Latest News

For info on Site 1 plans click here.. 

For info on Site 7a plans click here.. 

For info on Martello Tower plans click here.. 

16 October - WI Newsletter Published - The Harbour WI has published its latest newsletter, which contains a report and photographs of their recent October meeting. Find it on the WI website here...

13 October - Neighbourhood Board Citizen Questionnaire 2025 - Eastbourne has been awarded £20 million in funding from central government as part of the long-term Pride in Place Programme (PPP) (previously named Plan for Neighbourhoods (PfN)). The money is to be spent over the next 10 years on projects across the borough.

To manage this fund, the independent 'We are Eastbourne' Neighbourhood Board has been established. To ensure every Eastbourne resident has an opportunity to have their say, the Board want to hear about what matters most to you. 

Please complete their questionnaire to tell the Board what improvements you’d like to see across our town. There are 15 questions. The survey is anonymous; the record of your survey responses does not contain any identifying information about you unless a specific survey question explicitly asks for it. The online questionnaire is on the 'We are Eastbourne' website at:  https://weareeastbourne.org.uk/  (use the pop-up notice or scroll down the webpage for a link).

06 October - Support Sovereign Divers – Help More Women Dive! Sovereign Divers, based here at Sovereign Harbour Yacht Club, have launched a Crowdfunder campaign to break down one of the biggest barriers in our sport – the cost of equipment.
Scuba kit is expensive, and much of it is designed for men’s body shapes. This makes it harder for women (and many new starters) to find safe, comfortable gear without spending thousands of pounds upfront.
Our project aims to change that by purchasing better-fitting club equipment and creating a gear-loan scheme – giving women divers in particular the chance to train and progress without the financial strain.
Sport England has pledged £2,460 in match funding, but only if we raise the same amount ourselves by 2nd November 2025. That means every pound you donate will have double the impact. 👉 Please support the campaign here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/sovereign-divers.
Together, we can open up the underwater world to more women and make diving at Sovereign Harbour truly inclusive.
Rachel Piper | Media Officer
Email: media@sovereigndivers.co.uk
Website: https://sovereigndivers.co.uk/

05 October - 2025 Santa Stroll - The annual Santa Stroll organised by Defiant Sports and SHRA is a chance to join a fun walk/wheel around Eastbourne's Sovereign Harbour dressed in Santa outfits to spread festive cheer and enjoy some wholesome time with the local community. [Click poster image for a full-size version to print and display]

The stroll takes place on Sunday, 7th of December, from 11am to 12pm, with a warm-up at 10:30am led by Defiant Sports. The event costs £10 per adult and £5 per child. Find out more and book your place through the following link: https://eequ.org/book/santa-stroll-with-defiant-sports-11052.   Included in the booking price is a Santa Claus outfit, which we hope you'd wear to help bolster the size of our merry crowd of red-hatted friends.

The route will take us across the Northern and Southern Sovereign Harbour as well as the seafront, and is wheelchair accessible. Money raised will go to Defiant Sports. [Some of last year's participants shown below.]

03 October -  Beach Work Update -  A quick update in anticipation of the weekend's weather, which I’m sure you watch closely anyway. The forecast at the moment, the strongest wind appears to be Saturday after the high tide 2.5m / 6.4m, whichever format you use. No surge is forecast, but potentially 4m waves on Saturday. On Sunday, we’re looking at a 0.5m surge on the 3,2m / 7m tide and less wind, 2.6m waves. Wind is mostly westerly with some south-westerly.

With the work we’ve been able to achieve in the last 3 weeks, the beach is well prepared for this weekend. We then of course expect to be rebuilding on Monday. This past week we have mostly been recycling from the Herbrand walk Beach huts, fishing station and East stream areas to Normans Bay. Next week we expect to be recycling West from the depot again. With the bulldozers reprofiling the most eroded areas.

To note; Bulldozers will track along the bottom of the beach whenever we can, but there will be times when we can’t do that. Speed of the machines has been raised by some of you. We take your safety, everyone’s safety, very seriously. Controlling speed is very important to us, and we are closely monitoring this. One more thing, this may be a reminder or news, but as the beach is a sea defence, a flood risk activity permit is required for most work that you may wish to undertake within 16m of the beach. This is still a requirement when you own the land. My own team must apply for these permits that are approved from a National Environment Agency team. More details can be found here.Flood risk activities: environmental permits - GOV.UK
Paul Levitt
Beach Manager
Operations East, Environment Agency

30 September -  SHRA Newsletter Published - The October issue of Waterlines our bi-monthly PDF newsletter has been published online. Find it on the Waterlines page... 

18 September - Motion on Water Treatment  Works agreed -Last night (Wednesday 17 September) at a full EBC council meeting, the following amended motion was approved.  The amendments from Ward Councillor Shore's original motion (shown below) are in bold.
Motion - Southern Water (Waste Treatment Works) “That the Council:
1. Notes the requests for action over the last few months.
2. Welcomes the recent steps taken by the relevant officers to issue an Abatement Notice to Southern Water (Waste Treatment Works, Langney Point) under the Environment Protection Act 1990.
3. Thanks the Member of Parliament for Eastbourne, Josh Babarinde, for his continued work on this issue.
4. Calls on Southern Water to expedite the necessary works to resolve the problem and to provide compensation to affected residents.
5. Within legal constraints, requests the relevant Officers to ensure that appropriate enforcement action, if any is required, is taken without delay, in conjunction with the Environment Agency as appropriate.
6. Within legal constraints, asks the Assistant Director for Customer Service and Delivery, to ensure that all Councillors and the public are provided with timely updates on this matter.
7. Requests in addition, within budgetary constraints, that Officers work with Southern Water to extend odour monitoring and seek independent advice and guidance to confirm that there is no toxicity."

