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Midhurst Highways Update – 29th March 2023

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.
Midhurst Highways Update – 29th March 20232023-03-29T20:41:16+01:00

Status update from CDC 29th March

Here is a press release issued by CDC today.

Midhurst is ‘open for business’ following major fire

People are being urged to support Midhurst businesses following the major hotel fire at The Angel Inn and neighbouring buildings on the A286 North Street.

A multi-agency recovery group, involving Chichester District Council, West Sussex County Council, West Sussex Fire and Rescue, Midhurst Town Council and South Downs National Park Authority are working hard to support the town and get North Street in Midhurst reopened as soon as possible.

They have stressed that the majority of businesses on North Street are ‘open for business’ and can all be accessed on foot.

People can also benefit from free car parking in all Chichester District Council owned car parks in Midhurst until the end of 16 April 2023 – all of which are just a short walk away. This includes North Street car park, the Post Office car park and Grange car park. Once parked, customers do not need to take a ticket from the machine or book anything on MiPermit.

Chichester District Council has also been working closely with local businesses and has provided funding to the Midhurst Town Team for marketing and promotional purposes to support all businesses in welcoming visitors to the town.

The A286 North Street remains closed to vehicles to ensure public safety. Specialists from a variety of agencies, including South Downs National Park Authority, Chichester District Council and Historic England are urgently assessing the report from the building owner’s Structural Engineer to develop a clear plan of action. It’s expected that this work will take the rest of the week, but the agencies involved believe that they will be able to give a clearer indication on timescales by the beginning of next week (Monday 3 April.) The situation is incredibly complex and as the hotel is a listed building, legal processes must be followed.

West Sussex County Council has organised a diversion with related signage at key locations. To ease congestion, temporary one-way restrictions have been put in place on the lanes surrounding Midhurst. The diversion and one-way restrictions are being monitored and adjusted where needed. Drivers are urged to follow official diversion signage, with more information available on one.network

The county council is also aware that local roads are seeing significantly higher volumes of traffic than usual due to the diversion. They are increasing their targeted inspections and repairs and are also regularly reviewing works in the wider area to reduce disruption as much as possible.

All waste and recycling collections are now operating as usual after Chichester District Council put plans in place to overcome access issues.

All agencies involved are committed to doing everything they can to get the road reopened as soon as they can and helping Midhurst to recover from this dreadful incident. The partners will continue to keep businesses and residents closely updated on the situation.

 

Status update from CDC 29th March2023-06-27T18:49:59+01:00

Midhurst is OPEN!

We all know that Midhurst is back open and car parks are currently free, but businesses are still reporting significant drops in revenues. Please help us bring some life back into the town by shopping local and supporting our cafes and restaurants during this challenging time for the town.

Midhurst is OPEN!2023-06-27T18:49:24+01:00

Midhurst Update – 27th March

Here is the latest update we’ve seen. Please take note of the highways signage that’s been put in place to try to inform and ease the flow of traffic on the surrounding routes. It’s designed to help everyone.
From WSCC –
“We await the structural engineers report and there is a Recovery Group meeting tomorrow which will consider the next steps.
The one way plug at Hollist Lane is still in place but we are receiving reports of people ignoring it. We have reviewed the signage to ensure there is no confusion regarding the closure and will be removing a couple of signs regarding the suitability of the road for HGVs.
We have considered the installation of a one way plug along Selham Road but have not progressed it today as we believe people are likely to ignore it or will end up using roads further south instead. This decision will be reviewed again tomorrow once we have been able to make an assessment of current condition of lanes people could use south of Selham Road. In the interim, we have implemented a one way plug to prevent people from travelling north from South Ambersham to join the A272. Instead they will be directed to the more suitable junction at Halfway Bridge.
The ‘find and fix’ gang has been in the area today and will be focussing on the routes being used as rat runs throughout the rest of the week. Our Highway Steward has also been in the area today and has put back up the signs that had fallen over in the wind over the weekend, he has also raised works to fill some potholes that have appeared over the weekend and also inspected the damage that has been done to the edge of the carriageway along Selham Road. Works to the edge of the carriageway will be organised as soon as possible.
Finally, we will reviewing if there is further signage that can be placed along the diversion route to discourage people following their satnavs.”
Midhurst Update – 27th March2023-06-27T18:49:36+01:00

Midhurst Fire Update – Chichester District Council 24th March 2023

Midhurst Fire Update – Business Open as Usual

Following last week’s fire in The Angel Inn and neighbouring buildings in Midhurst, the majority of businesses along North Street which were not directly impacted by the fire have now re-opened and are fully accessible for pedestrians.

All carparks remain open and fully accessible to those wishing to visit the town centre with Chichester District Council offering free parking in all Midhurst carparks until the end of 16 April to support local business and residents.

The A286 North Street remains closed to vehicles to ensure public safety as the buildings are unsafe. All emergency service partners are aware of the closure and have plans in place to ensure that they are able to respond to an emergency incident.

A number of agencies met with the various representatives acting for the owners of the buildings on Thursday 23 March, including a Structural Engineer. We are now waiting for the report to come back from the Structural Engineer so that a decision on the most appropriate course of action can be taken. An update will be issued as soon as it is possible to do so.

A diversion has been organised with related signage at key locations. We are aware that local road users and those following Sat Nav may not be using the official diversion route, unfortunately this is unavoidable as they are entitled to use public highways.

