The Old Coachroad - East Sussex

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Paul in Sussex

Member
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53
Location
East Sussex
The Old Coachroad is a lane in East Sussex which links the villages of Firle and Alfriston.

About 18 months ago the council imposed an unnecessary TRO closing it from end of September to the end of March. The lane is semi surfaced and is mainly used by agricultural and estate traffic.

At the time of closure I joined GLASS in the hope of keeping the lane open. Unfortunately GLASS were entirely apathetic and offered no practical assistance because “we’re all volunteers”. Presumably GLASS have either given up on greenlaning or have been infiltrated by the anti-green lane brigade...

The point of this post is that a section of lane which is not used by the estates (it lies between two estates, not within) along the route has been closed using the council installed barriers. I understand the council have given the land owners and locals keys to said barriers.

Is there anything that can be done about this? This lane was regularly my commute to work and I miss using it terribly. At the end of March when the lane should have been opened the council/locals decided to close it for another 6 weeks. I can't take up the battle single-handedly, can anyone offer constructive advice or help, not just a job list.
 
Email the local council ROW
It may take a day but I get responses for lane closures in Wiltshire.
If there are changes these should be listed on there site

Which is the local council.?

As for GLASS chat with the local rep
& look on the definitive map. I have not had a problem with the club.
 
I emailed council this morning with pictures.
No changes listed on definitive map: https://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/leisureandtourism/countryside/rightsofway/map/map.aspx
East Sussex County Council.
GLASS rep was generally unavailable. Problems with phone/email/life. Away every weekend in Midlands.
The problem is that the locals have the council in their pocket and no-one has what it takes to fight for 4X4 access, unlike the motorcycle crowd who kept their year-round access and agreed with the council that 4X4's should be banned for 6 months of the year... But then they go to the high court at the drop of a hat to fight for their rights.
 
That section is down as a track & could therefore be liable to restrictions.
As for motorbikes been allowed this happens on some of my local lanes & has increased the ruts.

Make sure your mails to the ROW are polite & not seem aggressive ;)
 
I am always polite to little people in high places... It is their dealings with respectful people like me who jolly well know their place that makes their lives worth living - almost.
 
Just done a little research to get an idea ...

Acc. to the council website the seasonal restrictions were extended to May 12th, so the Byway should be open now.
......................................................
Seasonal byway restrictions

Latest
Please note, due current ground conditions, the seasonal restrictions listed below have been extended for a further 42 days until 12th May 2018.


The following byways are subject to seasonal restrictions between 1st October and 31st March each year, in order to protect their surfaces from damage over the winter months, and preserve both the character and the amenity for other users.

Public Byways Firle 10 and 6a, b and c, Alciston 11a, b and c, Berwick 7a, b and c, and Alfriston 22a and b – TQ 466 072 to TQ 517 038
......................................................

There are a few other closures, not just this lane, and it's a common thing to do by councils all over the country, which in many cases Glass support, as the CC say, " in order to protect their surfaces from damage over the winter months, and preserve both the character and the amenity for other users." However, the CC should open them and not continually add to the restriction to save money repairing them, which we have fought and won in the past to get them opened again.

Are you sure the council installed the barriers? Are you sure it wasn't (illegally) done by the Landowners who installed them and gave keys to locals etc? Do you have any proof of these statements? When councils use barriers and padlocks they usually remove the padlocks when the restrictions are lifted, can you confirm there are still padlocks securing the barriers?

In the meantime I'll escalate this to the local rep and others up the chain, I can't do anything locally from here in Doncaster .. ;)
 
I am not far from here and it’s closed every winter, I would have thought that it will be open again when the ground dries out enough (should have done by now!)

Shame if they close it as it’s a long gentle lane with some great picnic spots.

Although I have seen evidence of off piste activities last couple of years - up the bridlepath that heads up the downs. THat might have something to do with it?
 
I have just received the following email from ROW:
Dear Mr xxxxx

We dropped these bollards when the seasonal winter closure ended around the 10th / 11th May, so they shouldn’t have been locked when you saw them this week. I wonder whether you actually noticed that they were locked because if they were then either the landowner or a member of the public has raised and locked them?

If you are able to confirm that these bollards are locked in the raised position then I will arrange our Rangers to come and unlock them and possibly remove the padlocks altogether to reduce the likelihood of this happening again.

