POLITICIANS have given their enthusiastic backing to The Argus’s Seafront 2020 campaign which launched in the paper yesterday.

Councillors have agreed with our campaign aims to preserve, improve and invest in our seafront and have supported stronger working together to meet those ambitious goals.

In response to our campaign launch, Sussex politicians have pointed to exciting new plans already being worked on across the county that will see millions of pounds of investments, hundreds of jobs created and new attractions built.

But they have also backed the call for more action and a unified voice that will be heard in the corridors of power making it clear how valuable we hold our beloved coastline here in Sussex.

Brighton and Hove Labour councillor Gill Mitchell, who is chairwoman of the council’s seafront infrastructure scrutiny panel, agreed that there needed to be cross-council working to improve the county’s valuable resource especially as transport links and infrastructure crossed local authority boundaries.

She said despite the huge challenges facing Brighton and Hove’s seafront, she was optimistic about its future if the council was quick to seize on funding opportunities, making sure that major developments such as the King Alfred contributed towards improvements for the whole area and finding other funding opportunities outside of public investment.

She said: “Whether it is in a rural setting or an urban setting in Brighton and Hove, the seafront really does drive the economy, everybody loves a beach.

“The seafront really shouldn’t be neglected but there are different challenges in different places and there is no simple solution. Well done to The Argus for launching this campaign and I wish you all the best of luck with it.”

David Tutt, Liberal Democrat councillor and Eastbourne Borough Council leader, said there was a lot of positive news coming out of with funding in place for significant rejuvenation projects at the Redoubt Museum, Wish Tower and Devonshire Park.

He said: “One of the biggest challenges we face is the way that the national Government treats us in not recognising that tourism is the cornerstone of our economy.

“When they allocate the Government grant to local authorities, nothing is allocated to tourism or marketing which is nonsense, we need to have public money in support of the tourism industry.

“If we can speak with a single voice then that would be extremely powerful and I am happy to work with other councils, whatever their political colour, to make our case to Government. I fully back The Argus campaign.”

 

• OPINION: 'This city should be walking tall, not shuffling around with its eyes down'

Brighton and Hove has been the greatest seaside town in Britain for 250 years, writes Sir Anthony Seldon.

It still is today. More than that, it is the most vibrant, exciting and diverse seaside town in Europe. It has constantly punched below its weight, not because of lack of ambition from the countless extraordinary people who live and work in it, but because of a failure of leadership.

When we first moved to the city at the end of the last century, I was amazed by how unambitious and unfocused it was.

It should have been walking tall, but it was shuffling around, eyes down on the pavement, going in no particular direction, painfully slowly.

That’s why I wrote my book, Brave New City in 2002, as a cry of pain and aspiration about everything that Brighton and Hove can and should be, if only it got its act together.

It divided the city’s history into nine periods, highlighting when it was at its very best.

It described its top ten and worst ten buildings – and the worst 15 acts of vandalism where planners, politicians and builders had feathered their nests, pulled down great buildings for their own financial or political greed, and left us monstrosities.

It is all about leadership. Without leadership, in the arts, in business or in political life, nothing is optimised.

Look at what Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson have done for London. Whatever you think of their politics, they have raised the profile of London and the quality of life for those who live and work in it.

Brighton and Hove is in many ways a fantastic place today.

There has been some great progress in the last ten years and some real highlights – including the new football ground, even if it is in the wrong place, as my book described. But we have also had true idiocy, such as turning away Frank Gehry, one of the world’s greatest architects.

Had he been allowed to put up his iconic and dazzling buildings, so true to the wacky tradition which is part of our city, other great architects would have flowed here wanting to build world-class structures.

And in their wake would have come still more top business and finance, jobs and opportunities, more high tech and more media, more life.

The extra money generated would have paid for better infrastructure, so the city could have flowed and breathed better, we could have made more of the sea, beaches and seafront, more of the green spaces, more money to look after our heritage, more money for health, education and senior citizens.

I love the city dearly, as does my family. Living here has been wonderful. As I wrote in Brave New City, Brighton and Hove is not one, but many cities, the high culture city, the city of popular culture, of danger and homesteads, the political and louche city, the diverse and progressive city.

It has also too often been a gormless city.

But with leadership and imagination, we can give the city what it so badly needs, and it can truly become Europe’s top city by the sea which is its birth-right.

Anthony Seldon was headmaster of Brighton College from 1997 to 2005 and wrote Brave New City in 2002

 

• Pier repairs cost more than £4m

MORE than £4 million has been spent on restoring a Sussex crown jewel to its former glory.

Eastbourne Pier owners have spent in excess of £4 million to date on rebuilding the Victorian structure after last year’s fire.

The work – commissioned by Crown Entertainment Centres – will ensure the main pier deck is open in time for the spring and summer holiday months and that the pier remains an iconic attraction for the town.

Christos Stylianou, Eastbourne Pier’s general manager, said: “The pier is such an integral part of the town that we have been working round the clock to restore it to its former glory as quickly as possible.

“Since the fire, we have mobilised a wide range of specialist tradesmen and technicians to first ensure public safety and then begin the arduous task of debris removal and clear up, damaged steel work dismantling and most recently the restoration of the vast promenade decking.

“Our significant investment commitment is a reflection of how important the Pier is to the people of Eastbourne, how much it is cherished, and how much we at Crown Entertainments wanted to demonstrate our belief in the longevity of this popular and iconic landmark.”

The £2 million grant pledged by the Prime Minister the day after the pier fire does not make up any part of the investment into the pier, which is being solely funded by owners Crown Entertainment Centres.

The Government money will support a number of projects to regenerate and promote tourism in the town.