"It's about creating a sense of belonging, a sense of happiness"

The Eastbourne Reporter finds out what has been happening behind the scenes at the town board, investment plans and how residents will be involved. An initial £10,000 is allocated to each of the town’s nine wards – and anyone can have a say on how it’s spent.

By Paul Bromley, volunteer writer

It was announced amid great fanfare 18 months ago that Eastbourne would receive up to £20 million of Government money to invest in the town over the next ten years.

A town board was set up to oversee the scheme and a chair appointed.

But then it went quiet.

There’s been a change of Government, change of Eastbourne’s MP and change of name for the board … but its chair, chartered surveyor Richard Garland, has remained the same.

He has previously served as president of the Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce has now taken on the voluntary role of chair of the renamed Eastbourne Neighbourhood Board.

I met him to find out the latest about the board, which issued its first press release last week and has its own website and podcast.

Richard was a co-founder of Gradient Consultants, based in Northbourne Road, Eastbourne, which specialises in building surveying, construction project management and compliance.

Originally from Cleethorpes, he has lived in Eastbourne for 20 years. He doesn’t own a car, uses public transport and is a mountain and ultra-runner.

Richard was initially interviewed by a panel including then Conservative MP Caroline Ansell and has since worked with Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde. He is full of praise for both politicians.

He said: “I think we should acknowledge and thank Caroline for the work she did in securing that money in the first place. Josh embraced it incredibly and pushed for the funding programme to be widened to include things like leisure activities, health and wellbeing.

“I think Josh did an amazing job in terms of not only helping us secure that £20 million for the town, but making and creating more opportunities for what that fund could be used for.”

Why has there been such a long period of silence?

The original promise of £20 million for Eastbourne was made by the Conservative Government in March 2024. The Labour Government said in October last year that it would keep the basic scheme but reform it.

Then in March this year it was confirmed Eastbourne would receive the money as part of a renamed ‘Plan for Neighbourhoods’.

Richard explained: “Since April, when they reannounced the new fund, we had to change terms of reference and deal with governance issues. We had to agree the funding programme boundary, and also rethink how we might engage with everybody.”

Eastbourne Neighbourhood Board (ENB) now has its own website and has recorded a pilot podcast. It also has a presence on Facebook and Instagram.

What money has been spent so far and on what?

The board was given £450,000 to set up and £180,000 has so far been spent or committed.

It has covered feasibility studies, a website and communications as well as paying for solicitors and surveyors to create master plans.

The board has also funded the Seafront Strategy, asking for views on what should change over the next 25 years.

Local firms have been used where possible to keep the money within Eastbourne’s economy.

What are the main themes for investment?

The board initially had three investment themes:

• Safety and security
• High streets, heritage and regeneration
• Transport and connectivity

The revised plans cover eight areas, which is the initial three plus:

• Housing
• Work, productivity and skills
• Cohesion
• Health and wellbeing
• Education and opportunity

Richard acknowledges that the wider remit presents both opportunities and challenges.

“The eight ‘interventions’ make it fantastic, because it means we’ve got a much broader and wider programme of investment opportunities.

“It also makes it tougher when it comes to making decisions because £2 million a year isn't going to go very far when you've got so much you could possibly do,” he says.

What types of projects might be funded by the ENB?

Richard reels off a long list of potential schemes which might be funded including creating job opportunities, helping homeless people, open-air markets, conferences, international events, renovating community spaces, libraries, youth facilities, healthy-eating schemes, cycle routes, road safety, subsidising zero emission buses, smart lighting, redesigning parks and public spaces, action plans for nightlife and supporting young people's development.

He explains that some of the projects aimed at restoring civic pride will be modest in scale.

“If the money is invested in bringing the community together, part of that process is getting them to make decisions for immediate priorities and doing the quick stuff, the small things that are needed around the town.

“Like cleaning up litter, removing graffiti, painting some railings, maybe even painting a local community centre.”

Richard acknowledges that some of those responsibilities lie with Eastbourne Borough Council and residents are already paying for the service.

He declared: “A lot of this for me and for the board is around building that civic pride as well.

“Yes, we have an expectation that the council will pick up litter and make the verges look nice but the reality is we're responsible for how good those neighbourhoods look in the first place and I think this is an opportunity for us to start to come together, to enable people to feel like they're shaping their neighbourhoods. They feel like they're making the decisions on what the money gets spent on.”

He said residents at various forums have already said they want to do the gardening themselves and “feel in control of how their neighbourhoods look”.

“I come back to that civic pride. It's we, as people, who drop litter, we allow our dogs to mess the footpaths, we allow the graffiti to happen.

“I think it's up to us to collectively make a difference now. And I think this is what people want. We want to be in control, we want that sort of local empowerment to do what matters.”

