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Report to:
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Lead Member for
Transport and Environment
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Date of
meeting:
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14 March
2022
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By:
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Director of
Communities, Economy and Transport
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Title:
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Alexandra Park shared pedestrian and cycle route,
Hastings
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Purpose:
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To consider the
petitions calling on East Sussex County Council to address cycling
measures in Alexandra Park, Hastings.
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Lead Member is
recommended to advise the petitioners that:
(1)
The separate
requests ‘to remove the proposed section of the shared
pedestrian and cycling route from the lower section of Alexandra
Park’ and for ‘East Sussex County Council to Support
the Cycleway and Walking & Cycling 'Greenway' link through
Alexandra Park’ have been considered; and
(2)
As the proposed
shared pedestrian and cycle route running through Alexandra Park
meets the wider County Council objectives as set out in section 1
of the report, and that the proposed route has historically been
subject to public and stakeholder consultation, further design
review, road safety audits and an Equality Impact Assessment, the
proposal will progress to implementation as part of the Capital
Programme for Transport Improvements 2022/23.
1 Background
Information
“We, the undersigned, call upon East Sussex County Council to
remove their support for a shared cycle pedestrian pathway through
the lower part of Alexandra Park between Dordrecht Way and Bethune
Way. Otherwise, there will be inevitable conflict between
pedestrians, children, dogs, buggies, cyclists, the elderly and the
blind.”
1.2.
In addition, at the County Council meeting on the 8 February 2022,
Councillor Julia Hilton presented a petition on behalf of the Lead
Member stating:
“We the undersigned call on East Sussex County Council to
reject the petition that has been submitted in objection to this
important active travel project (which was based on a campaign of
misinformation and scaremongering) and to continue with the route
construction when the reference to the Secretary of State has been
resolved.
This route project being taken forward by East Sussex County
Council has been through a very long process of consultation,
safety audits, redesign work and delays. It has been approved by
the Hastings Borough Council Cabinet by a unanimous vote and has
also been approved by East Sussex County Council. It is strongly
supported by local groups and organisations that campaign for long
overdue improvements to cycling & walking infrastructure in
Hastings to encourage active travel, to reduce the ever-present
risks to cyclists of injury and fatalities on the roads and to
tackle climate change. The route is an essential section of the
Hastings Walking & Cycling Strategy - core network of walking
& cycling routes (agreed by ESCC and HBC). It would be a tragic
and retrograde step to abandon the route through Alexandra Park as
it would destroy the integrity of the whole routes network and
undermine action to respond to the Climate Crisis”.
1.3.
Copies of both petitions are available in the Members’ Room.
Standing Orders provide that where the Chairman considers it
appropriate, petitions are considered by the relevant Committee or
Lead Member and that a spokesperson for the petitioners is invited
to address the Committee. The Chairman has referred this petition
to the Lead Member for Transport and Environment.
2
Supporting Information
Policy Context
2.1
The proposed Alexandra Park route
forms one of the principal routes originally identified in the
Hastings Walking and Cycling Strategy approved by the Lead Member
for Transport and Environment on 15 September 2014. It
provides the central link in the west from Bexhill/Hastings Combe
Valley Greenway and the proposed cycle route between Queensway and
Silverhill, and future eastern routes to the Hastings town centre
and seafront as well as Conquest hospital.
2.2
Latterly, the East Sussex Local
Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) approved by Cabinet
in September 2021 establishes an ambitious proposed network of
preferred cycling and walking routes and measures in specific areas
of the county, including Hastings. The proposed Alexandra
Park route is one of the identified priority schemes which supports
an inclusive environment where active travel is integral and a
realistic option for everyday journeys.
2.3
The scheme will contribute key
County Council priorities and their associated strategies,
particularly relating to climate change and the decarbonising
agenda, economic growth and recovery, and health and
wellbeing.
Funding
2.4
This proposal will be delivered
using funding from various sources including Local Growth Fund
monies secured through the South East Local Enterprise Partnership
(SELEP), the County Council’s capital programme for local
transport improvements and development contributions. There is
limited time to spend the Local Growth Fund (LGF) with an
expectation that this funding is spent by March 2023.
Previous Lead Member
decisions
2.5
The principle of a shared route through Alexandra Park
was agreed by Hastings Borough Council’s Cabinet in January
2016 subject to the removal of the route from outside the
Park’s café following a two-stage consultation process
undertaken by the Borough Council between April and August 2015.
Since 2017, a number of
reports have been presented to the Lead Member for Transport and
Environment in relation to the detail of the proposed
cycle route alignment to run through both the Upper
and Lower sections of Alexandra Park (see location plan at Appendix
1).
