Eastbourne Eco Action Network (EEAN) welcomes the decision to approve the new bus lanes. The East Sussex County Council (ESCC) Lead Member for Transport and Environment now supports the revised plans for bus priority measures along Seaside and St Anthony’s Avenue. This being part of the county council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan.
The second public consultation showed that the majority (56%) of replies supported the new plans. Following concerns from local residents and businesses, changes have been made to the original proposal with the result that there will be more parking places than originally planned along the route.
The new plans are predicted to have little or no detrimental effect to journey times along the two roads but would reduce bus journey times, greatly improve reliability and make the bus an attractive alternative for short, local and cross-town trips.
Local councils want to support public transport, walking, cycling and wheeling. ESCC have received £41 million from the government to support better bus services. Bus priority is important for Eastbourne to be able to move to a more sustainable transport system in the future. Buses provide transport for all members of the population including the old, young, disabled and those unable to afford cars.
EEAN are confident that the bus priority measures will be successfully introduced and that local businesses will continue to thrive.
There has to be a better way to implement new transport schemes, than making two sets of campaigners, fight it out.
Seaside
The contentious Eastbourne Seaside bus lanes, which have now been agreed by East Sussex County Council (ESCC), still have to be redrawn and then go back to the Department for Transport , for a third time, for final sign off. Large amounts of money have already been spent on redesigning, two consultations, micro modelling traffic flows, health and safety and equality assessments . All this while nothing has been built and a year has gone by.
Non Bus Lane Options
However is seems that outside of the formal process it is possible for the various campaigning sides to agree what they think would work.
In terms of the £41M Bus Service Improvement Programme (BSIP) measures this includes:-
A scheme, proposed in the BSIP consultation, of a 100m ‘bus gate’ at then end of Atlantic Drive and the Crumbles, that would join the North and South harbours for buses. Perhaps a modified version of the 5 and 5A could then run along the seafront and through the harbour. This could lead to a faster and more regular service for the new housing developments.
Priority Traffic Lights for buses, where they actively change the lights, to let them through. You can see the idea at Huggetts Lane in Willingdon , where lights miss a phase if nobody wants to turn right or the green light stays longer if more traffic is on one direction. This makes the traffic flow better. Now add in the detection of buses and perhaps have longer, or earlier green phases. Of course the other vehicles on the same carriageway would also benefit. ESCC have £1.5M for 34 locations where there will be priority lights. Let us make the most of these time savings.
These are both examples of widespread support. There is then less likelihood of campaigners disagreeing and more of the tight budget will be spent on actually building schemes.
Cycling
The same idea should also be used for cycle routes, where there is a often a consensus, that off-road routes do not cause issues for motor vehicles. Such successful schemes include Horsey Sewer, Cuckoo Trail and the A27 shared path to Firle. So let us prioritise these where possible, instead of contentious and poorly configured solutions that are ‘shoehorned’ into narrow spaces on roads and footways.
Based on letter in Eastbourne Herald and Sussex Express ( on line)
What a wasted opportunity! Thousands of new houses are being built in South Wealden without enough solar panels. Very similar in Eastbourne where apart from small schemes, houses are being built with either no or inadequate solar. This being the sunniest place in the UK!
Background
The price of solar panels ( Photovoltaic PV) keeps dropping dramatically . So why do local councils not influence builders in making the most of this clean energy?
It would make sense to reduce electricity grid demand by ensuring that all our newly built homes have enough solar panels. This does not appear to be happening. Where they are included, there can be as few as 2 panels and no battery. This would provide up to 1kW. This is barely enough to run a toaster.
Eastbourne’s previous MP, Caroline Ansell, in 2022 backed a bill, to make solar panels mandatory on new homes. “Solar costs have fallen by 50 per cent in the last seven years and I believe it is now the right time to ensure developers put this technology on all new homes.This is a win for homeowners and the planet. Installing solar is green and it will cut energy costs for people when gas and electricity prices are high and will remain so for some time.”
