Two wheels or not two wheels? Views wanted on cycling on the seafront

CYCLISTS and pedestrians will shortly have the chance to tell Rother District Council for themselves what they think about bike-riding on Bexhill promenade.

A byelaw dating back to before the First World War makes it a finable offence to cycle on the promenade without reasonable excuse.

The rule still holds, and a working group had recommended consulting on no change. But representations to the council’s scrutiny committee on February 7 paved the way for possible amendments.

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Youngsters from Bexhill Youth Council made an impassioned plea to have the ban lifted, citing the successful sharing of seafronts at many resorts elsewhere in Britain.

Consequently, draft byelaws now set for formal consultation were amended to embrace their views and those of local cycling groups, which had also pressed for change.

Ian Hollidge, of Bexhill Wheelers, had hinted that money for a cycle route might be available from the Sustainable Transport Fund through East Sussex County Council.

It is now proposed that “no person shall without reasonable excuse ride a cycle on the promenade except where there is a designated route for cycles”

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In addition, “where cycling is permitted on any part of the promenade ... cyclists shall give way to pedestrians.”

The wording was suggested by Rother’s legal services manager, David Edwards, who told a Cabinet meeting on Monday that it could “snap into place” if a cycle route is forthcoming.

Mr Edwards also suggested that the East and West Parades might be earmarked for potential cycling, omitting the narrow Central promenade, as a guide when seeking comments.

But he stressed: “This is solely intended for consultation, and is not set in stone.”

Cabinet backed this suggestion, concluding that if consultees disagreed, they would make their own views known.