Eastbourne Eco Action Network 2025 Symposium
By Sam Powell
Nearly six years since Eastbourne Borough Council (EBC) set its target to become carbon neutral by 2030 and the Eastbourne ECO Action Network (EEAN) was formed, the 2025 Symposium offered a moment to reflect on progress, reassess goals, and explore the next steps.
Symposium Panel Discussion
Collaborative dialogue on climate action
Eight presentations, followed by a panel Q&A and open discussion, brought together EEAN members, local councillors, Donnalyn Morris (Bus Service Improvement Plan Officer at East Sussex County Council (ESCC)), representatives from organisations registered as Community Interest Companies and Community Benefit Societies, businesses, charities, campaigners, and residents, including Lord Ralph Lucas.
Participants included representatives from Energise Sussex Coast (ESC), Plastic Free Eastbourne, Bespoke Cycle Group, the Eastbourne United Nations Association (EUNA), the Eastbourne Climate Coalition, international groups such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, and Emmanuel Church, the venue host.
The afternoon began with two opening speeches, one from EEAN’s Executive Director, Andrew Durling and another from EBC Leader Councillor Stephen Holt. Cllr Holt’s speech recognised the achievements of EEAN and associated groups since 2019. He praised EEAN’s role as a “critical friend” to EBC, challenging but constructive, providing a dialogue for improvement toward the 2030 carbon-neutral goal.
Andy outlined how carbon cycles are essential to life on Earth and stressed the urgent need to restore balance by cutting emissions and enhancing natural carbon capture. We need actions like tree planting and soil restoration to increase the ability of the land and ocean to absorb the excess carbon and neutralise the excess of carbon emitted.
He also highlighted the success of local initiatives, from Treebourne and food allotments, attempting to relocalise the food system and EUNA’s carbon offsetting project, to hospital car park solar panels, Energise Sussex Coast, and many other environmental projects across the town.
Andy Durling
Community energy, retrofits, fuel vouchers and beyond
Richard Watson, co-founder of ESC, gave a compelling presentation on their community-owned solar projects, including new schemes to install shared solar in blocks of flats using Solshare technology, allowing residents to equitably share the solar energy supplied.
As a Community Benefit Society, ESC secures grants and raises funds through community share offers, so that local energy is owned by local people and supports the local economy through lower costs for residents. Any surplus is used to address fuel poverty, providing practical help with retrofits, Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) improvements, fuel vouchers, retrofit advice and more.
Chris Richards introduced ESC’s Energy Champions project, which trains local volunteers to provide eco-energy advice and connect residents with additional support. He emphasised the importance of understanding Scope 1 (direct), 2 (purchased energy), and 3 (supply chain and other indirect) emissions, and discussed the value of solar carports, ward-specific emissions research, and combining art with climate science to engage the public.
Grid capacity and possibilities
During the panel, Richard highlighted a key barrier: limited local grid capacity. ESC planned a 300kW solar installation at a bowls centre, but they would only use 15%, and the grid cannot handle the reverse flow (when excess solar power is fed back into the grid). A £300,000 upgrade, “for the transformer and the primary substation,” is required, rendering the project unviable. Community batteries, inspired by Australian models, were floated as a potential solution. These store and share power locally.
During the presentation and beyond, there were also suggestions and talks of:
- AI mapping Eastbourne’s solar potential (rooftops, etc.)
- Developing solar carports in car parks
- Exploring the possibility of having community-owned turbines via the Rampion extension – an extension taking place to the pre-existing wind turbines off the coast of Newhaven
- Solar options for temporary housing (which Cllr Holt was specifically interested in)
“One turbine would generate enough power for 12,000 homes”, Richard said. “So three [large] turbines would be enough to power almost all the homes in Eastbourne.”
Richard Watson
Transport and the “modal shift”
Professor Scarlett McNally, orthopaedic surgeon and co-founder of Eastbourne Bespoke Cycle Group, underlined the health and wider environmental, economic and social benefits of active travel. Walking and cycling reduce emissions and improve air quality. But they also reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, dementia, cancer, many other illnesses, and road accidents. This also eases pressure on the NHS, both through prevention and reduced accidents.
“142 pedestrians have been hit by cars in Eastbourne over the past five years,” she noted. “This is a health and safety issue, not just a climate one.”
Jill Shacklock, EEAN Director, shared updates from EABUG, a successful project bringing together bus operators, councillors, council officers, and local bus users. She also ran a quiz on emissions and shared key statistics:
- 68% of Eastbourne commutes are by car; just 2% by bicycle
- 70% of UK residents support 20mph zones; only 14% oppose
- Fewer injuries and deaths reported since Wales introduced 20mph limits
- Community interaction and health improve alongside emissions cuts
Transport featured heavily in the panel Q&A and discussion regarding:
- The seafront bus lane start date
- Could sections of the seafront be bus-and-bike only?
- Possible pedestrianisation areas
- Funds allocated for bus lanes potentially being redirected elsewhere
Regarding the last point, Cllr Brett Wright said, “We need to put pressure on ESCC to actually spend that money on the bus lanes now, rather than delaying them to free up funds for the Exceat Bridge.”
