THE Splash Pad water playground in Princes Park is such an important community asset for children and families in our town.
Guttingly, it was forced to close last year after the bill for running it during the summer months came to £25,000, which Eastbourne Borough Council was not able to sustain.
I was not prepared to accept that closure for 2026 was the only option, so have been pulling out all the stops to identify business sponsors to help get it re-open this summer.
Following negotiations with Southern Water, I am pleased to say that I have secured a commitment from them to provide the full £25,000 of funding to re-open the Splash Pad in Prince’s Park this year!
I was very clear with their CEO that they need to start paying Eastbourne back for the appalling sewage dumping on our beaches, for the terrible odour that has been emanating from the Water Treatment Works (‘Poo Castle’) for significant period and for the accidental environmentally damaging release of millions of plastic beads from the treatment works into the sea, too.
Funding the reopening Splash Pad would be a good start to this – although I will be pushing them for far more compensation to our town.
This is what years of holding them to account has achieved, and I will continue to push them to up their game locally.
I’m also pleased that Best Demolition responded to the funding appeal that I launched with Eastbourne Borough Council last week, and they have pledged £5000. Thank you!
I’m in talks with three more local businesses who want to make a contribution, too, which means we have far exceeded our £25k target!
I have met with the company that originally fitted the Splash Pad to do a survey of it to help us get it re-open in time for summer.
I’ve also asked them to feed back to us on how we can make the Splash Pad more water-efficient so that it is more sustainable and costs less to run each year (water recycling is an example).
Southern Water and South East Water are working with Eastbourne Borough Council and me on this too.
Funds raised over and above the target will be invested into making the Splash Pad more sustainable and affordable to run.
Local Elections to go ahead
I’m delighted that our campaign has been successful and that the County Council elections will now go ahead as planned in May.
However, it was completely unacceptable in the first place for such a fundamental democratic right to be withdrawn without a clear mandate from voters. I raised this issue twice in the House of Commons and met directly with the Minister to ensure these elections went ahead.
After 25 years in power, the failing Conservative administration clung on by securing itself an extra year to squat in County Hall, extending its term beyond five years without a clear mandate from residents.
Meanwhile, under their watch, children and young people with SEND are being consistently let down, adult social care has faced sweeping and damaging cuts, and the council has racked up hundreds of millions of pounds in debt.
But perhaps the most noticeable deterioration has been our roads, pavements and grass verges.
I have received dozens of complaints from folks across Eastbourne, quite rightfully, appalled about the condition of our highways.
I’ve been calling on East Sussex County Council in Parliament to ‘get a grip’, and properly invest hard-earned taxpayers’ money in fixing our roads, pavements and pedestrian crossings.
There is, however, some welcome news. Last year, the Government announced a £297 million funding boost to repair roads across the South East. I have been pushing to ensure that Eastbourne receives its fair share of this funding and have written to the Director of Highways at East Sussex County Council to ask exactly how much funding will be made available for repairs in Eastbourne in the next year.
I look forward to taking them on, and, most importantly, giving residents the chance to have their say.
Get in touch!
As always, if you have any questions or concerns you can email me at josh.babarinde.mp@parliament.uk, call me on 01323 733030 or swing by my office at 100 Seaside Road (BN21 3PF) during our drop-in hours of 10am to 1pm each weekday, where a member of my team will be around to chat.
