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Eastbourne Life with Graham Walker: A great town for cycling?
“Shall we bring our bikes?” asked my friend as we arranged for his family to come down for a visit. “Yes, there’s some great cycling nearby” I said before adding “But the town itself is a very bike unfriendly place ”.
I’m an occasional cyclist. I managed the South Downs Way a few years ago and I like cycling days out with my family. As I got off the telephone, awful memories come back to me. There was a depressing and dangerous cycle into town after a day out with the boys on the wonderful Cuckoo Trail. We enjoyed stopping to pick blackberries on the stretch between Polegate and Hampden Park. We still have some jam left! But a blissful family day out was then spoilt by the lack of a safe cycle route back into the centre of Eastbourne, resulting in scared parents and our younger son in tears.
On one of our first ever visits to Eastbourne, there was also a cycle home with the boys from Bexhill when at the end of our journey we suddenly realised that there is no cycling allowed on the seafront. The only option for us was to cycle on the road with the boys on what we now know is an incredibly dangerous stretch of seafront road from the sailing club to the pier. I remember doubling back again and again thinking there most be safe route provided – even if just for the kids – but as you all know there isn’t.
I know that Bespoke (a local cycling group) has done a great job convincing the Council to provide the beginnings of a network of cycle routes over the next few years. The Council itself now seems genuinely committed to promoting cycling throughout the town. But I note that there is still no firm plan to provide a cycle path along the seafront to the east of the pier. We need to get on our collective bikes and go faster.
Just to be clear, this needs to be fixed fast with a cycle path along the entire seafront if Council chiefs want to encourage more families to visit Eastbourne and to keep coming. It’s ridiculous state of affairs when a young French family on a cycling tour of the south coast told me that they had been advised by friends to cycle around the town.
It’s not just for tourists that we need better cycle facilities. The atmosphere of the town would be much improved if we developed a culture of cycling on all but the longest of most awkward of journeys. Changing culture is hard. Habits are hard to break. The Council can show a lead but pushing on more quickly with its cycle path plans. As the cycle paths open, our schools should be promoting walking and cycling to school every day to encourage use of these new facilities. For example, my sons’ previous school gave collectable pin badges to kids that had walked or cycled to school every day for a month.
The families and the majority of progressive people in Eastbourne who love the town to bits and think it could be even better need to make their voices heard a bit more. It worries me that the town is too often associated with the whining of the ‘oppose everything new’ and the ‘blame someone else’ brigades who fill up the letters page of the Herald. Free speech is a wonderful thing so the only way to beat them is to join them. If you disagree with the moaners, get writing and give the Herald something positive to print on the letters page!
Through my work with Eastbourne Can – www.eastbournecan.com - I’ve spent the last few weeks helping to organise a networking event at the Towner on Thursday 23 February for local creative, digital and technology businesses. These sectors are worth 7% of the UK’s GDP and are one of the few sectors forecast to keep growing through the recession. It’s been great that Wired Sussex and the Council have got behind the event. I’m looking forward to meeting the fifty or people who have registered to attend to hear what more the town can do to support them. There are still a few (free) tickets available if you work in this sector and you want to come along.
Finally, huge thanks to every single nurse at the hospital where my dad is currently being looked after. Lots of stories recently about uncaring staff in elderly wards but you are all fantastic. Thank you!
Tickets for the free networking event are available here
• Email me at grahamcwalker@googlemail.com
• Follow me on twitter @eastbournelife
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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Wind direction: South east
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