Home - East Dean and Friston Parish Council

Next Parish Council Meetings

Parish Council - 4th November.

Planning Committee - 19th October

Recreation Ground

Bookings for one-off hirings of the pavilion will only be accepted up to the end of October as it will then close for refurbishment over the winter. The open area of the Rec. remains fully accessible for exercise and the tennis court and play area are also open, but you are urged to comply with Government restrictions regarding keeping a safe distance from others.

Coronavirus: UK Government Information

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Charity of the year 2021/22

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Village Directory (at Aug 2021)
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Welcome

Welcome to the East Dean and Friston Parish Council website. We hope that you enjoy browsing it and finding out more about our village and its council. We always welcome feedback from our site visitors, so if you have any comments or suggestions for improvements then please let us know via the "Contact Us" link.

What's new?

Latest Update - 16th October 2021

The next meeting of the Planning Committee will take place in the Village Small Hall on Tuesday 19th October, beginning at 6:30 pm. The agenda has now been published and can be found on our "Council Meetings" page or by clicking here. Members of the public are welcome to attend the meeting, either physically or remotely via the Zoom platform and details of how to do this are included with the agenda. This meeting will also include a discussion on the future of the Neighbourhood Plan, which is currently suspended as a result of Covid-19 restrictions and uncertainty over the government's proposed changes to the Planning system.

The most recent council meeting was held in the Village Small Hall on Thursday 7th October and was also available to view on the Zoom platform. The agenda can be found on our "Council Meetings" page or by clicking here. The minutes will be published shortly.

Council Vacancy: The Parish Council currently has a vacancy following the resignation of Daniel Wild. The official notice can be found on the Council Notice Board or by clicking here. For further information please contact the Parish Clerk (details on our "Contact Us" page).

Community Speedwatch: The East Dean and Friston group has been registered and volunteers have now begun operations but more help is needed to maintain regular operations. Community Speedwatch is a national initiative where, in partnership with the police, members of communities use detection devices to monitor local vehicle speeds. If the data proves a driver is ignoring repeated warnings police can prosecute them. If you would consider volunteering to join our local Speedwatch team, please contact the Parish Council at admin@edfparishcouncil.org.uk

The most recent meeting of the Planning Committee took place on Tuesday 21st September at 6:30pm in the Village Small Hall. The minutes can be found on our "Council Meetings" page or by clicking here.

More gas works planned: The gas infrastructure company SGN and their contractors DJ Utilities will be returning to the village in September to continue the renewal of gas supply pipes on the Downlands Estate. This time the work will take place in The Ridgeway, Summerdown Lane and The Link and the contractors will be establishing their base on the grass triangle between Micheldene Road and The Link. Residents affected should already have been contacted but everyone needs to be aware of potential disruption along these roads. The work is likely to continue for around three months, dependent on weather and other factors. Further information can be obtained by calling 01273 497400 or emailing info@djutilitiesltd.co.uk

Annual Report 2020/21: This report, by the outgoing Chair, would normally have been presented at the Annual Village Meeting, which is usually held in May each year. Unfortunately, for the second year running this event was cancelled due to the pandemic restrictions. The report has now been approved for publication by the council and you can read it by clicking here. A printed copy can be obtained by contacting the Parish Clerk (details on our "Contact Us" page).

New Council Chair and Vice-Chair: At an extraordinary council meeting held in the Village Small Hall on Tuesday 20th July, Councillor Paul Seeley was elected Chair of the Council, succeeding Councillor Mike Keller who had occupied the post for the past four years. Cllr. Seeley was formerly council Vice-Chair and so to fill this position Councillor Simon Thorogood was elected. The minutes of the meeting can be found here and you can find out more about all your Parish Councillors by clicking here.

The Parish and its Council

The Parish of East Dean and Friston is located between the south coast towns of Seaford and Eastbourne, situated on the southern edge of Wealden District in the County of East Sussex and within the South Downs National Park. It is a relatively large rural area, comprising the village of East Dean and Friston, together with the smaller hamlets of Birling Gap and Crowlink. The A259 main coast road passes through the Parish with the old village to the south and the newer parts of the village (known as the "Downlands Estate") to the north. The Parish is primarily residential, covers an area of 3.3sq miles and consists of some 760 households with a population of around 2,200.

East Dean Village is centred around the Village Green with its war memorial, medieval church and long-established inn, “The Tiger”. To the North-West of the village, as the A259 ascends Friston Hill, is the area known as Friston, which was originally a separate village with its own church at the top of the hill.

Birling Gap is a coastal hamlet with a long shingle beach, backed by the famous Seven Sisters cliffs and not far from Beachy Head. The Birling Gap visitor centre and cafe, and some of the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.

Crowlink is a small hamlet grouped around a manor house; in the 18th century it was a haven for smugglers of Gin that became known as "Genuine Crowlink". It was also once the home of the Edwardian author, Edith Nesbit, whose best-known work is “The Railway Children”.

Parish Councils were formed in England under the Local Government Act 1894 to take over local oversight of civic duties in rural towns and villages. Before this date a variety of groups based around ecclesiastical (church) parishes had responsibility for these matters, in a system of local government that originated in the feudal system of the 8th century. The establishment of Parish Councils effectively separated church from state and today's councils are totally secular in nature and independent from the Parochial Church Councils that deal with the administration of the local Church of England places of worship.

Following the 1894 Act, both East Dean and Friston began Parish Meetings (not council meetings) and East Dean then formed a Parish Council in 1924. The Friston Parish Meeting merged with East Dean to form the East Dean and Friston Parish Council in 1948.

Parish Councils are the first tier of local government and have limited variable tax raising powers. The component part of the Council Tax, which comes to the Parish Council, is known as the Precept.
Parish Councils are responsible for areas known as civil parishes, and there are approximately 9,000 Parish Councils in England. East Dean and Friston is one of those civil Parishes. Although there is nothing to prevent Parish Councils being political in nature, the current East Dean and Friston PC members are all independent of any party political sponsorship. The current Parish Council was elected in 2019 and is due for re-election in May 2023.