Artist Digital, Author at Eastbourne ECO Action Network

What about e-scooters?

The sale of E-scooters is gradually increasing and over the summer it is possible that their popularity will increase even more. There are extensive trials of rental E-scooters taking place across England to assess their suitability for use in towns and cities. The E-scooter is classified as a PLEV, Personal Light Electric Vehicle, a type of motor vehicle.

There are some issues that need to be considered when thinking about the use of E-scooters.

Some rules about E–Scooters

E-scooters can be hired in one of the 30 or so permitted towns or cities in England such as Tees Valley, Liverpool, Nottingham and Slough. The number of towns permitting their use is gradually increasing.
The E-scooter must have an MOT and be road taxed, the rental company arrange this.
To drive an E-scooter you need to have a provisional driving licence as a minimum and be 18 years old.
In trial areas they can only be used on the roads (not motorway) and on cycle lanes.
They cannot be used on the pavement
Privately owned E-scooters (those not hired) cannot be used on the road or the pavement and can only be used on private land with the land owner’s permission.

Safety

The E-scooter has a speed limit of 15.5 mph.
Only one person may use the hired E-scooter
The rider does not need to wear a crash helmet, although they are recommended.
In Newcastle, their use has been stopped between 11 p.m and 5 a.m. because of a number of drink driving offences associated with them.
There have been concerns where riders have been riding on the pavement where the young, those with poor mobility, eyesight or hearing can be at risk of injury.

Pros

As they use electric motors, their use in town centres should improve air quality.
Their use could reduce congestion in town centres if people use them instead of cars.
Their use could reduce noise pollution in town centres.
Their use could reduce CO2 emissions and so help tackle climate change if the energy used for charging is renewable.
By allocating road space to scooters and bicycles this could make town centres a more pleasant environment for people to use.
If scooter hire is available at transport hubs, such as railway/bus stations, then this may encourage travellers to leave their cars at home and use e-scooters for the last miles to their destination.

Cons

At the end of a journey, the scooter is often just left on the pavement causing an obstruction.
The rental company that collect the scooters after use often use fossil fuel vehicles, which can cause air pollution and CO2 emissions.
The life of a scooter is quite short, 1 to 2 years, which means many have to be repeatedly made and recycled. This process creates CO2.
The electricity used to charge them may well not be produced by renewable supplies so their use can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
People may prefer to use e-scooters to walking, cycling and using public transport.
The E-scooter could have a detrimental effect on taxi use.

David Everson

EEAN Transport Group

Photo credit: Dirk Vorderstraße

Improving Your Campaigning Through Education

Do you sometimes feel that you need to know more about the eco subject you are most interested in? Perhaps you want to convince friends, those on social media or climate change sceptics, and you need more information at your fingertips.

So one of the advantages of Covid-19, especially in these cold wet months, is the availability of some excellent free online university courses. The universities are producing short 10-20 hours’ courses, possibly, amongst other reasons, to encourage people to enrol onto their degree courses. The content is probably taken from their existing courses but adapted for a wider audience.

So two portals you could use:

FutureLearn offers links to the courses by many world-leading universities;
OpenLearn – free courses from the Open University.

Currently, on these two websites alone, there are at least 9 courses that cover ecology, urban planning, climate change and food production. Please bear in mind that some courses are time-limited and can be withdrawn after a period of time.

You are encouraged to interact with other students and find out about solutions you may not have thought about. So let us take the example of transport planning to show how these courses can help strengthen your position. Locally the emphasis is on the current ‘traffic mix’, which in Eastbourne is centred around the car. The planners are fully aware that continuing with this model will only lead to future congestion. A course on urban planning and transport can make you aware of the alternative planning techniques such as backcasting or Avoid-Shift-Improve – approaches used across Europe that fundamentally change the thinking around mobility and accessibility. The kinds of change we need here. Without this knowledge, we can be easily persuaded that increasing the number of cars in our region is the only option.

