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 on the crowds.
The event is part of the Spring Water Festival, which runs all week and has been organised by Plastic Free Eastbourne.
The mayor Coun Pat Rodahan (Lib Dem, Upperton) officially opened the fair on the Western Lawns earlier today.
He said when he was growing up, his family had their own spring well of water to drink and he regularly swam in local clean rivers.
But Coun Rodahan, above right with a stallholder, went on: “I am part of the generation who have helped pollute our planet and allowed others to do so.
“There is no need for a plastic bottle now – we have water fountains all around the seafront. We can make the town a better place for all of us.”
Eastbourne Conservative MP Caroline Ansell said she stayed in a flat off the seafront during Covid lockdowns three years ago and was grateful that her daily walk was along the seafront.
“When you see the glistening sea before you, there is nothing more beautiful. It is so important to protect and preserve out most valuable natural asset,” she said.
“There is a great deal of work going on with our water quality to make sure we power back to that outstanding rating we had,” she said.
The bathing water at Eastbourne was downgraded by the Environment Agency from two out of three stars (“good”) to a one-star rating of “sufficient” last year due to readings of E. coli bacteria.
Southern Water was fined £90 million in July 2021 after admitting thousands of illegal discharges of sewage which polluted rivers and coastal waters in Sussex, Kent, and Hampshire.
Ms Ansell (above) welcomed the Spring Water Festival as a chance for people to celebrate their environment but also to learn more and become part of the action.
Oliver Sterno, the community leader of Plastic Free Eastbourne, outlined events in the coming week, including a beach clean, films at the Towner gallery and a conference on adopting new technologies to help the environment.
“We are trying to help Eastbourne become a better place,” he said.
Eco Fair organiser Karine Morrison (above in green T-shirt) said she was inspired to start her business Ecohaven, selling ethical bathroom products, after she started sea swimming regularly.
“During one of my swims I saw the problems created by plastic. I started Eco Haven in my own bathroom with a box of toothbrushes to help people find swaps with no plastic.
“We are very lucky to be surrounded by amazing countryside and the sea – and we need to protect it.”
There were 26 stalls at the Eco Fair, including ethical businesses, Eastbourne Borough Council’s Environment First waste team and Blue Heart, a Government-funded project to understand and mitigate the effects of flooding and climate change in Eastbourne and south Wealden.
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