Byelaw changes 'won't affect' any decisions on Alexandra Park cycle path

At a cabinet meeting on Monday (June 6), Hastings Borough Council’s cabinet gave its support to changing bye-laws which govern what is and isn’t allowed in the town’s public parks and gardens.

On one hand the proposed changes are mostly technical, intended to replace a series of (in some cases out-of-date) bye-laws with a single consolidated set which cover all parks and open spaces across the whole town.

However, the updated bye-laws would also introduce a subtle change to how and when cycling would be allowed in public parks, allowing cyclists to ride on ‘designated routes’ in places where it would otherwise be prohibited.

This particular change had resulted in a significant number of objections to the proposals, mainly from campaigners who oppose East Sussex County Council plans to create a shared walking and cycling route through Alexandra Park.

The proposed route (which would require the bye-law change to go ahead) has proven controversial with a significant number of residents, who argue it will endanger walkers using the park.

However, officers were keen to stress that agreeing the bye-law changes would not necessarily result in the cycle path being put in place, saying a final decision on the route had not yet been made.

Officers also stressed that there are currently no ‘designated routes’ in Alexandra Park, meaning cycling would (at least initially) still be prohibited even if new bye-laws were adopted.

Julia Hilton (Green), cabinet portfolio holder for climate change and natural environment, said: “This is mostly just bringing us up-to-date with a set of model bye-laws.

“It also, I note, covers many more areas. The list that was there from the past one was about ten parks and this is a very extensive list of all the different open spaces except the Country Park Nature Reserve and Combe Valley which have a different set of bye-laws.”

She added: “As has already been established, it is a separate discussion to what happens with the cycle route. Yes, we need to update our bye-laws to do that, but that is another stage of the decision-making process.”

This view was backed by council leader Paul Barnett (Lab), who argued the council had not considered any in-depth plans for the cycle route since a previous cabinet gave its in-principle support in 2016.

He said: “I am not aware of a discussion between any of the cabinets we’ve had since 2016 on the detailed design and the design itself, because it has changed and evolved several times during that time.

“We’re going to have that detailed conversation and I am making sure that the councillors for the wards immediately adjacent to the park are going to be part of that conversation too.

“When we’ve got the full details and the full information about what is being proposed, we’ll come back and discuss it again. This is a public arena and we’ll come to a sensible conclusion I’m sure once we have got the information, all of us.”

After further discussion, cabinet members unanimously agreed to support adoption of the new bye-laws when the proposals go to a full council vote in the near future.