Sunsave says “The benefit of legally mandated solar panels on new builds in the UK would be enormous, and it seems to be on the horizon. However, until that time, it’s crucial that developers refrain from putting a pointlessly small number of solar panels on the roofs of new properties, as this only causes headaches for homeowners further down the line. “
Locally
Hindsland – Eastbourne Road Polegate
Some developers are doing well and some not. Here is an example in Hindsland (Polegate) . There will be 180 houses, where each unit, has around 2 solar panels. Next to it will be Mornings Mill with 800 units. Let us hope this will do better.
In the main picture is an estate in Hellingly. These houses have 4 to 6 panels. However on the other side of the road is a huge estate with next to none.
Building Regulations
So solar panels aren’t compulsory on new builds. They have become a common way for developers to meet certain building regulations. Many builders choose to install them in order to meet the required SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) score for energy efficiency.
By incorporating solar panels in the roof, developers enhance the property’s energy performance and raise their SAP score. This score is a calculation of its energy cost performance and renewable energy sources. Each building’s SAP score is then used in its Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating.
SAP scores are on a scale of 1 to 100+ with higher scores indicating better energy efficiency and less environmental impact. A score of over 100 would mean that the property’s net cost of energy over the year is nil, perhaps due to exporting back to the grid.
According to the UK Government’s most recent survey, the average SAP rating was less than 70 points. So how do developers get a higher score?
Walls, roofs, and floors are well-insulated
High-efficiency boilers or heat pump
Solar panels
Using double/ triple-glazed windows LED lighting
Mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR)
Less heat loss by design & construction
Smart thermostats & heating controls
So solar panels are just one way to increase the score. But adding only 2 panels can have negative effects. One common problem is that developers don’t use all the available roof space. The property gets a higher SAP score but with only a few panels the actual impact on energy bills is negligible.
This can then create challenges if the homeowner decides to expand their solar panel system. Sometimes the original panels might be sunk into the roof and will need to be removed, to allow for a larger system, which adds to the total cost.
From the house to the Power Grid is becoming bi-directional (From Octopus )
Often the developers will provide an EV charger, for each house, but this will need to use the national grid . What a waste ! When more panels and batteries could result in free power. The idea of ‘National Grid 2.0’ allows for electric cars with solar panels and a battery, to export excess energy and provide enough household energy for up to a week.
Conclusion
Many developers appear to be installing as few solar panels as possible. This will not support net zero. There should be a minimum number. Perhaps 4 panels in a ‘standard house’ with even more in larger ones.
There will be new Eastbourne bus lanes in 2025/26. They will mark a major step in improving public transport and reducing congestion in the town. They will also deliver significant benefits to bus reliability and journey times. The bus lanes, which will run along Seaside and St Anthony’s, are part of a wider effort to promote sustainable transport solutions. Plus they should reduce the number of car trips in the town. Priority for buses is an important step in reducing traffic on our congested roads.
East Sussex County Council’s officers (ESCC) have recommended these bus lanes should proceed. With the final decision being made at the ESCC Transport and Environment Committee on November 18th.
Background
The Government gave £41m to ESCC, for their Bus Service Improvement Programme (BSIP). ESCC state this funding is to “… to ensure that East Sussex residents and visitors enjoy the highest possible quality bus services that provide a frequent and comprehensive choice, reduce congestion and make a positive contribution to better air quality and decarbonisation.”
Without new bus priority infrastructure, such as these bus lanes, it is unlikely to succeed.
Initial Consultation
The Initial BSIP bus priority public consultation ran for 8 weeks in 2023. However the Seaside scheme had 70% opposing it. The responses highlighted concerns about the loss of on-street parking provision. As well as the negative impact on general traffic flow due to reallocating road space for bus lanes. The designers were then told to reconsider the design.
Unfortunately one of the effects of the bus lanes being rejected, as Stagecoach predicted, was the Government did not allocate any funds to the county for Zero Emission buses (ZEBRA) . Whilst Surrey, West Sussex , Kent and Brighton were funded for hydrogen and electric buses.
