RE: East Sussex Local Transport Plan implementation Plan 2016/ /21 consultation

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1 Brighton and Hove Cycling Campaign twitter.com/bricycles 2 Glovers Yard Havelock Road Brighton BN1 6GN 19 December 2015 BY to Councillor Carl Maynard, Lead Member of Transport & Environment Lisa Simmonds, Principal Transport Policy Officer Tessa Sweet- Escott, Principal Transport Policy Officer RE: East Sussex Local Transport Plan implementation Plan 2016/ /21 consultation Dear Cllr Maynard The Department for Transport has published Setting the First Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy: Getting Britain Moving 1. This document sets out the timetable for developing the first Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy to be launched in summer The Department for Transport has reinforced its vision for walking and cycling to become the natural choices for shorter journeys by outlining its ambition to ensure that cycling and walking are the first consideration of any new street design or maintenance programme. The Department for Transport recognises that Places with cycling and walking at their heart will help us to achieve our ambitions to tackle air pollution and climate change by reducing road traffic. We support a reallocation of funds from the national 15bn road budget towards cycling and walking. We hope you do too. The Prime Minister has spoken of bringing about a Cycling revolution and ensuring that space for cycling is incorporated into all new street designs and planned road maintenance works. Researchers from Leeds University have quantified the benefits of cycling if the central recommendations of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group s Get Britain Cycling report 2 were met. This recommended a national target to increase cycle use from <2% of all journeys to 10% by 2025 and 25% by They found that this would bring annual benefits in 2050 worth 42bn. The report 3 shows that cycling can make a real difference to health and the economy. This would result in 248bn worth of difference between 2015 and However, this can only be achieved if ambitious targets to encourage cycle growth are set and there is a proper long term funding strategy in place. 1 attachments/439164/original/151217%20- %20Setting%20the%20First%20Cycling%20and%20Walking%20Investment%20Strategy.pdf 2 party- parliamentary- cycling- group- launches- get- britain- cycling- inquiry 3 Executive summary at Full report at cycle Tel: Page 1 of 7 becky.reynolds2@btinternet.com

2 For many years, East Sussex County Council has assumed that road building will of itself lead to economic growth and it has pursued car- focused infrastructure rather than doing a proper analysis of what people s transport needs are in a holistic way and what would be the best options with full regard to health and the environment as well as for economic considerations. The result of ESCC s historical policy is more car dependence, poorer public health and environmental degradation. ESCC recently drove the Bexhill Hastings Link Road through one of its most precious rural valleys where it had previously promoted nature trails. This is absurd. If providing roads so that land speculators can realise their investments is considered by ESCC to be an example of desirable economic growth, we do not support it. The Bexhill Hastings Link Road was opened this month without the accompanying greenway, which had been promised for cyclists, walkers and horse riders. This clearly demonstrates East Sussex County Council s total detachment from any sustainable transport agenda. We are therefore extremely sceptical of terms like accessibility or improvements in this consultation document when they are not clearly defined as providing benefits for walking and cycling. The vision of the Local Transport Plan (paragraph 2.1) is unwieldy and unclear. We do not trust this council to be competent with land use planning or transport. The council has shown disregard both for the natural environment and for people without cars. The environmental and health problems connected with the overuse of motorised transport need to be given much more priority, particularly air quality, respiratory problems, cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease, social inequity and poor mental health. These have an enormous cost which is not adequately recognised. There must be more investment in cycling, walking and public transport as an alternative to using private cars for journeys. Many individuals and members of cycling clubs ride their bikes in East Sussex. They bring economic benefit all year round yet get no acknowledgement for doing so. There are also many individuals of all ages who cycle for practical purposes who need support far beyond what this council has provided. The East Sussex LTP implementation Plan 2016/ /21 needs explanatory maps. It needs to be joined up so that the overall effect of measures can be considered by citizens. It is unclear why Bexhill and Hastings are being considered separately. Sustainable transport should be central in land use planning decisions and not tagged on afterwards. ESCC should stop viewing transport strategy as synonymous with major road improvements. ESCC should recognise that the sum of transport choices for short local journeys is a matter of strategic importance. Re the two high level objectives : Although security is a good thing, we are unsure what is meant by this in a transport context. Tel: Page 2 of 7 becky.reynolds2@btinternet.com

