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: 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: 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: 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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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: 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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SPOTLIGHT: Energy project could bring 50,000 solar panels to Eastbourne Levels
Part of the Eastbourne Levels could be covered in 50,000 solar panels if planning permission is approved for a renewable energy project in a multi-million pound deal, a public meeting heard. The land, owned by the Duke of Devonshire, covers an 80-acre site currently used for livestock grazing. The solar panels could be positioned east […]
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