Second Consultation
There was then a modified scheme. This had the proposed cycle infrastructure removed. Plus a considerable number of parking places reinstated. This was to address the concerns of residents and local businesses along Seaside. This design was consulted on and this is the scheme that has been accepted. See details here
This second consultation had 2,788 completed surveys. 56% supported the new scheme and 37% opposed it. It is fair to say, this has split the town, with some opposition from some local business owners. As is often the case, businesses may over estimate the number of their customers, who drive to their premises. Only time will tell what affect the bus lanes will have!
Time Savings
ESCC predict improvements, for bus times, will vary by the time of day but should be Eastbound up to 3.6 minutes and Westbound 3.4 minutes. So on a return trip around 7 minutes. Plus there is the benefit of a more reliable timetable.
Following concerns from residents there was also further modelling undertaken. This was to include the local streets, that had junctions on Seaside. The conclusion was that “nil detriment to general traffic journey times in both the AM and PM peak periods, whilst delivering significant benefits to bus reliability and journey times.”
Bus lanes along Seaside should be good for passengers. They will also play a vital role in improving overall mobility in Eastbourne , give people greater transport choices, make the area more liveable as well as improve the environment.
The importance of bus services in and around Eastbourne was a major topic at the initial meeting of the Eastbourne Area Bus Users Group (EABUG). This event took place in Eastbourne Town Hall on 16th October 2024. The group is an initiative of the Eastbourne Eco Action Network (EEAN). It aims to provide an interface between bus users, bus companies and local authorities. EABUG plans to meet three times a year.
Prominent among those present were representatives of local bus companies, Stagecoach, Brighton & Hove and Cuckmere buses. Also present were representatives of local disability groups, local and county councillors plus members of the public.
Jill Shacklock and David Everson (EEAN) both highlighted the need for good bus services. This was for those who could not drive or afford to drive, school children, those with disabilities or the elderly. They also emphasised the need to develop good sustainable transport systems.
East Sussex CC
A member of the East Sussex Bus Team, Donnalyn Morris, gave an update on a variety of infrastructure projects that had been taking place in Eastbourne and Friston. Work on the Hailsham Mobility Hub was yet to start, with discussions currently taking place with Tesco about the project. The consultation about the proposed Bus Priority measures along Seaside and St Anthony’s in Eastbourne had now completed and a decision would be made in November.
Stagecoach
Matthew Arnold, Commercial Director, Stagecoach South East expressed concern over the detrimental effect that congestion had on bus punctuality and highlighted problems in Eastbourne. He described these as the worst in the south east. He stated that car traffic was up 15% on pre Covid levels whilst bus passenger numbers had only risen to 94% of pre-Covid usage.
In addition, he also stated that buses were hindered by lack of co-ordination in the planning of roadworks. There needed to be more advance information sharing between ESCC and utility companies.
Brighton & Hove
Ben Garcia, from Brighton and Hove Buses, informed the meeting of recent improvements to their bus services. They are now a UK lead when it comes to inclusivity on their buses. They have dementia friendly seating and their drivers are trained to be ‘Dementia Friends’. All their buses are ‘talking buses’.
Cuckmere
Nick Price from Cuckmere Buses informed the meeting that their operation of eight, 16 seater buses were all driven by volunteers and that their new timetables would be published soon.
The main body of the meeting involved presentations, discussions and workshops about ‘Accessible Information’ on buses. New legislation requires most buses to provide information to passengers about the bus number and route and next stop information. Importantly the information must be given both visually and aurally. The new legislation came into force on 1st October 2024 for buses registered after October 2019. Older buses that need to be retrofitted with display boards and sound systems must be accessible by October 2026.
Using Apps
During the meeting there was a short presentation on how to use both Stagecoach and Brighton & Hove Bus Apps. QR codes were also highlighted as a quick means of accessing information at bus stops. A limiting factor for both of these sources of information is the necessity to have a Smart phone to access it.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of EABUG is planned for February 2025.
For further details please visit – Eastbourne ECO Action Network.
