6. Safer, healthier and more active travel
Introduction
In this chapter, the focus is on the capacity for transport investment on infrastructure and within places to improve safety and increase health for communities and individual wellbeing across urban and rural areas
Click here for a larger version of Figure 6 'Key Schemes for Theme B' in pdf format [1.8 MB] [pdf]
A full list of schemes presented in this map is available in Appendix B.
Supporting safer, healthier lifestyles and communities
This plan will improve safety for all journeys and through the provision of transport to reduce health inequalities and enhance health and wellbeing through increased physical activity opportunities and the design of healthy places. These opportunities include walking, wheeling, and cycling being the natural first choice for everyday short journeys or as part of longer journeys, improving local connectivity to key services, reduced emissions which improve air quality and providing easy access to nature and greenspace. This plan will:
- Increase the proportion of walking, wheeling and cycling journeys.
- Increase active travel and public transport journeys through education, training, travel behaviour change initiatives and information.
- Redesign road space to balance the needs of different road users, including integrating infrastructure to support people to walk, wheel and catch the bus.
- Support reduction of vehicle emissions to improve air quality.
- Mitigate noise pollution through technology and design.
- Improve access to green spaces, public rights of way and leisure, health and community facilities.
Road safety
This plan sets out responsibilities for improving road safety, particularly to reduce casualties and the perception of safety to enable safer journeys on networks for all users.
Similar to the majority of East Sussex County Councils geographies, there is a higher number of road traffic collisions that result in someone being killed or seriously injured (KSI’s) than the average for England. East Sussex County Council has a statutory duty to undertake studies into collisions and to take steps to both reduce and prevent them.
A challenge that the county faces is that many of the county’s roads were designed and constructed prior to modern standards, where safety is a key consideration of design. Hence, many of the roads are narrower, have more bends, have vegetation close to the road and different junction designs compared to more recently constructed roads (e.g. Bexhill-Hastings Link Road or new developments).
Improving road safety requires a partnership approach, and the County Council will continue to work with key partners within the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP) to deliver innovative road safety education and training, alongside modern safety standards to be incorporated into the design and maintenance of transport interventions and networks.
Supporting healthy lifestyles
This plan will provide a shift towards supporting better health for all by supporting healthy lifestyles, specifically contributing to address health inequalities and disparities in public health across the County.
Walking, wheeling, or cycling for everyday journeys provides one of the most inclusive ways of enabling people to integrate more physical activity into their daily lives. The number of people using active travel modes nationally for short and medium trips has grown, which is also reflected in local walking trips in the County - 35% of adults in East Sussex walked continuously for at least 10 minutes (includes any continuous walk of at least 10 minutes. Includes walking for leisure, for travel, rambling/Nordic walking. Excludes hiking, mountain/hill walking, and walking around shops) at least five times per week, compared to 31% nationally. However, the proportion of adults cycling at least once per month has decreased from a peak of 15% in 2017 to 10% in 2021. This figure is below the national average of 13%.
Health inequality is a key factor in life expectancy. Hastings has the lowest life expectancy for both males (78 years) and females (81.8 years) compared to the rest of England, East Sussex and the south east. This difference is likely linked to deprivation levels, as 40% of residents in Hastings borough live in areas defined as amongst the most deprived 20% of areas in England. This figure is the highest amongst the districts and boroughs in East Sussex and the 31st highest (out of 296 local authorities) in England. The biggest causes of death between the most and least deprived areas of East Sussex are circulatory diseases, cancers, and respiratory diseases.
Obesity is also a key factor in health and life expectancy. In children, obesity amongst reception age children is most prevalent in Rother (23.5%), higher than the national average. In year 6 children, obesity is most prevalent in Hastings (38.4%), approximately 1% higher than the national average. In adults the levels are highest in Eastbourne, 68.3% of adults are classified as overweight or obese.
In terms of overall health Rother has the highest proportion of individuals in ‘very bad’ health and Hastings has the highest proportion of individuals in ‘bad’ health. Hastings has the highest proportion of inactive adults (27.3%), while Lewes has the highest proportion of active adults (71.9%) followed by Wealden. The East Sussex whole-system healthy weight plan 2021-2026 has been developed to address these issues and will be delivered in conjunction with East Sussex Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4), and more specifically the East Sussex Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP).
This plan will directly support healthy lifestyles through:
- Enabling more active travel - greater priority towards integrated active travel infrastructure complemented by travel behaviour change initiatives in both urban and rural areas to support local connectivity.
- Design of places - delivering improvements to public places and the public realm within these, with partners, incorporating quality design, which is attractive, welcoming, safer for all and resilient to the impacts of climate change.
- Creating healthy places - greater integration between transport planning, health and spatial planning to create places to enable people to live well, as referred to in Homes England’s ‘Building for a Healthy Life Toolkit’. Providing clear consideration towards integrated neighbourhoods, developing distinctive places and creating streets for all.
More active travel
This plan will improve connectivity to enable people to travel by walking, wheeling and cycling, making it a natural choice for short journeys to access key services, such as employment, education or GPs, in both urban and rural areas.
The county is also fortunate to be home to the South Downs National Park to the south, High Weald National Landscape in the north and picturesque stretches of coastline. Having these environmental assets in East Sussex makes the county a very desirable and attractive place to live, work and visit. As funding is available the plan will deliver enhanced active travel infrastructure (including access for people horse riding), integrating with public transport to enable more people to access these environmental assets and spaces sustainably supporting health and quality of life.
