A27 Arundel Bypass Statutory Consultation January 2022

Overview

We're consulting on our proposals for the A27 Arundel Bypass Scheme, a new, approximately 8km dual carriageway incorporating proposals for the old A27.

This consultation is an important step towards delivering the Scheme, which will bring many benefits to local communities and the region’s economy, whilst making journeys quicker and safer, and freeing Arundel town and neighbouring communities from congestion.

This Statutory consultation will run for eight weeks, closing at 23.59 on Tuesday 8 March 2022. Please make sure you share your views by then, so that they can be taken into account. 

Copies of the consultation materials can be found at the bottom of this page. Please make sure you've read these, or attended a consultation event, before completing the consultation questionnaire.

Why your views matter

Since announcing our preferred route for the project in 2020  we've been refining the design for the new road. This scheme fly-through video shows what we're proposing to do. 

We'd like to know what you think about these more detailed plans. 

To help you better understand the proposals and provide your feedback, we're making information available in lots of different ways: 

• We have an online virtual consultation and live chat events
• We are hosting face-to-face consultation events 
• You can use our telephone surgery to request a call back from the project team
• You can read the documents at the bottom of this page. Note, this is the same information as can be found in the virtual exhibition and via our document deposit points. 

Virtual exhibition

Our virtual consultation room  replicates a face-to-face consultation event. Here you can view the proposals and speak to the project team through live chat sessions.

The virtual consultation room will host a series of six live chat sessions, which will allow stakeholders to speak privately and directly to our project team experts, who will be online and available to answer questions.

Consultation events

We are holding events in indoor community venues where you can view all our consultation material and speak to the project team. We are also parking our mobile consultation van at three car parks, where you will be able to drop by and find out more.

Staying safe during Covid-19

Covid is uppermost in our minds at this time. Following detailed advice, we have concluded that in-person events in England are not currently curtailed by Government restrictions. We will of course be implementing appropriate measures to protect the safety of all those who attend our events including:

• We are applying the Government’s COVID-19 guidance in addition to any venue-specific policies.
• We are requesting all attendees to wear a face covering while at the events, unless you are exempt, and that nobody attends an event if they have had COVID-19 symptoms or a positive test result.
• We are taking appropriate, practical measures to ensure venues are clean, well-ventilated and numbers of attendees within closed spaces are carefully managed. 
• National Highways and project team staff wear face masks at all times and conduct Covid tests before attending every event. 
• If there is a need to cancel or rearrange any public consultation event for any reason such as additional Government COVID-19 restrictions, we will give as much notice as possible via our website. 

Telephone surgery 

If you'd like to talk to a member of the project team and can't attend the face-to-face events, you can request a call back from a member of the project team instead. Call backs will be made between 12 noon and 7pm, Mondays to Fridays, during the consultation period, subject to availability. 

You can request a call back by emailing: A27ArundelBypass@highwaysengland.co.uk or calling 0300 123 5000.  We'll offer slots on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Access to hard copies of the consultation materials 

All our consultation documents will be available to view free of charge at the document deposit locations below throughout the consultation period or at consultation events.

These are subject to any COVID-19 restrictions that may be in place at the time. Please contact your local venue to check any unexpected closures before you travel.

If you'd like to request hard copy materials, we can send these to you but there may be a charge of up to £200 (including postage) for a paper copy of the Preliminary Environmental Information Report. All other consultation documents are available free of charge either in hard copy or digitally on a USB. Please email A27Arundelbypass@highwaysengland.co.uk or call 0300 123 5000 to request a consultation document for delivery.

Other ways to feedback

Your feedback is important to us and will help us determine our final proposals which we will submit in our DCO application. The best way for you to tell us what you think is by providing your response, in writing, in one of the following ways:

• Completing the online feedback form located on this page
•  Attending a consultation event where you can meet the project team and complete a paper copy of the feedback form
• Requesting the feedback form by post or picking up a paper copy at one of our document deposit locations. You can post this to Freepost A27 ARUNDEL. Note the address must be written in capital letters and you do not need a stamp. 
• You can also email this feedback form: A27ArundelBypass@highwaysengland.co.uk

What happens next? 

This scheme is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) under the Planning Act 2008.

Because of its national significance, the scheme needs a Development Consent Order (DCO).

Once the consultation has closed at 23.59 on 8 March 2022, we will review all the suggestions and comments received during the consultation period.
We will take time to analyse your feedback as we make further refinements to our proposed design and develop any mitigation measures. We will set out a summary of the responses that you have given us in a consultation report, with details regarding how your feedback has helped to shape our proposals.

This report will form part of our DCO application and will be available to the public following submission of the application, which we expect to be later in 2022. If our application for a DCO is accepted by the Planning Inspectorate, on behalf of the Secretary of State, an Examining Authority will consider the
application, and any representations, which will take six months. During the examination stage, anybody with an interest in the Scheme can participate
and make representations in writing, or verbally at hearings.

The Examining Authority will be given three months to report its recommendation to the Secretary of State, who has a further three months to make a final decision on whether or not to grant a DCO for the Scheme.
If our application is approved, work on the Scheme is expected to start in 2024. 

If you would like any further information on the DCO application process, please visit the Planning Inspectorate’s website. The process is also explained by this short animation.

Contact us

Please contact us using one of the following methods below:

Website: A27 Arundel Bypass Scheme Webpage

Email: A27ArundelBypass@highwaysengland.co.uk

Post: A27 Arundel Project Team, Bridge House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 4LZ

Phone: 0300 123 5000