Mystery as Coastwatch boss quits

MYSTERY surrounds the sudden departure of the volunteer station manager at Newhaven's clifftop lookout tower.

Dave Riggs, of Geneva Road, has managed the National Coastwatch Institution base for more than five years but handed in his resignation this week.

Members of the organisation remained tight-lipped and Mr Riggs himself was saying nothing. It is thought his decision was over disagreements within the committee.

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A worried volunteer who did not wish to be named said: 'The matter appears to be so serious that the chair of the charity's board of trustees has requested a meeting be convened to explain to us ordinary members, who are in the dark as much as you, as to what has happened and what the future is for Newhaven NCI.'

John Turlington, general secretary of NCI, also refused to comment on why Mr Riggs had stepped down but said NCI's work in Newhaven would not be affected.

He said: 'No one is taking over at the moment. There are still volunteers down there but there is not a station manager at this time.'

Any new appointment of a manager would be made internally, he said.

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NCI took over the lookout on Castle Hill when government cutbacks saw the Coastguard pull out from a number of sites. It is now leased to the charity and manned by volunteers.

The organisation has recently received more than 35,000 in donations to refurbish the tower, including a cheque for 1,500 from the town council.

Graham Amy, whose Castle Hill conservation group also uses the tower, paid tribute to the work Mr Riggs had done.

He said: 'As the chair of Castle Hill I am disappointed that after all of Dave's hard work he has chosen to resign at a time when the Coastguard tower is going to be refurbished and the group is going from strength to strength.

'As an outsider, I hope he decides to have a change of heart.'

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