I know the area well and agree that this link-road is unnecessary and damaging waste of money
"Help is needed at the camps to protect the remaining trees and hold-up work, which will likely start up again on Monday 14th. Sources suggest that if we can delay the felling for a month then contractors will have to wait another year before being able to cut down more trees due to environmental constraints and the forthcoming nesting season. Come down, bring friends, family and support. There is plenty to do in both arrestable and non-arrestable roles. Save the valley, stop the road!"
[ This message was edited by: Andy B on 2013-01-13 16:13 ]
Posted 03-05-2013 at 14:38
CAMPAIGNERS WIN RELEASE OF SECRET LINK ROAD DOCUMENTS
Among other things the documents reveal:
That the DfT noted that ‘possible, alternative road-based solutions ha[d] not been fully worked through and tested’ at the time of the decision.
That the DfT assessed the BHLR as being of “low or medium value for money” – and was therefore not a project that the Department would normally consider funding.
Gabriel Carlyle, a spokesperson for the Combe Haven Defenders, said: “Today’s release of the DfT’s recommendations about whether or not to fund the BHLR – documents that the DfT have wrongly withheld from the public for over a year – is a significant victory for anyone who cares about either the environment, the public purse or the public’s right to know. These documents show that, despite intense pressure from the Treasury, the DfT’s own civil servants suggested that the Department should consider cancelling the project, and were highly critical of the exaggerated picture of the Road’s merits put forward by East Sussex County Council. By forcing the DfT to give £57m of public money to fund this environmentally disastrous white-elephant project George Osborne has now lit the touchpaper for national peaceful resistance to the project.”
Possibly significantly Tories lose control of East Sussex County Council including the majority of the councillors in Bexhil, either to Independents or UKIP
Does this mean the end of this link road?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-22354079
Posted 13-05-2013 at 18:06
From the Independent (but you read it here first)
Exclusive: George Osborne digs himself a hole: 'Uneconomical' roads to get go-ahead
George Osborne is pushing ahead with a massive nationwide road-building programme despite high-level concerns from ministers and Department for Transport (DfT) officials that there is little evidence it will boost the economy.
Mr Osborne announced £57m for the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road in East Sussex in his 2012 Budget, to the outcry of local campaigners and environmental groups over its proximity to a site of special scientific interest and the suspected true location of the Battle of Hastings.
Posted 13-05-2013 at 18:47
Open letter to East Sussex County Archaeologist re: recent developments
Nick Austin writes: Can you confirm whether the report is true that a complete Iron Age cooking pot was found in the staff compound being built at the Wilting Farm site in Crowhurst? I believe you are aware that my 1997 work suggested an Iron Age camp at the top of Wilting Hill. The photographs on my web site were dismissed at the time by the then County Archaeologist, exactly where the compound is being built.
A defensive ditch just south of the compound was also dismissed. If correct this find confirms the previously dismissed claim of continuous habitation from the Bronze Age to the Normans on the top of this hill and evidence is now in the archaeological record for those top fields for each of the relevant periods in history including the Norman period pottery found by Wessex.
We know there is a claimed crossbow (early footbow) in the field where documents say the Battle of Hastings was fought (not the traditional site) and I recently had a verbal confirmation from one of the people at the Wallace Collection (probably the most experienced armor museum in London apart from the Tower) that the image taken at the time suggested it was an early footbow, but they cannot be sure unless it is re-excavated. We also have the claimed helmet rims from the malfosse (a feature missing from the traditional site) and these have not been seen by metalurgists.
We have the defensive ditches that Wace identifies next to the plain where Henry of Huntingdon says the Battle started on “level ground” and these have not been excavated and we have agreed to research the manor house site because it is claimed this is the site where the foundations of the original Abbey was built on the battlefield upon the instructions of William the Conqueror. This last matter is now about to be put on the table.
Should we really wait for the reformed Time Team or one of the other national shows who are courting me to investigate this Autumn so that everyone can be shamed into admitting their mistakes on public television?
Posted 13-05-2013 at 18:56
This is the project the TV people are interested in:
William the Conqueror pledged to build an abbey on the very site of his famous victory at the Battle of Hastings. Crowhurst appears to be the first attempt, according to the Chronicle of Battle Abbey, before construction was moved to a more builder-friendly location a few miles away at the modern-day town of Battle. That being the case, the battle can't have been fought at 'Battle' so ancient efforts were made in the Chronicle to reinvent the battle location for tax exemption purposes....
Note second half of video is aerial filming with a model glider for those who like this stuff!
[ This message was edited by: Andy B on 2013-05-13 19:17 ]
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Posted 13-01-2013 at 16:11 