New infrastructure will be designed to be inclusive and accessible as possible and practicable. It will be delivered across the county and connect with cross boundary routes as reflected in Transport for the South East’s Active Travel Strategy, to increase participation in active travel trips within and between urban town centres and rural and local centres, integrating with other modes across county boundaries (particularly rail and bus and at transport interchanges (mobility hubs)), and bringing more people within reach of an active travel network.
East Sussex County Council and key partners ambition for Active Travel is reflective of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Gear Change strategy, published in July 2020, which sets out a bold vision for cycling and walking, and outlines DfT’s plans to revolutionise active travel. It focuses on the need for:
- Healthier, happier and greener communities.
- Safer streets.
- Convenient and accessible travel.
- Ensuring active travel is at the heart of transport decision-making.
Complementary to Gear Change is the DfT’s second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS2), published in March 2023. CWIS2 sets out an ambition for ‘walking, wheeling and cycling to be the natural choice for shorter journeys, or as part of a longer journeys’. In turn, supported by a series of objectives to increase the percentage of short journeys in towns by walking and cycling, increase walking activity, doubling cycling activity and increasing the percentage of children walking to school.
This plan, including the policies and the accompanying Investment Plan, demonstrates East Sussex County Council and their partners commitment to increasing active travel and reflects the vision and aims in DfT’s Gear Change and CWIS2.
Changes to the Highway Code in 2022 emphasised the relative importance of active travel, establishing a hierarchy of road users based on those most at risk in collisions, giving pedestrians priority when crossing junctions and giving cyclists priority over other road traffic when going straight ahead at junctions.
Local Authority Active Travel Performance and Commitment to Improvement
- To drive up the standards of active travel infrastructure delivered by local authorities, Active Travel England was established in August 2022. They are responsible for the allocation of active travel funding, monitoring of performance, approval and inspection of schemes, provision of training, good practice and knowledge sharing. They also inspect local transport authorities and review major planning applications.
- East Sussex County Council has a local authority active travel capability rating of 1.The rating is based on an authorities leadership towards active travel, ambition (in terms of LCWIP development) and a track record of delivery of active travel schemes that will support the objectives set out in CWIS2. This rating influences the amount of funding that local authorities are allocated.
- This plan, and more specifically the East Sussex LCWIP, demonstrates the County Council’s and their partners ambition for raising the County Councils active travel capability rating across the three key areas that Active Travel England (ATE) assess.
- Political leadership for active travel – With a high priority attributed to active travel for both urban and rural areas and within this county wide multi modal transport strategy, there is strong political leadership for active travel which will provide a golden thread into scheme delivery.
- LCWIP Development – A robust commitment for more active travel is included in this plan with a commitment to review the East Sussex LCWIP in 2024/25 to ensure alignment with this plan and which will include an emphasis on developing, subject to funding availability, a robust pipeline of deliverable active travel schemes.
- Scheme delivery – A commitment to the design and delivery of high-quality active travel schemes, that will consider the latest government guidance on infrastructure design (LTN 1/20) alongside the latest ATE active travel design tools.
Design of active travel infrastructure and places
People are influenced by several factors in choosing to walk or cycle for all or part of regular journeys. These are often influenced by the design, quality of infrastructure provided and perception of safety.
Our first Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) adopted in September 2020 sets out early ambition for the types of active travel infrastructure schemes proposed to bring forward. To reflect ambitions in this plan for active travel, the updated LCWIP will reflect the East Sussex LTP4 approach for active travel and consider new national policy, guidance and tools in relation to active travel.
To encourage an increase in walking, wheeling and cycling, partners will deliver inclusive active travel infrastructure and the segregation between modes, where feasible and where space is available in both urban and rural areas. As set out in Policy B2, infrastructure will take into consideration the LTN 1/20 guidance for cycle infrastructure design, emerging Active Travel England rural active travel guidance and the outcomes of stakeholder and public engagement.
From a policy perspective the design of streets and public spaces will reflect those that enable the creation of ‘active environments’ and a sense of place, including walkable communities, providing active travel routes, providing high quality streets and spaces, as referred to in Sport England’s Active Design principles. (See Policy B2 for further details.)
At a scheme development level the County Council has adopted Lucy Saunders’ ‘Healthy Streets’ approach with the overarching aim of ‘Making streets healthy places for everyone’. As outlined in Policy B4, it focuses on assessing how people experience being on streets and includes a series of ten ‘Healthy Street Indicators, which are assessed to drive a change in how streets and places are designed and ultimately how they will look and feel.
Importantly active travel schemes, especially with improvements to places, will need to be resilient to the impacts of climate change through consideration of measures such as provision urban greening (vegetation and trees) providing shade, benches and materials which are reflective of heat etc.) as outlined in Policy A3.
Consulting and engaging with communities on Active Travel Schemes
- Equality and inclusion provide a golden thread throughout this plan. For active travel it considers the influences or barriers on travel behaviour, especially people with protected characteristics, the differing needs of urban or rural communities and consideration towards health and economic disparities in the county.
- Equality and inclusion do not apply solely to the design and delivery of schemes and initiatives. With a ‘planning for people and places’ approach, inclusive engagement will be a key driver in this plan. Proactive and inclusive engagement will be integrated from the outset of scheme development to enable those who do not usually participate to have a voice. The county and their partners (including the voluntary sector) will bring together communities and/or stakeholders to co-design particular types of schemes that they want to see come forward within their areas, subject to the availability of funding (for example school streets).
