Transport Futures East Sussex/Campaign for Better Transport / Hastings Alliance

PRESS RELEASE – IMMEDIATE

COURT HEARING FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW APPEAL

Friday the 5^th October will see the Hastings Alliance in court to hear the result of their appeal for a judicial review of the Secretary of State’s decision to provide funding for the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road (BHLR).

Speaking for the Alliance, Chairman Nick Bingham said:

‘ This is a very important day for us in our 12 year campaign to shed light on what is a road scheme evidently based on shaky grounds and wildly optimistic assertions from promoters, East Sussex County Council.

Last weekend’s ‘Rally in the Valley’ – organized by the Combe Haven Defenders and attended by well over 100 protesters – showed us just how much local people resent the destruction predicted by a major and expensive road carrying up to 30,000 vehicles a day through a peaceful and beautiful valley.

‘Experts inside and outside government have already concluded that alternatives have not been fully and properly investigated. That alone is reason enough to halt this scheme – the worst by far for CO2 emissions among the 45 transport schemes currently in development in England’ concluded Mr Bingham’. (1)

ENDS.

Derrick Coffee for the Hastings Alliance)

 

 EXPLORATORY DIGGING BEGINS

Substantial trenches (pictured here) have been dug, believed to be investigating potential archeological sites. The appearance of excavating machinery is a chilling reminder of what may be to come on a massive scale.

NEWS ON JUDICIAL REVIEW

We have secured a likely date of the 5^th October for a hearing to consider leave for a Judicial Review of the Secretary of State’s conditional award of funding for the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road. We are very hopeful that, by then, we’ll have funds in place to cover our legal costs, though for much of the help we are receiving, legal professionals are acting ‘pro-bono. We are hugely grateful for this.

FAILURE OF ESCC’s LOCAL SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT FUND FOR BEXHILL AND HASTINGS

Further to our last posting on the website (Sustainable Transport for Bexhill and Hastings: Trumped by BHLR), we now understand that the ‘real time’ bus information systems for the two towns, plus walking and cycling infrastructure improvements that were the subject of the bid, could take ‘between 3 and 5 years’ to deliver. IF ESCC gets its way, the BHLR will then have been built thus making sure that the sustainable transport improvements that might eventually appear will suffer from competition from the new road, as will existing bus and rail services. This is anti-sustainable and anti-social transport policy in action, which will lead to a spiral of increasing congestion through increased numbers of local car trips, and worsening accessibility for those choosing sustainable modes, or who have no access to a car.

As we already know, in the 12 year history of the BHLR vanity scheme, no serious attempt has been made by ESCC to fully examine transport alternatives.

 BHLR AND JOBS CLAIMS

In a desperate attempt to make the BHLR look less worse, ESCC has quoted many different figures for jobs it expects to follow the construction (destruction!) of BHLR.

These include a figure in its final bid to government of 2,020. But once the jobs taken by those out of area are stripped out (39% – ESCC), the figure falls to 1,220.  There is a further assertion that 2,800 jobs could be created via BHLR – by 2026! (our italics).

Interestingly, a figure of almost 2,000 jobs is given for jobs created without BHLR. That chimes with findings of a study carried out for Friends of the Earth by CAG consultants in 2000 which analysed a ‘non-roads’ scenario for job creation. ‘New Jobs without New Roads – sustainable regeneration in Hastings’ suggested that up to 2,557 new jobs could be created in Hastings without the roads proposed at that time.

In the world inhabited by council leader Cllr Peter Jones, however, a series of press releases and media quotes give very different predictions:

21.3.12: ‘… at least 3,000

24.4.12: ‘… when combined with £8.5m loan (i.e. – to be paid back) for ‘Growing Places’, a total of 4,500 jobs will be created’.

23.7.12: ‘… more than 3,000

And the government’s own analysis carried out just 5 months ago? 900 possible jobs. (DfT, March 2012). That’s a lot less than a third of Cllr Jones’ figure.

‘PROTECTED’ WILDLIFE AT RISK

Populations of great crested newts, dormice and bats are being placed at risk through preparations for construction of the BHLR, which is still projected to begin in January 2013, while it is predicted by county council experts themselves that numbers of barn owls will be killed by traffic.

