Hastings Council must vote no to allowing a county council bike route through Alexandra Park

Hastings Council will shortly be deciding whether to allow a County Council bike route through Alexandra Park. They must vote no.

This is not simply about a few bikes being ridden sedately and courteously around the park, as the cycle lobby would like us to believe. It is already being used illegally by racing cyclists, people on powered e-bikes and the notorious e-scooters.

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If there is an official bike route (which the traffic would not bother to stick to) it would be a free-for-all, and not in a good way. Vehicle users are already passing much too fast and too close to pedestrians, and some of them shout at people to get out of their way. There are threats, confrontations and near-collisions. A report is being prepared for the council about dangerous confrontations in the park.

Alexandra Park is a jewel in Hastings’ crown and we must not surrender it to wheeled traffic. It has been a haven of peace and recreation, especially for people with young children, dog walkers, and many people with disabilities – including people hard of hearing or partially sighted.

Some of them are intimidated and have already abandoned the park, or will stay away if the bike route is approved. Many bikers are unable to judge the dangers of small children or dogs running off at all angles without warning, and if they pass too close they can collide with anyone who is turning around to look at the park or talk to someone. As for organised groups of walkers, forget it. And chatting happily to people you meet? They won’t tolerate it.

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Don’t imagine it will stop with this cycle route. Because of the difficulty of installing cycle routes north-south into Hastings centre, the county council has decided to make it into a traffic hub, with further routes planned which will lead into and out of the park. With added dangers as the route meets the roads at both ends.

All the political parties have offered their councillors a free vote, quite rightly, so they can follow public opinion without worrying about a party line. Unfortunately, all the members of the Green Party group have said they will vote for the bike route. Shame on you. Can it be because they all cycle everywhere and have no sympathy for the greenest of all, the pedestrians? As a cyclist myself, I have no time for the “bikes right or wrong” line. Walkers must always come first.

It is only a matter of time before a small child is run into by one of these bikes or scooters, with serious injuries. The county council seems not to care, but Hastings Council must.

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