Travel behaviour change
Complementing the delivery of active travel infrastructure schemes with initiatives and training to demonstrate that walking and cycling can be convenient, quick, safe and reliable for everyday journeys, can help transition peoples travel behaviours towards using more active travel.
East Sussex County Council and their partners have experience of delivering ‘Active Travel Programmes’ working with schools, businesses and communities to deliver walking and cycling initiatives. Previously delivered initiatives include cycle and e-cycle hire schemes, supported walking and cycling projects such as Sustrans Active Steps, the development of active travel maps with Living Streets and the East Sussex County Council Bikeability scheme.
Travel behaviour is often complex and influenced by several factors including people’s daily habits, the stage of their life and accompanying time pressures, attitudes to travel and crucially structural factors, such as availability, accessibility, location and cost of infrastructure. This plan will work with partners and communities to seek funding to develop and deliver programmes, which enable people to feel more confident and able to walk, wheel and cycle more for local journeys or as part of longer journeys.
Healthy Places
This plan provides a basis for East Sussex County Council, the district and borough councils, the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) and other key partners to integrate transport planning, health and spatial planning to create places to enable people to live well.
This partnership work is strengthened through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which sets out how the Public Health Team within the County Council and all local planning authorities (LPAs) will work together to deliver the County Council’s statutory public health responsibilities and LPAs duties to deliver relevant elements of the National Planning Policy Framework through the planning system, with transport being a key element.
Part of this approach is the use of ‘Health Impact Assessments’ at an appropriate stage of the development process, which assess the health impacts of a development on people and their environment. Reinforcing opportunities for sustainable and active travel to be included as part of development.
The County Council will work in partnership with developers and the district and boroughs to seek the adoption of design codes which reflect various national guidance and toolkits in relation to the design of active travel infrastructure and places. These include the Homes England Building for a Healthy Life Toolkit (and its companion guide - Streets for a Healthy Life), Sport England’s Active Design principles, DfT Manual for Streets, DfT’s Local Transport Note (LTN) 1/20 and Healthy Streets. Enabling the County Council to work with local planning authorities and developers to realise a spatial strategy that embraces the development of healthy places.
Delivering these objectives
These objectives will be delivered through the following policy areas:
- Policy B1: Healthy Lifestyles.
- Policy B2: Active travel.
- Policy B3: Road Safety.
- Policy B4: Placemaking.
- Policy B5: Air quality.
- Policy B6: Green and blue infrastructure.
- Policy B7: Rights of Way.
Policy B1: Healthy lifestyles
Context
Public Health England’s ‘Everybody Active, Everyday’ sets out an evidence-based approach to drive a step change in public health. It identifies the following key action areas.
- Active society: creating a social movement and changing people’s attitudes.
- Moving professionals: activating networks of expertise and persuading people to be more active.
- Active environments: creating the right spaces that encourage being active.
- Moving at scale: interventions that make people active.
Active travel is the healthiest mode of transport. Those who walk, wheel and cycle as a mode of transport benefit from ‘incidental’ exercise. Active travel is one of the easiest ways to build in daily activity to people’s lives, improving both physical and mental health. Physical inactivity is responsible for one in six UK deaths (equal to smoking) and is estimated to cost the UK £7.4 billion annually (including £0.9 billion to the NHS alone). This improved connectivity can support access for all including vulnerable groups, and people in more deprived areas reducing health inequality and creating more attractive socially cohesive communities.
Issues/opportunities
Repurposing and redefining public spaces and the public realm can help to create environments which are health promoting and encourage healthy lifestyles, reducing health inequalities.
Creation of places that are well designed, attractive, safe, and inclusive improves connectivity and walkability, reduces social isolation and improves community cohesion and enables more sustainable use of the built and natural environment.
Active travel participation is growing nationally, and this increase was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Locally whilst walking is above the national average and cycling below, there are opportunities to increase the proportion of active travel journeys through continuing to improve active travel infrastructure and integration between modes, training and initiatives and travel behaviour change programmes.
Provision of active travel infrastructure both within and between coastal towns, local centres, connectivity to cross boundary active travel routes and within rural villages can improve access to education, training, and employment, supporting sustainable economic growth, whilst also encouraging more people to travel by active modes for more healthy lifestyles.
Active travel can also provide fast and convenient options for short sections of longer journeys. For example, from home to a railway station or bus stop. These opportunities allow people to build incidental exercise into their daily routine.
With the development of housing and employment sites through the development and delivery of local plans, there is a need to ensure that they are safe, easily accessible and navigable by people walking, wheeling and cycling, thereby supporting better connected, accessible and liveable neighbourhoods and helping to create quality environments for people to thrive.
Component policy measures
In summary policies will focus on:
- Reducing physical inactivity through active travel infrastructure, education, training, initiatives, behaviour change programmes and promotion and targeting these towards people who will benefit most.
- Reducing air pollution through supporting zero and low emissions transport options and the greening of infrastructure.
- Improving public spaces and public realm to improve safety.
- Increasing access to employment, education, and training.
- Increasing access to health care and leisure and community facilities / amenities.
- Ensuring East Sussex County Council, local planning authorities in East Sussex and developers work in partnership to ensure development incorporates high quality walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure that importantly connects into wider active travel networks and integrates with other transport infrastructure (including bus and rail).
- Planning and delivering transport options that increase climate change resilience in ways that promote population health and reduced health inequalities, including by taking a system-wide approach with partners.
