OUT IN THE FIELD: Parking charges in Eastbourne, gatherings in Gildredge Park and some drivers’ bad behaviour

I don’t know which Herbert is behind the massive gatherings of young people at Gildredge Park, aka Gilly, of a weekend but I wish they’d stop. Or failing that, at least ask those attending to tidy up after themselves. Last weekend the park was left in a dreadful state with so much litter left strewn everywhere the council had to call in extra teams to clear it all up. I gather those teams are on standby again in case another big gathering is arranged there for this weekend too. Litter – including many recyclable items – was left overflowing out of bins. In an ideal world maybe the council could put recycling bins in the parks. But the message that people need to take their litter home with them obviously needs to be spelt out to the generation that sadly didn’t grow up watching the Wombles of Wimbledon Common. You wouldn’t leave rubbish spilling out of your bins across the floor at home, so why do it one of our town’s beautiful green spaces?

As regular readers will know, during lockdown I have taken to two wheels instead of four and having put away my trusty purple bike, also referred to as the Deathtrap, Himself and I are now the proud owners of his and hers matching mountain bikes. I know some cyclists are not as considerate as they should be but I despair sometimes at the behaviour of some drivers too. I am not alone and have been sharing concerns with Eastbourne cycling campaign group Bespoke’s Scarlett McNally, who agrees that many drivers are ‘bullying by mistake’, with decades-old incorrect knowledge of the Highway Code. You can read more of Scarlett’s wise words opposite.

A 25-year plan for the iconic download has now been rubber-stamped and the first two initial projects will see the Beachy Head Countryside Centre play a key role in signposting activities, promoting the downland and supporting education and volunteering activities. And the nearby currently redundant Black Robin Farm buildings will become a place for people to learn about and engage with the Eastbourne downland through workshops, while cottages there could provide holiday accommodation with an eco-tourism focus. Maintaining and restoring the dew ponds – which are in need of a lot of TLC – is also in the pipeline but some aspects of the plan have been put on the back burner. Building a value added brand for the downland like making the most of products produced in the area is put on hold. As is what I felt was a madcap idea of using existing automatic number plate recognition cameras on roads surrounding the landmark to bring in some form of income from vehicles visiting the area. Instead, the council will concentrate on encouraging people away from private vehicle use by improving public transport and connections with Eastbourne. Thankfully common sense has prevailed.

Business leaders say they will continue to lobby East Sussex County Council to reverse the doubling of parking charges in Eastbourne which came into effect on July 1. I hope they succeed. It cost me £1.20 through the Ringo app the other day to park in Langney Road for just 30 minutes while I ran into M&S on a quick errand. I for one, won’t be parking in the town centre again.