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Tunnel system announced at ‘Camp Bling’ road protest site.

The campaign against the controversial F5 dual carriageway scheme, proposed for the A127/A1159 Priory Crescent, took a dramatic new turn today with an extensive underground tunnel system being announced at the ‘Camp Bling’ protest site in Southend on Sea, Essex, in advance of a decision to be made on the road this Friday.
Campaigners have been working for nearly five years to get the hotly opposed project dropped, through the planning, public inquiry, and now funding processes. Direct actions have taken place as recently as this Monday, when members of the Parklife campaign group and residents from the camp occupied the Government Office for the East of England, GO-East in Cambridge.
A spokesperson said, ‘A method has now been devised, considering the sensitive nature of the site, whereby the archaeology remains untouched, but an extensive underground system can still be accessed by protestors. This will enable the site to be defended from any eviction, whether legal or illegal, by the local authority, should the road be approved.’
The Regional Partners hip Group is holding a closed meeting at 2.00pm on Friday 27th January, at Ipswich County Hall, Suffolk, to approve a priority list of road schemes for the region to be built over the next 10 years. A subsequent final funding decision from the Department for Transport is expected in the spring, based on the recommendations of the Group.
Further direct action has been promised by local residents, should the go-ahead be given. They have stated that the outcome is very much in the hands of the decision makers, who can avoid further protest by dropping the road from the priority list on Friday, and recommending that central Government cancel all funding.