was our understanding that this did not entail the entire
application being brought back to the planning committee, it did require the
planning committee’s consideration of the detailed information and proposals.
As we understand it, this detailed information and proposals has now been
considered by the planning committee and the A24 scheme has been approved
subject to the submissions that the applicant would need to make
before the conditions could be discharged. >And these would need to be
brought before the County Council's Planning Committee for its approval<.
Peter Finch for the A24 Alliance said: “What a muddle, clearly FULL planning
permission can’t be granted for an incomplete plan. Just imagine if I turned
up with only bits of the drawings for my new house, would I expect to get permission to build, I’d be so lucky. No this whole sorry saga has been
bungled and we put the blame squarely on Cllr Pemberton, for it is he who has
not listened to anyone. He has promoted this scheme solely on
safety grounds when everyone – including the government, judging by their
statement postponing funding indefinitely – could see that the scheme would
only increase speed and the volume of traffic.
Even at this late stage we call on the likely new administration at County Hall
to abandon this massively expensive scheme, give the taxpayer a break and let
residents along the A24 resume their lives”.
ENDS.
Editors’ notes.
The A24 Alliance was formed in January 2003 by a number of residents who live in
the various villages and individual locations along the A24 from Dorking to
Worthing.