Home - East Dean and Friston Parish Council

Next Parish Council Meetings

Parish Council - 7th October.

(No council meeting in September)

Planning Committee - 20th September

Recreation Ground

Bookings are now being accepted for one-off hirings of the pavilion (subject to availability). The open area of the Rec. is fully accessible for exercise and the tennis court and play area are now open, but you are urged to comply with Government restrictions regarding keeping a safe distance from others.

Coronavirus: UK Government Information

Community Services within the Village

Charity of the year 2021/22

Churches
Cuckmere Community Bus route 41
Community Watch / Neighbourhood Watch
Emergency Plan
Residents' Association
Tree Warden
Village Directory (at Aug 2021)
Village Hall

Village website

Who Looks after What?

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Finance Meetings

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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 - 31st August 2021

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

The most recent meeting of the Planning Committee took place on Tuesday 17th August at 6:30pm in the Village Small Hall. The minutes can be found on our "Council Meetings" page or by clicking here.

The most recent council meeting was held in the Village Small Hall on Thursday 5th August and was also available to view on the Zoom platform. The minutes have now been published and can be found on our "Council Meetings" page or by clicking here.

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.

Calling all Village Clubs and Societies:The Parish Council have agreed to continue with the annual grant scheme for local groups in 2021/22. A maximum of £2000 will be available to be shared among applicants, so if your group needs funds to restart after the pandemic or has a project that needs financial help, please contact the Parish Clerk at clerk@edfparishcouncil.org.uk for further details.

Community Speedwatch: The traffic problems experienced over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend have made the establishment of a Community Speedwatch group ever more urgent. The East Dean and Friston group has been registered and volunteers have now begun 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 Recreation Ground Pavilion is now available for hire (subject to availability). Hirers will, however, have to ensure that Coronavirus restrictions in force at the time of the hire are strictly observed. For further information, please contact the Parish Clerk.

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.