Winchelsea Traffic Signs Project
Unfinished business
The main culprit responsible for adding new signs was a quango called Sustrans, which has erected 15 signs within a single ½-mile stretch of road. Moreover, the signs are for a cyclepath that does not exist ---except perhaps on a map at Sustrans HQ in London!
Sustrans was set up apparently to promote cycling for environmental reasons. Unfortunately, it seems to be an urban organisation which believes that cycle paths in the countryside are leisure facilities for people driving out from towns and not as a transport facility for the rural population. Its urban mindset does not seem to recognise that its signs are blighting the countryside it is encouraging people to come to see.
Sustrans also lacks the expertise to locate signs properly. There have been complaints that the careless positioning of the Sustrans signs has led cyclists to believe that the cyclepath is along the footway, causing great nuisance to pedestrians.
However, in March 2009, the Highways Agency persuaded Sustrans to review their signs on this stretch of road. After discussion with a Sustrans representative, Mr Andrew Boocock, we were hopeful that they would remove all but the signs at either end of this road. However, Sustrans has since gone into hiding and nothing has happened.
Some redundant sign posts have still to be removed.
 
Another nuisance is Rother District Counciil, who installed a sign on a new post behind their recycling bins in Monks Walk to explain what they are and to warn the public that lorries might be loading the bins! And this year, Rother has added a third sign to the post, with the optimistic advertising slogan "Love Rother, love recycling". A classic example of how one sign breeds others. Rother has also stuck notices all over the bins, helping to degrade the whole site.
 
On the approaches to Winchelsea, you will find these characterless motorway montrosities. Surely, the Ancient Town deserves better gateway signs?
 
And why is this venerable ancient monument (the Ferry Gate) blighted with so many badly-sited and installed signs?
  
Winchelsea traffic sign counter
| On 30 April 2002 |
223 signs |
199 panels |
180 posts |
135 sites |
On 31 December 2006
of which:
|
191 signs |
171 panels |
129 posts |
102 sites |
|
Highways Agency |
160 signs |
140 panels |
140 posts |
101 sites |
|
County Council |
36 signs |
32 panels |
21 posts |
18 sites |
|
Rother District Council |
3 signs |
3 panels |
2 posts |
2 sites |
|
Sustrans |
15 signs |
15 panels |
7 posts |
7 sites |
|
others |
7 signs |
7 panels |
9 posts |
6 sites |
| On 30 October 2009 |
|
147 panels |
|
83 sites |
|
- A sign is an individual direction.
- A panel is a single metal plate. A panel may display more than one sign.
- A post is a single support. A post may support more than one panel. Some posts have no panels attached (somebody removed the sign but could not be bothered to dig out the post).
- A site is a location where one or more posts support the same panel or more than one panel.
Project and problem | The Cause | What We Did | What We Acheived
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Small victories
The private signs below were erected by the local Church, using grant money, on the side of the A259 on land that is part of a Scheduled Ancient Monument and owned by the National Trust without the permission of the Trust, the leaseholder or English Heritage. The locations are also directly opposite the junctions to which they are pointing --- too close for vehicles to safely turn off. As soon as these two signs were erected, two businesses added their own signs, demonstrating just how quickly clutter breeds on itself.
 
The signs were removed by the Highways Agency. We are still waiting for the posts to be cut down.
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