Eastbourne bus lane works will not go ahead in December county council says, after MP raises concerns about ‘nonsensical’ timetable.
Eastbourne bus lane-works provisionally scheduled for December are not going ahead in the run up to Christmas the county council says, as MP Josh Babarinde raised concerns about the ‘nonsensical’ timetable.
The major works were scheduled to begin on or after November 9 and could continue until December 18, disrupting both the footways and carriageway.
In a letter to East Sussex County Council Leader, Councillor Andy Woolley, Eastbourne MP Josh Babarinde raised serious concerns about what he described as the “nonsensical timetable” for the Station Parade bus lane works, calling on them to “urgently reconsider”.
However in a statement to the Herald, an East Sussex County spokesperson said: “Conversations about work to install a bus lane along Station Parade are ongoing and, as a result, no start date has been confirmed.
“The ‘permit’ that Mr Babarinde refers to is a provisional advance authorisation - a placeholder to reserve space on the road and prevent others from applying for permits to carry out their work. It was submitted in August and has since been cancelled. Any work taking place on East Sussex roads requires a full permit. There has been no application for a full permit.”
On September 2, local organisations wrote to Councillor Woolley requesting a meeting with him and his senior officers to discuss the proposed Station Parade bus lane. They requested a response within 14 days, given the timescales involved.
However, almost nine weeks later, they have still not received a response. The Herald understands the provisional advance authorisation was only removed last week.
In a statement, Mr Babarinde said: “While I welcome investment in Eastbourne’s public transport infrastructure and recognise the need to tackle congestion, I share the serious concerns raised by residents and local businesses about these proposals.
“I want to see Councillor Woolley agree to an urgent meeting with local businesses and stakeholders so that their concerns can be properly heard.”
The Lib Dem MP has been working closely with local businesses like That Coffee Place and the Directors of the Enterprise Centre. In a statement, the Enterprise's Commercial Director Denise Harwood said: “We have strongly opposed the planned works to remove a vital lane of traffic in Station Parade in order to replace it with a bus lane, which we believe will cause unnecessary disruption and congestion.”