Some of us from the Eastbourne Eco Action Network team paid a visit to the Gather Community Garden at the Churchdale allotments in Eastbourne recently and had a chat with the team there about how they deal with some of the impacts of climate change on their site. The community garden is well-managed with a large team of volunteers busily looking after a wide variety of food crops, with much of the surplus distributed to foodbanks and community fridges across the town, helping to alleviate food insecurity locally through a steady supply of fresh, organic, nutritious fruit and vegetables.
What emerged from the chat was that the garden experiences growing problems from both the stronger winds and more intense rainfall events that climate change is bringing to the local area. The winds can now be so strong that the roofs of various wooden structures around the site may be blown off at times, or the structures themselves might be blown over, resulting in much maintenance work to repair and reinforce those structures. The wind effect is most pronounced on the side of the site most exposed to the wind because of a lack of trees on that side, but the opposite side of the site is bounded by a line of very tall trees, providing good wind protection on that side.
section of garden where flooding is most severe
More significantly, the site experiences severe flooding at times, especially as the site is very much in the Eastbourne Levels, a low-lying area of town almost at sea-level and therefore difficult to drain fast enough during periods of intense rainfall. The solution that the garden is seeking is the insertion of a French drain alongside one side of the site, then linking that drain to a drainage ditch (the Horsey Sewer) just outside the entrance to the site. This ditch is part of a vast network of drainage ditches that help to drain the Eastbourne and Pevensey levels, which receive a huge volume of water from the many rivers and streams flowing into them throughout the water catchment area. Indeed, without this drainage network, the Eastbourne Levels would revert to becoming the marshland it once was centuries ago.
a diagram of a traditional French drain
According to Wikipedia, “A French drain (also known by other names including trench drain, blind drain,rubble drain, and rock drain) is a trench filled with gravel or rock, or both, with or without a perforated pipe that redirects surface water and groundwater away from an area. The perforated pipe is called a weeping tile (also called a drain tile or perimeter tile). When the pipe is draining, it “weeps”, or exudes liquids. It was named during a time period when drainpipes were made from terracotta tiles. French drains are primarily used to prevent ground and surface water from penetrating or damaging building foundations and as an alternative to open ditches or storm sewers for streets and highways. Alternatively, French drains may be used to distribute water, such as a septic drain field at the outlet of a typical septic tank sewage treatment system. French drains are also used behind retaining walls to relieve ground water pressure”.
But the garden is waiting for permission from the Environment Agency for permission to connect the French drain to the drainage network, as the agency has the ultimate responsibility for the network and controls the water quality as well as maintaining the many pumps and sluice gates that regulate the flow of water through the network. This permission is essential before work on installing the drain can begin (assuming sufficient funds can be raised for this project).
Whilst we were at the garden, we talked to a volunteer about his work and discovered that one of the problems the site experiences in very hot summers is the soil drying out and becoming very hard, making it difficult to break up when preparing a new growing bed. There is plenty of mains water on site so watering the rowing beds is not an issue (apart from the labour involved!), so there is not an emphasis on having lots of rainwater butts on site like we saw on other sites like the forest garden in Pevensey, which lacks mains water. However, the volunteer did report that he would like to see a large water container sunk into the ground on site to store water so as to reduce the amount of walking from the mains water pipes outside site to the growing beds.
Guest Blog by David Everson – Chair of the EEAN Transport Group
Information for those wishing to complete the ESCC Bus Priority Measures consultation for Seaside and St Anthony’s, Eastbourne, which closes on 18th August 2024.
The EEAN Transport Group support the revised proposals for Bus Priority Measures and would encourage as many people as possible to support the plans in a positive way.
As we look to the future, we need to encourage the use of mass transport systems such as buses to reduce congestion on our roads. Bus can be used by most people including the young and old who are not able to drive a car, or other sections of the community who cannot afford to drive.
Key points
The plan to spend £3 million is a significant investment for Eastbourne and will help the town move towards sustainable transport in the long term.
The plan will reduce bus journey times through the proposed bus lane area particularly at peak times making bus use a more attractive option for travellers.
