The Structural Report has been sent to the Historic England, Chichester District Council and the South Downs National Park Authority. They are reviewing the findings and are developing a plan of action for the building. This is likely to take the rest of the week due to the very complex nature of the situation so we have been told they will be able to give us a further, more detailed, update at the beginning of next week.
We recognise that strong feeling around the road closure but can only open the road when it is safe to do so.
With regard to wider highway matters, the find and fix gang is still in the area and working on the lanes surrounding Midhurst. We are introducing further one way plugs at Selham Road and Oaklands Lane to try and reduce the volume of traffic travelling east from Midhurst along the narrow lanes. We will be reviewing these measures on a daily basis and may put in place more formal one way systems as we expect to see increases in larger vehicles from the polo events.
The team will be reviewing all of the diversion signage to remove any unnecessary signage and ensure there is no confusion from multiple diversion routes in the area i.e. Pook Lane, Lavant.
The Variable Message Signs have been generally well received but there are concerns that the public believe the whole of Midhurst may be closed. Chichester District Council (lead organisation for comms) will be issuing a press release to try and address this and reiterate the town is still open for business as usual.
