Cycle track plans step up a gear

Rother District Council's planning committee threw their weight behind East Sussex County Council's (ESCC) application for a surfaced pedestrian and cycle path joining Galley Hill with Hastings seafront.

The 680,000 scheme will be funded largely by National Lottery money and ESCC's capital reserve and overseen by Sustrans, a sustainable transport charity.

Cllr Sonia Holmes, of Rye ward, raised concerns about the surface of the track, saying a Sustrans path in her ward had proved hazardous to bikes: "When you have got grit on the surface and a very fine tyre it doesn't do the tyre any good," she said.

Construction is currently due to begin in March 2011.