Pedestrianisation plan for Eastbourne roads

Pedestrianising parts of Eastbourne town centre, changing bus routes and promoting shopping areas like Little Chelsea and the seafront end of Terminus Road are just some of the highlights of an ambitious plan to boost trade.

South Street could become traffic free as could the seaward end of Terminus Road.

The blueprint is part of an Eastbourne BID scheme – which could see businesses investing £1.5 million in the town.

Voting among up to 600 establishments takes place in July and if they are in agreement, it could change the face of the town centre.

Christina Ewbank is backing the BID and says it is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Eastbourne.

She said, “Within five years Eastbourne will be transformed with a fabulous new shopping centre, the redevelopment of conference and theatre facilities at Devonshire Park, ambitious plans for the seafront and its leisure facilities and much needed spending on our town centre infrastructure.

“There are challenges though. The past five years have seen our High Street change dramatically with some major names disappearing from the shopping scene altogether. We know for our town to thrive and prosper – and to compete against online shopping – we need to create a visitor experience that brings people back, time and again. We want Eastbourne to be a place where businesses come, stay and prosper. We believe the best way we can achieve this is by creating a Business Improvement District – a business-led organisation to promote and enhance our town centre. We hope people will support us by voting yes in our ballot.”

There are almost 240 BIDs working for their communities throughout the UK and neighbouring towns and cities such as Hastings and Brighton have established or successfully renewed their BID.

Turn to page 18.