If we are interested in Eastbourne meeting its carbon reduction target 2030, we need to make sure we grow our knowledge and understanding of the possible changes we might campaign on.

Paul Humphreys

Bespoke & Cycle East Sussex, EEAN Transport Group

Image: Vlada Karpovich, Pexel

This Summer – Food Project with Ambition

Nutrition, hydration and sleep are the cornerstone foundations to our health and well-being. They are the building blocks with which everything in life works from. Without them, a human being cannot thrive. Yet the principles such as ‘food as medicine’, the importance of microbiome and gut health are topics that are not well understood by most people.

The problems connected to poor nutrition are global, but perhaps the most urgent need is to help people below the poverty line to nourish themselves and their children. All those who through no lack of worth ethic find themselves one of this year’s many first-time food bank users, asking ‘Do I pay my rent, or feed myself’, all those parents going hungry to feed their children.

One Potential Solution

This Summer sparked an idea. Inspired by my own gut health awakening, the works of anti-hunger activist Jack Monroe, working on recruitment for the Trussell Trust, John Vincent and Henry Dimbleby’s imaginative 2013 UK School Food Plan and nursing my own mother’s poor gut health, I began putting together a project. A new UK School Food Foundation. A public private partnership that would ease the burden on the government with free school meals, raising private capital, and working collaboratively with the government on the matter to fix policy and curriculums. Bring in venture capitalists and businessmen to the SMT and run it with their mindset and efficiencies. A pipe dream of course, but one that might get me into working in an area about which I was increasingly passionate.

So I made case studies of my two previous schools and reached out to national private catering company bosses to understand the situation seven years after the school food plan. Talking to my old schools it was obvious just how far we’ve come, but there was of course still room to improve. The main feedback was that the food and nutrition-based standards introduced in 2014 are still not policed in practice, Ofsted has to enforce them, schools make ‘tweaks’ at their own discretion and vulnerable children, in particular, are still unaware of the consequences of bad food choices.

Why is this necessary?

And that fact is hardly surprising because where would they get that information from? When even the comfortable families are more overworked and disconnected than ever before – parents work all hours, children out – we’re not teaching younger generations how to cook. How many of us went off unprepared to university and came out with pancreatitis, IBS, or ulcerative colitis? Even GPs have little training on food as medicine and are more likely to question alcoholism and prescribe drugs than any considered analysis of diet. Surely this would go a huge way to reducing the crippling burden on the NHS?

School wise, we’ve heard a lot about the introduction of compulsory cooking classes for all students up to the age of Key Stage 3. Just talking to my two old schools they seem to be doing brilliantly with state of the art facilities and really attractive lesson plans. But they’re the good end of the scale and those cooking classes are still once a fortnight for year nines. GCSE cooking is more about comparisons between different types of food packaging than it is about cooking skills.

Having lived across the continent as a languages student in France, Germany and Russia, it’s clear we’re a laughing stock internationally. Before lockdown forced us to take up home cooking, we spent a smaller proportion of our income on meals at home than any other European country. We tend to rush our meals, spending almost half as much time eating as the French. We eat out more, cook less, and are much keener on ready meals. (Our household spend on pre-cooked food is 28% higher than in France, 64% higher than Spain, 101% higher than Germany and a whopping 178% higher than Italy.) When I wanted to cure my mother’s gut health at the start of the Summer it was the Polish section I turned to in the supermarket as well as the best of Gousto’s anti-inflammatory range (fish, vegan and vegetarian meals). Eastern Europeans are champions of seasonality and fermented foods, the friendly bacteria that we all need to fill ourselves with in order to boost our immune systems and fight disease. Their biggest well-kept secret within that is Kefir, cultured milk which repaired my misused gut many times whilst living away from home. It’s now a regular in well-stocked shops here thanks to Eastern European immigration.

So how did we fall so far behind everyone else?

The History of Free School Meals

As far as school food culture is concerned the story goes back probably to the end of the 19th century.