Single-use plastics and consumption
Oliver Sterno of Plastic Free Eastbourne (PFE) outlined how infrastructure changes, like public water fountains and reusable bottle campaigns, can nudge behaviour. Thanks to council support for PFE’s “Refill Eastbourne” project, the town now has 14 public water fountains.
He also shared his annual tracking of travel and consumption reductions, saying, “We need to show people not just how to consume differently, but why.”
On corporate responsibility, he added: “We really need to get some powerful people — like the council, or the government — to start confronting these businesses. It’s the same with the water companies.”
This message of shared responsibility was echoed by the venue hosts, Emmanuel Church. Stephen Brown spoke about energy auditing, water-saving measures, waste reduction, ethical procurement practices and lifestyle changes regarding consumption and carbon footprint reduction. Emmanuel Church won an Eco Church award for environmental sustainability, making it an appropriate venue for the Symposium. The church congregation kindly donated the entire cost of hiring the venue as a gesture of support for the ECN2030 campaign.
Oliver Sterno
Business and carbon offsetting
Ian Elgin of the EUNA spoke on carbon offsetting through the Uganda tree-planting project, which saw 14,000 trees planted in 2023, with similar numbers in 2024. EBC have become involved in the project to offset Airbourne emissions.
During the discussion, he asked: “We’ve got five years to become carbon neutral. Where is the message getting through to businesses?” Christina Ewbank (Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce) offered to connect him with businesses but said manufacturers and parent companies —not just small local branches and businesses—require most encouragement.
Education and youth engagement
A recurring theme throughout the day was how to meaningfully involve young people in climate action. Ideas included:
- Monthly school eco-magazines
- Public art campaigns to raise awareness
- Solar panels on schools
- Eco projects
- More influence from Youth Parliament
Treebourne’s school partnerships were praised as models of engagement.
Sea defences
Andrew reminded attendees that the Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne Coastal Management Scheme’s long-term plans won’t start until 2037, and urged faster action alongside others. Whilst Cllr Wright stated that, thinking like a Whitehall civil servant, who decides which towns get sea defence funding, Eastbourne needs to remain economically attractive.
Cllr Jim Murray (Cabinet Member for Carbon Neutral 2030 and Water Champion) noted how the town is prioritised for funding and highlighted its social and economic importance. “If the sea wall collapses, 30,000 houses get flooded. Because of that figure, we’re getting prioritised. We’ve got the largest amount of money singled out for sea defences in the country.”
However, current funding models plan for only 1 metre of rise, while some climate science projections (Professor James Hansen) reach up to 3, 4, even 5 metres, and as Andrew pointed out, £100 million is not enough. He highlighted how Pevensey and Cooden beaches have “extremely low shingle banks” and need to be prioritised by the Environment Agency.
Council progress
Cllr Murray’s presentation highlighted council progress:
- 8% reduction in Airbourne emissions (2023 vs 2022) and carbon offsetting through the EUNA Uganda tree scheme
- EV food waste fleet coming in 2026
- 480 hectares added to the Seven Sisters ‘Super National Nature Reserve’
- EV charge points
- Sustainable new builds and retrofitting
- Primary and Secondary education, green skills, career engagement
Council emission reductions for 2018/19–2023/24 are as follows:
- Gas: ↓33% reduction
- Electricity: ↓49% reduction
- Fleet fuel: ↓31% reduction
Overall, scope 1 & 2 emissions are down 35.5%. Still, acceleration is needed to meet the 2030 target, as Cllr Murray himself said.
Closing reflections
The day closed with a mix of urgency and hope. “We haven’t solved the problems,” said Lord Ralph Lucas, “but at least we focused on them.”
There are questions left to answer regarding bus and bike lanes, changing transport perspectives, encouraging plastic reduction, ethical consumption, community energy, solar new builds, sea defences, and fundamentally, what stimulates change, and whether/how local economic growth can exist alongside the aims to reduce carbon emissions.
Cllr Candy Vaughan, the town’s Mayor at the time, concluded: “We want to make it happen [carbon neutral by 2030] and it’s only going to be down to us [everyone in the room and Eastbourne] to make anything happen. So let’s start.”
Top 10 actions raised at the 2025 Symposium
- Expand community-owned solar and battery storage
- Improve cycling, walking and bus infrastructure
- Scale up refill schemes and cut plastic waste
- Boost carbon literacy and climate education
- Accelerate sea defence planning
- Engage more businesses in climate responsibility
- Continue expanding nature recovery, local food allotments and tree planting
- Support green skills and youth employment
- Retrofit homes to reduce emissions and fuel poverty
- Use arts and media to communicate climate issues
Get Involved
Whether you’re an individual, a business, a school, or a community group, there’s a role for you in helping Eastbourne reach its Carbon Neutral 2030 target.
Ways to get involved:
- Join or support local projects like Treebourne, Refill Eastbourne, or EABUG
- Become an ESC Energy Champion and help neighbours cut energy use, adopt greener energy practices and signpost to services
- Write to your councillor or MP about sea defences, active travel, and climate priorities
- Follow and engage with EEAN on social media and subscribe for updates
- See how you can change your household energy system, travel and consumption choices
With five years to go, Eastbourne’s path to carbon neutrality will depend on continued community effort, cross-sector collaboration, and the will to turn plans into progress.
Symposium presentations
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