Policy B2: Active travel
This policy sets out the ambition for active travel (walking, wheeling, cycling) and consideration to horse riding where applicable in the County. The County Council and their partners want to make walking, wheeling and cycling part of people’s everyday lives and for it to be the natural choice, as it benefits people’s health, the environment and economy.
If partners can enable people to be physically active it helps delay the onset of many health conditions, especially as people age, alongside the crucial benefits to mental health. It helps to reduce congestion and vehicle emissions, improving air quality and makes villages and towns healthier and more vibrant places to live.
The availability of active travel infrastructure and the quality of the design are key drivers for enabling people to choose more walking, wheeling and cycling in both urban and rural areas.
This policy is reflective of current and future proposals for the East Sussex LCWIP. It demonstrates East Sussex County Council’s and their partners commitment to increasing active travel, reflecting the vision and aims DfT’s Gear Change and the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy and importantly raising their national active travel performance rating.
An ambitious and inclusive programme of active travel schemes and initiatives across the county that balances the needs of all users, especially more vulnerable users, where feasible and practicable is proposed. Proposals include exploring opportunities to enhance existing and new active travel networks and the redesign of road space, where possible whilst also balancing other needs, to create conditions that make all people feel safer and more comfortable walking, wheeling and cycling.
It is proposed to provide connected active travel routes, which are safer, continuous, direct and attractive alongside walkable communities in key urban areas including Newhaven, Eastbourne, Bexhill and Hastings and local active travel enhancements in local centres including Lewes, Uckfield, Crowborough, Battle and Rye, as well as in villages. These routes are alongside considering opportunities for improving connectivity between these areas, for example inter-urban routes between major towns (such as Hailsham – Uckfield) or connectivity from villages to key service centres, such as Ringmer to Lewes.
Where an active travel route runs parallel to a major road, the scheme will be designed to consider the opportunities for segregation, (where feasible), between active travel routes and the main carriageway enhancing safety and improving the experience of walking, wheeling, or cycling (for example the National Highways active travel improvements alongside the A27 between Polegate and Firle). By improving active travel facilities, there is an opportunity to enhance the ‘liveability’ of local environment and reduce safety concerns by exploring the opportunities for modal segregation.
The LTN 1/20 Cycle Infrastructure Design Guidance considers the principles of design at all stages including journey origins to destinations, safety, junctions design, crossings, cycle parking, signage and wayfinding. Whilst these standards will be considered as part of East Sussex County Council scheme designs, and will require other parties to also consider these, including developers. The implementation of these standards will be dependent on-site specifics when particularly needing to balance the competing needs of all road users with highway space often limited in many areas of the county. The emerging ATE Active Travel Rural guidance, when it becomes available, will be considered.
The East Sussex LCWIP 2021 to 2030 sets out a plan to improve walking, wheeling, and cycling infrastructure, initially focused on the key towns located on the coastal strip and local centres, as well as the rural parts of the county. It includes a list of prioritised schemes for delivery by key partners. It will be a supporting document to the LTP and will be subject to review in 2024/25. With the aim of accelerating the delivery of active travel schemes in the County, this review will include the following:
- Review of current and proposed networks and the inclusion of more area based active travel opportunities.
- The opportunities to align the LCWIP with other key strategies, particularly with the East Sussex County Council Bus Service Improvement Plan, Asset Management Strategy and district and borough local plans.
- Review the processes and funding opportunities associated with the delivery of active travel
The East Sussex LCWIP also identifies the importance of complementing the delivery of active travel infrastructure schemes with initiatives that help people incorporate more walking and cycling into their everyday The LCWIP will support future applications for funding to enable East Sussex County Council, other key partners and communities to deliver active travel initiative programmes which provide cross policy benefits.
Issues/opportunities
There is a need to increase the proportion of people walking and cycling. Currently 35% of adults in East Sussex walked continuously for at least 10 minutes (includes any continuous walk of at least 10 minutes. Includes walking for leisure, for travel, rambling/Nordic walking. Excludes hiking, mountain/hill walking, and walking around shops) at least five times per week, nationally this figure is 31%. The proportion of adults cycling at least once per month has decreased from a peak of 15% in 2017 to 10% in 2021. This figure is below the national average of 13%.
High-quality cycle routes can transport high volumes of people through a relatively limited amount of road space, making them very efficient within urban environments. Most journeys to work in East Sussex are within 5km so there is potential for a greater proportion of residents to walk, wheel or cycle for their commute, where space is available for the delivery of segregated cycle routes.
Greater integration of active travel networks with other modes will provide a sustainable last-mile option for rail and bus users, in many cases removing the need to drive to a station or access a bus stop, enhancing accessibility opportunities for all journeys.
Ensuring access to micromobility solutions for all users, including those with reduced mobility and families through implementation of shared bike, e-bike, and other future mobility schemes can increase participation in active modes by sections of the population who are less likely to currently use these modes.
Ensuring the LCWIP is reflected and developed further as part of the development and delivery of local plans so that development sites are sustainably located and fully consider walking, wheeling and cycling accessibility within and to and from the site.
Ensuring active travel is considered as part of network and area-based schemes.
Component policy measures
In summary policy measures will focus on:
- Reviewing and delivering the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan which includes a robust pipeline of deliverable active travel schemes for networks and places and ensuring a balance of schemes to support walking, wheeling and cycling.
- Planning, designing, delivering, and maintaining new and enhanced high quality infrastructure to support more walking, wheeling and cycling that considers national infrastructure guidance and best practice. (as outlined in Manual for Streets, DfT LTN 1/20 and Healthy Streets).
