Tributes paid as former Eastbourne housing chief dies aged 84

Peter died at Southampton General Hospital on August 24, 2026, 13 days after a road traffic collision near his home.

His good friend Catherine Butcher said a thanksgiving service for his life will be held on Tuesday, October 6 at 4.30pm at Godfirst Church, 15 Airfield Road, in Christchurch.

Catherine, who lodged with Peter and Sylvia while she was training as a reporter at the Eastbourne Herald, has sent this newspaper the following obituary.

“For many people in Eastbourne, Peter will be remembered as the man who spent some 30 years helping to shape the town’s housing service.

“But his influence went far beyond his professional role – and even after leaving Eastbourne, he continued to use his experience to help people and organisations in his new home in Dorset.

“Peter became Director of Housing, Health and Community Services at Eastbourne Borough Council and developed a deep understanding of the particular challenges faced by the town and other coastal communities.

“That experience brought him before MPs in 2006, when he gave evidence to a House of Commons committee considering the problems of housing in coastal towns. Speaking from three decades of experience in Eastbourne, he highlighted the pressures created by an ageing population, poor-quality accommodation and the shortage of affordable homes for local people.

“His expertise eventually took him to Bournemouth, where he became Chief Executive of Bournemouth Churches Housing Association. He was also President of the Chartered Institute of Housing in 1986–87, a role which took him around Britain and overseas meeting housing professionals.

“But those who knew Peter well would say that his concern for people was about much more than a job. His Christian faith had been central to his life since he became a Christian at a Billy Graham mission in 1954. In later years, that faith found expression in an extraordinary amount of practical involvement in churches and community projects.

“Peter was a founding member of Living Stones Christian Fellowship. He and his wife Sylvia were youth leaders at Frenchgate – later renamed as Gateway Christian Church in Hampden Park. He also advised Kings Church Eastbourne when it acquired its present building and later helped GodFirst Church in Christchurch with the development of its building.

“In Christchurch, where he eventually made his home with Sylvia, he became closely involved with GodFirst Christchurch, serving as a home-group leader and director. He also supported Christchurch Foodbank and the Christchurch Housing Society.

“His commitment to helping others extended into the wider Christian and voluntary sector. He served as a director of Habitat for Humanity Great Britain and was also involved with Moorlands College.

“For Peter, professional expertise was something to be shared. He had accumulated decades of knowledge about housing, buildings, organisations and people – and was generous with it.

“That generosity is perhaps the thread that runs through his life: whether working to improve housing in Eastbourne, advising a church on a building project, supporting people facing homelessness or encouraging those around him in their Christian faith, he was someone who wanted to make a practical difference.

“Peter leaves behind two children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, as well as his younger brother.

“His legacy is not simply the positions he held or the organisations with which he was involved. It is found in the people he helped, the churches he encouraged and the communities he served – including the Eastbourne community to which he gave three decades of his working life.

“For many in the town, Peter Kegg will be remembered with gratitude and affection as a man who believed that experience was most valuable when it was put to work for the benefit of others.”