Kind regards

Ruth China-Roberts
Rights of Way Officer
Rights of Way & Countryside

The problem with the lane is that the locals (wealthy, vocal and with time on their hands) have conflated various illegal activites over the years with green laning - add to that the meat-head contingent who think green laning is off road racing and we have an unjustified closure.
The deterioration in the lane (which is surfaced with broken stone, it isn't mud) is caused by heavy agricultural and estate vehicle use combined with no maintenance by either the estate owners or the council. The short section under discussion here floods because the drainage 'grips' haven't been cleared in years. Even when flooded the surface remains good because it is stone, not mud.
 
Keeps us all informed of the final outcome on the bollards.
If the locals do re lock these take photos and report the restriction again.
Thanks
 
Paul in Sussex said:
I have just received the following email from ROW:
Dear Mr xxxxx

We dropped these bollards when the seasonal winter closure ended around the 10th / 11th May, so they shouldn’t have been locked when you saw them this week. I wonder whether you actually noticed that they were locked because if they were then either the landowner or a member of the public has raised and locked them?

If you are able to confirm that these bollards are locked in the raised position then I will arrange our Rangers to come and unlock them and possibly remove the padlocks altogether to reduce the likelihood of this happening again.

Kind regards

Ruth China-Roberts
Rights of Way Officer
Rights of Way & Countryside

The problem with the lane is that the locals (wealthy, vocal and with time on their hands) have conflated various illegal activites over the years with green laning - add to that the meat-head contingent who think green laning is off road racing and we have an unjustified closure.
The deterioration in the lane (which is surfaced with broken stone, it isn't mud) is caused by heavy agricultural and estate vehicle use combined with no maintenance by either the estate owners or the council. The short section under discussion here floods because the drainage 'grips' haven't been cleared in years. Even when flooded the surface remains good because it is stone, not mud.
Click to expand...

Good effort, I am over that way Saturday so will swing by and see what’s what and take a photo if need be.

The Charleston farm end does get some quite deep puddles but as you say it’s solid underneath.

I drove it in my golf 3/4 years ago during one particularly dry summer
 
Hope it gets sorted as the Old Coach Road from Alfriston to Firle to Beddingham were very nice, generally gentle lanes, some of the very few remaining in E. Sussex.
There are 'vested interests' there by the wealthy locals, landowners and the bobble-hat brigade, who want to keep it for themselves.
A few years back I was verbally abused on the OCR by a woman on a horse who informed me that I was driving illegally on a bridleway and she would report me to Sussex Police; my copy of the Definitive map didn't nothing to stop her rant so I just sat and smiled like a Buddha until she went her merry way.

Beddingham-Alfriston_OCR.png
 
Yeah most of the East Sussex lanes are closed over the winter, regardless of the surface- Old Coach Road, Robin Post Lane, the byways around Chalvington, most of the lanes round Rotherfield- nearly all of them have good solid graded surfaces or surfaced with hardcore/broken tarmac/gypsum reject, only Sussex lanes open are a couple of short ones around Hastings. This year the restriction that usually end on March 31st was extended till May 22nd so should be open by now, if the posts are up take a close look to see if they're actually locked, I know the Robin Post Lane posts are often up and unlocked, easy to drop but be careful, I got a mouthful of really foul water when I let go of one prematurely last year!
 
Paul in Sussex said:
I emailed council this morning with pictures.
No changes listed on definitive map: https://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/leisureandtourism/countryside/rightsofway/map/map.aspx
East Sussex County Council.
GLASS rep was generally unavailable. Problems with phone/email/life. Away every weekend in Midlands.
The problem is that the locals have the council in their pocket and no-one has what it takes to fight for 4X4 access, unlike the motorcycle crowd who kept their year-round access and agreed with the council that 4X4's should be banned for 6 months of the year... But then they go to the high court at the drop of a hat to fight for their rights.
Click to expand...
I found Clive difficult to get hold of when I was first trying to get in touch with other GLASS people locally, there is a joint Sussex and Surrey GLASS facebook group 'Weald and Downs Green Lane Association' which can be a quicker way to get information!
 
I didn't know these lanes existed. I work in Lewes so might find myself over that way one evening. :)
 
Drove it only a few weeks back, no sign of closure at that point. Almost got flattened by a grain carrier though!

On the subject of the area I've spotted what seems to be a BOAT on Jevington Road coming out of polegate, any locals driven it?
 
Yeah it's access for a lot of fields along there so sees a fair bit of agricultural traffic!

I drove the Jevington lane last year and walked through the weekend before last, it's quite nice, bit scratchy in places though so not for shinies!
 
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