11 hours Ago
Calls to stop large vehicles from using a weight-limited road are set to go in front of a senior county councillor next week. On Monday Cllr Claire Dowling, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for transport and environment, is set to consider a petition calling for a range of measures intended to stop Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) and other large vehicles from travelling through High Street in Bexhill’s old town. While the road already has a 7.
5-tonne weight limit, petitioners say it is being routinely breached with large vehicles causing damage to historic listed buildings. Writing on campaign website Change.org, lead petitioner Sandra Bandirali, a Bexhill resident, said: “The immediate enforcement of the weight limit is key to the buildings’ protection and it is of great concern that this regulation is currently not being enforced.
“We need for ESCC council to act. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors highlights that consistent heavy traffic can cause detrimental damage to nearby historical structures (RICS, 2019). We need our local council covering this road in Bexhill to prioritise this issue and take active measures to prevent the misuse of the weight limit, including the revision of local traffic laws and road changes.
“Preserving the buildings on the High Street is something we have to do now, or the incredible images we see of a high street that has hardly changed in hundreds of years won’t be there anymore.” The petition, which has been signed by more than 500 people at time of publication, sets out several measures for the council to take. These include diverting bus routes and changing the layout of the road so wide vehicles are unable to use it.
A copy of the petition was presented to the county council chairman Roy Galley by ward councillors Charles Clark and Ian Hollidge in February. In a report to Cllr Dowling, council officers are recommending the lead member inform the petitioners that “a scheme to construct a physical width restriction on the High Street [will] be fully assessed for possible inclusion for funding within the capital programme.” The report goes on to say the council is currently in the process of updating its assessment process, meaning an analysis of the potential scheme is unlikely to take place until the end of the year.
Officers say this would not result in any delays to construction of an actual scheme, should it prove successful. Despite this recommendation, the officers’ report also sets out several challenges and limitations which could prevent a scheme from moving ahead. These include a need to ensure emergency service vehicles and “legitimate” HGV deliveries are still able to access the route.
These requirements mean “a physical width restriction is likely to have minimal effect on ‘through’ HGV traffic using the High Street”, officers say. Officers also say any redirection of bus routes would be undesirable as it “would have a substantial impact on passengers gaining access to Bexhill Hospital”. Officers say four major bus routes currently pass through High Street and that it would not be possible to operate these routes with buses less than 7.
5-tonnes as they would not have the seating capacity to cater for passenger demand on these routes. The report also notes how concerns around enforcement of the weight limit have been passed on to Sussex Police..
