Council pulls back from Hastings delivery driver ban

On Wednesday (October 18), East Sussex County Council’s planning committee agreed not to extend the hours of a loading ban covering the pedestrianised area of Wellington Place, York Gardens and part of Queens Road.

The measure, which came as part of the county council’s annual parking review, would have seen an existing loading ban extended to between 10am and 9pm — a move which would essentially bar vehicles from being in the area for most of the day.

It had been requested by a local councillor to address safety concerns in the area, which included reports of near misses involving pedestrians and one personal injury incident.

Labour’s Godfrey Daniel, who represents the area on the county council, explained more about the concerns during the meeting. He said: “Before Covid we had little problems in this area. Since then most of the loading and unloading relates to people collecting fast food from fast food outlets.

“There are two major ones there — I won’t mention the names, it wouldn’t be fair — so we are not really talking necessarily just about putting shop goods and coming out again, you are looking at people literally picking up a Happy Meal.”

He added: “I’d love to see an extension of this scheme and the vast majority of the populace of Hastings and visitors would like to see that happen. They don’t feel safe, it isn’t safe.”

The reason the extension did not proceed was a result of the level of public comments received during the consultation process.

The measure had received 12 objections and 14 letters of support. Some of the objections were not against the extension in principle, but from residents who felt the loading ban should cover a larger area and for a longer period of time.

But others had concerns about the knock-on effects of extending the loading ban, including the displacement of the delivery drivers collecting food to other parts of the town centre.

The level of objections, combined with the extent of the scheme, meant a public inquiry would have to be held before the measure to go ahead. This would have significantly delayed the other elements of the parking review, which included 27 other schemes around the town.

In light of this, officers had recommended the measure be withdrawn, saying “the current proposal [did] not meet the demanding needs of all those that utilise Wellington Place for loading and unloading.”

Officers said they would continue to review the proposal, however, with the potential for an alternative measure to be brought forward as a standalone Traffic Regulation Order.

Cllr Daniel urged officers to ensure an alternative scheme came forward as soon as possible.

He said: “I’m at a loss. I can’t live with it being withdrawn, I can’t live with it going ahead. It is a rock and a hard place, I think.

“I don’t think the people of Hastings will understand the legalities, because these are quite complex matters. I am not saying they are not intelligent, they are intelligent, but they just want to see it improved.

“They have had enough of all these vehicles in this area. It is ruining the town centre of Hastings.”

He added: “I am happy to work with the officers, obviously. What I am not willing to do is let it be rolled round to the next traffic review in a year’s time. I think this is more urgent than that.”