Translocation of great crested newts appears to be a risky business with a history of poor and inconsistent monitoring where practised.  A 2010 study for a PhD thesis by Deborah McNeill of the University of Glasgow concluded:

In the UK, translocation is increasingly being used to resolve conflict between great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) conservation and land development. Due to a lack of objective study on the translocation procedure, there remains little evidence of the success of employing this strategy despite widespread implementation.

We know that the dormouse habitats in the valleys will be fragmented and that bats and traffic don’t mix. In terms of protection, the newts, bats and dormice have a status of European importance. Sadly, degradation will follow the road, with car borne litter and noise being certain to introduce an unwelcome polluting and visually offensive characteristic into this tranquil and beautiful refuge.

RALLY IN THE VALLEY 2012

A local group – Combe Haven Defenders – has been launched with the aim of securing the valley for future generations and preventing the BHLR from being built. They are organising this year’s event on the 29^th and 30^th September. Follow their website and local media for details.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Nationally respected campaigner John Stewart will speak at the rally. It was John who masterminded the campaign to prevent the building of the third runway at Heathrow. Recent Secretary of State for Transport Justine Greening, MP, is highly likely to be one of his greatest fans! It is also hoped that Green Party MEP Keith Taylor will speak.

www.combehavendefenders.org.uk

 

PRESS RELEASE

BUS FACILITIES UPGRADE AND PEDESTRIAN, CYCLE IMPROVEMENTS TRUMPED BY LINK ROAD

‘Much needed bus ‘real time’ information displays for bus stops in Hastings and Bexhill, and a sustainable network of pedestrian and cycle routes have failed to receive government funding due to payments already promised for the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road (BHLR)’ say the Hastings Alliance.

Speaking for the Alliance, Derrick Coffee said:

‘The Department for Transport (DfT) have made it clear that East Sussex County Council (ESCC) and not the DfT will have to foot any bills for such measures for Hastings and Bexhill. These potentially key measures – frequently described by ESCC as ‘complementary’ to the Link Road – have instead been trumped by that environmentally damaging and poor value for money scheme.

Mr Coffee added:

‘Hastings and Bexhill are lagging years behind the times when it comes to ‘real time’ bus information, enjoyed by Tunbridge Wells and Brighton for over a decade. Now we’re told we can’t have it because the Link Road has been given funding. Not only that, but pedestrians and cyclists have had their hopes dented for the same reason. It appears that the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) won’t apply to Hastings or Bexhill, and safe, sustainable and healthy transport could remain on the back burner for the foreseeable future.

Add to that the fading prospects for a new railway station at Glyne Gap (yet another study is under way) and the rather insulting arrangements for pedestrians moving between the station, bus interchange, FE college and Priory Meadow, we can see that alternatives to the car in these parts will continue to be second rate for quite some time to come. As we have predicted, sustainable transport is being undermined by the Link Road.

The Glyne Gap station studies carried out so far were favourable and showed that pound for pound, the station would be much better value for money than the Link Road. Ironically, transport proposals from ESCC 12 years ago (their first Local Transport Plan, 2000) promised better bus, rail, pedestrian and cycling facilities but little has been delivered. One such proposal was for area wide tickets that would have been ideal for regular bus and train users, particularly children, and the large numbers of students now studying in the towns. With current conditions, that would certainly have helped thousands of households on ever tighter budgets. No sign of such ticket deals yet.

All we have now is a sum of £56m from the Department for Transport towards the Link Road, with East Sussex council taxpayers set to make up the shortfall – likely to be more than that sum over again. In a time of cuts, there are going to be quite a few pressing calls on scarce and diminishing funds and the grant begins to look like a poisoned chalice.

Curiously, the Department for Transport have refused to publish their recommendations on the Link Road made to minister Norman Baker on the 14^th and 19^th March – just days before the budget statement confirming the part funding of the scheme.

 

Derrick Coffee (For the Hastings Alliance)

(01323 646866/01424 883319)

BHLR – WORST BY FAR FOR CARBON EMISSIONS

The Hastings Alliance took the opportunity to lobby Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey on the 16th June in Kingston. The occasion was a meeting to mark the 20th Anniversary of the 1992 Agenda 21 initiatives in Rio, ahead of this week’s international gathering, also in Rio. Specifically, we challenged the minister to question the approval of the worst transport scheme for carbon emissions of the 45 approved in the budget by the Department for Transport (DfT), and asked if he’d do his best to bring about a rethink. He promised to look into it. Almost the worst for its ‘value for money’, and the only one described as ‘poor’ by the Department for Transport itself, you can’t help but wonder what went wrong…….

