The dotted red line shows the modified route through the lower part of Alexandra Park which supporters of a cycle path in the park are thinking of proposing. The previously agreed route, which was vetoed by HBC in December, is indicated by the straight red line.
Greenway proponents ponder response to cycle path veto
The council’s vote against a cycle path in Alexandra Park was among various active travel challenges up for discussion at a conference of the Hastings Greenway Trust, along with plans to push other parts of the greenway network closer to construction. Nick Terdre reports.
The conference on 11 March – attended by local councillors, stakeholders and others interested in encouraging active travel to improve health and wellbeing and tackle climate change by reducing car use – noted that, despite Hastings Borough Council and East Sussex County Council’s adoption in 2014 of the Hastings Walking & Cycling Strategy, which would create a network of safe walking and cycling routes connecting the town centre to other population centres using natural corridors, no progress has yet been made on construction of any of the agreed routes.
The latest setback was HBC’s full council vote in December against allowing construction of a cycle path following an agreed route in Alexandra Park.
“The recent very close vote by Hastings Borough Council to stop East Sussex CC from starting work on a key central section of the whole network that runs through Alexandra Park was without doubt the worst backward step that, if not reversed, would put the work to encourage cycle use and active travel back 10 years,” Ian Sier, a trustee of Hastings Greenway Trust (HGT) told the conference.
This decision was taken even though the council had already sanctioned the route in 2016, thus allowing funding to be approved and design work completed.
Hastings Urban Bikes and Hastings Greenway Group (a separate but complementary body to the Trust) have contacted leaders of the three parties represented on the council calling on them to get the matter reconsidered. An alteration to the route – switching the section in the lower park from the northern path to the southern path which goes past the playground – has been proposed.
The veto may also attract the interest of Cycling UK, the national pro cycling body, which elsewhere has taken action, including mounting successful legal challenges, against what they consider to be prejudicial moves by local authorities against cyclists’ interests.
Greenway to Ore
The conference also decided to set up a task force to ensure that a greenway trackside route between Hastings and Ore railway stations is considered as part of the town centre regeneration plans, after Tim Jemison, who originally proposed the Hastings greenway concept, called attention to the huge potential of such a route.
A route through Ore Valley is to be delivered via a partnership between the HGT and Ore Community Land Trust and other affected land owners – the trusts are hopeful a start will be made in the next two years on a key section to connect the Broomgrove estate with Ore Station.
This and other Greenway routes will provide access to green spaces for people with physical disabilities, who are currently excluded, the conference press release noted.
Nick Hanna of the Sussex Greenway Trust described innovative plans to use bridleways to create greenway routes in rural Rother and around Rye. Turning paths that became very muddy and almost impassable during the winter season into all-weather paths would transform opportunities for active travel in rural areas and connecting communities.
However the conference also heard that very little progress had been made on safe cycle routes in Bexhill in spite of a funding allocation to ESCC from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership. The county council had just announced that implementing the safer walking, cycling and wheeling routes in Bexhill and Hastings would be delayed yet again due to increasing costs.
Roddy Crockett from Sustrans, the sustainable transport campaign group, noted that East Sussex and Hastings are way behind other areas of the UK in delivering safe walking and cycling infrastructure and warned that future government Active Travel funding would not be allocated to local authorities that had a poor record and showed a lack of commitment on this subject.
The vast majority of Hastings’ population also lacks access to sustainable transport, Julia Hilton, a local councillor and Hastings Greenway trustee who chaired the conference, noted, referring to a national survey according to which 84% of the population is at risk of transport-related social exclusion, with limited ability to access opportunities and key services, or participate properly in community life, due to transport-related obstacles.
“So it’s an urgent matter of social equity that more people should be able to access cheap and safe means of transport, and that means safe, accessible walking, cycling and wheeling routes for all,” she said.
