Contribute to  ESCC 2009 Cycling Strategy

Robin Reed, principal transport planner responsible for cycling at East Sussex County Council, is running a consultation on a new Cycling Strategy for the County. Robin is a cyclist himself and is hoping for a good response again - his last consultation on cycling achieved an unprecedented 7,000 replies which prompted councillors to give the subject more importance.

You can download the strategy from the ESCC website.

The consultation closes on Fri 20 Feb and you can respond by filling in the word version of the questionnaire at the bottom of the ESCC page, saving it on your computer and emailing to cycling@eastsussex.gov.uk or print it and post it to Robin at 

East Sussex County Council
Transport & Environment (Ref: Robin Reed D3)
Freepost (LW43)
County Hall
Lewes, BN7 1BR  

Thanks to Anne Locke from Cycle Lewes for circulating the strategy news. She also made the following comments to Cycle Lewes members, which you may find interesting:

'I have had a quick look at the strategy. It is really a strategy for capital spending on county road schemes - the area Robin works in. The main theme is to concentrate money on improving conditions for cyclists on 'utility routes' around urban areas - likely to be used by the largest numbers for work, school and shopping journeys - as these are likely to produce the greatest benefits in terms of public health (encouraging regular cycling and new cyclists) and reducing traffic congestion and pollution (replacing car journeys).  Robin tells me that the Ringmer-Lewes route proposals, for example, would get higher priority than at present using this method. This seems a sensible way of prioritising county council spending on cycling-related road schemes and is in fact a policy they have been following for some time. Although 'recreational' cycling would have a lower priority, such utility routes would improve conditions for recreational cycling too for many people as they should make it easier to get through and out of urban areas.

However as an overall County cycling strategy (in 1.4 it describes itself as 'the framework which informs and co-ordinates all policies and programmes of action which can help to promote cycling in East Sussex') the document does have shortcomings and is only a starting point. I feel it needs to be better integrated. For example as cyclists we might use routes going from Highways Agency (A27 cycle path) to county roads to rights of way (bridleways and byways) and these need to be looked at together as a coherent network. I don't see enough on:

 - integrating work with the Highways Agency, Rights of Way team, Sustrans etc

- traffic management, speed restrictions etc - which must often be the cheapest way to improve cycling conditions

- obtaining external funding other than through developers

- cycling as part of sustainable tourism

- driver education

- working with employers and schools to promote cycling