REVEALING STATISTICS

For all to see, here is a graph produced from Department for Transport statistics showing on those counts, just how awful the BHLR is predicted to be:

Clearly, the BHLR is way out in front on carbon emissions – rather embarrassing for Greg Barker, MP*, and those representing the UK at Rio, while on the value for money stakes, it’s way down at the bottom.  The current £104m price tag is a long way from the £56m – very slightly over half the cost – approved by government. Local council tax payers beware: are our basic services secure?

*Minister of State with responsibility for climate change

NO STONE CAN BE LEFT UNTURNED

This is certainly the view of the Alliance, as we seek leave to apply for  Judicial Review of the Department for Transport’s decision to part fund the scheme. It would be surprising if a scheme such as BHLR, with a half hearted endorsement by the DfT’s analysts, were not to be challenged. We will try.

 

 

Recent heavy rain brought sudden and surprising change to the valleys’ wide and intimate landscapes: the main rivers – Combe Haven, Watermill Stream, Powdermill Stream and Decoy Pond Stream all swollen and gushing and gurgling into the main valley created lakes. It happens every year – but never ceases to thrill those who observe and enjoy uninterrupted natural forces and the explosion of spring into summer.

The effect of humanity on those natural processes and landscapes was the subject of three plays presented by Feral Theatre at this May’s Brighton Festival Fringe. The production, Triptych, focussed on extinction, habitat destruction, ignorance of our dependence on a high quality natural environment, and the tragic consequences that follow its incremental destruction. The Hastings Alliance were invited to mount a small exhibition describing Combe Haven and its unique amphitheatre of wonderful places. Many members of the audience signed up to hear more of our campaign.

The plays were staged in St Peters’s church, Preston Park and featured four actors and a simple set with very effective lighting, and choreographed shadow puppets depicting courtship of arctic curlews, music, mime, acrobatics and narrative. We very much appreciated this opportunity.

As for the backdrop to our continuing campaign, we are still digesting the realities of the  decision of the Department for Transport to part fund the scheme. Remember, there’s a shortfall to be made up by local council tax payers of a minimum of £33m, and the final sum is likely to be much higher, with no private sector money available and little or no developer interest. It must be remembered that in terms of ‘value for money’, this BHLR scheme was rated as bottom in the original list of 24 schemes in England chasing government funds. It still can’t be far off bottom in the expanded list of schemes receiving government money.

We continue to challenge the scheme and to gather information because, whatever the final result, the full story needs telling and will be told. It’s an awful scheme with a very shaky evidence base.

More soon: please visit the valley while tranquillity prevails.

If you wish to be kept up to date then please contact: derrick coffee – derrick.coffee@talk21.com or, nick bingham – nbing@metronet.co.uk

*In the long view (without horse) you can see Adams Farm, a grade 2* listed farmhouse with barn to the right. The barn is a bat roost and lies in the path of the proposed BHLR. This barn will be dismantled and rebuilt on another site. Bats have a European level of protection and the success of their relocation, close to a new road carrying 30,000 vehicles a day, remains a matter for speculation. We’d prefer they were left alone.

The two local papers – the Bexhill and Hastings Observers – received a dozen letters this week, with one more published as an article, expressing the conviction that the decision to part fund the BHLR to the tune of £56m, was the wrong decision. One correspondent reminds us that the true cost will very likely be over £100m, with the balance paid by local council taxpayers – hardly popular in, say, Lewes, Crowborough, Robertsbridge, Heathfield or Uckfield. The county council’s budget will need close scrutiny in the weeks and months ahead.

On the national scene, Local Transport Today (LTT) published its assessment of the BHLR story. LTT is a respected national publication read by local authority planners, and academics. All this is now here on the website and both letters and the LTT article can be read by following the links below beneath the poem.

In this post you’ll also be able to read a new poem by local, national poet Brian Moses, and see a 2005 painting by Peter Poole of the view of Combe Haven from Adams Farmhouse kitchen window. The view and setting of the 16th century farmhouse will be changed forever by the BHLR.

