East Sussex politician accused of falsely taking credit for removal of scaffolding 'eyesore'

The controversial scaffolding started to come down last week from Seaford town centre – eleven years after it was first erected – following numerous complaints from residents, councillors and politicians.

As removal work, The Conservative MP for the Lewes constituency claimed the legal action brought forward by herself and East Sussex County Council (ESCC) had lead to scaffolding finally being brought down.

Ms Caulfield suggested residents in Seaford were “very disappointed” that Lewes District Council had refused to act saying legal action wasn’t possible.

However, district councillors have told SussexWorld thelegal action against the Talland Parade scaffolding owners was actually brought forward by them, rather then Ms Caulfield or the ESCC.

This claim was confirmed by an ESCC spokesperson.

Lewes District Council leader James MacCleary, said: "The scaffolding coming down is the culmination of years of dedicated work behind the scenes. This has been a partnership led by the District Council and backed by local people and other local authorities including the County Council.

"I know that residents in Seaford are as exhausted as I am by the MP's endless attempts to claim credit for her party for the hard work of the community.

"Throughout the process we have appealed to Maria Caulfield to support the council but instead she seems determined to try and take credit for herself and Conservative Party colleagues who have had little or nothing to do with it."

Cllr Stephen Gauntlett, Cabinet member for Planning at the District Council, added: “The legal action to force the owners of Talland Parade to dismantle the scaffolding on the grounds of public nuisance has been taken solely by Lewes District Council. ESCC is not and has never been involved directly although officers have been most supportive.

"As the Cabinet member responsible, together with my Alliance predecessor, I can confidently say that every legal remedy available within existing government planning legislation was thoroughly investigated over the past 18 months and found to be unusable.

"The case for public nuisance, which is a legal route outside of planning law, required gathering painstaking written evidence from local residents and was greatly assisted by Seaford Town Council officers."

Whilst work began last week on removing the scaffolding from Talland Parade, much of the structure is still there, with many residents claiming workers have not returned to site since first being spotted on March 14.

Regardless, the district council is taking Vision Properties, the owners of the scaffolding, to high court.

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The council claim every attempt to take it down to date has been blocked by ‘legislative loopholes’ and ‘hollow promises’.

Mr MacCleary said: "I think it is important to be straight with people. This isn't the end of this process and the District Council will be continuing with its legal case to ensure that the developer cannot just put the scaffolding back up.

"Ultimately, we also need the building used for something and if the developer is not willing to build the flats they got permission for way back in 2012 then they should sell the site to someone who will use it."