- Promoting safer, more accessible, and quicker travel by active travel modes integrating with public transport.
- Integrate active travel infrastructure and initiatives with other strategy documents (i.e. East Sussex Bus Service Improvement Plan, local planning authorities Local Plans, Transport for the South East’s (TfSE) Transport Strategy and the TfSE Active Travel Strategy) to increase the opportunities to secure funding to deliver these types of measures.
- Providing high-quality inclusive public spaces and public realm as part of placemaking schemes.
- Delivering walking and cycling initiative programmes which support travel behaviour change with key local partners and communities alongside identifying opportunities for the funding of these.
- Review the East Sussex Sustainable Modes of Travel Strategy (SMOT) to enhance the promotion of sustainable travel to school.
Policy B3: Road safety
Context
This policy recognises responsibilities regarding improving road safety, particularly to reduce casualties, and enable safer journeys on networks for all users.
Nationally, the Department for Transport Road Safety Statement 2019, sets out an approach to improve road safety, with an emphasis on the need to reduce casualties. Including:
- Increasing road safety education and training.
- Ensuring that vehicles are safe for drivers, passengers, and other highways users.
- Making sure that highways are designed and maintained with safety in mind.
Locally the delivery of this approach is co-ordinated by the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership and brings together the highway authorities of East Sussex County Council, West Sussex County Council, Brighton and Hove City Council. Alongside Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and National Highways.
In more recent government documents, including the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, published by the DfT in 2023, which identifies “tackling road safety and personal safety concerns, which may influence levels of walking, wheeling and cycling” as one of its key investment priorities. This priority is reflected in the East Sussex Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan and is a key consideration when designing schemes.
Road Safety in East Sussex
Similar to the majority of County Councils, East Sussex County Council has a higher number of road traffic collisions that result in someone being killed or seriously injured (KSI’s) than the average for England. For the three year period 2017-2019 the average rate of KSIs for England was 43.2 per 100,000 population, compared to a rate of 73.7 for Hampshire, 72.0 for Cambridgeshire 68.1 for East Sussex and 59.7 for West Sussex.
Therefore, the focus for East Sussex County Council is fundamentally to:
- Meet the County Council’s obligations under section 39 of the Road Traffic Act, which puts a "statutory duty" on local authorities to undertake studies into road traffic collisions, and to take steps both to reduce and prevent them.
- Reduce crash sites and casualties.
- Deliver measures to support vulnerable road users.
Understanding how to reduce crashes and save lives - East Sussex County Council Road Safety Programme
Recent evidence of the County Councils commitment to study, identify and deliver road safety solutions are reflected in East Sussex County Council innovative programme Understanding how to reduce crashes and save lives: the East Sussex Road Safety Programme.
Following identification, that the county had a higher-than-average KSI rate, in the Public Health Outcomes Framework, an evidence-led programme was developed. Testing the effectiveness of a variety of behavioural interventions to change the behaviour of road users with the aim of reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI’s) within identified priority groups.
National evidence which underpinned the programme indicated that the vast majority of KSI’s and over 90% of collisions resulted from driver carelessness or error. Therefore, the programme developed and implemented trials to improve road safety through behavioural interventions alongside targeted infrastructure and speed management schemes at high-risk sites.
The trials during the programme resulted in several positive outcomes including, a significant reduction in speeding re-offending by 23%, and reductions in the average number of crashes and casualties per annum at identified and treated high-risk sites of 49% and 61%. A second phase of this programme is currently being developed.
Casualty Reduction Programme
The County Council’s current approach to casualty reduction, based on national best practice, is to identify sites or routes that display a disproportionate number of crashes and identify appropriate measures to reduce crashes. These are prioritised for inclusion in the capital programme.
Lower Speed Limits including 20mph Speed Limits and Zones
To be effective, speed limits need to be set at a level which appears reasonable to a driver and be reflective of the environment through which the road passes. The introduction of a lower speed limit will not automatically slow traffic down. It is nationally recognised that most drivers travel at the speed they consider to be safe for the conditions of the road, based on their assessment of the local environment. There are several factors that are taken into consideration when assessing a length of road for a speed limit, with the predominant factors being the character and appearance of the road, the level of visible frontage development and the average speed of traffic using the road.
The delivery of lower speed limits including 20mph speed limits and zones in the County is done in accordance with East Sussex County Council adopted Policy PS05/02. This policy reflects national guidance and best practice for setting speed limits.
The policy allows for lower speed limits, including the introduction of 20mph speed limits/zones, to be considered where they are likely to be self-enforcing. The introduction of a 20-mph speed limit can be achieved with signs alone on roads where the mean (average) speed of traffic is below 24mph. On roads where mean speeds are higher, appropriate traffic management/calming measures would need to be introduced to enable them to be self-enforcing.
Issues/opportunities
Similar to the majority of County Councils, East Sussex has a higher number of road traffic collisions that result in someone being killed or seriously injured than the average for England.
Numbers of KSIs on the county’s rural A and B class roads are higher than the England average and perform poorly compared to roads built to modern standards. Predominantly due to them being of poorer quality in terms of design (width, bends, junction layouts and roadside furniture/trees being present).
Between 2015 and 2020 in East Sussex, there were 10,624 casualties reported from 7,738 accidents. Of these casualties, 1% were fatal, 24% serious and 75% slight. Targeted site/route specific engineering measures, such as schemes which develop self-explaining roads can support a reduction in the numbers of collisions and severity of casualties that result from those collisions.
