Around 100 people attended a CPRE Sussex public meeting in Polegate on 8 November to discuss emerging A27 proposals. CPRE Sussex is part of the South Coast Alliance for Transport and the Environment (SCATE) www.scate.org.uk lobbying against roads most damaging to the Sussex countryside and for investment in sustainable transport.

Rally: Saturday 13 July

Come to the Combe Haven valley to raise the alarm about Government plans for a massive programme of new roads. Join campaigners from across the UK for a rally and walk along the route of the most destructive and fiercely opposed new road being built in England - the £100 million Bexhill-Hastings Link Road.

Organised by the Roads to Nowhere campaign at Campaign for Better Transport, the Hastings Alliance and the Combe Haven Defenders.

Supported by Greenpeace, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), CPRE Sussex, the Wildlife Trusts, Crowhurst Road to Nowhere Action Group, Friends of the Earth and RSPB.

Come to this unique event and:

► Enjoy music and poetry, food and drink and activities for all ages
► Go on guided walks through the historic Combe Haven valley – a last chance before the destruction caused by the road changes it forever
► Learn more about the campaign to save the valley, and about plans for more than 200 new roads around the country
► Meet campaigners and speakers from national and local groups
► Get information about how you can take action to help stop a new roads programme becoming a national disaster

2pm to 5pm,

Location: Crowhurst Recreation Ground, East Sussex (speakers from 3pm)

Chapel Hill, Crowhurst, East Sussex (15 mins walk from Crowhurst railway station, near the Plough Inn)

See map

There will be speakers, music and poetry, food and drink and activities for all ages. 

In addition, there will be walks across the valley from various localities, conducted by knowledgeable local campaigners.

Route walk A:
Meet at 11.45am, Bexhill railway station (trains arrive from London at 11.39, Brighton at 11.24 and Ashford/Hastings at 11.23). A five-mile guided walk closely following the route of the new road.

Route walk B:
Meet at 12pm, West St Leonards railway station (trains arrive from London at 11.51 and from Hastings at 11.56). A guided six-mile walk through the eastern parts of the Combe Haven valley.

Route walk C:
Meet at 12pm Crowhurst recreation ground. A guided five mile circular walk with good views of the valley.

Short walks from the rally site:
Shorter walks from the recreation ground along the 1066 Bexhill Walk route into the valley will also be conducted during the afternoon.

Free buses

In the morning, there will be a free Big Lemon bus from Brighton via Lewes to the start points for walks A and C.

For people walking from Bexhill, the bus will be doing free half-hourly shuttle buses from the rally site back to Bexhill railway station starting from 3.30 pm.

Timetable for the free bus from Brighton:

Brighton Old Steine 10.30am
Brighton The Level, opp Southover Street 10.35
Lewes Road Bus Garage 1040
Falmer A27 adj Sussex University, 1045
Lewes Station 1100
Polegate Station 1120
Bexhill Station arr 1140
Bexhill Station dep 1145
Crowhurst 1155

The return trip to Brighton will depart at approximately 5.15 from Crowhurst Recreation Ground.

28 January 2013

On Sunday 27 January, heads and senior staff representing Friends of the Earth, Wildlife Trusts, Greenpeace, Campaign for Better Transport, RSPB and Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) visited the Combe Haven valley, site of the planned Bexhill to Hastings Link Road. It was a major show of strength from major figures from the UK's leading conservation charities, all of whom were objecting to the controversial road scheme which will destroy one of Sussex's beauty spots and cut through important wildlife habitats.

Sunday 27 January

On Sunday 27 January, senior staff from six major environment and conservation groups will visit the Combe Haven valley, site of the planned Bexhill to Hastings Link Road.

The heads of Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, The Wildlife Trusts and the Campaign for Better Transport will join with senior colleagues from RSPB and Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) to see first-hand the area threatened by the planned road and the impact contractors works have already caused. They will also meet protestors taking part in the high profile campaign against its construction and highlight the impacts and threats from the Government's forthcoming roads strategy.