Liberal Democrat County Councillor Rosalyn St Pierre has frequently criticised the council for failing to opt in to national initiatives including grants to improve road junctions, reducing fuel costs by using electric or hybrid vehicles, as well as ignoring local proposals to synchronise bus and train timetables at stations like Cooksbridge to reduce the number of car journeys and relieve pressure on car parks, such as the one at Lewes station.

Cllr St Pierre says: “Rural life has changed significantly, many people are now forced to work outside the 9am to 5pm routine. Current estimates suggest rural families are now £5,000 per year worse off than those living in towns, partly because of transport costs.

“Vulnerable people, the sick and elderly not only face rural isolation, but also serious obstacles travelling for doctors and hospital appointments. This proposed reduction in rural bus services will have a further, very severe impact on people.”

Norman Baker MP added: “This very week East Sussex County Council is cutting home-to-school transport services, creating problems for pupils travelling in rural areas to schools such as Chailey, Lewes Priory and others. Furthermore, the effect on small to medium businesses makes the Council’s boast that they support East Sussex business sound hollow.”

£168 million of funding is being made available to 148 councils across the county to help fix three million potholes by March 2015. This is in addition to £183 million funding announced in March of this year to repair roads damaged by the winter severe weather, of which East Sussex was allocated £2,645,187.

Potholes are a blight that can damage cars, cause accidents and disrupt journeys and the coalition government is taking the issue very seriously.

Norman says: “This is a significant amount of money being made available to East Sussex and I hope to see proper long term repairs being made to the road network not a patchwork of quick fix measures that fall apart within weeks. With this substantial investment, the county council now has no excuse for its roads in future”

In a letter to the MP, the council says: “A report will be presented to Lead Member meeting later this year outlining a process by which some localised restrictions could be introduced and enforced. High Street and School Hill in Lewes will be included in the assessment of that report”

Norman says: “This action is long overdue, but I am glad that it seems that the council is finally taking action. Only this week I have had a local resident contact me who had a nasty fall tripping on a broken pavement which required hospital treatment”

“For too long thoughtless drivers have been damaging paving stones, costing the council unnecessary expenditure at a time of tight budgets, and also forcing pedestrians out into the road.”

The MP has also asked the police to take action against pavement parkers when they come across them.

Efforts made by Lewes Lib Dem MP Norman Baker to cut journey times to Lewes and Polegate have paid off with the announcement today that the new franchise will see a reduction in train splitting at Haywards Heath and a consequent shortened journey time, as well as improved reliaibility.

This change was a key ask made by Norman Baker when he was a transport minister, and was then picked up by others, including Eastbourne’s MP Stephen Lloyd.

Norman says: “I am delighted that my intervention has borne fruit and that journey times to my constituency from London are to be shortened, though I believe it should have been possible to shave ten minutes off rather than five. Nevertheless, this important timetable change, which takes effect from next year, will be welcomed by my constituents.”

Norman is now seeking an early meeting with the successful bidders Govia (the parent company of the present operator Southern) to press for further improvements:

• More daytime off-peak services for Cooksbridge station
• An extra late night train from London Victoria to Eastbourne at 23.17. There is presently a long gap between the 22.47 and the 00.05
• Rationalisation of the first class accommodation to reduce the number of such areas but improve the quality of what is left
• Support in preparing for the reopening of the Lewes-Uckfield line and the creation of a new Willingdon chord, allowing some services to bypass Eastbourne
• The addition of an extra four carriages to what are presently 4 or 8 car trains

East Sussex County Council has included the shared cycle and pedestrian way along the A259, as part of its Capital Programme for Local Transport improvements 2014/15, following public consultations.

Norman says: “Improvements to safety and access for cyclists and pedestrian travelling between Peacehaven and Newhaven are long overdue. A long section of the A259 between the two towns has for years been separated off due to road subsidence and I have continually called upon the county council to do some basic work to make this readymade channel into a cycle path”

“To have these works included in the capital programme plans is a small victory for those of us that have been fighting for this over the years. The council now needs to make sure we use no more time”

Potholes are a blight that can damage cars and disrupt journeys and the coalition government is taking the issue very seriously. Overall, during this parliament, the current government will invest £4.5 billion on local roads maintenance. That is over £800m more than Labour spent in the last parliament.

