I am pleased the county council has responded to residents, businesses and myself and abandoned the ‘seaside bus corridor’ proposal put forward for consultation last year.
It was clear from the consultation’s findings and my own work on this issue with the community that these plans were not going to fly. Concerns over the loss of on road parking spaces proved insurmountable.
Just last week, I arranged a meeting between local businesses and the East Sussex team in charge of the plans. Before Christmas, I also put Stagecoach director Joel Mitchell in front of businesses to hear their concerns and talk through the operator's challenges.
This means everyone has a good grasp of what the issues are. Following on, we will all be working together on the ‘art of the possible’ – are there changes and investment which could improve congestion, reliability and the take up of bus services. Four thousand passengers currently use this arterial route.
To help with this process and to make the very best of what is a substantial government grant in the shape of £41.4m from the Bus Service Improvement Plan for East Sussex, I am arranging a meeting with the county council team in February for the Seaside community to look at the next steps.
Please look out for details of where and when. I pay tribute to the team at DB Domestics and Rosy Lee Café who have been so focussed on this. It remains important local residents and businesses are fully engaged and we have positive dialogue to reach the best possible outcomes that will improve bus transport in this part of the town and across Eastbourne.
So I will keep on my campaign to keep the town moving!
On wider schemes, work on the station area improvements will move forward, discussions with landowners and the Department for Transport are ahead to determine the Sovereign Harbour bus gate proposal and Kings Drive, as proposed, will not go forward but Ratton County Councillor Colin Belsey will meet with the team for further discussion.
