SPOTLIGHT: Why was this overflowing bin not emptied for three weeks?
Volunteer litter picker Rosemary Cartmel thought she would help the community by cleaning up the streets near her home in Eastbourne’s Old Town. She also joined the Motcombe Wombles litter picking group and joined other volunteers in Gildredge Park on Sunday, 15 October. Rosemary, 76, collected a large bag of rubbish and left it by […]
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SPOTLIGHT: The Black Robin Farm project
What is happening at Black Robin Farm, the high-profile plan for a cultural and education centre on the South Downs above Eastbourne? It is nearly two years since Eastbourne Borough Council secured £19.8 million in Levelling Up funding towards this scheme and others – and the deadline for spending the money is less than six […]
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SPOTLIGHT: How TechResort changes lives
Sam Best was researching jobs and considering his future when he came across the Japanese philosophy of ‘ikigai’, said to be the secret to a joyful life. The 19-year-old found that the idea was to fulfil four categories: do what you love, do what the world needs, do what you are good at and do […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Why chalk grasslands are so important for all of us
By ecology-trained consultant Julie Bygraves, of Wild Bourne It’s hard to express how special a chalk grassland is – you just have to go to see one. It’s also hard to explain what it is: in genetic terms it’s an assemblage of rare plants on chalk! But the constituent species can vary enormously depending on […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Concern mounts over the future of fragile chalk grassland
I visit the scarp slope of the South Downs with an ecology-trained adviser and an Old Town local who has walked the area for more than 25 years to hear their fears about how scrub is encroaching on the rare chalk grassland. A company is paid £9,300 of public money a month to implement a […]
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SPOTLIGHT Artificial pitch approved for Eastbourne United
Artificial turf has been approved for Eastbourne United football club despite opposition from residents. People living near the ground argued the scheme would bring a huge increase in pitch use and traffic as well as adversely affecting the environment. The club has welcomed the decision as the catalyst to attract more community use to The […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Neighbour’s fears over plan for homes in old quarry
A 93-year-old woman who has lived in her home for more than 60 years has voiced concerns over a plan to build 18 houses at the bottom of a sheer drop in Ocklynge Chalk Pit next door. Silvia Verrall (above) moved to her house in Willingdon Road when it was built in 1961 and the […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Call for citizen scientists to help spot dolphins
Sailors, nature watchers, fishing enthusiasts and boat operators are being asked to help spot the UK’s smallest population of rare coastal bottlenose dolphins off the coast of Eastbourne. The south coast pod of only about 40 dolphins is known to swim along the Sussex coastline but travel as far afield as Cornwall, making it difficult […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Call to combat plastic pollution bridges political divide
Both the Liberal Democrat mayor of Eastbourne and the town’s Conservative MP were today united in their call for a community-wide effort to stop plastic pollution on beaches and in the countryside. Hundreds of people enjoyed an Eco Fair in the shade of the big wheel on Eastbourne seafront this weekend as the sun shone […]
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SPOTLIGHT: Families highlight need for safe cycle routes
More than 100 people of all ages joined a family-friendly bike ride around town to highlight the need for safer cycle routes in Eastbourne. The ‘Kidical Mass’ ride started in Gildredge Park and followed a loop through the town, down the ‘bus-only’ section of Terminus Road next to The Beacon shopping centre, towards the seafront […]
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