At the invitation of Pevensey Parish Councillors, I spent a day during February recess in the villages of Pevensey and Pevensey Bay.
My day started with meeting Chair of Pevensey Parish Council, Peter Lawton who also spent the day with me. Our first call was to residents of Gresham and Church Lane who had been suffering from regular flooding incidents culminating in a serious flood during the bout of heavy rainfall earlier this year. The situation was similar to one in Heathfield which was resolved last year with a multiple agency approach. Nick Gray from the Environment Agency joined us and the following Friday senior officers from East Sussex County Council and Southern Water attended a further meeting to examine the issues residents are facing. The road flooding appears to be related to highways drains and I'm pleased that ESCC are working to resolve that. An unrelated matter on sewage drainage is now also being sorted by Southern Water.
From there, we walked to Pevensey Recreation Ground, where the parish council is investing thousands of pounds into new play equipment and disabled access to the play area. The recreation ground is also used by the local cricket club and football club with large numbers attending to play or watch sporting activities every weekend. The sports clubs badly need a new pavilion building to provide changing facilities and a space for social activities. Pevensey is not an area allocated for housing so does not benefit from Community Infrastructure Levy for their local community so has to work hard to raise money for local projects. However, as Cllr Lawton pointed out, the growth of nearby Stone Cross and Polegate does impact Pevensey village and its amenities.
We then visited St Nicolas Church in Pevensey where we were met with church wardens, Ken Phillips and Linda Christian. This Grade 1 listed church dates from c1200 and has seen restoration and repair work over the centuries. It has around 20,000 visitors each year but like many churches, a relatively small regular congregation who use the church and look after it for future generations. Each year it hosts a popular Flower Festival and several concerts. This year, the Flower Festival will take place over the Whitsun weekend at the end of May.
Our delicious lunch break was at The Royal Oak and Castle Inn, where proprietor, Hayley Flitton, discussed the challenges of running a hospitality business in the current financial climate and the challenges of Covid. It is always really useful to talk to local business owners as this helps me feedback to colleagues in government. Energy bills and recruitment are currently Hayley's key concerns. I am working with the local hospitality sector to help boost take up of careers in hospitality. I ran two bars when I was at university. It's hard work but also extremely fun and rewarding. The customer service and business skills learnt in this sector are transferable right across all careers.
From the pub we headed to St Wilfrid's church hall where a local support group were holding their monthly meeting. The Rheumatoid Arthritis Group (R.A.S.C.A.L.S), led by the amazing Tina Whitmore and organising committee meet monthly and organise regular trips and outings. The support group has been running since 1993 and has helped hundreds if not thousands of people from across East Sussex who have this diagnosis. I would have liked to have spent a longer time with them but we had a tight schedule to keep so hope to visit again soon.
Cllr Lawton also pointed out the new Changing Places installation in Sea Road car park which provides toilet and changing facilities for those with limited mobility. The funding for this was achieved through a bid by Wealden District Council to the government's £30.5 million Changing Places toilet fund.
We then joined members of the Pevensey Bay Coastal Community Group and the Environment Agency to discuss the Pevensey Sea Defences. We talked about how government funding will be used to develop a project to protect the coastline from Eastbourne to Cooden Beach from sea flooding and climate change. It was good to listen to local views and to hear the response and proposals from the Environment Agency on the short term measures to keep protections in place whilst longer term solutions are being considered. The project is expected to evolve based on the latest climate change data on the threat of sea level rises and more frequent exceptional storm events. Thanks to the Massilia Bay restaurant for hosting the meeting and providing refreshments. The restaurant is a great new addition to Pevensey Bay and has brought an historic old pub building back into life.
Finally, I visited the Pevensey Bay library and community hub. It was so good to meet some of the library team, lead by Daniel Brookbank. The library is now run by a Community Interest Group and I recall being closely involved in the meetings and negotiations to ensure this provision was not lost from the village when East Sussex County Council made the decision to close the library. Since then, the library has increased its membership to over 700 users, operates as a community hub and this winter has opened its doors as a community warm space. The library is currently facing issues relating to serious damp and water ingress which must be resolved by the landlord and county council.