After the introduction of compulsory education in the 1870s, the city of Manchester became the first to feed impoverished students. In 1906 the Education Bill attempted to combat the shocking state of national and infant health and placed the responsibility under the remit of local authorities. Unfortunately, despite multiple worrying reports compliance remained low until 1944, when laws were passed to ensure all children had access to free nutritious meals. Free milk burst onto the scene two years later. School children over the next two decades are widely believed to be the best nourished of the twentieth century.

Policy first turned against state involvement in 1968 when the Conservative government withdrew free school milk from all secondary schools. Margaret Thatcher launched her infamous extension of this scheme for the over sevens in 1971 followed by the Competitive Tendering Act in 1980. The responsibility of the government was, as they considered, to provide the parts parents could not, the buildings and books. Not the peripheral services. The move towards parental and consumer choice was predictably accompanied by a move towards meals that were cheap rather than nutritious and the rise of powerful food and drink companies.

Worse was to come. The 1986 Social Security Act cut the numbers of children who were eligible for free school meals at a time when unemployment and inflation were rising. Aggressive advertising of unhealthy foods continued. This changing food pattern, towards fatty, sugary, and highly processed foods – has become known as the “nutrition transition”.

It was not until April 2001 that school meals were again called to adhere to standards. But by this time the impact of so many years of aggressive low cost food advertising had taken its toll.

Then came the establishment of the Food Standards Agency in 2000 to promote healthy eating practices. This was bolstered by new regulations on healthy food in schools, in part as a response to a campaign by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

But fewer children were entitled to free school meals, while unhealthy food was cheaper and more readily available than ever before. Fast forward to the present day and fast food after ten years of austerity the extent and causes of child poverty are, according to some commentators, remarkably similar to those at the start of the twentieth century. Enter Marcus Rashford’s much-needed campaign.

So that’s how we got here.

Results of that Decline

The resulting crisis in our habits has arguably now led us to the staggering number of obesity-related covid deaths. It’s also worth noting that lots of them will have absolutely nothing to do with wealth and being too well-fed, but rather due to poverty and food insecurity and malnutrition.

There is a lot to say about the hidden scale of poverty in the UK today, but probably something that more people are confronting post Brexit. The one point I would like to raise awareness of from a nourishment perspective is the emergence of food swamps inside already barren food deserts.

More than a million people in the UK live in so-called “food deserts” – neighbourhoods where poverty, poor public transport and a dearth of big supermarkets severely limit access to affordable fresh fruit and vegetables, a study has claimed. Nearly one in 10 of the country’s most economically deprived areas are food deserts, it says – typically large out-of-town housing estates and deprived inner-city wards served by a handful of small, relatively expensive corner shops.

Public health experts are concerned that these neighbourhoods – which are often also “food swamps” with high densities of fast-food outlets – are helping to fuel a rise in diet-related conditions, as well as driving food insecurity.

The most deprived areas include Marfleet in Hull, Hartcliffe in Bristol, Hattersley in Greater Manchester, Everton in Liverpool and Sparkbrook in Birmingham. Eight of Scotland’s 10 most deprived food deserts are in Glasgow, and three of Wales’s nine worst are in Cardiff. The question I’d love to investigate is what is food education and school canteens like in these deserts? Disadvantaged kids will have to fight twice as hard as it is in life to break into better education, be accepted, taken seriously and paid the same in top tier firms. Can we not at least ensure the foundations for social mobility are secure?

Pitch to the Sector

So, to come back to my project. Having made case studies of my schools and spoken to catering company bosses I began putting together a presentation. One catering company I had reached out to offered to discuss the idea to see if they could help push it forwards.

My argument was that the scandal in free school meals comes amidst a much wider crisis in our food system, exacerbated by growing levels of poverty. And the issues loom like a perfect storm over the heads of the most vulnerable facing Brexit. There were seven key problems, as I saw it, which could be alleviated by the Foundation and more hard-hitting education. Yes we’ve had plenty of healthy eating campaigns, but the information definitely hasn’t reached many in my corner of rural Northamptonshire and I suspect that’s the same in many places outside the wealthy home counties.

