BUY Back Our Bus Station

cllr.keith.glazier@eastsussex.gov.uk; cllr.claire.dowling@eastsussex.gov.uk

Residents across Lewes and in the surrounding villages have been raising concerns and demanding that our Bus Station be saved. We are calling on East Sussex County Council (ESCC) to purchase Lewes Bus Station and secure its future once and for all.

The temporary bus stops are causing congestion and do not meet basic access requirements for public transport. There is only one sheltered stop, pavements are too narrow at these points for any hope of improvement, and available seating is minimal.

We believe that failure to secure an alternative provision that 'offers the same or better undercover waiting facilities' compared with the current Bus Station is a breach of contract with residents – and that ESCC is colluding in that breach. The best way to rectify the situation now is to explore options to purchase the Bus Station site.

The costs of purchase would be good value when considering:
- ESCC would NOT have to contribute money or time towards building a new bus station;
- It would reduce the County’s CO2 emissions;
- Money and carbon would be saved from sourcing new materials;
- Potential law suits due to trip hazards at the inaccessible temporary stops would be avoided;
- ESCC will recoup money from the sale of the land north of Phoenix Causeway to be the primary access route to the North Street Quarter development.

The current situation could have been avoided, but ESCC chose to do nothing. This choice is detrimental to ESCC’s own plans to improve the use of public transport and achieve Net Zero by 2050 or earlier. It is also detrimental to the Town’s air quality and to the experience of passengers – particularly those most likely to use public transport. It makes a mockery of the Council’s aim to ‘Bus Back Better’.

We call on ESCC to step up and Buy Back Our Bus Station.


To: cllr.keith.glazier@eastsussex.gov.uk; cllr.claire.dowling@eastsussex.gov.uk
From: [Your Name]

We, the bus passengers and residents of Lewes and surrounding villages, call on East Sussex County Council (ESCC) to look at purchase, including the option of compulsory purchase, of Lewes Bus Station.

This is to ensure that a vital service continues ​for the good of local residents, especially those with mobility difficulties, as well as for the Town and its economic and environmental future.

Proposals by Generator Group for bus stops on Phoenix Causeway (known as Options 9 and 10) are inadequate as they would not be accessible and will have an unnecessary environmental and economic cost. ESCC objected to the planning application on the basis that there was ‘not enough information’. This is a weak and unhelpful stance. The plans should have been rejected as they fail to meet the requirements of the Local and Neighbourhood Plans.

We believe that failure to secure an alternative provision that 'offers the same or better undercover waiting facilities' compared with the current Bus Station is a breach of contract with residents – and that ESCC is colluding in that breach.

The best way to rectify the situation now is to explore options to purchase the Bus Station site.

The costs of purchase would be good value when considering:
- ESCC would NOT have to contribute money or time towards building a new bus station;
- It would reduce the County’s CO2 emissions;
- Money and carbon would be saved from sourcing new materials;
- Potential law suits due to trip hazards at the inaccessible temporary stops would be avoided;
- ESCC would recoup money from the sale of the land north of Phoenix Causeway to be the primary access route to the North Street Quarter development.

The current situation could have been avoided but ESCC chose to do nothing. This choice is detrimental to ESCC’s own plans to improve the use of public transport and achieve Net Zero by 2050 or earlier. It is detrimental to the Town’s air quality and to the experience of passengers – particularly those most likely to use public transport. It makes a mockery of the Council’s aim to ‘Bus Back Better’.

We call on ESCC to step up and Buy Back Our Bus Station.