The 3rd edition of Between the Downs & the Sea is now available from selected outlets in Eastbourne and also from the Heritage Centre.

In essence the purpose of the Civic Society Initiative is a simple one – to establish the means within twelve months to ensure provision of a national voice and support for the civic society movement.

The loss of the Civic Trust has prompted a groundswell of support for the civic society movement. Messages of support and practical offers of help have been received from a large number of professional bodies, local authorities, voluntary and charitable organisations and others. Over 650 civic societies have already said they want to be kept in touch with the future arrangements for supporting societies and providing a champion for the movement.

It is clear that many share the view that the civic society movement is too important for it to lose its national voice. The role of societies and local community action is as important now as it was when the Civic Trust was set up. This is the sentiment at the heart of the package of measures now being put in place to allow a range of options for the future health of the civic society movement to be explored and assessed.

A full range of options will need to be examined but three things are clear:

• the civic society movement needs an independent champion
• the movement needs to be supported as a network where the voice of individual societies and local groups can be strengthened
• the future needs to be rooted in what the societies want and they need to drive the way forward.

The core package for establishing the Civic Society Initiative which has emerged is as follows:

• one year’s funding donated by the National Trust for Tony Burton to lead the Initiatives
• office accommodation and in-kind support donated by CPRE (in London) and the RIBA (in Liverpool)
• a charitable ‘home’ to receive funds and provide governance through the North of England Civic Trust
• a civic society convention supported by Blackpool Council and hosted by Blackpool Civic Trust in October 2009.

English Heritage will deliver Heritage Open Days in 2009.

While there has been no decision as to whether a new organisation is even needed, it is essential that the solution meets the needs of the civic societies and other similar community groups. A top down solution will not work. The Civic Society Initiative will take an open approach and explore a full range of possibilities for the movement. This will include development of the mission, vision, values, funding, governance and name of a new organisation, or the means to do this, if it is determined one is required. It starts with an open mind, a desire to debate and involve and no presumptions as to the outcome. There will be a sounding board drawn from the civic society movement and others and an extensive debate will be undertaken, including surveys and local stakeholder events in the major cities and elsewhere. The outcome will be a set of proposals seeking to combine immediate practical viability with a 3-5 year plan of the future.

The latest bulletin from the Civic Society Initiative can be downloaded from here

2 EVENING TALKS
HERITAGE CENTRE
Thursday 1st October 7-9pm
Johnnie Johnston
‘The Superstitions and Curious Beliefs of Old Sussex’
Thursday 29th October 7-9pm
David Powell
‘Thomas Paine’
Entry to include refreshments £5
Phone to book either of these talks – seating is strictly limited.

Barbara Hook 411649 or Frances Muncey 644727

EASTBOURNE Victorian Festival returns at the end of September, but with events compressed into two days rather than spread over a week as in past years.

Highlights will be a concert of patriotic music by the Festival Choir at the All Saints Chapel in Meads, the ever-popular traditional music hall at the Royal Hippodrome – at which Michael Kaye will be MC – and a Gilbert and Sullivan Pot Pourri to be staged at the Under Ground Theatre.

Guided tours by John Surtees of the town's historic corners, and of the Devonshire Park Theatre, and readings by the Dickens Society are among other highlights.

The Festival, organised by the Eastbourne Society, takes place on September 26 and 27, and full details are available in a four-page programme available for download here, and at various outlets around the town.

CONCERN over the condition of one of Eastbourne's most important historic buildings has been voiced by the Eastbourne Society.

The Society, which encourages the preservation of the town's fine architecture, has written to the borough council about the apparently deteriorating state of the former Towner art gallery building in Manor Gardens, Old Town.

Members of the Society's executive committee were concerned by reports of vandalism, damage, water penetration and decay at the Georgian building.

Chairman Owen Boydell has written to the council's planning chief, Jeff Collard, expressing the society's worries.

The former Manor House was built in 1776 and sold to the Eastbourne Borough for £19,000 in 1923 for use as the Towner Art Gallery after Alderman Towner had left a bequest of £6,000 and his collection of pictures.

The collection is now housed at the new Towner, adjoining the Congress Theatre, and the old building was sold at auction to a private developer in 2006.

Planning permission has been granted for conversion to apartments, but the work has yet to be started.

In his letter to the council Mr Boydell writes, "This is a Grade II* listed Georgian gem and a vital part of Eastbourne's history, having been the home of Davies Gilbert, Lord of the Manor of Eastbourne in the 18th century.

"We would be grateful to know whether the planning department is taking the necessary steps to ensure that the current owners are properly securing the building against tresspassers and also carrying out the repairs required," he adds.

"We understand that the council has the powers to serve an injunction on the owners if necessary and we would urge this course of action if needed.

"Our greatest concern is the possibility of an arson attack, so action is needed now before it is too late."

AN EXPERT in gemstones will be the speaker at the latest of the Eastbourne Society's monthly talks at St Saviour's and St Peter's Church Hall next Tuesday (September 8) at 7.30pm.

Mrs Azeena Rajap, who is married to a local GP, is a qualified gemologist with a degree in mineralogy. Her talk will explain how sapphires, emeralds, diamonds and pearls are mined or found, and she will also speak about imitation and synthetic gems available on the market and how and where to get gems tested.

For security reason there will be nothing of great value on site.
Members of the Society and visitors are welcome, and there is free parking in the churchyard.

For further information contact Owen Boydell on 721825 or email: owenboydell@talktalk.net