The issues were:

Rising inequality where people at the bottom have less money to feed themselves
Poor public understanding of basic food education and good gut health.
The school food system is overcrowded, fragmented and heavily subsidised.
Obesity and eating extremes are at their highest ever levels ever, placing a crippling burden on the NHS.
Agriculture and food production in this country are unsustainable. Yes, we will adapt, but not with a heavy toll on the most vulnerable.
Needlessly high levels of food waste
Disjointed political will and accountability. No one government department takes responsibility for hunger or free school meals

At the start of the Summer I wanted to fight them all, to set up a body like Nutrition England which would offer education outreach to schools, businesses, hospitals, prisons, and charities. How many of us know we actually have control to reduce anxiety, slow down ageing and fight the big avoidable killers linked to chronic gut inflammation: arthritis, dementia, cancer, autoimmune disease? But the problem seemed too broad, many people in the most need don’t have cooking facilities and education will probably only scratch the surface. The Food Standards Agency of course does a lot of good work already. So my thinking evolved and it seemed clear that schools were one environment we could control, influence and fund, irrespective of division in social classes.

So, in the middle of November I pitched my plan to the senior management of one wholesale company and the feedback was that’s it a very worthy idea, the link between mental health and gut health is definitely under-reported, but the business case still wasn’t there. There was still nothing to differentiate the Foundation from all the other well meaning outlets in the over crowded school meal industry. Holiday hunger is by far the most burning issue to solve.

Conclusion

Ultimately most of my best intentions to launch a nation-wide food revolution and fund a nutritious safety net for all school children have already been implemented and gone full circle in the course of the twentieth century. But as well as getting into the sector to work on the business case, I hate to give up especially when there is such momentum. What else can we do differently this time? How do we engage four-year-olds to care about nutrition? How do we police standards? How to create national leadership on the issue? Were my pipe dream ever to materialise I’d love to make cooking as important as Maths and English, for all schools to have an in-house nutritionist and push for a Minister to be responsible for the new UK School Food Foundation. That would underline just how important the task is and ensure policy never again fell victim to changes in administration. Boris’ u-turn provides vulnerable children with an extension of the holiday activities and food programme until Christmas next year. There’s also work to be done around extending the scheme to all children whose parents are in receipt of universal credit.

So if any more seasoned business people reading this have ideas on how to solve the problem and impose structure in the fragmented school meal industry, I would love to hear from them. The need is there and the momentum is clear to see from the countless local councils and businesses which stepped up to feed children over October half term: Nestle UK & Ireland, Burberry, Frankie & Benny’s, the University of Reading, Queen Mary in London, Kensington & Chelsea Borough Council, TESCO, COOP, Manchester United, the UEFA Foundation.

Rebecca Emerick

Guest blogger

Rebecca Emerick is an independent campaigner. Her background has been in executive search working on high profile headhunts for the UK not-for-profit and creative industries. She developed the idea of This Summer inspired by her own gut health awakening, the works of anti-hunger activist Jack Monroe, working on recruitment for the Trussell Trust, John Vincent and Henry Dimbleby’s imaginative 2013 UK School Food Plan, nursing her own mother’s poor gut health and then Marcus Rashford’s campaign.

Watch “Leave It To Us”

We have made this film to raise awareness of Eastbourne’s pollution and transport issues. It was created to show people what I have been up to over this year and how COVID actually helped me to an advantage. I worked with the Eastbourne-based creator Tilly Corbett to get this documentary created to show my journey and how difficult it was.

This was an extremely important topic to me as I am extremely passionate about the environment and I want more young people to follow my footsteps and create change by closing a street outside of their own school to improve air quality.

Tom Nevill

EEAN Transport Group

Do figures tell the whole truth?

