Walking the walk: a stroll along part of the proposed greenway network in Hastings (photo: Tony Polain).

Greenway folk and others get ready for fresh campaigning

Walking, cycling and other forms of sustainable locomotion are in focus as Hastings Greenway Group holds its agm and calls for the reinstatement of £3m diverted by the county council from walking and cycling purposes, and a meeting is called to set up a local branch of the Living Streets movement. Nick Terdre reports.

Hastings Greenway Group will hold its annual general meeting on Thursday 16 January at the Central Hall, Bank Buildings (TN34 1NG) in the town centre, starting at 7pm.

In addition to the usual agm agenda, there will be presentations on the Living Streets launch (see below), the Hastings Greenway Trust and the ‘My Town’ bid.

HGG has launched a petition to call for the reinstatement of £3m diverted by East Sussex County Council from the 2018/19 budget for walking and cycling initiatives in order to compensate for the cost overruns incurred by Sea Change Sussex in its road-building projects, mainly the Queensway Gateway road.

“The money was supposedly ring-fenced funding for Walking and Cycling Capital but instead was used to cover an overspend in road-building in Hastings and Bexhill,” says HGG. “Now there is only limited funding for a small number of schemes.

“ESCC should be supporting active travel by restoring funding, to reduce the carbon footprint and improve the health of the county.”

In fact, taking into account a further £2m taken expropriated by the county council from walking and cycling projects in Eastbourne and Wealden, the total loss to these forms of mobility in favour of road-building amounted to £5m last year.

The ePetititon can be viewed and signed here. To date more than 470 have signed – the deadline is Tuesday 21 January.

HGG is one of several groups, including Hastings Green Party, the Ramblers, Community Speedwatch and Transition Town Hastings and St Leonards, behind a move to set up a local branch of the Living Streets movement, a charity “for everyday walking with an ambition to get people of all generations to enjoy the benefits that this simple act brings. Our mission is to achieve a better walking environment  and encourage people to walk more.”

All those interested are invited to a meeting at the Salvation Army Hall in St Andrews Square (TN34 1SP) in the town centre from 10.30am to 12.30pm on Saturday 25 January. Entry is free but you are asked to register your attendance.

Also in: Campaigns