How will residents be involved?

Meetings in each of Eastbourne’s nine council wards will be held in the next few weeks with councillors, a member of the neighbourhood board and a Police Community Support Officer. The board is non-political and wants to hear from a cross-section of people.

“Ultimately, the decisions on what that money is spent on, the priorities, is for the community to decide on. It's not for any one individual. This is for people to come together and decide for themselves.”

Richard said each ward would receive £10,000 to spend between now and next spring on improvements to public spaces. This £90,000 is part of the set-up costs for the board.

He added: “We're doing that in partnership with the councillors because they are the best network we have in terms of getting to the wider community.

“We want to build some trust as well because we really feel that if we can show that together we're interested in fixing the small stuff, working on that small detail, then I think it will start to build trust in things when it comes to making the bigger decisions.”

There will also be a citizens’ questionnaire available on the website and paper copies at locations around town.

Richard explains: “It's going to be difficult to engage with people on social media. We don't have the resources and I don't think we should spend them trying to deal with feedback through social media.

“We want to drive people to the website which is where most of the information will be. But we're also hoping to have paper copies of the questionnaire around the town.”

Is ENB representative of all aspects of Eastbourne society?

Board members include statutory representatives from Eastbourne Borough Council, East Sussex County Council, Eastbourne’s MP and the Sussex police and crime commissioner.

There are also people from Eastbourne Hospitality Association and local businesses.

But there is no place for the Eastbourne Society, even though heritage is a key theme, and no one from transport user groups or environmental campaigners. There are also no youth voices.

Richard is keen to stress the wider engagement plan. He emphasises that everyone’s voice is equal and that organisations not on the board have been spoken to and will be able to apply for funds.

“We want to hear from everybody and the wider we can spread the word that we want to hear from people, the better. It’s really important that we hear from people who don't normally feel they have a voice and often feel under-represented, those that might not normally engage in these processes.”

There are plans to establish a 'youth shadow board' to decide on spending priorities.

“We'd like to have a schools’ board that will be given similar decisions to the ENB. And if they make a different decision, we need to ask ourselves why and understand why that younger generation has made a different decision to us.

“Ultimately, the money we're investing now is to create a town not just fit for people living and working here now but also for the next generation so it's important we listen to them and give them an opportunity to make decisions with us.”

There are plans to eventually expand the board with grassroots community representatives.

Is there scope for joint working with the neighbourhood boards in Bexhill and Hastings?

Richard says he wants every penny spent for the good of the town and there may be savings by working with Hastings and Bexhill. He also suggests talking to them about how some of the funding might be shared.

“As an example, if you have an electric bike scheme, why could we not extend that from Eastbourne to Hastings so you could hire a bike in Eastbourne, cycle to Hastings then get the train back, rather than thinking, ‘I've got to cycle back now’?

“So there are lots of opportunities, I'm sure, particularly around infrastructure and how we move between our wonderful neighbours in Bexhill and Hastings.”

What impact will devolution and local government reorganisation have?

While the ENB has been inching into existence, the town and the rest of Sussex has been put on the fast track to devolution. There will be an election for a Sussex-wide mayor next May followed by the creation of new unitary authorities. District and borough councils like Eastbourne Borough Council will disappear.

The mayor and unitary councils will have wide-ranging powers over many aspects of public life which the neighbourhood board is also supporting.

Richard says the board is “kind of ignoring” the changes for now.

“It doesn't really have an impact on what we're doing. It is there and it's in our peripheral vision but it doesn't impact on what we're trying to achieve right now for the good of Eastbourne.

“What's really important is when that new authority is formed, when a new mayor turns up in the town, we want to be able to show them that as a town, as a community, as a neighbourhood, we know what we're doing and we know what we want to do,” he adds.

Will he remain as chair for the ten-year life of the board?

There is no hesitation in his reply.

“No. I think that's a very quick no,” he says.

“I need to move aside after a certain amount of time to enable somebody else to come in and lead, provide fresh ideas, to look at things in a different light, change things, adapt to the priorities that are coming through … So, ultimately, I would see this as no more than a two-year appointment. And I think that's a good thing.”

How will Eastbourne be different in two years’ time as a result of the ENB?

Richard returns to his key message of trust.

He declares: “I think that's really important: the feeling, the mood of the people, of the town.

“We want to see that we are building that trust, that the town feels happier all year round … and that we have started down a road of building a quality of life for everybody who lives and works in the town.

“I think that's a really strong and simple vision for our town over ten years. It feels more personal than it does performative.

“So rather than saying, ‘let's measure how many things we've created’, it's more about a sense of belonging and a sense of happiness.”

:: Paul Bromley is a qualified journalist and broadcaster who worked for 40 years for regional newspapers, the Press Association and Sky News. He now works in community rail.

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