A small amount of research on the internet will provide a considerable amount of data on the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions for various modes of transport. The main GHGs are Carbon Dioxide and Methane that cause heating of the Earth’s atmosphere by absorbing the Sun’s energy. The source of much of the Carbon Dioxide is from burning fossil fuels to power various modes of transport.

Source of GHG	% of national output
Transport	28%
Energy production	23%
Business	18%
Residential	15%

DfT 2018 Transport statistics GB 2018

As transport is the largest contributor to GHGs, it is important for us to have an idea of the amount of GHGs we are emitting on our journeys so we can make judgments about the best ways to travel.

Do electric cars really have zero emissions?

Information provided by the Energy Saving Trust gives an indication of the GHG emissions produced per passenger on a journey from London to Edinburgh (2018) by different modes of transport.

Mode of transport	Kg of CO₂/ passenger	g of CO₂ /passenger km
Plane	144Kg	222g
Car	117Kg	180g
Train (average Diesel/Electric)	29Kg	45g
Electric car	0Kg	0g

Energy Saving Trust

The information above relates only to the fuel consumed during such a journey. Do electric cars really have zero emissions? No consideration has been given to the GHGs generated in producing and disposing of the vehicles, transportation to the customer, the manufacture of tyres and maintenance of the vehicle and maintenance of roads etc. Obviously, trying to undertake such calculations is complex and subject to some educated guesswork. However, some people are trying to do this in order to give a full account of the GHGs associated with each mode of transport.

The chart below shows one attempt to do this:

This suggests that electric vehicles do have a carbon footprint (92g/ passenger Km) and that that footprint is about half that of a conventional car (200g/passenger Km).

The production and disposal of electric cars is less environmentally friendly than those with an internal combustion engine. Also the level of emissions from electric cars can vary depending on how their electricity is produced. If the electricity was from a fossil fuel power station the emissions would be greater than if the energy was from renewable sources.

It would appear that that electric cars have about half the carbon footprint over their lifetime as conventional cars, it is certainly not zero.

Finally, does walking really have a zero carbon footprint? What about the manufacture and transportation of the shoes and all the snacks consumed whilst walking?

David Everson

EEAN Transport Group

One Small Step Toward Big Change

By now we are all versed in the evils of single-use plastic products and their impact on the environment, yet not enough is being done to tackle this issue. Like many, I am disheartened when I walk into a supermarket and see shelves lined with plastic packaging. It’s a big problem, which is why it might seem counterintuitive when I ask you to turn your attention to one small segment of this big problem: packaging of citrus fruits in polypropylene mesh bags.

Hear me out.

Polypropylene mesh bags are harmful for the environment and for wildlife. Polypropylene is a plastic that has a high rate of degradation when exposed to UV light, leading to the release of dangerous microplastics in our land and oceans. Additionally, prior to and during degradation, these bags are hazardous to wildlife which can become tangled and trapped in their mesh. They also often contain one or more mouldy fruits, leading to both customer dissatisfaction and to increased food waste.

The practice of packaging citrus fruits is completely unnecessary. Citrus fruits have a sturdy rind that makes them ideal for selling and storing loose. There would be no need for a supermarket to invest in more expensive biodegradable packaging as a replacement for the mesh bags, as the fruits could instead be sold individually.

I am therefore campaigning Morrisons Supermarkets to stop packaging their citrus fruits in polypropylene mesh bags and to sell them loose instead.

While this might seem like a small goal, Morrisons is the fourth largest supermarket chain in the UK with 494 stores in the country. Imagine the impact if 494 stores ceased using these bags to package their lemons, limes, and oranges, and instead sold them loose – it adds up.

Many people have asked why this campaign does not target all supermarkets and all of their produce packaging. I believe that by targeting one supermarket and one unsustainable practice, we are more likely to affect change than asking for a sweeping change across the entire industry. Once we have achieved this one small change, we can use it to leverage Morrisons and other supermarkets to further improve their sustainable practices.

I hope that you will consider joining me by signing the petition and sharing it with your friends, family, and networks in the UK. Together we can achieve this change for the planet and all her creatures.