3 Para 2.3: 2 nd bullet point re congestion The approach to congestion must be to encourage more sustainable modes. Simply accommodating more traffic will end in failure and an impoverished environment in town and country. Where congestion is being caused by large numbers of people make unnecessary car journeys the focus must be on understanding and changing these transport choices through demand management. The availability of car parking (particularly where free) attracts traffic. 4 th & 5 th bullet point concerning road safety and reducing KSIs in road crashes. We support an approach that aims to reduce road danger by focusing on the causes of danger i.e. fast moving motor vehicles and their predominance in both urban and rural environments. Rebalancing the current poor state of affairs must involve traffic reduction, traffic speed reduction and infrastructure improvements that favour non- motorised road users and facilitate public transport. The A259 and A27 need to be seen from the perspective of the cyclist and pedestrian. We need serious concentration to reduce road danger on the A259 for cyclists and pedestrians such as cyclist and pedestrian- focused junction improvements (not improvements that encourage motor vehicles to go faster) and speed reduction to 20 mph in towns and villages, with a speed limit of 40 mph or less on rural roads. Crashes or near misses involving cyclists need to attract a full and thorough investigation, with the account of the cyclist receiving full police support and with subsequent better charging and prosecution decisions sought from the police and the courts as per the CTC s Road Justice campaign Para 3.2 It is essential to also include lobbying for cycling and walking improvements and better funding for these modes e.g. through the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, not just lobbying for strategic road and rail infrastructure improvements. The sum of local transport choices are of strategic importance. Para 4.11 East Sussex Rail Strategy We support the priorities including improvements to the Ashford- Hastings line and the reinstatement of the Lewes- Uckfield line which ESCC itself incomprehensibly decommissioned at an earlier time where it again showed its lack of understanding of the importance of public transport. We support the calls for a railway station at Glyne Gap. The previous review of a potential station by ESCC should be started again afresh with a more thorough approach. Para 4.12 We are glad to hear that the Council is developing a county wide Cycling and Walking strategy. We would like to view any documents connected with this and to have plenty of time to review them. We would like to act as consultees on any future strategy. It is essential that local strategies link up across borders with other highways authorities. 5. Funding We hope that ESCC will join many other organisations calling upon the Government to end the lottery of funding for essential transport infrastructure for cycling and walking, and to invest at a level comparable Tel: Page 3 of 7 becky.reynolds2@btinternet.com

4 with Europe. We are calling for an average public spend on cycling of 10 per person per year. We support the use of surpluses from parking fines etc. for Bikeability training and other sustainable purposes, but we question what driver training is as mentioned in the consultation document. Points about all areas in the consultation plan We believe that these points should be taken forward in all of the 8 areas listed. i.e. Bexhill, Hastings, Eastbourne & South Wealden, Newhaven, Uckfield, Lewes and the South Downs National Park, Battle, Rye and rural Rother, North Wealden and north Lewes districts and anywhere in East Sussex left out: 20mph should be the default maximum speed limit for all towns and villages in East Sussex in order to assist road danger reduction and to encourage sustainable modes. The speed on rural roads should be a maximum 40 mph or less because this is where a large number of serious collisions occur, and is where walkers and cyclists are present, often without pavements. Advanced Stop Lines should be in place at all signalised junctions as part of ESCC transport policy. They and should be instated whenever a junction is being improved or constructed. A programme should be put forward to permit 2- way cycling in all one- way streets in all the towns. When cycle facilities are instated, cyclists should have priority at side roads and not have to give way to traffic crossing the facility. We do not support public funding of electric vehicle charging points until active travel has been more fully developed. There needs to be more attention to the writing and monitoring of business Travel Plans to encourage sustainable transport, including sanctions or incentives to ensure that behaviour change occurs. There needs to be road danger reduction such as cyclist/pedestrian- focused junction improvements (not improvements that encourage motor vehicles to go faster) and better crossings for pedestrians and cyclists of busy, fast roads. Large goods vehicles (such as HGVs) should be subject to restricted access to town centres due to their high disproportionate involvement in injuries of vulnerable road users i.e. pedestrians and cyclists Traffic barriers need to be put in place where cycle routes are situated next to fast roads (such as the A27.) Bexhill In addition we support improvements to the 17 mile Coastal Cultural Trail cycle route which connects galleries and museums from Eastbourne to Hastings, particularly in the section between Eastbourne and Bexhill. We would like ESCC to take action to prevent access by motor vehicles onto routes along the coast which are for pedestrians and cyclists. We would like to see decisive action on the advisory cycle lanes which approach Bexhill from the west. These are constantly parked in. The cycle lanes are completely useless and if the vehicles cannot be ejected, another solution such as a mandatory cycle lane with double yellow lines and traffic warden enforcement needs to be put in place. We are extremely concerned that the 130 million Bexhill Hastings Link Road which had been assessed as poor value for money by the Department for Transport, was pushed through by ESCC and opened without any accompanying greenway. We oppose this, the Queensway Gateway road and the North Bexhill Access Road. Tel: Page 4 of 7 becky.reynolds2@btinternet.com

