No Dualling of A21
MARK SULLIVAN
MP for Bexhill & Battle, Kieran Mullan, called in Parliament last week for dual carriageways to be built on further stretches of the A21. Hastings & Rye MP Helena Dollimore supported him.
Dr Mullan argued that the slow road journey south from Tonbridge – “characterised by tight bends, multiple junctions and direct access from homes and farms” – was “a structural barrier to growth” of the local economy of Hastings and Bexhill. Neither of the MPs’ speeches, however, mentioned that this stretch of road runs for 26 miles through the High Weald National Landscape (formerly ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’). Indeed the environment and the value of the landscape were not mentioned by either.
Roads Minister at the Department for Transport, Simon Lightwood, replying to the MPs in the House of Commons, told them: “Dualling the A21 would carry a significant cost, and the delivery of such a scheme would be really challenging, given the local topography and the number of settlements that the route passes through. It would also have significant environmental impacts – there are sites of significant environmental interest in the area, including ancient woodland.” He made it clear that the government has no plans to do it.
In the High Weald, ‘dualling’ would not mean widening the present road. Today’s standards for dual carriageways require: gentle curves and gradients for 70 mph driving; bridges, over or under, for local roads; no right turns (too dangerous); and embankments. It would effectively mean a new road nearly all the way. Loss of farm businesses, listed buildings and woodland would be unavoidable. Construction costs are now so high that £2 billion would not be too low for the distance involved.
This is the most hilly and wooded region in South East England and is full of attractive villages, houses, woods and parks. It simply is not possible to develop a fast road through the Weald except at high cost and serious damage to the natural world, landscape and heritage.
BYPASS OPTIONS
Dr Mullan conceded that National Highways has spent £20 million on junction and safety improvements on the A21 since 2020, but said that the basic problems of the road remain. And he offered an alternative approach. “If the Minister is not considering dualling, perhaps the next best thing in some of the villages that are particularly hard hit would be bypasses – so are there any plans [for that]?” he asked. “Land has been bought to do that in the past, and then it gets sold back and those plans are not delivered.”
The three largest villages en route, Pembury, Lamberhurst, and Robertsbridge, already have bypasses. Two of the remaining villages that Dr Mullan suggested, Flimwell and Watlington, are in fact just off the A21, with only a few houses with direct access onto the trunk road.
Hurst Green, which has historic buildings and a fine main street, is undoubtedly blighted by traffic. As Dr Mullan told Parliament: ‘The village primary school is located directly on the A21. Getting children to and from school presents a daily safety challenge that no community should have to accept. Parents and carers have no safe drop-off or pick-up areas… Pavements are narrow, often obstructed and completely unprotected from fast-moving traffic. Walking or cycling are simply not viable options. Standing inches from a continuous stream of HGVs, vans and cars makes the risk immediately obvious and is very intimidating.”
Yet, when a costly and contentious plan for five miles of new A21 between Flimwell and Robertsbridge, proposed in 2002, was dropped on grounds of high cost, the one mile needed to bypass Hurst Green was not safeguarded.
Land bought was resold, as Dr Mullan said. And in 2024 permission was given for 30 new houses where the bypass would need to run. A local decision may now prevent relief from traffic for the village, however willing the Roads Minister might have been to help.
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