By Huw Oxburgh, BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporter
Regeneration plans for a car-free public space in Eastbourne town centre are being scaled back as a result of rising costs.
East Sussex County Council councillors agreed at a meeting today to reduce the scope of plans to create a new civic space in Terminus Road.
Nearly £2.5 million of the total budget of just over £6 million has already been spent. There is a remaining budget of £3.594 million to complete the scheme but officers say it is not enough to do everything in the original plans.
The first phase of the regeneration project was completed in 2020, with large-scale improvements to the area around the railway station and Beacon Shopping Centre.
The next phase was expected to have involved further pedestrianisation of Terminus Road between Bankers Corner and Langney Road.
This was expected to include the creation of a new ‘civic space’ by closing a one-way section of road connecting Bolton Road (main image / Google) to Langney Road. ESCC said in 2020 it would provide “create an attractive and contemporary space for everyone to enjoy the town centre”.
But, in a report Cllr Claire Dowling, above, the county council’s lead member for transport and environment, officers said the project had faced “significant unexpected budget increases” since its funding was first secured in 2019. This was a result of both rising inflation and specific cost increases in the construction sector, the report said.
The report read: “With significant pressures on existing county council funding sources such as the capital programme of local transport improvements, and no current identified external funding sources available, an assessment has been undertaken to determine the extent of the previously designed scheme that can be delivered with the remaining available funding.
“Following this review process … it is proposed that the design is de-scoped.”
During the meeting, Eastbourne councillor David Tutt (Lib Dem) called on Cllr Dowling to delay her decision, arguing the council needed to give residents and businesses a greater say in its next steps.
He also said he was “somewhat surprised and wrong-footed” by the report.
But officers warned a delay could result in the project needing further amendments, should costs continue to rise.
Cllr Dowling said: “I understand why you are asking for a delay. I understand you want to talk to people. This isn’t the first package we have had to [change], we’ve had to look at the whole of the capital programme.
“My concern is, if we do what has been suggested … if and when it comes back we might not be able to afford what we are doing now. What we are doing at the moment is we are looking to complete the first bit.
“That bit is desperate for regeneration. It is so desperate and to hold it up, I think, would be a mistake.”
In my view the whole scheme was poorly designed, like the Beacon and the Perch a dreadful waste of money. It worries me that our councillors have signed off on these projects. Are they so out of touch with residents.