The introduction of several pedestrian crossings will improve pedestrian safety and assist those who walk to bus stops.
The bus lanes will take up some road space and the amount of parking along Seaside will be reduced. However, surveys carried out by ESCC indicate that sufficient parking will remain for both residents and local businesses.
Traffic flow through the project area will be eased and so reduce congestion along Seaside and St Anthony’s. This will make buses more reliable.
If passenger numbers increase due to the bus priority measures, then bus companies will be more likely to invest in more buses on routes.
If buses are not hindered by congestion, then it is much more likely that bus companies will invest in electric buses which will assist in efforts to decarbonise our transport and improve air quality.
There is no evidence that the introduction of a bus lane will damage the viability of local businesses, in fact studies have shown that bus lanes can increase footfall for businesses along routes.
Eastbourne is one of the most car dependant towns in the South East of England and the provision of bus lanes will encourage people on to the buses.
Eastbourne Food Partnership’s community engagement stall.
At a recent community fair at the Langney Community Centre, at which the Eastbourne Food Partnership ran a community engagement stall with regards to the new community garden being developed outside the centre, I chatted with Martin Hills, the gardener employed part-time by the centre to help design and develop the community garden on land owned by Eastbourne Borough Council. Martin is a qualified permaculture designer and is applying his knowledge of permaculture design principles to help design the community garden, which is about 0.75 acres in size. As he says in his garden plan: “The aim is for a thriving, self-sustaining ecosystem that meets the needs of its inhabitants – including human. To this end, it will be a place where people want to be, a place of beauty, a place that appeals to all the senses, a place where some human food can be grown, a place to play, a place to sit and quietly reflect, a place to connect with Nature”.
Martin Hills with his community garden design.Martin standing in front of the community garden.
As the garden design incorporates vegetable beds already partly prepared, and an orchard already under development, as well as a forest garden that would contain plants that can be foraged, I asked Martin about how the food growing systems in the garden would cope with the extreme weather events now more frequently occurring as climate change accelerates. He replied that the key is diversity of planting and designing in resilience to the garden. The greater the diversity of food crops and plants grown within the garden, the more likely that there would be some crops in any year that would survive extreme weather events, even if other crops failed in that year, something that would have to be expected and accepted to some extent as climate change progresses. Increasing the chance of survivability would be made possible by the extensive use of no-dig methods, deep-rooting plants (especially perennials), and cover-mulching (with compost and humus produced on-site) to protect the stability and quality of the soil as well as ensuring enough drainage to prevent the soil from either drying out too much or becoming too wet. The site is on a slope, and elevated above the Eastbourne floodplain, so it does not suffer the kind of extensive flooding during extreme rainfall events that, for example, some of the allotments sites in the lower part of town do.
Google satellite image of Langney community garden.
The addition of forest gardening principles within the garden also helps as it increases biological sustainability and plant diversity, attracts pollinators and other beneficial wildlife, helps keep pests and diseases under control, and provides leaf litter, leading to increased nutrient resistance and drought resistance (particularly useful given that Eastbourne is in a water-stressed area and increasingly severe droughts are a feature of climate change in the south east of England). This helps to ensure the garden can flourish without large amounts of watering. The other useful feature of forest gardens is that they also allow for continual food output without annual tilling, pesticides, fertilisers, or other high inputs of chemicals or energy. Another good example of how a forest garden works can be seen at the Pevensey & Westham Community Forest Garden, a very short distance away from Langney.
Martin standing next to the copper beech tree in the community garden.
The community garden already has an abundance of mature trees around the edges, including a magnificent copper beech tree providing valuable cool shade. There are also some new tree saplings planted by Treebourne, which will provide valuable shade along the side of the garden next to the road. Trees help protect young crops by providing wind-shelter against winter storms and cooling shade during summer heatwaves, invaluable as the UK now experiences warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers.