More information about Hastings Greenway Trust and how to get involved is available here. info@hastingsgreenwaytrust.org
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There are some really comprehensive arguments here and on other HOT articles from many contributers including Bea Rogers and Anna Sabin, who seem to be working incredibly hard to get what they consider to be the right option on the table. That is, along with a lot of really unnecessary point-scoring and elaboration, it has to be said. What sticks out for me is that they are both cyclists, as I would consider myself to be, primarily, but, it seems to me, that many of us cyclists are at odds with each other’s views on things, and seemingly unwilling to budge, or discuss in a civilized way. Maybe the message/lesson here is that whilst we stand divided, we will be unlikely to get a good option, let alone the best one for as many people as possible. Making it personal rarely helps to progress any cause, and trying to order people to do what you think is best will not help either. Of course some cyclists are anti-social with the way they behave in shared areas, but when was the last time a road wasn’t built because someone might end up speeding on it?
Comment by Anton — Monday, May 15, 2023 @ 19:27
Thank you, JC Hart, for your contribution and link. A balanced approach to environmentally sustainable transport would always put pedestrians and public transport users first, and prioretise vulnerable people like blind and deaf. As you point out, many cyclists are disregarding the rules of the road that are there to keep everyone safe. Anton, you are an example of the “Who me? How can I be wrong when I’m so sincere?” line. Spoiler alert: the rules apply to you too. Get off your bike and have a nice walk through the park.
Comment by Bea — Monday, Mar 27, 2023 @ 10:15
Cyclists not stopping at red lights or ignoring the Highway Code are being self-centred, but self-centred people exist in all manner of areas – including councils. The COVID pandemic reinforced the need for UK citizens to maintain or increase their fitness, and that reduces costs in the NHS and industry in general as a result of people being fitter. I am not a member of any of the organisations mentioned in this article, but I can see the huge benefits to be gained from a local (and national) network of green cycle and walking routes. Aside from the fitness benefits I mentioned above, there is of course the benefits of removing cyclists from busy roads and the environmental benefits of not using a car for a short journey!
HBC, ESCC and interested parties need to work proactively together to ensure these routes are built and maintained. Let’s forget narrow interests and look beyond the next election to make a vision become a reality!
Comment by Bryan Fisher — Friday, Mar 24, 2023 @ 11:33
Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of this bizarre ongoing discussion is the insistence by some that the only valid experience of reality is their own. “That’s never happened to me”, “I’ve never seen that” are typical remarks that indicate profound emotional deafness and a deficit of empathy that deserves some introspection.
An observational study in London last week “surveyed the behaviour of 397 cyclists while pedestrians were waiting at three crossings in central London. Just 33, or eight per cent, of cyclists gave way as the Highway Code requires”.
It’s not that these 364 cyclists are all murderous psychopaths or even joy-riding idiots: they’re just engaging in collective group-think and following the pack. It wouldn’t surprise me if those who stop for pedestrians even suffer abuse from other cyclists. However, the study – and consequent lobbying by members of the National Federation of the Blind, along with 164 campaign groups – has even motivated London’s Mayor to commission a review.
Hopefully, they’ll find an engineering solution, but idiots exist. Idiot cyclists (i.e. those who do not share the friendly politeness and deference of the previous commentator) can be seen every day on shared and pedestrian-only routes, often riding on powered vehicles. They are not policed and there are apparently no resources to police them, so there is no reason to have faith that cycling through Alexander Park would be any different.
We all want to see fewer and cleaner vehicles, so let’s focus on better management of the roads, and leave the pedestrians in the park alone.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/sadiq-khan-safety-review-floating-bus-stops-cyclist-blind-crash-b1069523.html
Comment by JC Hart — Friday, Mar 24, 2023 @ 10:16
I have been cycling ‘unofficial off-road routes’ in and around Hastings for around 40 years. One of these routes is through the park, at the moment on an almost daily basis. I wear high-vis, a helmet, I go slow, if really necessary I ring the bell, I give way to anyone or anything, including squirrels. I go VERY slow or stop for old or incapacitated people. I acknowledge or say hello to most people and I have NEVER had a negative response from anyone. I will continue to use these ‘unofficial off-road routes’ in the same way that I have done for all these years.
Comment by Anton — Thursday, Mar 23, 2023 @ 15:29
A pleasant safe town for everyday walking and cycling…what’s stopping us?
Comment by Anna Sabin — Monday, Mar 20, 2023 @ 14:11