COASTAL COMMUNITY TEAMS ECONOMIC PLAN Local Area Bexhill-on-Sea is a sea-side town on the south coast between Hastings and Eastbourne. Bexhill was a village of about 100 dwellings with a manor house until about 130 years ago. Bexhill-on-Sea was created by the seventh Earl De La Warr as a sea-side resort in the late nineteenth century along with Eastbourne. Bexhill is close to an area of outstanding natural beauty and a site of special scientific interest. The boundary of Coombe Haven Country Park meets Bexhill on the Eastern sea front. There are exposed dinosaur foot-prints on the beach. The resort is the home of British Motor Racing and in 1902 hosted the first international motor-car race on British soil. Our Town Charter was the first to be delivered by car! Logie Baird lived and died here. Bexhill was the first beach in England to allow mixed bathing. You can still buy a cup of tea on the seafront from one of the old ‘bathing stations’. The ninth Earl De La Warr built the iconic De La Warr Pavilion, he called it ‘a people’s palace,’ on the sea front which he eventually gave to the people. It now lives up to its name, employing over seventy people, and drawing in visitors to the town every day for auditorium events and exhibitions in the galleries, while supporting local community groups and local events. Our new link road opened in December 2015 and will open up a gateway of land along its path, between Bexhill and Hastings, providing two thousand new homes, a 500,000 sq ft business park (with the first building taken up) and a countryside park. To provide the transport infrastructure, the Government has committed to support the delivery of the High Speed 1 Javelin trains to run from London St Pancras to Hastings and Bexhill. We believe that there will be a large growth in the area from these infrastructure initiatives and we want businesses to benefit. Local community There is a wealth of experience and knowledge in Bexhill and this demonstrates itself in the number of organisers and doers who take on voluntary roles within the town. Examples include: Bexhill Community Bus, an entirely volunteer run scheme which runs four bus routes every day connecting the Town Centre and the Hospital with areas not covered by the commercial bus services 1 Bexhill Lions Club - a group of local volunteers which is at the heart of the local community which supports the local community through a range of projects - including young people, disadvantaged people, disabled people, the environment and Health, and raises considerable sums of money to donate to local charities and good causes Bexhill Rail Action Group - A voluntary group that campaigns for better rail services on the East Coastway line between Eastbourne and Hastings and onwards to Brighton and London Bexhill Caring Community - a charity serving the older people of Bexhill with a range of services to make life easier and help them remain independent and in their own homes. It operates Dial-a-ride, Day Centre, community car service for medical appointments. Bexhill Old Town Preservation Society – a group which seeks to preserve the historic identity of Bexhill Old Town Bexhill Rotary Club - delivers a wide range of community projects and also raises funds for local charities. Homecall- a local voluntary home visiting service for blind and partially sighted people in Bexhill. Home Start - Volunteers help families with young children deal with whatever life throws at them - They help families to find solutions to problems such as post-natal illness, isolation, bereavement, disability and domestic violence. Thus enabling the whole family to reach a better future. Bexhill Environment Group - volunteers work to protect and improve the Bexhill environment and promote a sustainable green future; action on waste and recycling, protecting the marine environment and promoting sustainable transport. The contact details of over 100 local community organisations are available on the Town Team’s web site.1 Following 10 years of key infrastructure investment (Bexhill High School, DLWP, Egerton Park, Bexhill – Hastings Link Road, Elva Way, West Parade); Bexhill as a community is seeing a change in demographics and is ready for growth. The prospect of 2,000 new homes in North Bexhill will reinforce this structural change, bringing new people, new skills and businesses to the area. Consequently, there is high level lobbying for high speed trains to London, and for a new budget hotel for the central area. Bexhill’s over 65s are now baby boomers, who are active, fit and living longer. This dataset shows the resident population from the 2011 Census. However, there is noticeable change since then. Age All people Percent Percent Percent Percent Percent 2 aged 0- aged 15- aged 30- aged 45- aged Gender Geography 14 29 44 64 65+ England and 56,075,912 17.6 19.9 20.5 25.4 16.4 Wales All South East 8,634,750 17.8 18.6 20.4 26.1 17.2 people East Sussex 526,671 16.1 15.9 17.2 28.0 22.7 Rother 90,588 14.6 13.3 14.4 29.3 28.4 Bexhill Central 5,586 13.8 18.8 17.8 25.2 24.5 Local economy As a coastal town, the business economy is limited by a 180 degree catchment; however the economy is showing green shoots in response to the prospect of better links to London and from the surrounding area’s regeneration. 