The 8 miles currently is around Hailsham and Eastbourne. There's no dual carriageway on the A21 in E Sussex. I've given up writing to the MP about anything we're just the poor relation in the South East. Kent and West Sussex are like a different country in comparison.
Well they are planning a roundabout at Coopers Corner, north of Hurst Green. Just got a letter about starting surveys of nearby properties. Apparently construction starting in 2025. That will cost a packet and just slow down traffic and inconvenience the locals. After 30 years of different consultations over a dual carriageway south of Lamberhurst that won’t happen in most of our lifetimes
They compulsory purchased land and property around Hurst Green and then cancelled the bypass, selling the land back off. They can't buy it again for a long period of time. Unfortunately our MP is more interested in getting inside knickers than he is representing us.
Oh yes, the bypass was judged too expensive, even the cheapest route closes to the ridge (so going through the cricket pitch). So it's just "safety improvements" south of Lamberhurst. The new roundabout at Coopers Corner is part of that scheme
Whereabouts is Coopers Corner? Is it where Merriments Lane joins the A21?
Yes
The Government's rhetoric about 'Levelling up' includes places outside the Midlands and North. Smaller coastal towns have long been recognised as a special case, suffering from long term economic decline as the British seaside holiday died, seasonal, low paid jobs, poor housing and health, poor job or educational prospects for the youth and often poorly connected to transport infrastructure. There have been various studies, 2 of the more recent being Chris Whitty's 2021 annual report and a House of Lords Committee chaired by (Lord) Steve 'Squatter' Bassam . In Hastings' case, there has been investment aimed at keeping talented young people in the town, such as the University of Brighton setting up an outpost that was criminally then shut down. The Council has won Town Fund monies to invest, but it costs a lot in time and money to bid for these and they are usually capital projects rather than the revenue that the Council needs. Historically, there was also the decanting of people from London to the town that increased pressure on housing stock and infrastructure. And the Council is virtually powerless to control the housing market - rentals in particular. They will get powers to licence AirBnBs and control the spread of new ones, but that will do little to tackle the existing stock of them.
To me it's simple good businesses need good infrastructure, Hastings is abysmal.
I agree, although I recall a study years ago that showed that Hull's economy was stronger than equivalent sized but better connected towns because it was relatively isolated- it meant businesses serving it had to be located nearby. The theory was that if you improved roads, it meant those businesses would relocate further away because they could have the same costs (time and fuel) and serve a wider market. In this context, if the A21 was massively improved, those Hastings businesses would move up it.
You make a good point but the roads leading to Hull are like an intergalactic highway compared to the A21 farm track.
need to look at the supporting evidence, on first pass looks like claim there's enough homes just they are rented privatly, which doesn't explain the apparent lack of property available to rent. also i suspect overlooking national housing stock vs local. may be we're all just wrong about this, and if only southern children moved to where there are empty properties, it'll be solved.
I read the article as saying: the excess of private landlords, combined with poor renter rights, pushes prices up a lot. But iswym that doesn't explain an actual shortage.
It is difficult to define an 'actual shortage'.
The hastings scene had some great musos over the years, Liane, Roger and my old mate Liam who's appeared on a song or two
Frankly, they could knock a good amount off travel times up the A21 by putting the gypsum back on trains - Mountfield gypsum mines have their own branch line. Their frickin' trucks are a nuisance, crawling up Silverhill
