Levelling Up second round: Hopes dashed for Eastbourne over funding that could have restored the Bandstand and Redoubt Fortress

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Results are in for the second round of the Levelling Up fund and it’s not good news for Eastbourne.

The Levelling Up fund is an initiative by the government to invest in local infrastructure and build stronger economies and communities - aiming to ‘level up’ the country.

In the first round of the fund, Eastbourne applied and was granted £19.85m. This money was to be used in three focus areas - Victoria Place, Towner Centenary, and Black Robin Farm.

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Levelling Up second round: Hopes dashed for Eastbourne over funding that could have restored the Bandstand and Redoubt Fortress - Cllr David TuttLevelling Up second round: Hopes dashed for Eastbourne over funding that could have restored the Bandstand and Redoubt Fortress - Cllr David Tutt
Levelling Up second round: Hopes dashed for Eastbourne over funding that could have restored the Bandstand and Redoubt Fortress - Cllr David Tutt

The second round the fund gave authorities the chance to bid for more money. Bids were submitted in summer and it was hoped that, if Eastbourne’s bid was granted, the money could have gone towards the Bandstand and the Redoubt Fortress.

Eastbourne Borough Council put forward a bid of £26.5 million to support restoration of the Bandstand and Redoubt Fortress.

Now the government has announced more than 100 projects will be awarded a share of £2.1 billion from the second round of the fund, but Eastbourne isn’t one of the areas to benefit.

Council leader David Tutt said: “This is deeply disappointing for all those who love the Bandstand and Redoubt Fortress and were hopeful that this funding bid would give us the many millions needed to deliver a full restoration.”

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He said the council was emailed with the result and told that due to having a successful bid in the first round of funding, there was ‘no allocations left to bid under LUF2’ - something he says ‘was not communicated to [the council] when we were invited to submit our LUF2 bid’.

Cllr Tutt said: “The Bandstand and the Redoubt Fortress are part of Eastbourne’s DNA and synonymous with the heritage and history of our great town.

“I appeal to the MP and Secretary of State to demonstrate that these much-loved and nationally significant assets are also important to the government.”

MP Caroline Ansell called the Bandstand and Redoubt Fortress ‘much loved and truly iconic’ and said she was ‘deeply disappointed’ the bid was not successful.

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She said: “This could have been an opportunity to turn around years of council underfunding. However, we now need to move on. I will be meeting with the levelling up minister next week to find out what went wrong.

"The people of Eastbourne can rest assured I will do all I can to promote our town as I have always done and I will work with the council and all stakeholders to see if we could make a bid into round 3.

“The council also needs to look at every possible avenue for raising the capital required to ensure the future of the Bandstand and Redoubt – I will help with this also - as we can’t just pin all our hopes on one highly competitive fund.”

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