85% of East Sussex businesses are micro (1-5 employees), and this is true of Bexhill; there is a strong regional base of financial and legal businesses e.g. Hastings Direct is Bexhill’s biggest private sector employer, and the care sector is also significant. There are a small number of specialist scientific businesses locally, and online based businesses are starting to grow. The high street, Town Centre, retailers are mostly independent, with some very long- standing, resilient traders. Western Road, the street with most ‘shops’, is due to see major regeneration, with investment from J D Wetherspoon into the derelict former Cinema sites which have been a blight on the area for many years. There is a very active charity shop contingency, which although challenging, means that shops are occupied, and they also attract the vintage and student markets. The cultural sector is one of the fastest-growing GVA contributors of all sectors. Bexhill has the benefit of the De La Warr Pavilion which has gone from strength to strength in recent years and now attracts both local and regional audiences. Visitor numbers to the De La Warr Pavilion are strong around 400-450k per annum, compared to c350k at Turner Contemporary in Margate, 240k at Tate St Ives. The organisation completed an economic impact study in 2007, which illustrates the actual and potential impact for the town. We know that securing a town centre hotel, and improved rail links has the potential to retain additional high spending visitors. Improving the links between the town and the Pavilion’s economic eco-system is important to future growth. The creative industries also contribute to other industries across the economy through software, design, branding and marketing of products and services; IT, software and computer services, the largest sub-sector of the creative industries, provides enabling technologies which are essential to almost all sectors of the economy, with technological innovation key to growth. 3 Our proximity to our neighbouring towns is important. Hastings and St Leonards, has seen rapid economic growth over the last five years, with culture and the creative industries being a catalyst for this change. Hastings has ambitious plans to use culture to rebrand from ‘costa- del-dole’ to an innovative and creative place to live. This is reinforced by the rebuilding of their pier, the Jerwood Gallery, the Source Skatepark, the Kino Cinema, and their cultural festival Root 1066 in October 2016. Eastbourne shows similar signs of growth with ambitions for the Devonshire Park area, and support of new technology companies. Bexhill sits in the middle of these developments, and is linked by the Coastal Cultural Trail between the three galleries. Related initiatives A £10k fund, as a result of the Town Team’s Portas bid in 2012, led to several significant initiatives which began with the opening of the weekly Bexhill Farmers’ Market - now in its third year of weekly trading; the remaining funds were used to purchase a mobile CCTV camera to support the neighbourhood policing team. The Town Team’s efforts were always directed to making the Town Centre accessible, safe and attractive as recommended in the Portas Review. Rother District Council’s £100k commitment from s106 money to the Town Team’s initiatives has continued this work and facilitated projects including the refurbishment of the town centre’s public toilets, cycle racks throughout the town centre, replacement of lost trees, shopping and business guides for shoppers and visitors, and supporting the police in keeping the town centre a safe, family friendly place. NCNR2 cycle track now connects Hastings with Eastbourne passing through Bexhill which is in-between but nearer to Hastings. Coastal Communities Fund is active in Eastbourne and Hastings, with both schemes helping to promote the cultural trail. The Hastings funding has specifically supported the new pedestrian signage in Bexhill Town Centre, a project driven by the Town Team; and the cycle link between Hastings and Bexhill. SELEP funding has facilitated the £100m+ Bexhill to Hastings Link Road and associated infrastructure. The Link Road, named Combe Valley Way, will bring an estimated £1 billion of economic benefits to the area and deliver up to 2,000 new homes and 3,000 new jobs.