To ease congestion, a temporary one-way restriction and diversion route will be placed at the junction of Eastshaw Lane and Brambling Lane. The restriction, which will prevent vehicles from entering Eastshaw Lane and travelling Eastbound along Hollist Lane, will be picked up by Google Maps and Sat Navs which should result in fewer motorists attempting to use this as an alternative diversion route.

We will monitor the success of this temporary restriction through site visits and public feedback and will make amendments if needed.

We are aware that local roads are seeing significantly higher volumes of traffic than usual due to the diversion. We are increasing our targeted inspections and we are also regularly reviewing works in the area to reduce disruption as much as possible. We will try and be as sympathetic as possible with any essential traffic management to make the roads safe, however the current conditions are very challenging and the roads must be safe for the public. We will look at larger repairs / schemes once the main road is open again.

We will continue to keep businesses and residents closely updated on this.

Midhurst Fire Update – Chichester District Council 24th March 20232023-03-24T22:07:50+00:00

Further update from Tom Richardson 24th March @ 5.30pm

From Tom Richardson – County Councillor
“The Midhurst Recovery Group has had its third meeting today. The Structural Engineers report is due next week on Tuesday. The recovery group is meeting again on Tuesday afternoon and will be putting out a much more definitive statement.
The Variable Message Signs (placed yesterday in Petersfield, Chichester, Petworth and a couple of other locations) and the One Way plug have all been reported as being reasonably effective, although we are aware this a recent development so will require a longer period to bed in. This information has not reached Google / Sat Nav companies yet so it is not quite as effective yet as it will be, but reports are that Hollist Lane is significantly improved.
We have received a request for a similar one way restriction to the south of the A272 (Ambersham/West Lavington area). This is significantly more complex due to conflicts in the diversion route at key decision points and multiple access points. Officers will review this but initial thoughts are that this will be too difficult to implement without causing significant confusion.
It has been noted that there has been some abuse of the gates in the Herras fencing on North Street, however it is believed that the value in keeping these open to the emergency services supersedes the benefit in closing them off. This was previously unlocked and this will now be replaced by a key code padlock.
From next week we will be operating a “find and fix” pothole gang. We have instructed them to focus on Topleigh / Polecats (road between A285 & A286 at Graffam), Selham Road – Lodsworth, Selham Road West Lavington, Hollist Lane – Woolbeding / Easebourne and Woolbeding Lane – Woolbeding. This should significantly reduce the number of live potholes and assist in keeping the roads reasonably safe. Larger scale work will be planned once Midhurst reopens to traffic. Some potholes in Redford have been repaired today and others will be repaired next week.”
Further update from Tom Richardson 24th March @ 5.30pm2023-06-27T18:49:43+01:00

Midhurst update 24th March

MIDHURST UPDATE from Tom Richardson, County Councillor – as of Thursday 23rd.
“I have just received the following update from highways:
We have designed the one way plug and diversion route for the junction of Eastshaw Lane and Brambling Lane. The restriction will prevent vehicles entering Eastshaw Lane and then travelling against the dominant west bound flow in Hollist Lane. The restriction will be picked up by google maps / Sat Navs and should discourage the majority of motorists from heading into Woolbeding as Sat Navs can currently instruct that this is a good route. The plug will be implemented by close of play on Friday 24.3.23 and we will monitor the success of this by site visits and feedback from the public and may make further amendments if appropriate. We are also reviewing wider planned works in the area to ensure they don’t cause further disruption.
A number of agencies met on site with the various representatives acting for the owner of Angel Inn today, including a Structural Engineer. We are now waiting for the report to come back from the Structural Engineer so that a decision on the most appropriate course of action can be taken.
We have received confirmation that some shops had been instructed by the landowner’s structural engineer who advised two adjacent businesses to vacate (which we believe to be for 10 days) because of the risk of collapse of a flank wall of the Angel Inn. The 2 businesses affected are the Henry Adams Estate Agents and Serenity Beauty.
We do note that some of the more minor parts of the local road network are not standing up to the increase in traffic as well as we would like. We are increasing our targeted inspections in this area and we are also regularly reviewing works in the area to reduce disruption as much as possible. We will try and be as sympathetic as possible with any essential traffic management to make the roads safe, however the current conditions are very challenging and the roads must be safe for the public. We will look at larger repairs / schemes once the main road is open again.
The Midhurst Recovery Group has its third meeting tomorrow afternoon.”
Midhurst update 24th March2023-06-27T18:50:59+01:00

Midhurst update 22nd March

Signage and diversion route

We understand that additional and improved signage will be in place imminently to try to warn people of the ongoing closure of North Street from further afield, as well as on the local roads.

Local roads continue to be heavily used and are at times extremely congested. If you have to use local lanes please be aware that some are also being used by pedestrians and other drivers may be less familiar with the lanes than local residents.

Useful updates continue to be posted regularly on the websites and social media of WSCC, CDC, Midhurst Town Council, WSCC Highways and our local County Councillor, Tom Richardson.

Midhurst update 22nd March2023-06-27T18:51:04+01:00

Midhurst Fire update 17th March

For latest information about the closure of North Street and affected businesses, please check the following websites and social media:

West Sussex County Council – News – West Sussex County Council

Chichester District Council website –  News: Chichester District Council

You can also follow Chichester District council. WSCC and WSCC Highways on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter – they will post updates when they have them.

https://www.facebook.com/wsfrs

https://www.facebook.com/WestSussexCC

West Sussex Highways (@WSHighways) / Twitter

Midhurst Fire update 17th March2023-06-27T18:51:11+01:00
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