Sussex Safer Roads Partnership delivers a number of campaigns including events focussed around reducing drink driving, set expectations of drivers to pass safely around vulnerable highways users (for example, pedestrians, wheelers, and cyclists) and encouraging vulnerable highways users to wear bright clothing to increase their visibility. These campaigns will continue to increase awareness of transport safety issues and encourage people to do what they can to keep themselves and others safer.
In line with the transport user hierarchy set out in the overarching strategy chapter (chapter 4), active travel infrastructure which separates pedestrians, wheelers and cyclists from other highway users can help to enhance safety (both perception and actual) will be included as part of designs, where deliverable, to help to remove one of the key barriers to active travel participation). There may be barriers to overcome, such as people being deterred from active travel due to the negative impact of fear from perceived and actual poor road safety.
In alignment with the East Sussex County Council Asset Management Strategy prioritisation will be given towards the maintenance of the existing highway assets to provide a transport network which is as safe as possible for all users.
With SSRP Partners the County Council will continue to embrace a ‘Vision Zero’ approach (based on the belief that no death or serious injury is acceptable on roads). The system requires coordination of multiple agencies (of which East Sussex County Council is one) to work together in partnership to improve road safety.
Component policy measures
In summary policies will focus on:
- Taking a multi-agency approach to improving road safety.
- Committing to continuous and comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of key road safety indicators in partnership with Sussex Safer Roads Partnership.
- Supporting improvement in road user behaviour through road safety engineering, education, training, and publicity programmes.
- Minimising risk to all road users through early Road Safety Team engagement at the design stages of any highway improvement schemes and development work.
- Fulfilling the County Councils statutory duties under S39 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to reduce collisions and injury on the county’s road network.
- Working as one council to promote sustainable transport and identify opportunities for reducing dependency on car-use.
Policy B4: Placemaking
Context
Placemaking is about creating quality environments to enable people to thrive whether it be to live, work or play in urban or rural areas. It is focussed on the design of high-quality streets, spaces and neighbourhoods, enabling interaction between people and providing an environment for walking, wheeling and cycling to be the natural choice. Public spaces need to be accessible, safer and inclusive for all people to accommodate how people use these spaces in different ways (for example children, disabled people, and older people) and enable the whole community to improve their health and wellbeing.
Co-design is an important element of placemaking. Helping strengthen the connection and understanding between people (communities, businesses etc.) as part of the design process and ensures that all user needs are considered as part of the places that they use and share.
This co-design approach has successfully been used with stakeholders in the plans to improve movement and access in Eastbourne Town Centre with the removal of traffic from the town centre, moving towards creating a more ‘liveable town’. As part of the scheme design work East Sussex County Council employed an independent access auditor to assess the scheme design to consider accessibility needs for both people with physical and hidden disabilities. This approach enabled a series of recommended improvements to the design to be developed and working in partnership with the county council and the local disability group to agree changes to the design.
A similar co-design approach has also been used in the development of School Streets schemes and wider measures to support safer and more accessible journeys to school, providing benefits which are twofold for the school and wider community.
We understand the overwhelming evidence which indicates that the wider determinants of health are influenced by the physical environment, access, traffic, and the impact that these have on health behaviours. Alongside the wider benefits to businesses from more attractive and welcoming environments. So, this plan will embrace the need for people friendly streets and places with attractive walkable environments providing easy access and opportunities for interaction. In the design of streets and public spaces East Sussex County Council and their partners are committed to adopting the ‘Healthy Streets’ assessment framework, with the overarching aim of ‘Making streets healthy places for everyone’.
The Healthy Streets assessment focuses on assessing how people experience being on streets. It includes a series of ten ‘Healthy Street Indicators, which are assessed to drive a change in how streets and places and designed and ultimately how they will look and feel:
- Everyone feels welcome.
- Easy to cross.
- Shade and shelter.
- Places to stop and rest.
- Not too noisy.
- People choose to walk and cycle.
- People feel safe.
- Things to see and do.
- People feel relaxed.
- Clean air.
Consideration must be given to the fact that some areas of the public realm in East Sussex are of a historic nature or are within areas with environmental designation. Examples include historic centres of Rye, Maresfield and Lewes, the South Downs National Park, the High Weald National Landscape, and the seafronts in Seaford, Eastbourne, Bexhill and Hastings. Guided by the principles outlined in ‘Streets for all: South East’, there is a need to ensure that public spaces are appropriately maintained and managed to retain the historic character of the county whilst allowing for contemporary needs. Including respecting designated Conservation Areas. However, this approach, with the replacement of non-standard materials will be dependent on available funding. There are also links to policy D4: Supporting sustainable development and development control.
It will also be critical that these approaches are integrated through partnership work with LPA’s and developers to enable well designed development and the opportunities to create high quality public spaces and infrastructure. This approach will be supported through the use of Health Impact Assessments at all stages of local plan development and delivery, which has been adopted by East Sussex County Council and the local planning authorities within the County.
Issues/opportunities
There is an opportunity through public space enhancement to increase accessibility, attractiveness and reduce barriers and severance to encourage greater uptake of active travel modes, improve connectivity, social cohesion and increase permeability.
Public space enhancements will provide opportunities for social interaction reducing social isolation and creating community cohesion.
Introduction of natural features such as tree planting and other greening measures can improve mental health, provide shade, and support better adaption to climate change.
Working with developers, well designed developments present the opportunity to create new public spaces or enhance the existing public realm.
