Write to county over new delay to cycle path

4.39.19pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 14th May 2008

Chris Bowers and Rosalyn St. Pierre are calling for the county to finish the Lewes-Ringmer cycle path.

Residents of Ringmer are being urged to write to the county council after yet another delay in the long-promised cycle path between Lewes and Ringmer.

The call comes from Ringmer's county councillor Rosalyn St Pierre, who has been campaigning for the safe route for cyclists for three years and was told the work would begin this year.

But now that has changed. 'The cycle path was first raised nearly ten years ago,' she said, 'and has been officially planned since 2004. Now, when the pressure on the road is at its greatest and Ringmer Community College is about to open its sixth form centre, we're told the path won't get built for at least two years.'

The route has been broken down into two stages: the eastern stage from Ringmer to the layby at the brow of the hill, and the western stage from the layby to the top of Malling Hill. The money for the eastern stretch is already available - it has come from the developers who built The Forge - and East Sussex County Council said it would build the stretch in the current financial year. But now they say road safety concerns and on-going issues about the routing of the western stretch means no work will begin for the foreseeable future.

'We're not arguing against road safety,' added Councillor St Pierre, 'but why has it taken four years to work this out? The county council is cutting back spending on important things, such as pedestrian crossings - including the much needed one outside Ringmer Community College - homes for old people, and pavement repairs. This can all be traced back to the massive spending on the Newhaven incinerator, which is now reaching £145 million for a project the county is pushing through despite huge opposition.. Now a measure that would encourage people to cycle and offer an alternative to the car for sixth-form students has also been put on indefinite hold. People should write to Matthew Lock, the county councillor responsible, and tell him how important this cycle route is for the village.'

Write to Councillor Lock at County Hall, St Anne's Crescent, Lewes, BN7 1SF, or email cllr.matthew.lock@eastsussex.gov.uk.