Equally, councils also have a responsibility to spend the money given to them efficiently. That is why the £168 million will be allocated through a bid-based Fund, with further guidance on the application process published in the coming weeks.

Norman says:

“I hope to see East Sussex using their cut of this money to make serious and hopefully long term repairs to the local road network in my constituency. Now that flood waters have receded, many local roads have re-emerged in a broken state. I hope too that the council will bid successfully for the extra money and I do not want to see any quick fix measures that will lead to my constituents having to write to me when their cars are inevitably damaged by the holes in the road.”

Norman has now raised his concerns with East Sussex County Council following a death on the A259 in Hastings last Wednesday. This comes after another accident in January that saw two children injured and a car overturned.

Official statistics show around twice as many fatalities over the last 9 years on the 12 mile stretch of road eastwards from Eastbourne to Hastings compared to a similar 10 mile section of the A27 from Lewes to Polegate.  Figures also show a significantly higher number of serious accidents on the A259.

With the restructuring of local health services creating more journeys to and from Hastings, this road will be under an increased strain with many of these new trips being made in exceptional circumstances as drivers rush passengers requiring medical attention the extra distance to the Conquest Hospital, and they are forced to migrate from the Eastbourne DGH.

There are concerns that without safety improvements to the A259, more will be killed or injured as new pressures are piled on to the existing road.

Norman says: “The A259 is a key access route to my constituents of Polegate yet the 12 mile stretch of road east of Eastbourne has seen accident levels far surpassing comparable stretches elsewhere. There is clearly something wrong with the design of the road that needs to be rectified else we face many more years of deaths and serious injuries. 

“People who are worried about safety on our local roads should be much more worried about the A259 between Eastbourne and Hastings than the A27 from Polegate to Lewes. The accident rate on the A27 has dropped markedly in recent years thanks to the introduction of safety measures I have been advocating, though I continue to argue for further safety improvements. 

“The A259 needs drastic action before more people are seriously injured or even killed. This entire stretch of road needs to be reviewed and the potential for safety improvements needs urgent consideration. I worry for the future, especially with the present salami slicing of local health services.”

Following Norman’s letter to Chris Burchell, Managing Director of Southern, the company have now confirmed that work has begun on making the station more accessible to people with limited mobility. Crews began work on the installation of an access ramp on the south side of the station.

The ramp will complement proposals for the north side of that station in next year’s budget which will see the station made fully accessible, opening it up for all local residents to make use of.

Norman says:

“I congratulate Southern on taking this forward, and acknowledge the good work done by Glynde and Beddingham Parish Council to help bring this about. This will turn the station into a facility that everyone in the village can use.”

Southern have previously supported proposals for the installation of a ramp on the south side of the station. However, the project appears to have stalled and Norman, alongside other local campaigners, is growing concerned due to the fact that Southern still have arrangements to make before the work can begin.

The ramp will complement proposals for the north side of that station in next year’s budget which will see the station made fully accessible, opening it up for all local residents to make use of.

Norman says:

“It is vital that Southern listens to the concerns of local residents when it comes to access issues. It is often those with limited mobility that rely on public transport the most. Access to the station increases independence and quality of life respectively. Therefore, it is disappointing that proper provisions have not been made and I hope that Southern will push forward with the project as soon as is possible.”

In response to a question regarding infrastructure improvements to access routes for London airports Danny Alexander said:

“As part of what we have announced today in the national infrastructure plan, we are also commissioning feasibility studies for improving surface access, by both road and rail, to Stansted and Heathrow, and that is alongside the money for the Gatwick railway station and the feasibility study we have commissioned on the rail link between London and Brighton, including the important Lewes to Uckfield line.”

Norman has pushed for the reopening of the line since the 1980s, both in opposition and now in government. Earlier this year he was joined by the Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin to announce the commissioning of the study.

Rosalyn St. Pierre, Lib Dem Councillor for Ringmer & Lewes Bridge, the area the proposed line will intersect, is keen to see the lines connected:

“I am thrilled that the importance of this campaign has been recognised by the top levels of government. This is something I have been fighting hard for over the years and I have been working tirelessly to help build a strong economic case for the line’s reopening.”

Norman says:

“I am pleased to see that the Treasury recognise the importance of this line and the role it can play in improving transport links across the wider region. Having pushed for this study to be undertaken I am very pleased to see that it remains firmly on the radar for infrastructure development in the South East.”