Sign the Petition

Amber Erwin

Northampton

A message from the guest blogger:

This campaign started two weeks ago when I was doing the shopping at my local Morrisons in Northampton. My usual frustration at seeing the amount of plastic packaging tipped into action when I reflected on how unnecessary it is to package citrus fruits. I went home and began developing a plan of action, starting with this petition.

Although I don’t live in Eastbourne, I am so inspired by the strides made toward carbon neutrality and the community effort that has gone into bringing about change. I believe that it’s exactly the type of effort needed to make this campaign a success. I hope that everyone will spend the 2 minutes it takes to sign and share!

Are Consultations Blocking Progress?

I think everyone is aware that traffic levels appear higher than last year and with all the new housing this will only get worse. At the same time, Eastbourne is committed to a shift towards more walking, cycling and bus journeys. So why is this change not happening?

ESCC Hailsham to Eastbourne Sustainability Corridor

It has been increasingly apparent that consultations and public engagement can result in no change at all. You may think they are the best example of the democratic decision on the local matters but let us look at the evidence. There are more car users than any other group and many of them will want what they already have. The share of car trips has gone up by 40% since 1981 whilst bus and cycle trips have more than halved.

One of the key reasons that progress is not being made is that even with Covid-19, there is built-in inertia. The car-centric view is simply entrenched across all of East Sussex. So out of all the county’s funded Covid-19 schemes only 2 pedestrian schemes were built. Locally in Eastbourne, everything was eventually dropped “following public consultation”.

There are probably four ways that consultations can be used to reinforce the status quo:

1) Only some key stakeholders are consulted

2) The questions are adapted to fit the agenda

3) The comments are simply counted as for and against.

4) Weightings are used to prioritise certain groups

The Government has said that they want to double cycling numbers by 2025, link future transport funding to current performance and set higher design standards. So for routes, away from the roads, such as Horsey Sewer or Shinewater it is possible to build reasonable shared paths. However, because space is limited in town, and cycling is marginal, either the routes are removed – such as around Terminus Road – or designed to make the least change to the road layout. Currently, there is no cycle route in Eastbourne town centre of sufficient quality to appear on either Google maps or Cyclestreets.

The same issue is true for buses. One of the reasons that there is no local Quality Bus Partnership, which would mean better and greener buses, might be that the road network would need to be re-allocated in favour of buses. That would once again face some resistance through a consultation process. There are indeed some bus lanes being added on the route from Polegate to Eastbourne but they are short and may not make enough difference to get the bus companies to invest.

With the County Council elections coming up, now is the time to question the candidates. Do not ask if they are in favour of cycling or bus lanes, as nearly everyone says yes. Instead, ask about a specific route that you want and where there are consequences and hard choices to be made.

Paul Humphreys

Bespoke & Cycle East Sussex

Photo: Eastbourne Bespoke cycling group

Are Local Traffic Neighbourhoods Possible in Eastbourne?

Perhaps the most contentious debate in transport, at the moment, is Local Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs). They are a hot topic across the UK, especially in London, and even more so during Covid-19.

Perhaps the most contentious debate in transport at the moment is Local Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs). They are a hot topic across the UK, especially in London, and even more so during Covid-19. LTNs are usually a relatively cheap and quick way to change the dynamics of the streets in an area. During Covid-19 they are being funded by the Government as emergency measures to provide safer walking and cycling whilst discouraging car use as public transport is operating with limited capacity apart from school buses. LTNs are linked to the wider ideas of 15-minutes cities and 20-minute neighbourhoods. Where most things people need are nearby and so there is less need for a car. This builds up the idea of community and increases residents’ exercise which reduces chronic illness in future years.

LTNs are areas where most through traffic has been removed from local residential streets. This might involve barriers, bollards, planters or other street furniture that blocks the roads for through traffic, whilst allowing pedestrians and cyclists. Often there are solutions using keys or barriers that allow emergency vehicles and buses access. If you are interested, Waltham Forest is a multi-award winner with various LTNs. There although most people are in favour there is a smaller vociferous group against. Just take a look at Social Media to follow the conversation.