Sincere thanks for the many messages of support received in recent days, and for past support over many years. We will continue to make every effort to secure this very special and treasured valley for future generations to enjoy.

….As Joni once wrote in one of her songs

‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.’  *

New Road

Trees have fallen silent,

their leaves done with whispering.

 

Birds and bees have nothing to say.

 

I no longer receive communications

on the breeze.

 

The stream does not share its secrets.

 

For the road that’s planned

through the valley

grows nearer

everyday.

 

And everything turns its face away

as I walk by.

 

Yet from different sides of the valley

fat cats are looking on,

purring appreciatively,

licking their lips.

There’s money to be made from this, they hiss,

there’s money to be made from this.

Brian Moses

 

LTT Battle of Hastings_NEW

Post Decision Hastings/Bexhill ObserverLetters

 

*On the website shortly:

-maps produced for East Sussex County Council showing the very special character of the irreplaceable Combe Haven and its tributary  valleys.

-news of the next stage of our campaign.

COMMENT AND PRESS RELEASE

Combe Haven – beautiful, tranquil, safe, for all the family – but not for much longer.

As we now all know, the highly speculative BHLR project received a £56m cash boost from government in the budget, leaving council tax payers of East Sussex to stump up the rest. With an absence of ‘developer contributions’ that could mean the total cost of BHLR and associated infrastructure could soar way past the £100m mark.

There is no question that the road scheme, which was levered in to the transport studies of 2002, will wreck a beautiful part of East Sussex, within walking distance of some of the most deprived wards of Hastings and Bexhill – and a great tourist and recreation asset for all. There is no equivalent asset available. Damage cannot be mitigated. This has been our inheritance; it should be our childrens’ inheritance.

The Hastings Alliance position remains the same: there is no proven need for the link road, either from a transport point of view, or to access development. There are highly likely to be alternatives. They have never been examined. A full and proper examination of packages of sensible, viable alternatives has been resolutely avoided by East Sussex County Council.

The Hastings Alliance will continue to report.

Our press release is below:

HASTINGS ALLIANCE

PRESS RELEASE – IMMEDIATE

BEXHILL TO HASTINGS LINK ROAD GO AHEAD – A MAJOR SETBACK FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The Hastings Alliance today reacted with great disappointment at the news of the go-ahead for the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road (BHLR).

Speaking for the Alliance, chairman Nick Bingham said:

“This is a failure at all levels of government to recognise a great opportunity to develop a showcase in Bexhill and Hastings for sustainable development and transport.

This would have given us – and more importantly, future generations – the best in high quality public transport, with cycling and walking routes in safe, green and pleasant streets: an example for the UK. Instead, with the publicly funded £100m link road encouraging more car trips, we will have traffic dominated developments and the worst in urban design, with more congestion problems ahead on all existing roads, and a growing carbon footprint. The pain is greater for it being a local road paid for with at least  £29m coming from local pockets.

With the car based development that will surely follow the link road, the alternatives will always be lagging behind and begging for investment that should rightly have gone to support their development, not increased car dependency.

There is no evidence that jobs claimed to follow the link road will actually materialise and no mandate for such speculative development using public funds.

The monument to the BHLR will be the wrecked inheritance to tomorrow’s residents – the outstandingly beautiful Combe Haven valley – with tens of thousands of motorists a day polluting and passing through it, saving themselves little time until traffic quickly grows and slows in the resulting congestion. Resulting increases in CO2 emissions too should not be acceptable. Our campaign continues”.

Speaking for Campaign for Better Transport – East Sussex, Derrick Coffee said:

“Reports commissioned by us and other groups show conclusively that the BHLR is very poor or even negative value for money, that alternatives have been set aside or ignored altogether, and that environmental damage has been seriously underestimated. The singular focus on the BHLR project has resulted in a lost decade of progress on alternatives, poor consultation and engagement with the public to design and deliver them, and a pretence that sustainable ways of accessing development land do not exist.

The cost to the public purse to the tune of £100m is unacceptable in any case, but to grant funds for an outmoded car based model of development irrelevant to the regeneration of Bexhill and Hastings at a time when funds are scarce is remarkable for its detachment from reality. Our opposition to the BHLR is undiminished”.

