Unpopular parking plan for Eastbourne town centre is shelved

The county council had consulted on plans to bring in four hour parking restrictions and pay and display metres in roads in Lower Meads as well as permits for residents and controls around the new redeveloped Devonshire Quarter area.

However, businesses were unhappy with the proposals as the area is widely used by people who drive into town to work and they were concerned employees would have nowhere to park all day.

Roads affected included Blackwater Road, Carlisle Road, College Road, Compton Street, Furness Road, Grange Road, Hardwick Road, Jevington Gardens, Old Wish Road, Sheraton Close, Spencer Road, Wilmington Gardens and Wish Road.

But the overwhelming response from the public saw the council backtrack this week.

A spokesperson at East Sussex County Council said, “We fully appreciate comments made during the formal consultation and have considered these along with all the other responses received.

“We believe all of the proposals presented in the formal consultation were necessary to address the parking demands in the area, however, we have listened to the concerns raised during the consultation and removed a number of the proposed changes.

“We propose to monitor the parking pressures in this area following the development of the theatre complex before deciding whether further changes are required to the parking arrangements in this area.”

The council is still planning to introduce some parking restrictions in front of the theatres complex, loading bans to prevent obstructions, four hour parking in Hardwick Road, permit holder only parking in Wish Road, four hour stays in Compton Street and Jevington Gardens and permit parking in the latter.