Traffic chaos in Hailsham due to council meeting

East Sussex County Council (ESCC) hired out James West Community Centre from 8am-5pm on January 31. Due to the number of people attending, the car park was filled and Brunel Drive was used for parking. Hailsham Town Councillor Steve Keogh said Brunel Drive was filled with cars parked ‘end to end’.

The road is only wide enough for two cars so if one lane is covered with parked vehicles, it’s single-file for traffic. This resulted in cars having to drive on the pavement to get by. Residents had to walk on the grass curbs that were getting muddy throughout the day too, according to Cllr Keogh.

Cllr Keogh said he complained to ESCC and was told vehicles would be moved, but ‘this never happened’.

He said: “I monitored the situation over just half an hour and was shocked by the number of vehicles having to mount the kerb to transition the estate. Residents were forced to reverse the wrong way onto the roundabout on Hempstead Lane to allow residents to exit the estate, whilst others were forced onto the pathways due to the intensity of traffic.”

Cllr Keogh also said he’s been working with County Councillor Gerard Fox and residents to introduce safer road interventions and parking restrictions on Brunel Drive. He said they’ve put together a report for ESCC Highways but haven’t had a reply.

Cllr Keogh said: “The irony of this situation is that it was ESCC staff causing this road safety breach. I am working closely with Gerard Fox who has also been working tirelessly to resolve this situation with Highways. I will also be bringing this up to Town Council Assets committee and ESCC again to ensure risk assessments are carried out correctly to prevent this situation ever occurring again, or before a fatality occurs.”

A spokesperson for ESCC said: “We apologise for any congestion that may have been caused by council staff parking on Brunel Drive while they were attending a meeting at the community centre. We will ask staff not to park on the road if the venue is used again in the future.

“While we do appreciate the concerns of residents, with limited resources available we can only implement schemes where the need is greatest and this area does not meet the criteria to be considered a priority for additional road safety measures at present.

“We have advised those who have raised concerns previously that a Community Match Initiative is available for schemes that are important to the community. The initiative is open to parish and town councils, residents’ associations and local community groups and is managed by our Highways department.”

A Sussex Police spokesperson said: “Officers continue to respond to reports of vehicle parking where it is assessed that there is a danger to public safety in Wealden. No reports were received about an incident in Brunel Drive, Hailsham, on January 31.”

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