Hastings Alliance, Court Lodge Oast, Udimore. E. Sussex. TN33 6BB 01424 883319

nbing@metronet.co.uk

Campaign for Better Transport – East Sussex, Derrick Coffee, 9 Mayfield Place, Eastbourne, E Sussex. BN22 8XJ. 01323 646866

derrick.coffee@talk21.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early in the week beginning 12th March, Campaign for Better Transport sent out a press release to the national and local media on the subject of an appeal by the Alliance to Secretary of State Justine Greening not to fund the BHLR. The Hastings, Bexhill and Rye and Battle Observers picked up the story and published the press release in full. Meridian TV did too, and filmed a piece in the valley  at Ray and Laura Boggis’s Bynes Farm. BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey also picked it up. In each case Derrick got the callout and shared the broadcast with Cllr Peter Jones, leader of the county council.

Cllr  Jones  made the usual claims for the untold riches which would be delivered – along with a new one that the road’s benefit to Cost Ratio had shot up to a miraculous 10:1!  ‘Nonsense on stilts’ was the considered response of our expert to a rapidly commissioned report referred to by Cllr Jones.  Alliance predictions include a realistic scenario that in fact the ratio could well be in the realms of the negative.

The press release:

For immediate release

Green groups urge Government not to destroy environmental credentials by building destructive new road

Leaders of green groups have written to the Secretary of State for Transport urging her not to approve the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road on the basis it would do huge irreparable environmental damage without delivering the local regeneration claimed by road’s promoters.

Campaign for Better Transport, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Greenpeace UK, Friends of the Earth, Hastings Alliance, Sussex Wildlife Trust and Sussex Countryside Trust have written to Justine Greening urging her not to approve what they say is the most environmentally harmful and least economically justifiable road scheme currently being proposed in England.

Sian Berry, Campaign for Better Transport’s sustainable transport campaigner, said: “We see this decision as a key test for Government, one that will determine whether its aspiration to be the ‘greenest government ever’ is being overridden by a new drive to spend public money on infrastructure, no matter how damaging or ineffective it will be. Not only would approving it shred the Government’s environmental credentials, it would also be a poor use of public money and will not provide the sustainable regeneration Hastings needs.”

The Bexhill-Hastings Link Road’s proposed route is through the middle of the Combe Haven Valley, an area vital for nature and recreation, passing within metres of a Site of Special Scientific Interest and several Sites of Nature Conservation. The area is also important historically as it includes the possible landing site for the Norman invasion in 1066 and could contain important archeological remains.

The road is the final major road scheme awaiting a funding decision from the Department for Transport. The funding decision was postponed in December 2011 when Ministers ordered East Sussex County Council to examine alternative road and public transport options for new housing and businesses that would be less environmentally damaging, something campaigners argue has never been properly completed. Campaigners are concerned that Treasury sources are pushing for the scheme to be approved so that it can be announced in the Budget on 21 March.

ENDS

The link to the letter to  Secretary of State Justine Greening is below:

http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/files/letter-on-BHLR.pdf

The meeting with the DfT followed this flurry of media activity – here’s a report:

 A quick update on Thursday’s meeting with the Department for Transport.

We had with us our four experts – Judy Clark, Alan Wenban-Smith, Keith Buchan and Mark Sullivan giving presentations on issues of biodiversity/landscape, economic credentials, transport and sustainability, and planning.

The four DfT staff present listened carefully to the presentations and asked questions throughout the 90 minute meeting which was efficiently chaired by Robert S Fox of DfT, and very well steered by our chairman, Nick Bingham. It was open and cordial throughout and gave every opportunity for all of our team – including Nick, Gillian and Derrick – to make useful contributions to the discussions.

We are very confident that a great deal of light was shed on matters which otherwise might have been passed by, and that the case presented by the promoters is not only being legitimately challenged by the Hastings Alliance, but that there are very powerful arguments in every area covered by our presentations that support and justify such a challenge. The meeting was evidently valued by the DfT team.

We believe that we did our best, and that thanks to the work put in by our presenters, our best was pretty good!

One telling post meeting assessment from an attendee: ‘…it got across the key points: huge environmental damage, lack of robust justification (ludicrous economic arguments, modelling changes all the time), stubborn refusal to take obvious and available alternatives seriously’.