Martin explained that, as the community garden develops, whatever surplus food is produced by it will be directed to the foodbank and community larder hosted by the Langney Community Centre each week, helping to ensure that there is a regular, fresh supply of healthy organic fruit, nuts, and vegetables to supplement surplus food brought in from elsewhere. This will help to build local food security and food resilience in Langney, one of the relatively more deprived areas of Eastbourne, and this is so important given that national and international food supply chains are increasingly coming under stress due to the impacts of climate change.
Martin at the edge of the circular lawn.
The creation of a large, circular lawn in the centre of the garden would facilitate outdoor community gatherings as well as workshops to educate local people about matters such as foraging, crop processing, plant identification, etc. The Langney Community Centre is keen to facilitate this education, as evidenced by the explanatory signs in the Edible Garden already developed on a small patch of land immediately in front of the centre and maintained by a keen band of volunteers.
Martin’s top tip for growers is to avoid digging the soil as much as possible, as digging disturbs the soil life that is essential for good plant growth and efficient drainage.
Pevensey Bay is a low-lying coastal community in East Sussex, next-door to the large resort town of Eastbourne. The shingle bank along Pevensey Bay’s seafront provides protection from the strong storm surges that often come its way, especially in winter. But the village also experiences flooding inland, as several drainage channels run through it, helping to drain the large water catchment area known as the Pevensey Levels, a freshwater wetland renowned for its wildlife. Because the village is more or less at the level of the high-water mark, the water in the drainage channels can sometimes only be released out to sea when the ebb tide falls below the level of the water in those channels, which can be very full in periods of intense rainfall, periods which will become ever more frequent and intense as anthropogenic climate change accelerates. This can lead to the channels overflowing their banks at times.
flooding in winter of 2023-24
To explore this phenomenon further, following on from my previous investigation on climate change impacts on local food growing, in collaboration with the Eastbourne Food Partnership, I paid a visit in June 2024 to some allotments at Pevensey Bay owned by Pevensey Parish Council, situated off Waverley Gardens. These allotments are next to the Salt Haven, one of the main drainage channels running through the village, and therefore had a history of flooding incidents. From my conversations with some of the allotment holders on site, it was clear that many of the allotments there are flooded at least once every year, but that the winter of 2023-24 was the worst in living memory for flooding, as there were about 4 or 5 very severe flooding incidents. Not all the site gets flooded, as about half the allotments are on higher ground as much of the site slopes gently upwards from the Salt Haven. But all those allotments that back directly onto the haven do flood every year.
fruit trees next to Salt Haven
The main impact of the flooding is that growing vegetables is pretty much impossible in winter on the areas that do flood, but it was noticeable that there were many large, mature fruit trees and bushes on the areas that experienced flooding every year, and that they seemed to be flourishing, with plenty of fruit developing on them, which seemed to indicate a high degree of tolerance to the flooding than if vegetables were planted, perhaps indicating how the allotment holders had adapted to such flooding by earmarking those areas just for fruit growing. Certainly the allotment holders I spoke to were phlegmatic about the flooding situation, accepted that only fruit trees were capable of surviving the flooding and just planned most of their vegetable growing higher up on the slope above the flooding level. But they reported that because there had been so much rain over the previous winter, the whole site was so waterlogged that most vegetable planting had to be significantly delayed until May, shortening the growing season quite considerably. The difficulties for growers on the site is reflected in the fact that the rental charges for the allotments are much lower than on other allotments in the area, especially in Eastbourne. However, it was clear from my site visit that, once planting had finally got under way, the productivity of the site appeared to be high, with most allotment plots demonstrating a healthy abundance and growth of crops.
pipe outlet that exacerbates allotment flooding
One allotment holder was keen to show me a drainage pipe outlet that was below the haven bank as it apparently aids the flooding of the site by allowing the water to flow easily onto the site well before the haven breaks it banks, leading to a much more rapid and more frequent flooding of the site than perhaps should be the case. It appears that there is no tide flap (or the tide flap is damaged or malfunctioning) on the haven side of the pipe to shut off the flow when the water level in the haven rises above the level of the pipe. I heard that there are probably several other similar pipes on site within the bank undergrowth with the same or similar issues, which has been raised by some allotment holders with the local Environment Agency staff to no avail apparently.
