SPOTLIGHT: Harbour flats plan sent back to the drawing board
The developer of a controversial seven-storey development of around 130 retirement seaside apartments must make changes to secure planning permission. Eastbourne Borough Council’s planning committee voted unanimously in a show of cross-party unity last night to defer the planning application for a site on the western edge of Sovereign Harbour. The main points of contention […]
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SPOTLIGHT: “We lost £150,000 in funding because of two-year council delay”
A sports coach working to upgrade facilities in a park has said a delay of two years by Eastbourne Borough Council in agreeing an important lease meant the project missed out on £150,000 in funding. Craig Wells first had the idea for a modest scheme which could transform the Old Town recreation ground during lockdown. He […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Job losses at Lightning Fibre under new owner
There will be redundancies at Eastbourne-based broadband operator Lightning Fibre as a result of its change of ownership. The firm, which has been sold to a company which invests in infrastructure projects, has about 200 full-time equivalent staff. A company spokesman told the Eastbourne Reporter: “We have changed our strategy to focus more on growing […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Steep paths at Sovereign Harbour create access problems
People using mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs face using steep, difficult-to-access paths when travelling around Sovereign Harbour in Eastbourne. The Bay and Eastbourne Rollers friendship group, which meets for days out in the area, is concerned that members on wheels are at risk near the harbour’s locks. Harbour owner Premier Marinas recently cleared two areas […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Is the British Queen the most generous pub in Eastbourne?
It’s a cold, grey late winter midweek lunchtime but the bar at The British Queen pub on Willingdon Triangle is a welcome refuge for workers thirsty for a pint and friends dining and laughing. This very traditional pub has a relaxed atmosphere as people leave phones in their pockets and socialise, bantering with manager Angela […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Residents hold ‘amicable’ meeting about ‘over-the-top’ flats plan
Sheltering on the east side of Martello Tower 66 from a howling southwesterly, Frances Lawrence and Caroline Lynam are philosophical about the fenced-off area nearby. It’s the site of a proposed seven-storey development of around 130 retirement apartments overlooking the sea on the western edge of Sovereign Harbour. The planning application by developer Untold Living, […]
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REVIEW: Taking the plunge with Eastbourne Alive
Silent concentration was interspersed with ‘oooh’s of delight and ‘oh’s of resignation as a group of us gathered for a printing workshop in the empty Motcombe Pool caretaker’s house in Eastbourne Old Town. We were experiencing the unpredictable process of printing using a flexible silicone gel plate rollered with paint then imprinted with images or […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Council leader objects to Sovereign Harbour scheme
The leader of Eastbourne Borough Council is among hundreds of objectors to a plan to build 137 retirement apartments next to the beach at Sovereign Harbour. Coun Stephen Holt wrote in his objection to his own council’s planning department that the development, which would be four metres higher than neighbouring blocks, was not in keeping […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Residents left stranded for weeks by broken lift at flats
UPDATED 16 January 2024 with comment from FirstPort The lift in an Eastbourne block of flats which stopped working before Christmas, forcing elderly and disabled residents to walk up and down as many as 90 stairs, has finally been repaired. Three weeks after residents reported the problem at Penshurst House on Groombridge Avenue, it was […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Council agrees five-year lease for Fort Fun
The long-derelict Fort Fun site on Eastbourne seafront is scheduled to partially re-open by Easter with an indoor play area. But the former water park section, which had been earmarked for inclusive activities by Defiant Sports, will now instead be grassed over by Eastbourne Borough Council. The council has decided to award a five-year lease […]
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