The DfT told us that they were in constant dialogue with ministers but that they couldn’t anticipate a ‘decision date’. We deduce that there is a chance that the budget statement on Wednesday 21st could include such a decision, but that the decision in any case is likely to be very soon.

Photos of the team outside DfT offices, and the Meridian presenter in action at Laura and Ray Boggis’s Bynes Farm overlooking the valley are featured below:

 

EVIDENCE GATHERING FOR OUR CASE

Our joint meeting with the Department for Transport (DfT), East Sussex County Council and others – including Network Rail and the Highways Agency – took place on the 21^st February.

It was a meeting where supporters of BHLR set out their stall, and where those of us with different ideas of the best ways of bringing benefits to the towns tabled alternative ideas. The meeting was expertly chaired by the DfT who fielded relevant experts.

Since then all parties have been sifting through past published material and studies around meeting the needs of Bexhill and Hastings, and sharing these with the Department for Transport.

The next stage for us is to refine the measures which make up our alternative strategy to the BHLR and to meet with the DfT on the 15^th March to present these for discussion.

PROFESSIONAL HELP AND FUNDS

There will be seven of us at the meeting: Chairman Nick Bingham, Gillian Bargery and Derrick Coffee. Our expert professionals will include Dr Judy Clark – a long standing Hastings Alliance member, Keith Buchan, transport planner: Professor Alan Wenban –Smith, urban and regional planning consultant; and Mark Sullivan, planning consultant. The last three have much experience of the BHLR scheme and a good knowledge of the area and we have commissioned them in the past. Our recent fund raising drive has allowed us to engage them again and we look forward confidently to our meeting. In just seven weeks, we have raised £1,700 pounds from our members  and well wishers in large and small amounts, and a grant of £2,000 from Lush cosmetics ‘Charity Pot’ fund for local environmental campaigns. We thank all donors for their generosity and support over many years.

We have worked very hard in the last few weeks to research and develop our ideas on alternatives – and they are looking increasingly viable. Although they haven’t been welcomed by the supporters of BHLR, we think that ministers will be looking for value for money through adopting a well timed package of schemes that are not, as we believe is the case with BHLR, going to risk millions of pounds worth of public funds.

Aside from our efforts or those of others, we note the good news that measures other than transport related ones can boost communities in the shape of the fast broadband that is on schedule to arrive in Bexhill, Hastings and St Leonards this Spring with the help of £10.6m from government.

More soon.

Never in the Top 20 transport schemes in England, the BHLR appears to have dropped out of the charts altogether. On December 14th 2011, Secretary of State for Transport Justine Greening gave the go ahead for 41 transport schemes in England out of 45 for which funding was being sought. (see previous post, 15th December). Clearly not a hit with the minister, the BHLR was not one of them. Following statements by East Sussex politicians to the effect that the funding approval was ‘in the bag’, this must have come as quite a shock.

There now follows an ‘evidence gathering process’, seeking and examining from already published studies the most appropriate measures for the regeneration of Bexhill and Hastings. This process will be completed by 31st March. The Department of Transport (DfT), East Sussex County Council and ‘stakeholders’ – both for and against the BHLR – will meet in mid-February. Positions on the most appropriate transport futures for Bexhill and Hastings will then be shared and discussed. Following this there will be an opportunity for us to further marshall our evidence and then to meet with the DfT to present a summary of our case. BHLR supporters will have the same opportunities. The Secretary of State will consider the evidence and ‘move swiftly’ to a decision soon after.

Marshalling evidence and preparing a succinct summary for Ministers will require expert guidance and of course, this will need funding: funds are currently low. We are therefore appealing for donations, large or small, to secure the best guidance possible for what is almost certainly the final chapter in our campaign to remove for good the threat of the BHLR, and to make Bexhill and Hastings a showcase for sustainable transport and low carbon development. If you’d like to make a donation, cheques made out to ‘Hastings Alliance’ may  be sent to our Treasurer at the following address:

Derek Hodgkinson, 34, Fern Road, St Leonards – on – sea, East Sussex. TN38 OVH.

As a reminder of the beauty of Combe Haven in all seasons, including the pantomime one, here are a couple of photos taken by member Bill Coney of Sidley on January the 2nd this year. The floodplain one would be bisected by the BHLR. ‘Oh no it won’t!’