So why is the subject so contentious.

Some opponents believe that they should be allowed to drive in any street to complete their journey in the shortest time. They do not agree with the phrase rat running where traffic will use residential roads when main roads are blocked. This is a problem that will grow with more congestion in Eastbourne.
Opponents believe there is a fixed amount of traffic and if you prevent through traffic in LTNs, it will simply get to the main roads. However, supporters will say how LTNs often show that after a while residents have 20% fewer cars, 20% fewer trips and 20% less time in the car. Since cars are the least efficient use of road space when driven or parked this is a big saving. This 20% saving can also be partly linked to other initiatives such as safer cycling routes or more local shops in the pedestrianised streets.
Opponents say that where there are Residential Main Roads (RMRs) the pollution and congestion will be worse. These roads often have the poorest housing, so these residents are then further disadvantaged. However, evidence from London shows that within LTNs are large blocks of social housing so it is not always so clear cut. Opponents make the point that in LTNs, if these streets are now more pleasant, they will be gentrified and the working classes will be squeezed out. This would be much less of an issue in Eastbourne.
Within any LTN there is often an increase in cycling and children walking to school as the risk from injury from motor vehicles is reduced. Where school streets are closed then some parents who drive and want to drop off their children are frustrated from doing so.

So what could this mean in Eastbourne? Normally these could be implemented in the more deprived areas. So for example the area around Seaside, St Philips Avenue, and St Anthony’s is a matrix of streets that can be used as rat runs. One simple improvement would be 20mph zones but so would modal filters, such as signs and bollards, that limit access by certain modes of transport, normally motor vehicles, and would deter through traffic.

In more affluent areas such as Sovereign Harbour, they are already similar to an LTN. Meandering cul-de-sacs that are not interconnected apart from by cycle or foot. Very slow traffic, local shops and any traffic displaced from main roads have no way through these estates. Rather they will go through Langney, Seaside or along the seafront.

In conclusion, now is the time to look at the idea of LTNs within the town. Let us see if we can improve the quality of life in these local neighbourhoods.

Paul Humphreys

Bespoke & Cycle East Sussex

Photo credit: Paul Gillett

Cycle Lanes along the Seafront

Compromise, conciliation, and consultation, all seem such reasonable words, and opponents to cycling often use them against Bespoke Cycle Group. They are perhaps partly the reason that active travel (buses, cycling and walking) in Eastbourne is in decline.

The Eastbourne Cycling Plan makes reference to the need for a strategy, reducing congestion, pollution and improved public health, along with a network of cycle routes that includes the controversial one along the seafront from Fisherman’s Green to the Pier.

It all sounds familiar, until you realise that this is the 1994 version. Quite usefully it shows the data from 1981. The share of trips by car was 40%, bus 14% and cycle 4%. Now the shares are 70%, 5% and 2%. The current scheme that requires Bespoke to “compromise” is the Covid-19 seafront cycle lane. East Sussex County Council decided this week it wants further consultation. It is a difficult choice for Bespoke to make. The seaward side was bid through Covid-19 funds, and was a segregated, safe and secure route. In fact, probably the one specified over 25 years ago. The landward option, not shared with Bespoke, is mainly paint on the road. In its favour are a 20mph speed limit and some signage. Unfortunately, it will be like the rest of the cycle infrastructure in town and hardly fit for purpose.

But for Bespoke it may be “take it or leave it”. It is the type of poor solution that compromise, conciliation and consultation create. It looks like not all the Covid-19 money will be spent and there has been the suggestion that ESCC’s new bid for Tranche2 will partly fail. ESCC acknowledge that “whilst emphasis [from the national guidance expects] schemes which enable the reallocation of road space for pedestrians and cyclists” their bid is around “footway surfacing and kerbs”.

