Bandstand stage restoration to start in spring

THE long-awaited first phase of repairs to Eastbourne’s iconic 1930s bandstand will start in the spring and it will re-open for the summer 2023 season, a council meeting heard last night as it approved the work.

After an initial £750,000 is spent to repair the stage and parts of the main structure, up to £8 million will have to be “found at a later stage” for further restoration work, planning committee chair Coun Jim Murray said.

Liberal Democrat-controlled Eastbourne Borough Council closed the open-air concert venue earlier this year while it investigated structural problems and prepared to carry out the repair work.

The Grade II-listed structure will have a block and beam structure installed under the stage.

This consists of a layer of steel beams and concrete blocks, a layer of breathable lime screed and the final layer of a timber stage.

Planning committee members heard that councillors and advisers at last week’s meeting of the conservation advisory group expressed a clear preference for a timber stage rather than synthetic materials with the appearance of wood.

They were told that the existing plywood stage floor has wet rot and is now deemed to be dangerous.

Conservative Coun Barry Taylor (Meads) told the planning meeting: “It is a classic situation of poor maintenance over quite a number of years. One of the biggest problems has been never closing the doors of the stage.

“I am informed that is now going to be an ongoing resolution. I still feel block and beam is not the answer to the problem – it will put additional stress onto the building.

“We seem to go from one knee jerk reaction to the next to bring it back into use. We need to look more deeply into the structure of the bandstand.”

After other members questioned what materials would be used on this as a listed building, Coun Murray (Lib Dem, Hampden Park) said new technology was available to repair such buildings to be fit for purpose for a new era.

“You would be hard pushed to know which was original and which was not. It will be of the highest quality,” he said.

Neil Collins, senior specialist planning adviser, told the meeting: “The works here are the most urgent.” But he did confirm there was no current timeline for reinstating the sliding doors because more exploratory work was needed.

Leigh Palmer, head of planning, said officers could “hear very loudly from this committee” the desire to have the doors reinstated as soon as possible.

Planning permission was approved by six votes to one, with Coun Taylor voting against.

The first tribute act listed as playing at the bandstand for next year is Pure Queen on April 28.

In the summer, Eastbourne Borough Council submitted a £26.5 million funding bid to the Government in a bid to support the renovation of the bandstand and Redoubt Fortress.

The bid is part of a round of funding focused on cultural and heritage projects.