Time to Save our Heritage!

A number of my colleagues and I feel that enough is enough, the Town's Heritage started to disappear the moment Stephen Lloyd's Lib-Dems took office in 2007 with the sale of Councillor's ceremonial robes and hats and the moving of Full Council Meetings from the historic Council Chamber to the cold and drafty Court Room on the ground floor. But now we are seeing wholesale acts of vandalism taking place such as the demolition of the Wish Tower Restaurant without any real consideration being given to preserving it for public use before either the funding or plans are in place to carry out a more ambitious redevelopment of the site. Even more disturbing, we now hear rumours that Ocklynge Chapel is to be demolished.

Now you might say well, how important is the Council Chamber and aren't robes and hats a bit of a pompous throwback to an ancient past? Whilst I respect your right to whatever your opinion is on this subject, I would say that when robes were originally introduced it was to give all members an equal standing so that whatever your background or whatever clothes you could afford, when the robes went on, all members were equal. But this is not the only purpose, when I was first elected to Eastbourne Borough Council in 2002, I remember putting on my robes and walking out into the Chamber for meetings and feeling a great sense of history and purpose in what I was doing, the act of putting on the robes and taking part in the democratic process in such a magnificent Chamber with portraits of former dignitaries looking down at you also gave one a great feeling of responsibility not only to do your best for ones constituents but also to treat your opponents in the chamber with respect and courtesy, even when you disagreed strongly on issues.

The Asset Management failings have been well documented already both in Council Meetings and local media in recent months (not to mention a few of my blog posts) and you may recall the hasty action that was rushed through by Cabinet despite understandable concern from the family who donated the Wish Tower Restaurant to the people of Eastbourne after World War 2 and numerous letters from residents and former customers expressing concern and disappointment.

Now we have two situations where more historic buildings look set to be flattened, Swanley Court which has been in Trinity Trees since circa late 1800's and Ocklynge Chapel in Ocklynge Cemetery. Swanley Court looks set to be flattened to make way for a characterless block for student accommodation and Ocklynge Chapel has apparently deteriorated to such an extent that it is a danger to the public.

How much more of our heritage can we trust to this Council and where will it stop? If you feel strongly about preserving our Town's Heritage and are interested in helping mount a campaign to ensure our Heritage is not lost as our Town continues to evolve and remain relevant in the future, contact me at councillor.warner@eastbourne.gov.uk