Working with partners to ensure whole life scheme maintenance costs are considered to ensure that these are affordable.
Working with disabled access groups as part of scheme development (especially development of public spaces) to ensure accessibility needs are considered as part of the design.
Adopt a Healthy Streets approach to street and place design with the overarching aim of ‘Making streets healthy places for everyone’.
Creating streets and places where people feel welcome, relaxed, and safer.
Component policy measures
In summary policy measures will focus on:
- Working with appropriate partners to provide public spaces where practicable and a public realm that is maintained, safe, well designed, inclusive, and accessible for all users.
- Ensuring other transport schemes enhance the public realm.
- Ensuring that the maintenance of the public realm is appropriately prioritised within the funding available.
- Redesigning streets within urban areas where feasible to provide opportunities to create more space for improved public realm.
- Reducing perceived risks to crime through enhancements to public realm including lighting, natural surveillance, and clear signage.
- Undertake access audits for key public space and town centre schemes to enable accessibility needs of disabled people to be included as part of scheme design.
- East Sussex County Council and partners public space schemes to be assessed using the Healthy Streets assessment tool and other key Active Travel England guidance.
- Plan and deliver places to increase climate change resilience in ways that promote population health and reduced health inequalities, including by taking a system-wide approach with partners.
Policy B5: Air quality
Context
In April 2023, the government published its Air Quality Strategy for England, outlining legally binding international targets already adopted to reduce emissions of five of the most damaging air pollutants (fine particulate matter, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, non-methane volatile organic compounds) by 2030. The strategy sets out the comprehensive action that is required and introduces new legislation to create a stronger and more coherent framework to tackle air pollution. Local authorities are empowered to control major sources of air and noise pollution, in line with the risk they pose to public health and the environment. There will also be a requirement for Local Authorities to establish Air Quality Strategies regardless of whether they have Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) within their areas on not.
Issues/opportunities
East Sussex has two Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs), both in Lewes District - Lewes town centre and A259 Newhaven ring road and town centre. Supporting residents to use sustainable and active modes can reduce the levels of emissions and particulates, enhancing air quality in these areas and throughout the county. Notably to address particulates from brakes, tyre and road wear and tear, which occur even in zero emission vehicles.
Air quality in these AQMAs has been improving considerably, in response to actions taken as part of Air Quality Action Plans. With substantial population growth forecast for the area there is likely to be an increase in demand for travel to, from and within the area. The lessons learnt from successful Air Quality Management Areas will help to mitigate against any risk of worsening air quality caused by this increased transport demand.
Delivering interventions which reduce vehicle mileage, shift journeys to sustainable modes such as walking, cycling and public transport and improve the transport infrastructure and vehicle fleet to enable sufficient uptake of lower emission transport modes can all be deployed to support achievement of these Air Quality Management Plan objectives.
Component policy measures
In summary policy measures will focus on:
- Investigating the potential for traffic management schemes in the centres of largest urban areas.
- Reducing the need to travel by higher polluting transport modes through better, integrated spatial and transport planning.
- Promoting less polluting forms of travel (for example, active travel, public transport, and electric vehicles) for people and goods movement.
- Assisting local planning authorities in the development and implementation of Air Quality Strategies and Action Plans to ensure agreed targets are met.
- Harnessing improvements to vehicle technology, including the use of ultra-low and zero emission vehicles and fuels.
- Further developing the County Council’s School Streets programme to restrict vehicle access outside schools at drop off and pick-up times, thereby reducing levels of pollutants in their vicinity.
- Working with partners and communities to co-develop, seek funding and deliver travel behaviour change programmes, to support walking, wheeling and cycling.
Policy B6: Improved access to green and blue infrastructure
Context
Access to green and blue infrastructure provides multiple benefits to health and wellbeing, but also to environmental management and the climate. This plan identifies the opportunities of integrating these benefits as part of the design of infrastructure and places.
Green and blue infrastructure is defined by the National Planning Policy Framework (2021) as ‘A network of multi-functional green and blue spaces and other natural features, urban and rural, which is capable of delivering a wide range of environmental, economic, health and wellbeing benefits for nature, climate’. The infrastructure includes natural and human-made features such as open spaces, woodlands, meadows, footpaths, the sea, rivers, canals, and historic parks. Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework (2023) provides a further point of reference as to what good quality green infrastructure should look like.
The Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation suggests “Green and Blue Infrastructure can play an important role across our highway network in promoting healthy and safe communities, as well as helping to deliver net zero targets, adapting to climate change, and conserving and enhancing the natural environment.”
In terms of places, the ‘Building for a Healthy Life’ – A Design Toolkit for neighbourhoods, streets, homes and public spaces highlights the need to ‘Create places that are well integrated to wider natural surroundings, as well as ‘connecting existing and new habitats, safeguarding existing or creating new movement corridors for nature as part of design and connections with the wider highway network’.
Green infrastructure to improve biodiversity is being integrated into wider town centre improvement schemes which include enhancing the quality of the public realm. Alongside developing sustainable access to nearby green spaces.
Issues/opportunities
Incorporating green and blue infrastructure in new or existing transport networks can influence flood management, carbon reduction, noise and air pollution supporting many objectives of this LTP include decarbonisation, health, and resilience.
There is an opportunity to integrate green and blue infrastructure in the planning of new developments from the outset to help develop more sustainable and healthy communities.
Enhancing green and blue infrastructure can create or enhance major economic and tourism opportunities.
