Scared off by whistle
Two men trying to break into a property in Hammer pond Road, Plummers Plain, were scared off when the owner blew a whistle at them, police said. The men were spotted on CCTV as they tried to break into the outbuilding on January 25.
Safety concerns about a recently-built junction on the A24 on the edge of Horsham have been raised.
The roundabouts and slip roads provide access to the Highwood Mill development and the new Broadbridge Heath bypass.
Last week West Sussex County Council’s planning committee approved an application for a new £21million fire station and training centre just off the junction at Highwood.
But at the meeting safety concerns were raised about the junction and calls were made for the county council to take action while it was building the fire station.
County council officers said pre-existing road issues were separate matters not material to the application and needed to be addressed through other routes.
Trudie Mitchell, chair of Horsham Denne Neighbourhood Council, said there were two main problems with the roundabout: the ‘confusing’ lane markings on the slip roads approaching the roundabout causing motorists to switch lanes unexpectedly and the difficulties in using the footpath to Broadbridge Heath to the west as the crossings had ‘extremely poor’ sight lines.
Horsham Riverside’s county councillor Morwen Millson said she had received many emails from Highwood residents about the difficulties of exiting the estate. A five minute wait was ‘not unusual’, while pedestrians and cyclists had found the experience of crossing the junction ‘nigh on impossible’. She added: “Most of the traffic going up the A24 slip roads is going too fast and mainly above the speed limit.”
After the meeting, a West Sussex County Council spokesman said: “We are considering additional signage to clarify lane usage on the approach to Highwood from Farthings Hill and the A24.”
Traffic surveys carried out in June 2019 pre-Covid recorded a maximum delay of just under four minutes, but the average delay per vehicle at morning and evening peak times was around 30-33 seconds.
He added that continuing traffic surveys at the junction had been delayed because traffic during the pandemic was not at the usual level, but would be rescheduled ‘as soon as appropriate’.
On the County Times’ Facebook page, readers shared their criticisms of the junction’s design, while a few described being involved in accidents or near misses.
One wrote: “Worst road layout ever dreamed up by anyone, ever.”