view of Salt Haven from allotments bank
It does raise the possibility of whether a survey could be done at some point (perhaps by the Blue Heart Project or an organisation funded by it?) to investigate what kind of pipe drainage does actually exist along the Salt Haven and how it affects water levels both within the haven and beyond its banks. Such a survey would presumably involve extensive clearing of the undergrowth along the bank to check where the pipes are and what condition they are in. But it would perhaps generate valuable data about how the haven actually functions in a critical stretch of it before it reaches the sea, and also create more accurate data about how fluvial flooding impacts Pevensey Bay generally, as many of the gardens elsewhere in the village also experience flooding from the drainage channels.
The impacts of climate change are becoming ever clearer and more damaging as the years go by. One of the most significant impacts is on the way we grow food. As climate scientists predicted, UK winters are becoming warmer and wetter, and last winter was no exception, resulting in significant crop losses for UK farmers. It also resulted in greater difficulties for local growers in the Eastbourne area, such as smallholders, allotment holders, community gardens, etc, especially as intense rainfall events led to flooding issues on many growing spaces, followed by weeks of very sodden ground that made any work very challenging. The need for growers to adapt to a rapidly changing climate is becoming ever more acute.
in response, the Eastbourne Eco Action Network has begun a collaboration with the Eastbourne Food Partnership, supported by the Blue Heart project, to survey the ways in which local growers are responding to the challenges of growing food despite the impacts of climate change and investigate how such growers can be better supported in their climate adaptation efforts.
One such local growing project is the Pevensey & Westham Community Forest Garden, which has been running for the last 8 years, planting many fruit and nut trees and bushes on land that had fallen out of active management for many years, becoming an unkempt and overgrown scrub and woodland in the process. The volunteers that run the forest garden report that they have not experienced any significant drop in fruit and nut production even during intense heatwaves or periods of intense rainfall, primarily because:
the site is very well-drained, being in the Pevensey Levels where the extensive network of deep and wide drainage channels is carefully monitored to ensure water levels in the channels are kept at stable levels with no flooding onto adjacent land (the Langney Sewer runs alongside the forest garden but has never flooded onto it).
the site is protected by shading from an extensive tree canopy that keeps the forest garden cool enough during heatwaves, reduces water evaporation from the soil and ground cover, and protects young plants against strong winds during winter storms.
community orchard site next to Pevensey Castle
The forest garden volunteers point out that, by contrast, a community orchard they have been developing in the last few years on an exposed site next to Pevensey Castle, a short distance away from the forest garden, did suffer a big drop in fruit production in 2022 during the intense summer heatwave that resulted in the UK reaching a temperature of 40 degrees C for the first time ever. The relative lack of tree cover for the orchard, compared to the forest garden, meant that the young fruit trees did not have enough shade, putting them under great stress.
rainwater butts at side of forest garden tool shed
However, the main issue for the forest garden is the lack of any mains water on site, which means that in intense heatwaves and periods of prolonged drought there is no supply of water readily available for any watering needs. This has necessitated the volunteers setting up many water butts and rainwater cisterns on site to capture and store as much rainwater as possible. Rainwater conservation is sure to become ever more important for all growers and gardeners as time goes by, especially as fresh water is generally becoming an ever more scare, and more costly, resource in the water-stressed south-east of England.
Forest gardening is therefore one way in which food growing can be adapted to changing climate conditions. But other local food growing enterprises and communities will be visited over the course of the next few months to discover how they try and cope with the challenges of climate change and what kinds of help they may need to cope better.
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However is seems that outside of the formal process it is possible for the various campaigning sides to agree what they think would work.
The same idea should also be used for cycle routes, where there is a often a consensus, that off-road routes do not cause issues for motor vehicles. Such successful schemes include Horsey Sewer, Cuckoo Trail and the A27 shared path to Firle. So let us prioritise these where possible, instead of contentious and poorly configured solutions that are ‘shoehorned’ into narrow spaces on roads and footways.
Some of us from the Eastbourne Eco Action Network team paid a visit to the 
