As well as CPRE Sussex, Sussex campaign groups Hastings Alliance and Combe Haven Defenders attended the annual lecture in London at the British Transport Museum on 13 November. McLoughlin took questions from the audience, which was a good opportunity to raise the issue of the Bexhill-Hastings link road with the transport secretary.

Georgia Wrighton, CPRE Sussex’s director, asked: “Why is the Government funding the Bexhill-Hastings link road when the Department for Transport declared it poor value for money, East Sussex County Council failed to adequately explore alternatives and when convincing evidence of its benefits had not been provided?” McLoughlin didn’t comment on the Bexhill-Hastings road specifically, but said: “Decisions on road schemes will always be controversial, we do it because the government think there are benefits to roads in some cases.”

Emily Johns from Combe Haven Defenders asked: “How can we save the tranquillity of Combe Haven? It’s a beautiful part of the countryside. There’s no light pollution. It’s wetland so there can’t be tunnels.” McLoughlin suggested early measures could be taken to better screen the road from view: “we could try planting trees straight away instead of waiting until the road is built… We could look at that.”

Click to read more about CPRE’s annual lecture and Patrick McLoughlin’s speech on CPRE’s website: www.cpre.org.uk/media-centre/latest-news-releases/item/3127-transport-secretary-demands-better-transport-for-rural-britain

Click to read CPRE’s director, Shaun Spiers’ blog article on the lecture and join the debate: cpreviewpoint.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/the-cpre-lecture-patrick-mcloughlin-on-rural-transport/?blogsub=confirming#subscribe-blog