Rally & Walk at Beachy Head on 3rd December to protest sale of Eastbourne’s public downland: On Saturday 3rd December the Keep Our Downs Public campaign will be holding a Rally and Walk to Keep Our Eastbourne Downs Public .—Andy Durling, Friends of the Earth, Eastbourne, 1 December 2016
The Rally will be at the Beachy Head car park, next to the Beachy Head Visitor Centre and the Beachy Head Hotel, and will start at 10.30am.
Campaigners against the sale of public downland from across Sussex will join with Eastbourne campaigners to demand an immediate halt to the intended sale by Eastbourne Borough Council of over 3,000 acres – about 75% – of the Eastbourne Downland Estate, which was bought by the Eastbourne public in 1929 with the intention of keeping it for the public benefit in perpetuity.
Campaigners warn that the return of the Eastbourne Downs into private hands will reverse decades of landscape restoration, wildlife protection, and improvements in public access, significantly changing the nature of the Eastbourne Downs for the worse.
Their fears are backed up by CPRE Sussex, the South Downs Society, the Open Spaces Society, the Eastbourne People’s Assembly Against Austerity, the Eastbourne Society, and the Sussex Wildlife Trust.
Tony Whitbread, CEO of the Sussex Wildlife Trust, will be one of the main speakers at the rally. The Sussex Wildlife Trust has a blog post about the sell-off.
Green Party MEP for the South-East, Keith Taylor, has issued a statement of support for the campaign: http://www.eastbournebuzz.co.uk/eastbourne-news.php?eastbourne-news-reports=2228&&Green-MEP-Backs-Call-To-Stop-Sale-Of-Eastbourne-Downland
The petition set up by the campaign to urge Eastbourne Borough Council to stop the sell-off has already gained over 2,000 signatures: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-sell-off-of-eastbournes-public-downland
The campaign group has a rapidly growing Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1790424137865314/
Anybody who wishes to help with the campaign can email it at:
