Representation by Susan Janette Ball
- Date submitted
- 20 September 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I cannot support this proposal in its current form. Living on a narrow lane in Cowfold parish, I am very concerned regarding the potential traffic issues the project may cause. Rampion have , for example , mapped Dragons Lane, south of the village as one of their cable routes- this is a narrow unmade private access lane with farm buildings either side, so totally unsuitable for use by large lorries or equipment which may be required; I understand that the residents of the farm at the end of the lane, who use it as their sole access route, have had no information from Rampion until recently made aware of plans by local residents. Although our lane(Spronketts) is a tarmac public highway, it is 6'-6"restricted access and we have previous and frequent unhappy experience of this restriction being ignored, once resulting in vehicle stuck under a mature tree branch and the tree having to be felled entirely. The additional traffic delays caused by this project will severely impact our local community due to traffic from delays and congestion on the A272 trying to find short cuts by using local lanes, causing further degradation of the already poor road surface . I did not receive any notification of this project from Rampion despite living within Cowfold parish and feel strongly that the project has not been thoroughly investigated in terms of local impact and access routesto be used; indeed, at a local information event the Rampion staff there were unable to identify the proposed cable route on a local map- this does not instill confidence in people who live locally and are completely familiar with the terrain, rights of way, flood plains,traffic flow, etc.Such details are of prime importance to those that live in the area and will suffer the effects of any errors made in the plans currently available, there is a clear need for closer local consultation before this proposal can be accepted.