2.6
At the decision-making meeting on
20 March 2017, the Lead Member resolved to defer a decision on the
proposed route and requested that an alternative route should be
investigated along St Helens Road (Appendix 2). The outcomes of
Route Review Study on the alternative route via St Helens Road, as
well as a review of both the upper and lower sections of the route
through Alexandra Park for comparison, was presented to the Lead
Member on 18 June 2018 (Appendix 3 and 4). Following consideration
of the existing risks of both alignment options, and identification
of mitigating measures to reduce such risks, the report recommended
that the St Helens Road route should not be progressed, and the
Lead Member resolved to progress the proposed route through
Alexandra Park to detailed design and construction as part of a
future year’s Capital Programme of Local Transport
Improvements.
2.7
The scheme was also subject to a
Lead Member decision-making meeting on 28 September 2020 to
consider objections to footway conversion to shared cycle use near
Dordrecht Way which forms part of the proposal where it was
resolved to convert the footway.
Response to
Petitions
2.8
As highlighted in section 1 of the
report, the Council is in receipt of two petitions regarding the
Alexandra Park cycle route proposal – one for and one
against.
2.9
The petition submitted in July
2021 requests the removal of the lower section of Alexandra Park
from the overall proposal on safety grounds. The removal of the
lower section of the Alexandra Park scheme would leave a gap in the
cycle network between western Hastings and future provision for
eastern Hastings and into Hastings Town Centre. This would
act contrary to the objectives of the East Sussex LCWIP
2.10
Not all the current walking routes
in the park would be available for cycling and the proposal is that
a specified route would be designated for use by cyclists. If the
scheme is delivered, Hastings Borough Council (HBC) would be
responsible for the long-term maintenance of the cycle route. They
would enforce the operation of the route within the park to further
ensure the safety of all users. HBC officers would instruct their
Rangers and Wardens to have a heightened presence in the park at
specific times and to engage with cyclists where appropriate to
deter unsafe cycling. Cyclists riding outside the designated route
would be potentially liable to Fixed Penalty Notices for
contravention of the byelaws. It is anticipated that this
proportionate approach combining education and enforcement would
encourage appropriate behaviour by all park users.
2.11
Following on from this initial
phase of education and enforcement, the Borough Council’s
Cabinet previously resolved in 2016 that they would continue to
monitor how the shared route was used, and should any serious
concerns arise, would deploy their enforcement staff to address
these issues. The Borough Council have indicated that this
resolution still stands.
2.12
In terms of the safety of the
route for park users, an independent safety review is conducted at
key stages throughout the design process to identify potential
risks in the proposed design so that they could be mitigated.
In addition, a post construction Safety Audit would also be carried
out should the cycle route be constructed. The last 3-year crash
data up to 31 December 2021 has identified five slight crashes
involving cyclists on the immediate neighbouring roads around
Alexandra Park. The ages of cyclists involved range from 28 to 72
and the causation factors were cars pulling out and conflicting
with the cyclists’ movements. Therefore, the Alexandra Park
proposal will offer a safer off-road alternative to the existing
surrounding road network. An Equality Impact Assessment has also
been carried out and is attached as Appendix 5.
Alternative
alignments to Lower
Park section
2.13
We have previously looked at
alternative alignments to the route through the park. As
highlighted in paragraph 2.6, the 2018 Route Review Study
considered St Helens Road as an alternative. The report
highlighted a number of concerns with this route - the proximity to
the listed spiked fencing around the park, the potential conflict
with bus users at the existing bus stop on proposed shared
alignment, removal of many trees which line St. Helens Road, and
the removal of most on-road parking. Therefore, it was agreed
that the St Helens Road proposal was not feasible, and this
recommendation was agreed by the Lead Member at their June 2018
decision making meeting.
2.14
Following receipt of the July 2021
petition, other alternative on road alignments have been considered
including the use of Lower Park Road which runs to the south of the
lower section of Alexandra Park and connects with Dordrecht Way.
However, there are a number of issues that have been initially
identified with this option which would affect its deliverability
or support locally:
·
the existing footway which runs
around this section of the park is too narrow to accommodate
pedestrians and cyclists and therefore would need to be widened and
converted to a shared pedestrian and cycle path
·
Similar to St Helens Road, the
spiked railing also runs along the perimeter of this section of the
park so the width would need to be sufficient to keep cyclists an
appropriate distance away from the railings
·
In addition, the width of the
shared path would need to meet the LTN1/20 guidance for such
facilities which would potentially necessitate the removal of
existing parking which runs along the park. It is understood there
was a petition presented to the County Council in August 2021
requesting an extension to existing parking along Lower Park Road,
which will be considered as part of a wider parking review for
Hastings. On these grounds, it is assumed that any loss of parking
would also not be acceptable locally
Scheme Programme and
Governance
2.15
The detailed design for the scheme
was programmed for completion as part of the 2021/22 Capital
Programme for Transport Improvements approved by the Lead Member
for Transport and Environment at the decision-making meeting on 15
March 2021. In undertaking the detailed design, the County Council
has been acutely aware of Alexandra Park’s historic and
environmental importance as it is listed as a ‘Registered
Park’ with Historic England. Therefore, particular focus has
been given to ensuring all materials are sympathetic to the local
environment. These have been consulted on and approved by Historic
England.
