If you've never been to the Beachcomber, you should think about doing so now, because before very long it could be bulldozed to make way for another McCarthy & Stone retirement castle. You may wonder how so many frail, elderly people will cope with setting up home on such an exposed spot as Seaford seafront, and I'd be wondering with you. Still, I guess these shaky octogenarians will have just as much command of their motor functions as some of the people who spill out of the Beachcomber on a Saturday night.
The planning application to close the pub, the last on our windswept promenade, has been opposed all the way by our councillors, in a rare display of solidarity with the people who elected them. Now it's reached the appeal stage and the Gazette has reported on the hearing. http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/seaford/Inspector-will-decide-fate-of.4147020.jp
The arguments on both sides are fairly predictable, to be honest, but I was struck by the comments attributed to Anthony Allan, a chartered town planner and managing director of The Planning Bureau, who said: "Given my assessment of the character of the seafront and its tourist potential I do not consider that the loss of either the existing public house or the failure to provide for a replacement facility would affect its tourist, recreation or economic potential."
What does that mean? "This is not a 'tourist seafront' but is an attractive amenity used I would suggest, in the main, by local people much in the same way as a riverside walk or public woodland/park."
So there you have it. On top of everything else, we don't even have a proper seafront.
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