Enhanced access to green and blue infrastructure can support health and wellbeing benefits.
Component policy measures
In summary policy measures will focus on:
- Providing enhanced access by sustainable modes to the natural environment and green spaces (green infrastructure) as well as waterways and the sea (blue infrastructure).
- Managing and improving the existing Rights of Way network through the Rights of Way Improvement Plan.
- Considering the needs of land management, flood prevention and resilience, conservation, heritage and concern about rural crime and anti-social behaviour in the management and improvement of access to green spaces and waterways (blue infrastructure).
Establishing formalised systems to include green and blue infrastructure within existing highway networks and planned improvements, especially at the crucial stages of planning, design and delivery, adoption and maintenance.
Policy B7: Rights of Way
Context
Having access to the natural environment supports people’s health and wellbeing. East Sussex has an extensive Public Rights of Way (PRoW) network, which extends for a combined distance of around 2,000 miles.
Rights of way are official public highways across privately owned land. These can include the following:
- Footpath – for walking, running or wheeling.
- Bridleway – for cycling, walking, wheeling or horse riding.
- Restricted Byway – for any transport without a motor and wheeling.
- Byway open to all traffic (BOAT) – for all transport.
Both the county council and landowners are responsible for maintenance of the rights of way networks. Public access may also be permitted along permissive routes, but landowners reserve the right to withdraw access at any given time.
The County Council is currently reviewing its ‘Rights of Way Improvement Plan (RoWIP)’. The ROWIP sets out the County Council’s plans to improve the public rights of way network and access to the countryside. There is a duty to review the plan every ten years. The review is at an early stage and there is engagement with the East Sussex Local Access Forum, a statutory group of experts who provide access advice to the County Council, to develop the next Plan. Aligning with key county and partners strategies in regard to environment, transport, health, economy and spatial planning.
Promoted rights of way routes in East Sussex
There are a number of promoted rights of way routes in the county. These include:
- The South Downs Way - this 100-mile National Trail walking route follows ancient paths across the South Downs from Eastbourne to Winchester.
- The Cuckoo Trail – This 14-mile surfaced path follows the former ‘Cuckoo Line’ railway track through the Sussex countryside and stretches from Heathfield to Shinewater Park in Eastbourne passing through Horam, Hailsham and Polegate. It is mostly traffic free and is a safe route for walkers and cyclists of all ages, forming part of the National Cycle Network – route 21.
- Forest Way Country Park - The Forest Way runs between East Grinstead (in West Sussex) and Groombridge, it is approximately 10 miles long and is used for cycling, walking, wheeling, horse riding and the quiet enjoyment of the countryside.
- Wealdway – an 81 mile walk from Gravesend to Eastbourne which passes through the Ashdown Forest and past the Long Man of Wilmington.
- 1066 Country Walk - This 31-mile walk runs from Rye to Pevensey, exploring sites linked to the Battle of Hastings.
- Saxon Shore Way – a 163-mile path that starts in Gravesend in Kent and finishes in Hastings which traces the shoreline as it was in Roman times.
- Sussex Ouse Valley Way - A 42-mile continuous path, starting near the source of the River Ouse at Lower Beeding in West Sussex to Seaford Bay in East Sussex.
- Circular walks of various lengths across the County.
- The South East England Coast Path National Trail (SEECP), part of the King Charles III England Coast Path) is due to be fully open by 2024/25. At present the parts of the Shoreham-by-Sea to Eastbourne and Camber to Folkestone sections in East Sussex are open to the public.
Issues/opportunities
The network of public rights of way (PRoW) provides off-road routes between settlements. Building on this network, primarily through ongoing maintenance and access improvements can provide better routes for walking, wheeling, and cycling avoiding the main highways network. In alignment with the East Sussex LCWIP and Rights of Way Improvement Plan, enhancing the safety and attractiveness of these modes for inter urban trips allowing people of all abilities to feel comfortable using them for leisure and commuting purposes. Enhancements as part of development, section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy funding can also assist in funding the delivery of these improvements, where public rights of way pass through or near development sites.
East Sussex County Council responsible for surface repairs, provision of surface vegetation clearance, maintenance of bridges, appropriate signposting, and provision of steps. Ensuring that PRoW’s are well maintained can help encourage use of the routes, safeguarding the safety and enjoyment of journeys taken on them.
The County Council works closely with landowners, ensuring they are aware of their legal obligations with regards to PRoW. Helping to ensure that the network remains open and accessible to the public.
PRoW identified as a key element of the local visitor economy and providing connectivity to cultural and tourist sites.
Greater promotion of PRoW in relation to supporting access to the natural environment and the growing evidence towards supporting mental health alongside physical activity.
The role of spatial planning in protecting the existing access to PRoW alongside enhancing public access as part of development of housing and employment activity.
Greater opportunities to integrate access to PRoW using public transport.
Close links will be developed between this Plan and the RoWIP, which is currently under review.
Component policy measures
In summary policies measures will focus on:
- Developing a network which is accessible and encourages healthy lifestyles.
- Integrating new development into the ProW network while maintaining or enhancing access.
- Making available high quality, definitive information, maps, and records on the network.
- Working with landowners to help balance public access and land management needs.
- Ensuring access to ProW is inclusive and working with landowners to provide access to all where possible.
- Promoting the provision of accessible transport information.
- Enable and encourage sustainable access to the PRoW network by walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport in association with travel demand measures.
- Ensure alignment of ROWIP with key county and partners strategies regarding the environment, transport, health, economy and spatial planning.