The Levelling Up Fund is central to Government’s ambition to level up the country – investing in high value local infrastructure and building stronger and more resilient local economies and communities. It is especially intended to support investment in places where it can make the biggest difference to everyday life, including ex-industrial areas, deprived towns and coastal communities.
Eastbourne Borough Council applied for funding in Round One of the Levelling Up Fund. Notification was received in October 2021 that a bid for investment has been successful and the full £19.85m has been secured. An executive summary document of our bid is provided below.
To view the Levelling Up Fund prospectus visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-fund-prospectus
Update on Eastbourne Levelling Up Projects: December 2022
Our bid links Eastbourne to the Downs and establishes the town as the Eastern Gateway to the South Downs National Park connecting key commercial areas and enhancing livelihoods along the way.
Victoria Place
Following the completion of the public consultation on 20 November 2022 that East Sussex County Council ran on the proposals for Victoria Place, as part of the final stage of the Eastbourne Town Centre Movement and Access Package; all the responses to the consultation have been collated and are currently being analysed, following which a report will be produced, summarising and consolidating the feedback received; which will then inform the next stages of detailed design development.
More information can be found on the East Sussex Consultation Hub: Eastbourne Town Centre Phase 2b Public Consultation page
Key project dates:
- Public consultation: Publication of report early spring 2023
- Detailed design completion: late spring 2023
- Construction: autumn 2023
- Project complete: spring 2025
Towner Centenary
The Levelling Up works for Towner’s Centenary are focused on ensuring its ambitious programme of activities throughout 2023 that will increase the value of tourism to the town. This includes capital improvement works to the top floor of the gallery ahead of the internationally recognised Turner Prize exhibition in September 2023. It also includes a programme of legacy public artworks produced in collaboration with communities in the Langney and Devonshire wards.
The capital improvement works to the top floor of Towner are in the construction phase and on schedule to complete in April. These works will deliver a much-improved catering facility, with more covers and an up-to-date kitchen. This will enable the gallery to further expand its offer, creating new jobs in the hospitality sector, supporting new sustainable income for the charity and inform new engagement activities around food for our learning programmes. It will also improve the meeting and office facilities at the gallery significantly, so it can continue to perform a key role as a cultural leader in Eastbourne and the wider region. These works are critical to supporting the growing audience numbers at the gallery especially in its Centenary year, which features a large Barbara Hepworth exhibition and the world-famous Turner Prize.
Regarding the legacy public artworks, the commissioning artists are in the process of being appointed and will begin working with community groups during the spring with regular sessions continuing throughout the year. Participants and artists will co-produce the new public artworks together with installation due in spring 2024.
Key project dates:
- Partnership agreements: complete
- Agree construction plan: complete
- Building design: complete
Black Robin Farm
Conceptual designs have been prepared and are currently being developed by a consultant team of experienced construction professionals to meet core funding outputs. These will then provide a basis for the next round of consultations, with updates following the feedback received from the stakeholder groups, and in the lead up to a planning submission.
Surveys, reports, and assessments carried out by ecologists, archaeologists, sustainability experts, landscape designers and transport analysts are being refined to support our planning application, with the next Design Review Panel with the South Downs National Park (SDNP) expected to take place late February / early March.
Farm relocation proposals are now agreed in principle with SDNP, the detailed design work to be carried out early 2023, and with works to commence thereafter.
Consultations have continued, with visits to primary education providers during December, disability arts group in January, and college groups taken to site as part of their course activities. Discussions continue to progress with the East Sussex College Group (ESCG) to deliver further education and adult courses as part of the operational delivery, exploring both new courses and enhancing existing to take advantage of the site environment.
A joint appointment has been made by the Council with the Towner to further the overarching business case, strategy, and operational delivery for the project. The specialist consultant, with extensive experience in the sector, will support in the business case development alongside the physical development of the site.
Key (estimated) project dates:
- PAR Submitted to extend programme: January 2023
- Business case consultant appointed: January 2023
- Appointment of cost consultant: February 2023
- LUF Stakeholder Group:February / March 2023
- Public consultation: March 2023
- Apply for planning permission: May 2023
- Secure planning permission: August 2023
- Appoint construction contractor: October 2023
- Commence works on site: November 2023
The programme continues to be monitored, reviewed, and updated, continuing to operate within very tight timeframes, subject also to a response from government on the PAR submission. The impacts of inflation and rising costs in the industry continue to be reviewed and the appointment of a cost consultant at this stage will help to verify expenditure and what is deliverable in the context of the LUF funding outputs.
The project however continues to move at pace and will continue to be progressed in consultation with the LUF Stakeholder Group.
