Campaigners from the Keep Our Downs Public group, Eastbourne Friends of the Earth, and members of the public, met with Councillor David Tutt, Leader of Eastbourne Borough Council, at Eastbourne Town Hall on the evening of Tuesday November 22nd to share with Councillor Tutt their deep concerns about the proposed sale by the council of all of the farms on the Eastbourne Downland Estate—Andy Durling, Eastbourne Friends of the Earth, 23 November 2016
Councillor Tutt admitted that the property developing landowners from whom the Council’s downland was bought for its protection 90 years ago, would have to be given first option to buy the farms upon their sale.
He also acknowledged that the great majority of the cash generated by these sales will be transferred away from the Downs into the council’s capital projects elsewhere in Eastbourne.
The farms together amount to over 3,000 acres, representing just over 75% of the entire publicly-owned Eastbourne Downland Estate, purchased originally by Eastbourne Corporation back in the 1920s to protect and maintain the Eastbourne downland for the benefit of the public “in perpetuity”.
During the meeting, campaigners called on Councillor Tutt to immediately halt the sale of the farms, after which all options for keeping the long-term future of the downland estate in public hands could be explored through a public consultation.
Jenny Shorter from the Keep Our Downs Public campaign said:
“We were really disappointed that Mr Tutt said he would not hold a public consultation despite numerous calls for one during the meeting. He failed to grasp our concerns about the future use of this land should it be sold and it was really misleading of him to guarantee that nothing will change – he cannot make this guarantee if this land passes into private hands. At the end of the day, councillors are the servants of the people of Eastbourne, but Mr Tutt really wasn’t listening.”
Andrew Durling from Eastbourne Friends of the Earth said:
“Councillor Tutt failed to answer many of the concerns about the sale fully or satisfactorily, and he refused our demand for an immediate halt to the sale until those concerns have been fully explored. This has only increased the resolve of myself and my colleagues to intensify our campaign to stop the sale, especially as the tide of public opinion is very much on the side of keeping this well-loved part of Eastbourne’s heritage in public hands rather than using it as a cash cow to fund big council projects elsewhere in Eastbourne. Keeping our downland safe from private speculators such as investment funds and property developers is the only way to guarantee protection of our local downland wildlife and countryside from land damage and inappropriate development”.
An online petition has been launched by the campaign, which is already gaining many signatures: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-sell-off-of-eastbournes-public-downland. Anybody who wishes to help with the campaign can email:
Eastbourne Borough Council’s Downland Management Plan for the Eastbourne Downland Estate is available here: http://www.eastbourne.gov.uk/residents/leisure-and-events/parks/trees-and-downland/downland/management/
The two landowners are the property developing (Duke of) Devonshire Estate, which allowed development over the proposed National Nature Reserve at the Crumbles, and the Davies-Gilbert Estate, which has just won planning permission for 11 new homes adjacent to the medieval village centre of East Dean and which proposed a new town at Birling Gap a century ago.
