Is This An Olive Branch For Lewes's Traders?

After many Lewes traders reacted furiously to local authority plans to remove most on-street parking in shopping areas, the council might be willing to compromise.

East Sussex County Council said it's been obliged by post-Covid government rules to encourage safer walking and cycling.

To do so in Lewes, its plan (see map, above) was circulated to shop managers in the town — and showed a clearing-out of parking spaces so that pedestrians can more safely stay apart on the High Street.

But many shopkeepers feared that forbidding shoppers to park near high street retail premises would limit trade, and gave their angry response via the Lewes Chamber of Commerce earlier this week.

Leaders said:

"We are dismayed to see that East Sussex County Council is giving traders and other businesses on the High Street just TWO WEEKS' NOTICE...

"These plans have been brought in without any initial consultation with the traders and other businesses who are only just reopening after several months lost trade due to the Coronavirus, and whose customers have already found as of the start of July the fees for on-street parking in the town had increased (some had doubled)."

But new statement from the County Council, received by More Radio today (22 July) could be holding out an olive branch.

While it mentions the intention to follow government instructions for the use of the "Emergency Active Travel Fund", and create safer spaces for people to walk and cycle, there is now talk of creating a balance.

In particular, East Sussex County Council appeals for as many views to be heard as possible, and states, furthermore:

"We wish to ensure the Council achieves the right balance between supporting businesses and providing walking and cycling space."

Here is East Sussex County Council's statement in full:

We appreciate the concerns raised and acknowledge that this is an extremely challenging time for businesses trying to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

As a county council, our priority is to support those businesses in their recovery and we do not want to put in place any measures that have an adverse effect on them with little benefit to the community.

The Government has instructed us that Emergency Active Travel Fund measures must be in place by early September, which has limited the amount of time we have to consult.  

We have written to businesses and residents where we are proposing temporary measures, and asked them to let us know if the measures will have an effect on them.  

The feedback, along with the benefits and disadvantages of the measures, will help decide which schemes we proceed with.

The measures proposed are designed to create safer spaces for people to walk and cycle, and give them confidence to return to town centres with the knowledge that they can follow the two metre social distance guidelines easily.

Rather than deter visitors, these measures, are designed to provide more space for people who visit the town and help the recovery of businesses affected by the unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 crisis. 

Options for widening footpaths are limited, meaning parking bays would need to be temporarily suspended and would remain so for at least three months.  

The measures would also encourage the use of more sustainable transport.

It's vital that, in the short amount of time we have been allowed by Government, we get the views of as many of those who will be affected as possible so we can ensure that we achieve the right balance between supporting businesses and providing walking and cycling space.