Eastbourne’s Town Centre Regeneration scheme has taken another step forward with a provisional timetable for public consultation announced.
By next summer, residents and businesses in Eastbourne could be browsing visuals and detailed plans for a multi-million pound shopping, leisure, housing and integrated transport development in the heart of the town centre.
Leader of Eastbourne Borough Council, Councillor Ian Lucas said “Our priority is to find the best possible development for Eastbourne, so we have been investigating a number of solutions for the scheme. It is important to get the proposals right and deliver an exciting and viable scheme for the town, and I am pleased to say that we are currently on target for a completion date of 2011.”
Since signing a Co-operation Agreement last year, Eastbourne Borough Council and Performance Retail Limited Partnership, driven by project developer Lend Lease, have been working on proposals and it is envisaged that a draft plan could be unveiled by the partnership as early as May 2007.
The Council has previously consulted on the scope of the regeneration area, setting an indicative boundary and outlining what the scheme should deliver. However this time the developer will be consulting on the design and layout within the regeneration area.
Councillor Lucas added “Residents, businesses and a variety of organisations will be able to have their say before plans are revised accordingly and submitted in a formal Planning Application. That way everyone can have an input into the final scheme and ensure the best development for Eastbourne.”
It is envisaged that a formal planning application could be ready as early as Summer 2007, with the statutory planning process taking six months. In the meantime Eastbourne Borough Council are working with educational establishments to ensure a skilled workforce are available locally for the build, keeping much of this valuable investment circulating within the town.
