Controversial proposals for new bus lanes in Eastbourne will move ahead, a senior county councillor has decided.
On Monday (November 18), Cllr Claire Dowling, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for transport and environment, agreed for officers to move ahead with plans to install new bus lanes along the A259, Seaside and St Anthony’s Avenue.
The proposals, which were put out to consultation over the summer, are a revised version of plans considered by the council last year.
The previous versions of the plans would have seen bus lanes running on both sides of the road, something which had seen strong opposition from residents and businesses due to the loss of parking spaces this would have involved.
Officers said the revised scheme addressed these concerns by only having the bus lanes on one side of the road. The revisions also include changes to road crossings, the removal of several traffic islands and the introduction of new parking spaces.
But objectors argued the revised scheme remained unacceptable and even introduced new problems in terms of highway safety, pollution and congestion.
Speaking before Cllr Dowling made her decision, Jodie Atherton, a campaigner opposed to the scheme, said: “Our original issue was the almost 100 per cent loss of parking; our concerns this time is for the safety of the plans and the increased level of congestion that it will cause.”
She added: “We ask that as you go to the detailed design phase you do talk to local companies and residents alike. We told you what would and wouldn’t work on this road and have not generally been listened to.
“We told you that these would be issues and now you have come to terms with it that they are; come to us local people and we will tell you what will or will not work.”
Ms Atherton, who works for DB Domestics in Seaside , also highlighted concerns around pollution and air quality as a result of ‘idling traffic’.
These concerns were shared by ward councillor David Tutt (Lib Dem), who also raised fears around the proposals creating new ‘rat runs’ in the surrounding area.
But the revised proposals had its supporters too.
Tom Neville, a climate campaigner and lead petitioner representing those in favour of the proposals, said: “Eastbourne holds a unique place in transport history and is home to the world’s oldest municipal bus company … [the town] now has the opportunity to honour this legacy and move closer to reach our goal of carbon neutrality by 2030.
“One key step in reaching that goal is to make buses more convenient and reliable for everyone.”
During the discussion, officers also highlighted how there were, among those who responded to the consultation process, more people in favour of the changes than those opposed. This broke down to 56 per cent of respondents being in favour of the scheme compared to 36 per cent against.
Officers said these results represented a “marked difference” when compared to results of the previous consultation, which saw 76 per cent of respondents say they were strongly opposed to the original scheme.
This overall level of support was disputed by objectors, who argued this consultation figures did not take account of the petitions surrounding the scheme. Meeting papers noted how the petition opposing the scheme had gathered 2,531 signatures, while the petition in support only gathered 494 signatures.
Ultimately, Cllr Dowling agreed for the scheme to move ahead to its next stage. This will involve the development of a detailed design and the council requesting sign off from government on its amendments.
Cllr Dowling said: “I know this is a very controversial, very emotive subject, particularly for those who live and work … within the area concerned.
“I am very pleased to see that we had a very good survey response as well. The increased support is there and the number of opposition has decreased to 37 per cent. For me that means officers have listened and have sought to address the concerns that were previously raised.”
She added: “Taking into consideration the changes that have been made by the officers as a direct response to feedback by businesses and residents, the additional traffic modelling results, the outcome of the public consultation and the expected benefit for bus users … I am going to approve these recommendations, so it can go forward to … the next stages.”
I cannot imagine the congestion this is going to cause, the reduction in parking will affect not only long term residents but the commercial premises who rely on people being able to park nearby. The side streets off Seaside are already heavily parked and so the residents living on these will be inconvenienced and there will be little or no spare parking for those who have lost their parking spaces on Seaside. The congestion to the roundabout between Tesco and the Sovereign Centre is already a major problem and this will only be exacerbated. Has a survey been done on how full the buses are at different times of day? They will also be caught up in the congestion, so I can’t imagine they are going to find it any easier. The question of emergency vehicles trying to make their way through Seaside does not seem to have been addressed. Traffic will be travelling down the side roads to avoid Seaside and this is a difficult enough thing to negotiate as it is, with over parking and many junctions. This is an accident waiting to happen and a disaster for the retail and catering outlets. Lastly, this will increase the traffic using Royal Parade and cause congestion there. Congestion equals emissions and cannot be seen to be a green project. Please reconsider.