New Eastbourne parking restrictions given the green light

On Wednesday (February 16), East Sussex County Council’s planning committee approved Eastbourne’s latest Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) — the mechanism through which parking restrictions are given legal weight. 

Compared to previous versions of the document, there were relatively few new restrictions which needed to be considered by councillors. 

These included plans to paint double yellow lines along Wellcombe Crescent from its junction with Edensor Road and around its junction with Dukes Drive.

The proposal came in response to requests from the bus company Stagecoach, which said parking can often block the road for its vehicles. 

A number of objections had been raised to these proposals, but ward councillor Barry Taylor (Con) argued the restrictions were much needed.

He said: “I think this is very sensible. I think it is fairly obvious that  buses have not been able to get comfortably down the road. 

“In actual fact, I have a tweet from them that said. ‘Due to inconsiderate parking our three services are currently unable to serve Wellcombe Crescent or the foot of Beachy Head. We are sorry for this inconvenience caused’.

“I think that speaks for itself. We should not uphold any objections for this. By the way this tweet was on a Sunday. 

“A lot of people were concerned it was to do with the school and people dropping their children off, but this was on a Sunday, so all during the summer it would be a major problem for the bus service.”

Following these comments the proposal was approved by the committee.

Councillors also approved plans to paint double yellow lines in Springfield Road, around its junctions with Oxford Road. The proposals are made on the grounds that the current parking can cause obstruction and prevent pedestrians from safely crossing the road.

An objection was also raised to this proposal, but officers said this was because the objector wanted permit parking as well as the double-yellow lines. Officers said permit parking could not be added at this stage but would be considered for inclusion in the next TRO. 

The final proposal would have seen the formalisation of an advisory disabled bay in Seaside.

While the bay already exists its inclusion in the TRO would have meant enforcement action could be taken against any non-blue badge holder parking within it.

However, this proposal is being withdrawn as the resident using it has moved away from the area, meaning the bay is no longer required.

As a result councillors agreed to withdraw it from the TRO and heard the advisory bay was to be removed.