Reader’s letter: Pointing out flaws in Eastbourne’s four planned cycling routes

It may seem strange that cycle campaigners would write in to criticise any spending on local cycle infrastructure.

However, the article, in last week’s paper, suggested that East Sussex County Council (ESCC) was providing four popular cycle routes click here to read.

Anyone can read the 21/02/2022 Transport and Environment Committee agenda, where Bespoke, the cycle campaign group for Eastbourne, identified shortcomings and alternatives to their design, specifically those in the town centre.

The council admitted that they do not meet the national standards (LTN 1/20).

The reality being that money is being spent, that will not support tourists, children, less confident, elderly and the disabled to cycle safely.

This reluctance to build quality routes is even clearer seen, where local temporary ‘pop-up’ cycle routes, that were funded by the Government during Covid, were all dropped.

East Sussex County Council’s view is as always, should they get objections on routes they will not proceed.

To assess the effectiveness of local cycling provision, it is worth looking at the annual Government statistics, which show East Sussex has the second lowest cycle numbers, in London and the South East, and this has not improved over the last 10 years.

These four routes will do little to improve the situation.

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