2.16
Whilst the local County
Councillors do not support the proposal on safety grounds, Hastings
Borough Council has continued to indicate their support for the
proposal through a Statement of Support submitted to the County
Council by Councillor Evans, their Environment Portfolio Holder.
The Borough Council has recently publicly consulted on proposed
changes to their existing Byelaws within Hastings parks which would
permit cycling on the proposed designated route through Alexandra
Park. Responses to this process are currently being considered by
the Secretary of State, and the decision on this process is
scheduled to be considered by the Borough Council in June 2022.
Therefore, implementation of the Alexandra Park route is subject to
this decision.
2.17
Subject to the outcome of the
Hastings Borough Council Byelaw consultation in June 2022,
construction of the route is currently proposed to commence in late
2022 in line with SELEP Local Growth Fund delivery
timescales.
Strood Road section
2.18
Whilst most of the route is
covered by the Byelaw referenced in paragraph 2.16 there is a short
section of footpath along Strood Road, covered by an existing
‘Right of Way’ footpath which would require conversion
under a Cycle Track Order (CTO). A CTO was advertised on 2 July
2021 for a 4-week period. The advertisement generated over 170
responses from members of the public. Most comments objected to the
premise of cycling through the park on safety grounds.
2.19
All objections to a CTO need to be
submitted to the Secretary of State (SoS) for Transport in
accordance with Cycle Tracks Act 1984, for consideration. The
caseworker for the SoS has confirmed that in their experience, many
CTOs proceed to a Public Inquiry.
2.20
Careful consideration has been
given to the benefits and disbenefits of progressing the CTO given
the likelihood it progresses to Public Inquiry. The time and
cost of preparing for and attending a Public Inquiry (for example,
legal preparation, venue, hiring of expert witnesses etc) could be
considerable and would have to be funded by the County Council.
There is also no guarantee of a positive outcome on what is a
relatively short section of a much longer route. Therefore,
on balance it is not considered an appropriate use of the County
Council’s resources and available funding to proceed with the
CTO process for the Strood Road section of the route.
2.21
An alternative option has been
considered for this short section which would involve the
installation of ‘cyclist dismount’ signs at the
proposed section at Strood Road alongside retaining its current
status. This would then be monitored over a 12-month period to see
how effective this is and whether it requires further
enforcement.
3
Conclusion and Reasons for Recommendations
3.1
The 2014 Hastings Cycling Strategy
and latterly the East Sussex Local Cycling and Walking
Infrastructure Plan, approved in September 2020, identifies the
route through Alexandra Park as a priority for delivery and an
integral part of a network of cycle routes for the town, linking to
the proposed route between Silverhill and Queensway in western
Hastings and future eastern routes to the Hastings town centre and
seafront as well as Conquest hospital.
3.2
Following Lead Member approval in
June 2018 to progress the scheme to detailed design and
construction, there has been significant and careful consideration
given to ensuring any potential risks to pedestrians and cyclists
using the proposed cycle route through both the Upper and Lower
sections of Alexandra Park are mitigated and incorporated into the
design of the scheme. This process has included independent
road safety audits at preliminary and detailed design stages to
consider the overall safety of the scheme, and identify any
recommended changes, as well as assessing the equalities impacts of
the scheme on those groups with protected characteristics.
Throughout this process, HBC have remained supportive of the scheme
and have agreed to monitor the operation of the route through the
park, educate users and where necessary undertake
enforcement.
3.3
Despite looking at alternative on
road routes, which have been discounted for technical feasibility
reasons, the recommended route through the Lower section of
Alexandra Park remains the most practicable solution for providing
for cyclists in this part of Hastings and would support the
Council’s strategies and objectives relating to reducing
carbon emissions, supporting economic recovery and growth, and
improving health & wellbeing.
3.4
It is therefore recommended that
both sets of petitioners be informed that the County Council will
progress with the delivery of the proposal as per the current
alignment, through both the Upper and Lower sections of Alexandra
Park, subject to the outcome of the Hastings Borough Council Byelaw
consultation in June 2022.
Director of Communities, Economy
and Transport
Contact Officer: Tracy
Vaks
Tel. No. 01273 482123
Email: Tracy.Vaks@eastsussex.gov.uk
LOCAL
MEMBERS
Councillors Daniel,
Marlow-Eastwood.
BACKGROUND
DOCUMENTS
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