Because 70% of trips are undertaken by car, this dominates the whole approach to transport within the county. Even to the extent that councillors, businesses and shops overestimate the number of people using cars and their relative spend. Considering this it took a certain strength, perhaps against the views of some of the residents, for Councillor Tutt to support the seaward side, as he did at the Transport committee.

For all the ESCC investment, the gold standard test is the actual cycle numbers. The new DfT statistics by Local Authority show no improvement across the county in the last 4 years. For those who cycle once a month, East Sussex, as one of the 25 similar shire counties, has only one county that performs worse.

In conclusion, there is no evidence that the current approach, via consultation and compromise, with the most powerful groups getting their way, will achieve any significant changes in road congestion, public health, pollution and CO2. The requirement is still for a limited number of safe, segregated and secure routes into town. This would be in line with the new DfT guidance, where they clearly state that paint on the road is no longer enough.

Paul Humphreys

Bespoke & Cycle East Sussex

Photo credit: Paul Gillett

Eastbourne Businesses – What Can You Do?

The two biggest uses of carbon are buildings and transport. Energy used in buildings emits 63% of the carbon used in our town. Buildings use energy for electricity for powering lights, computers etc and for heating. Gas heating is in a large percentage of buildings for hot water and heating.

The two biggest uses of carbon are buildings and transport.

Energy used in buildings emits 63% of the carbon used in our town. Buildings use energy for electricity for powering lights, computers etc and for heating. Gas heating is in a large percentage of buildings for hot water and heating. Gas is a major emitter of carbon in Eastbourne. By looking at how you use these it is possible to cut energy use. Your business will be cutting its energy bill and saving money.

In rush hour and other busy times of the day Eastbourne has many traffic jams. Not only do these waste time, emit a large amount of carbon but stationary cars with engines running emit dangerous compounds which cause air pollution. Air pollution is a problem in Eastbourne and it causes many people health problems, and premature deaths. It is in everyone’s interests that traffic pollution is tackled.

There are three things you can do as a business.

Switch energy supplier

Switch your energy supply to one which provides 100% renewable energy to the national grid. The price of producing renewable energy has come down considerably in the last few years. There are some really good deals around at the moment.

Click here to compare companies for renewable electricity contracts for business.

Get an energy audit on your building

Get an energy audit on your building. You can order one for free from East Sussex County Council. There is also a limited amount of money available in the form of a grant to help you reduce your energy costs. This is available on a first-come-first-served basis.

You can then start to make a plan of how to cut your carbon footprint at your workplace building. Get some quotes and make a plan. Actions may be something small and inexpensive like replacing all your electric bulbs to LEDs to something which requires more capital such as insulating your building.

Remote Working

Recent recent research by the Herman Miller Insight Group indicates that when asked about where employees want to work:

5% want to be back in the office;
19% love working from home;
53% want to work from home and their normal workplace.

Since the COVID crisis, we have already had many people working from home. This isn’t practical for all of the time but allowing staff to work at home for some of the time allows staff to achieve a better work/life balance and less stress. Less people commuting also has environmental impacts. Working flexibly where possible reduces the CO2 emissions from commuting. We recognise this needs an intelligent approach, and to ensure the well being of staff. Read the Home Working Guidance developed by the University of Bristol.

Using Active Transport

For journeys travelling to and from the workplace with a distance of 5 km or less than active transport should be encouraged. Walking or cycling to work not only has great health benefits for the person but fewer cars on the road mean fewer traffic jams for everyone and this in term improves air quality and everyone in Eastbourne benefits.

Take a look at the government’s bike to work scheme.

Or have a look at the Green Commute Initiative which allows for the cost of more expensive e-bikes.

There have been a lot of new ways of transport developed in recent years as alternatives to car transport.

Learn more about the e-bikes

Here is some really useful information about ebikes

Electric cargo bikes for business

Electric scooters

We are working towards a carbon neutral Eastbourne by 2030.

Miles Berkley

Executive Director, EEAN

Rachel Norris

Workplace Group, EEAN