Petition calls for ban on heavy lorries using Hastings road running alongside Alexandra Park

On Monday (May 22), Cllr Claire Dowling, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for transport and environment, is set to consider a petition calling for HGVs to be banned from using Lower Park Road — a mostly-residential road which runs beside Alexandra Park.

The petition also calls on the council to reduce part of the road’s speed limit from 30 mph to 20 mph, something campaigners say would improve highway safety.

While the final decision falls with Cllr Dowling, county council officers say such works would not be “a priority” for the authority given its limited resources, so would not normally be included in its annual works programme.

Officers also point to crash data supplied by Sussex Police, which show there have been three crashes resulting in slight personal injury within Lower Park Road for the three-year period up to January 2023. None of the crashes were attributed to excessive or inappropriate speed or involved HGVs, officers say.

They also said that a recent speed survey showed the average speed of motorists using the road was already fairly low, measuring between 21 mph and 23 mph depending on which direction they were travelling.

Instead, officers are recommending that Cllr Dowling encourage petitioners to look into bringing the measures forward through a community match funding bid. Such a bid would first require a feasibility study (at a cost of £500), as well as an organisation willing to pay for half of the costs.