By Rebecca Maer
Amid a raft of proposed council spending cuts, we examine the figures being quoted for running arts and heritage in Eastbourne
High above Eastbourne, surrounded by sky and downland, is the flint-faced barn housing the Beachy Head Story.
Through a wide window at the back, there are far-reaching views across the swooping Downs to the lighthouse at Newhaven. It is a spectacular panorama.
This exhibition space and gift shop draws thousands of visitors a year – entry is free – and is run by a small heritage team and volunteers.
It tells the story of the area’s geology and of the lives of those who have lived and worked on the South Downs over many centuries.
One of the key exhibits (above) tells the intriguing story of ‘Beachy Head Woman’, whose skeleton was found in the downland area but whose DNA reveals her origins as southern Mediterranean, possibly Cyprus, 1,800 miles away.
She is thought to have lived around 200AD, during the first half of the Roman occupation of Britain. It is a mystery why she came to be here.
Now, as the centre looks certain to close under Eastbourne Borough Council (EBC) spending cuts, the young woman from Cyprus and other exhibits will be carefully stored in archives at the Towner.
How much spending is being cut?
Liberal Democrat council leaders have agreed spending cuts of £2.7 million for this year which are on top of the £3 million already agreed as part of its 2024 / 25 budget.
They say the high costs of homelessness are largely to blame for the shortfall in the budget: spending on temporary accommodation costs the council £4.5 million annually while the income from domestic council tax is £9.9 million.
Proposals include closing most public toilets and asking businesses to allow use of their facilities, inviting external operators to run the theatres and reducing the number of pools used at the Sovereign Centre.
Last year, EBC hosted a summit of councils to discuss rising temporary accommodation costs, which resulted in an open letter to the government urging action.
What do the heritage volunteers say?
Donald Selmes, a retired management consultant, is one of the volunteers at the centre. He gave an impassioned plea at last week’s Cabinet meeting, suggesting the centre could be saved with a further reduction in funding to other assets such as the Towner.
He said there were 100 visitors to the Beachy Head Story when he was there recently in just three hours.
Mr Selmes (above) said the action of closing the centre would be “next to impossible to reverse”. He also said it provided support to the chaplaincy service for suicide prevention which was next door.
He has started a petition against the closure which has attracted around 1,000 signatures.
Mr Selmes told councillors: “Instead of handing services over to third parties, we should concentrate on making them profitable, just as the organisations taking them over will be planning to do for themselves.
“I was deeply shocked there are no plans for any consultation on proposals for heritage. People have no chance to comment before the axe falls.”
Jo Harper, EBC’s head of business planning and performance, explained that the council was only required to consult on services which would have an impact on equality. This covers public toilets but not heritage.
Mr Selmes said that the Beachy Head Story received less than £10,000 from EBC in 2022 / 23. At 40,000 visitors, that would be 25p per visitor.
He further stated that the Towner received £414,000 from EBC in 2022 / 23. At 130,000 visitors, he suggested that was about £3.20 per visitor. The Towner funding from the council will be cut by £100,000 as part of the reductions.
“How about reducing the Towner a little more and keeping heritage?” Mr Selmes suggested to the Cabinet meeting.
What does the council say?
The report to the Cabinet refers to saving £36,000 a year for 2024/25 and an additional saving of £83,000 for 2025/26 by closing the Beachy Head Story and heritage service.
A council spokesman said: “The reality is that the heritage service has an overall yearly cost to EBC of over £170k, which is what we ultimately aim to achieve.
“The figures in the Cabinet report reflect what we feel we can confidently achieve by ceasing the heritage Service on 30 September (i.e. by 31 March 2025) in order to help ensure EBC is able to set a balanced budget for 25/26.”
It is not clear how much cost relates specifically to the Beachy Head Story so verified figures of the cost per visitor to this building cannot be calculated accurately.
What does the Towner say?
Figures Mr Selmes quoted about the Beachy Head Story compared with the Towner gallery were disputed by Towner director Joe Hill.
Mr Hill told the Eastbourne Reporter that last year’s visitor numbers, when the gallery hosted the Turner Prize, were around 213,000. That would have been the equivalent of £1.94 per visitor, based on the council contribution.
He also pointed out that visitor numbers are not the only measure: the economic impact on Eastbourne of the Turner Prize last year was thought to be worth about £16 million to the town.
“It can be really hard to get a sense of the value of an organisation,” he said.
And the numbers of people coming through Eastbourne station rose by 22% from May to December last year as thousands came to see the Turner Prize exhibits.
| Towner: figures for 2023 / 24 | |
| 213,000 | Total visitors to Towner |
| 130,000 | Visitors to free Turner Prize exhibition |
| 386,000 | People engaged in wider Eastbourne Alive projects |
| £16.1 million | Additional income brought to Eastbourne from visitors to Towner |
| 51% | Percentage of visitors drawn to Eastbourne by the Turner Prize |
| £14.3 million | Estimated value of media coverage of Eastbourne |
He also emphasised that £1.7 million of Arts Council and other funding the gallery received in 2022 / 23 was a mixture of capital and revenue funding: about half had to be spent on renovations to the building.
He said that the money received from the council is towards maintaining the building (below), which is owned by EBC. The collection must also be stored in museum standard.
Mr Hill added: “We think you need a heritage team in Eastbourne. We should be arguing that we need funding for a strong cultural and heritage programme. They are both important for the town – these are very emotive issues.”
Lib Dem council leader Stephen Holt referred to the spending required to cover homelessness costs by many other councils.
He said at last week’s Cabinet meeting: “Other authorities are finding the same challenges, the same difficulties and indeed have implemented the same savings that we are currently looking to consult upon. That is really important for people to remember.”
:: This is an independent, not-for-profit news website reporting for the community.
I am a qualified journalist with more than 30 years’ experience. I interview people and ask questions. I do not copy and paste PR guff or social media content to fill space.
If my coverage helps you understand our community a little better, please support Eastbourne Reporter with a one-off or monthly donation here on KoFi for any amount you want. This social enterprise needs your support to continue.
Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.
I’d be interested in how the Black Robin Farm plans are affected by any of these cuts. It seems hugely expensive and not what most people in the town would wish to invest in, when established attractions are struggling.