17 September - Premier Marinas Acquire Boatfolk - The acquisition was funded through investment provided by Premier Marina’s long-term owners, Wellcome, confirming the group as the UK’s leading marina operator. It creates a combined portfolio of 22 UK locations, providing an unrivalled choice of premium destinations across the South Coast and beyond.
Boatfolk will continue to operate essentially unchanged as plans are developed to align the businesses over the coming months and to unlock benefits for customers.
Boatfolk operates a portfolio of 11 UK locations, including Bangor, Conwy, Deacons, East Cowes, Haslar, Penarth, Portishead, Portland, Rhu, Royal Quays and Weymouth.

16 September - Council to debate Motion on the Water Treatment Works - Sovereign Ward Councillor Kshama Shore has submitted the following motion for debate at the full council meeting at 6pm on Wednesday, 17 September in the Court Room at Eastbourne Town Hall, Grove Road, BN21 4UG.  Here is a summary of the motion.. 
Motion Southern Water (Waste Treatment Works)
 “That the Council:
1. Notes the requests for action over the last few months.
2. Welcomes the recent steps taken by the relevant officers to issue an Abatement Notice to Southern Water (Waste Treatment Works, Langney Point) under the Environment Protection Act 1990.
3. Within legal constraints, requests the relevant Officers to ensure that appropriate enforcement action, if any is required, is taken without delay.
4. Within legal constraints, asks the Assistant Director for Customer Service and Delivery, to ensure that all Councillors and the public are provided with timely updates on this matter.
5. Requests in addition, within budgetary constraints, that Officers work with Southern Water to extend odour monitoring, and seek independent advice and guidance to confirm that there is no toxicity.“
Click here for the meeting's agenda and link to the live video feed...

16 September - EBC Planning Committee to decide on Outline planning permission for the development of up to 250 dwellings  - Planning application 230526 concerning the land north of Pevensey Bay Road will be before the planning committee meeting this evening (16th September). The proposal is for outline planning permission for the development of up to 250 dwellings (Use Class C3), including means of access into the site (not internal roads) and associated highway works and other matters. The means of access will be via a redesigned and re-shaped Martello Roundabout, which provides access to Pacific Drive. Click for larger image...

13 September - WI Newsletter Published - The Harbour WI has published its latest newsletter, which contains a report and photographs of their recent September meeting. Find it on the WI website here...

10 September - EA Beach Work Update - Just a quick note to reassure you that we are closely monitoring the changing weather and beach, as I’m sure you are too.

We have had to pause the shingle import until Tuesday, although this may change.

We will now have three bulldozers on the beach from Sunday 14th September. These dozers will be preparing the beach for the recycling to begin on Monday, 22nd.  If you do still have fencing, furniture or boats on the crest of the beach, please allow enough space for the machines to pass.
Paul Levitt
Beach Manager
Environment Agency

07 September - EBC Serve EPA Notice to Southern Water Over Water Treatment Works Odour  - A spokeswoman for Eastbourne Borough Council said: "The council served a formal notice on Southern Water on Wednesday, August 27, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.  This notice is a legal instrument that requires Southern Water to immediately abate the odour and to take all necessary measures to prevent any future recurrence. It is totally unacceptable for Southern Water to allow this situation to continue.  Unless Southern Water quickly resolves this issue, we will consider further legal action."

We thank our MP and our local councillors for their recent efforts in continuing to highlight this issue that has blighted the local area for years. We await to see what effect the EPA notice may have.

06 September - SHRA Letter to the Wellcome Trust about the Marina Charge - After getting nowhere asking the Sovereign Harbour (Sea Defences) CIC and Premier Marinas for greater transparency within the financial information used to calculate the Marina Charge element of the annual rentcharge, we have written to Premier's owner, the Wellcome Trust, asking them to ensure that more information is provided in future. A copy of our letter can be read by clicking here...  Almost half of the rentcharge is paid to Premier Marinas.

04 September - New Bus Timetables from Sunday, 21 September - There will be changes to all services in and around Eastbourne. For the 5, 5A and 5B serving Sovereign Harbour, Stagecoach states that the updated timetable will reflect demand, providing a greater choice of journeys at peak times. Click here for the new 21 September 5, 5A and 5B timetable...  

26 August - Meeting on Odour Issues at Langney Point - SHRA has published its report on the meeting arranged by Southern Water on 13 August regarding the odours emanating from their Langney Point wastewater treatment works. Click here to read it...   SHRA will continue to engage with Southern Water and our MP to help resolve the issue.
Complaints about the smell should continue to be made to Southern Water via their website at www.southernwater.co.uk/report-a-problem or by calling their Customer Service telephone number: 0330 303 0368. You may also wish to inform the MP's office. Email: josh.babarinde.mp@parliament.uk

20 July - Harbour Pirates Event Gallery - We have added a gallery of photos of the boats taking part in a Harbour Pirates charity event that took place on Sunday (20 July). Click the  following link: www.shra.co.uk/pirates/index.html

14 July - Odour Issues at Langney Point - Residents living in South Harbour have received a flyer from Southern Water giving information on the cause of the potent odour we’ve been experiencing, particularly this summer, and what they plan to do about it.  Click here to read it... 

06 July - Vancouver Road Children’s Playground -  We’ve had a bit of success with EBC! The children’s playground on Vancouver Road looked very unwelcoming; overgrown and coated in bird droppings, it had been neglected. After a fair amount of emailing and cajoling, we were delighted to see the park looking much cleaner. Sometimes it’s the small things that keep the harbour looking good. Click for larger image...

Over time, some news items may migrate to the News Archive page or another relevant page of the SHRA website.