SPOTLIGHT: Have your say on Orchard Road apartments plan
By Huw Oxburgh, BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporter Council plans to build town centre apartments in Eastbourne on the site of the former magistrates’ court are now open for comment. In a planning application validated last week, Eastbourne Borough Council has put forward fresh proposals to build housing on the site in Old Orchard Road. The […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Plan for 100 homes to replace ‘eyesore’ car park
By Huw Oxburgh, BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporter A developer has submitted plans to replace a multi-storey car park near the station in Eastbourne with more than 100 homes. In plans validated by Eastbourne Borough Council last week, developer Elstree Land is seeking planning permission to demolish the now-closed multi-storey car park in Junction Road and […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Developer bids to replace one house with 20 flats
By Huw Oxburgh, BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporting Service A developer has submitted plans for an apartment building in Eastbourne to replace a large detached house. In an application submitted to Eastbourne Borough Council, a developer is seeking outline planning permission to demolish the home at 273 Kings Drive and replace it with a building containing […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Council paid developers more than £750,000
By Huw Oxburgh, BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporter Wealden District Council has paid out more than three-quarters of a million pounds in appeal costs since January 2021. The single largest payout resulted from the council’s decision to refuse the 700-home Mornings Mill development on farmland at Willingdon, Eastbourne, which was approved on appeal. One Labour councillor […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Planning inspector approves care home conversion
By Huw Oxburgh, BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporting Service Controversial plans to convert a former Eastbourne care home have been approved on appeal. A planning inspector has approved retrospective proposals for an 11-bedroom property at 13 Gorringe Road — a building which had formed part of a care home known as The Shires. Eastbourne planners had refused […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Green police and crime commissioner candidate
By Sarah Booker-Lewis, BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporter Below are the responses from Green candidate Jonathan Kent, a former BBC journalist who tweets as @jolph. He is pictured above. What difference will you make if you are elected? For years we’ve had a Conservative police and crime commissioner under a Tory government bent on cutting public […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Conservative police and crime commissioner candidate
By Sarah Booker-Lewis, BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporter Below are the responses from Conservative candidate Katy Bourne, who tweets as @KatyBourne. She is pictured above. What difference will you make if you are elected? Continue cutting crime – neighbourhood crime already down 23 per cent, residential burglary down 33 per cent, fighting drugs gangs (585 disrupted […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Liberal Democrat police and crime commissioner candidate
By Sarah Booker-Lewis, BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporter Below are the responses from Liberal Democrat candidate Jamie Bennett, 34, a hotel manager who tweets as @JamieBen120689. He is pictured above. What difference will you make if you are elected? Liberal Democrats believe the post of PCC should be abolished but, until we are in a position […]
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SPOTLIGHT: East Sussex pothole reports double
Reports by residents of potholes in East Sussex more than doubled last year. In figures released in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, East Sussex County Council said it received 26,309 reports of potholes and other carriageway defects in 2022/23. This was more than double the previous financial year (2021/22), which […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Top East Sussex council pay packets revealed
The latest Town Hall Rich List has been published, showing how many council employees received more than £100,000 in 2022/23. Collated by The TaxPayers’ Alliance, the figures showed that 73 employees of councils across East and West Sussex – not including Brighton & Hove – took home more than £100,000 in salary, pension and other expenses. […]
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