East Sussex residents 'fed up' of dangerous footpaths not being repaired

Residents in Lewes are growing in frustration as a number of dangerous footpaths have not been repaired for months.

Town resident Rosalind Brewer started a petition calling on East Sussex County Council to complete repair works on brick-paved footways by September 21, after her friend badly hurt her knee tripping on a deep hole in the Green Wall path.

She said: "I am fed up with our brick-paved footways in Lewes not being repaired or being repaired badly. Having reported the trip hazards back in early May 2023, I got fed up raising the issue with my local councillors.

"Apparently the holes don’t count as needing urgent repair, so they were left for months. A friend of mine fell and badly hurt her knee tripping on the hole and took three weeks to recover.”

Rosalind highlights the narrow brick path along Green Wall – which links Eastgate Street to Wellington Street and the Phoenix industrial Estate – as being a particularly important site that needs to be repaired urgently.

The Lewes local added: “It’s [the Green Wall path] an important heritage site as it runs along a scheduled ancient monument and is within the Lewes Town Conservation Area so it should be repaired in matching paviours. In fact it really needs to be fully reconstructed.”

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Rosalind claims she has given East Sussex County councillor Balfour Beatty eighteen weeks to sort the issue, leading to a number of holes being repaired by residents in the town.

She continued: "I organised a petition of over 100 people which has been submitted to local councillors. The largest hole has just today been filled in with tarmac. Two others have been re-paved by a neighbour.

"I am asking for the repairs to be completed in brick paviours by September 21 given Balfour Beatty has known about this issue for some 18 weeks.

"They have a new contract and I think we might have expected them to be keen to deliver the repairs many of our town footpaths so badly need and to repair them in heritage materials where required.”

A spokesperson for East Sussex County Council said tarmac may be used for temporary repairs in conservation areas to make the footway safe until a permanent repair can be completed.

They said: “East Sussex Highways looks after over 1,500 miles of footways and cycleways across the county. Walking routes are regularly inspected and repairs are prioritised based on a number of factors including the depth, size and location of the problem.

“People can find out how and when we repair footpaths and report any problems to us directly via our website at www.eastsussexhighways.com.”