5 We are appalled that despite breaches of critical levels of air quality that the Queensway Gateway road has been approved for the second time. The Bexhill Hastings Link Road was subsidised with public money which could have been better used for investment in walking, cycling and public transport. The road will now encourage yet more people to use private cars. Hastings It is impossible to tell whether Movement and Access package for Hastings will actually benefit pedestrians and cyclists due to the council s poor record on sustainable transport. Newhaven The newly instated Newhaven Interchange close to the ferry terminal entrance is an example of poor infrastructure which is made worse by the fact that it does not join up with anything else for cyclists. There are multiple Give ways, an End of route sign and cyclists dismount signs at the bridge. Buses were not given a wide enough turning circle. This demonstrates lack of basic skill by those who designed the facility. The new Peacehaven to Newhaven cycling and walking facility along the A259 is a good addition to the cycle network and will support sustainable tourism, but cyclists need to have priority at junctions with drives and side roads. We want to see encouragement of more sustainable tourism through Newhaven e.g. when hundreds of French cyclists (including disabled cyclists, pictured above) visited us via Newhaven Port on their way to the Olympics in Tel: Page 5 of 7 becky.reynolds2@btinternet.com

6 Lewes Second Paragraph: Bus services should be supported as a major transport mode, second only to more active forms of transport (such as walking and cycling) for commuting to work and all utility purposes. There need to be moves to reduce congestion in Lewes not by the potentially unending damaging aim of improving traffic flow but by reducing traffic and prioritising walking and cycling. Fisher Street would benefit from being a traffic free route. This would be safer for and less stressful for all residents, people with disabilities, shoppers, people with buggies and children, sightseers etc. who currently have to cope with narrow pavements and speeding traffic. Route 90: The old road parallel to the A27 on the final approach to Middle Farm from the West, needs to be opened for walking and cycling as it used to be. The quality and the width of Route 90 in the Firle area needs improvement. Traffic barriers need to be put in place where cycle routes are situated next to fast roads such as the A27. Proposed North Street, Lewes Development It would be good if the Adur Ferry Bridge at Shoreham by Sea were used as a model for the bridge in the North Street development. People would then be able to walk or cycle over it. There should be an end Tel: Page 6 of 7 becky.reynolds2@btinternet.com

7 to using bumpy cobbles like the surface East Sussex County Council put down in Cliffe High Street which is a hazard for cyclists, wheelchair users, people with disabilities and pedestrians. Cliffe High Street should be re- surfaced to make it smoother to move on for vulnerable groups. Falmer Woodingdean route: Although this is another very good addition to the cycling network, it is clear that glass is emerging from a base layer in the path, probably because a contractor used recycled material. A large amount of broken crockery is also present. Glass and crockery have no place in a walking and cycle path due the likelihood of punctures and injuries to adults and children. You might like to watch our video on YouTube: When we contacted East Sussex County Council about this problem, they said that no glass was used in the construction of the path but this is denied by the facts. Alfriston - make it traffic free so that people can walk or cycle without fear of being run over. Uckfield - Include cycle parking as in all towns I would like the above to be considered in response to the consultation, including the questions below: Q5. Do you agree that we have identified the transport issues and opportunities in the area(s) that you have selected? Strongly disagree Q6. Do you agree that we have chosen the right types of measures to take forward in the next 5 years of the plan, in the area(s) that you have selected? Strongly disagree - Q7. Are there any other measures which you think we should consider for inclusion in future implementation plans? Yours sincerely, Becky Reynolds Bricycles Campaigns Officer and News Editor, Brighton and Hove Cycling Campaign and twitter.com/bricycles CTC Right to Ride Representative, Brighton and Hove Tel: Page 7 of 7 becky.reynolds2@btinternet.com