WALKING
Walking gets you fit and makes you feel great. This time of year is a great time to do it. But if you have been ill, or a slave to the motor car, getting back into walking can be difficult. Lewes Leisure Centre organises 45 minute walks to get you going. Details here . If you are feeling a little more ambitious then Russell Beck organises walks aimed at people new to walking. Details at http://www.headforthedowns.wordpress.com/ There is a charge for both of these. But there is no charge for walks organised by the Ramblers Association or Lewes Footpath Group. Both of these groups are happy for you to come to one or two walks without becoming a member, but you should join if you start going regularly. Lewes Footpath Group is at www.lewesfootpathsgroup.org.uk Ramblers Groups run huge numbers of walks all over Sussex. Details here If your image of organised walking groups is all older people think again. The Ramblers have dedicated groups for young people. See here and here.
According to statistics required to be collected by the government the number of paths open and easy to use in East Sussex is 57.1% (up from 51.1% last year) East Sussex has 2,000 miles of paths. If you look of the number of rights of way officers per mile of footpaths and compare the East Sussex figures with other councils the council is understaffed by about 50%. The statistics compare very unfavourably with other councils in the region. West Sussex council claims 98% of its paths are easy to use using a different methodology. Ramblers who have walked extensively in West Sussex calculate that 90% is a more accurate figure. Kent, which could argue that it is as cash strapped as East Sussex, does better. Staff at ESCC work hard but there are not enough of them.
A path is classed as not open as easy to use it there is no signpost at one end or if it is completely obstructed or anything in between, so it would be wrong to say that 42% of East Sussex paths are completely unusable, but the figures do give an indication of the state of play.
The South Downs are the responsibility of the Area of Outstanding National Beauty (AONB) board. They keep about 90% of their paths open and easy to use. It is clear that the situation varies widely from parish to parish depending on the level of pressure exerted by parish councils and walking groups. In areas where there is an active walking group, such as Lewes, Ringmer or Plumpton, these groups chase the council as a result the paths are in good order. However this is at cost of other areas where there is not an active walking group. If you travel just to Loughton or Ripe things start to get a lot worse. A typical example is Hellingly parish. This is a popular area for walking, as a stroll down the Cuckoo trail will demonstrate, but people do not use the paths to either side because they have so many problems. Even an experienced walk leader from Beachy Head Ramblers joked that he would not lead a group walk in Hellingly because they might never come back!
To report a problem you find on a right of way use the report form here