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An open letter to Councillor Tutt, Leader of Eastbourne Borough Council

Dear Councillor Tutt

Eastbourne’s downland: Selling off the family silver

Despite the outcry that the Borough Council has faced since it announced its plan to sell off the majority of its landholding in the South Downs, we understand that this scheme is still being pursued.

The two biggest countryside action groups active in the national park, the South Downs Society and the Campaign to Protect Rural England, strongly urge you to take a step back and take time to reconsider.

The land in question was acquired following a major public subscription and came into the ownership of the borough in 1926 for the benefit of the people of Eastbourne. It needed a new Act of Parliament to make the purchase possible. In that very same decade both of our organisations came into being at a time when the future of the open downland was under great threat from the possibility of being turned into giant housing estates. Since that time we – the South Downs Society, CPRE and Eastbourne BC – have all worked hard to protect the downs from development and to conserve and improve the landscape, wildlife habitats and opportunities for public access and enjoyment. The creation of the South Downs National Park has been one of our greatest achievements – but it doesn’t mean that the job is done.

You have said that the land to be sold off will be protected by the planning powers of the new National Park Authority and the legislation covering public rights of way. But this won’t go far enough. We don’t want to see the Park Authority having to fight off planning applications for housing and other developments.

There is no substitute for ownership. Once outside the council’s control, the aims of enhancing the landscape and wildlife, of adding to the land currently available for open access, interpreting the archaeology and providing for visitor understanding and enjoyment – all these are part and parcel of being in a national park and all can be more easily achieved when you own the land. Continuing coastal erosion, for example, will mean an increasing “squeeze” on the important strip of chalk grassland and, without ownership of the adjoining farmland, what are the prospects for re-establishing additional areas of this precious habitat?

While fully recognising Eastbourne’s need to generate funds, this can only be a short term “fix”. If the land is sold, there will be no continuing stream of income from the farms to the Council’s coffers. Other Councils nearby, equally hard-pressed, have stepped back from similar action: we hope that Eastbourne will reconsider.

Robert Cheesman, Chair, South Downs Society
David Johnson, Chair, CPRE Sussex

Photo of the view towards Belle Tout Lighthouse and Cornish Farm - one of the properties under threat of sale © Roger Fenton