We have been working with the Enterprise Shopping Centre to raise our concerns at the plans of ESCC to implement a bus lane in Station Parade.
This would mean all other traffic would travel in one lane only heading into the town centre along Station Parade.
We fully support investment that encourages active travel and strengthens public transport connectivity. We recognise the vital role that bus services play for residents, visitors, and businesses alike.
However, we have significant concerns about the modelling that underpins their proposal. We believe that if this decision proceeds in its current form, it will negatively affect not only access to the Enterprise Centre but also the wider town centre.
During a planning meeting, we made clear that the modelling used is flawed, and have discovered during our meetings with ESCC that they did not model for impacts on The Avenue, Grove Rd, Ashford Rd or Upperton Rd. Nor was there modelling on the impact of the car park at the Enterprise Shopping Centre. This was accepted by the committee.
East Sussex County Council’s own road audit demonstrated that there were 30 safety issues related to the scheme and accepted that they would need to change or amend their plans 19 times.
At a recent planning meeting, a decision was made to defer this until further modelling can be undertaken.
The Enterprise Shopping Centre has commissioned their own report and have found that the proposals of East Sussex County Council will only have a minor impact on bus journey times, and will have a detrimental impact on all other users – whilst the same changes could be achieved via simply changing the timings of the traffic lights and adding an additional bus stop.
As part of this, we would like to ask you to provide your thoughts on the proposals so that we can present them to East Sussex County Council.