The Town Centre Neighbourhood Panel is unusual in that it includes parts of three Council Wards. In the west the area that it covers goes as far as College Road in Lower Meads Ward.  The northern boundary is The Avenue in Upperton Ward and in the east it is Bourne Street with the addition of all of Pevensey Road and Ceylon Place in Devonshire Ward.

This area covers the major retail area of Eastbourne together with theatres, night clubs, and many public houses, restaurants and takeaway food outlets which together form the centre for the night time economy. It is also an area with a wide range of residential property with a high proportion of high density housing with many small households in flats and houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).

 

About the Town Centre Neighbourhood Panel

The Town Centre Neighbourhood Panel has a challenging task in addressing the needs of residents as well as those of the day and night time economies and the visitors that these attract. Decisions about Town Centre issues can have a profound effect on the whole of Eastbourne as for example in the paid parking scheme imposed by East Sussex County Council.

The Panel builds upon an established practice of cooperation between agencies to address Town Centre problems. Examples of this include the joint action by Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and Eastbourne Borough Council to target and close poorly run HMOs and the work commissioned by the Eastbourne Strategic Partnership which led to publication of the Devonshire Ward Area Profile .

The Devonshire Project which was created to address the needs identified in this document is very important to the Town Centre and the neighbouring Seaside Panels. A Devonshire Neighbourhood Action Plan produced after extensive consultation with residents has recently been published. This describes work carried out over the last two years across a range of themes and includes detailed action plans for the three priorities chosen by residents. It provides the background against which the Town Centre and Seaside Panels choose their own priorities.

The Town Centre Panel meets every 6 to 8 weeks at the Town Hall. The date of the next meeting may be found on the Panel News Page