School loses court case in Lewes

The court case on Tuesday: The judge granted possession of the Saint Anne’s School site to East Sussex County Council after a long case fought well by Jeanette with Ian Eiloart as witness. However, in his summing up he did say “I suggest that East Sussex County Council makes plans to put the premises to use and not leave them derelict for years on end. No wonder people grumble.”

Cue the Saint Anne’s Diggers!

As we have a few days until the campers have to leave (next Wednesday at 4pm) we’re going to be making the most of the wonderful space at Saint Anne’s. We’re holding a big community day this Sunday, starting at noon, events to include:

• 1pm – 3pm: Community cafe with free tea
• 3pm: Planting and tree ribbon ceremony
• 3.30pm: Community meeting to discuss future plans

Come along and bring your friends, particularly those who haven’t yet visited and seen the camp and gardens.

With regard to the future beyond the eviction day there are short and long term projects already well underway.

The short term plan is to take East Sussex County Council up on the offer made in their press release to allow the community temporary use of the land. Penny is hoping to meet with the council and the mayor early next week to start negotiations, or at least a consultation to see what Lewes people want to use the land for temporarily.

In the longer term there are a couple of exciting projects in the offing. Two councillors are going for spot listing of the school building and are digging up some fascinating history. The next cabinet meeting of the Local District Council will try to approve of the land becoming part of the Conservation Area. Another neighbour is investigating a draft ‘development brief’ to pre-empt any planning application for building by the council.

The best news of all is that our new mayor went on a planning briefing meeting and discovered that the National Park will call in any application to demolish the buildings – this means it will need their permission for any demolition to go ahead. So that’s put a spanner in their works then!

The new mayor is John Stockdale, old-stock Lewesian who is also chair of the Development Trust which, after a brilliant consultation process, has put in a bid for development of a large site near the river for social housing (with support from the Guiness Land Trust), permaculture, and public amenities. According to Ian Eiloart who came to our meeting after the ‘mayor making’ last night, all talk at the reception was of Saint Anne’s – there is LOTS of support and it’s great for local politicians to be seen to support this. Let’s hope it continues that way.

We’re sure you’ll agree that there are now some very positive things happening as a result of the camp at Saint Anne’s. Thanks everyone for all your support and hard work. Keep up the good work!

Please forward this email to friends who might be interested in what’s going on here at Saint Anne’s School.

http://brightonclimateaction.org.uk/saint-annes-school/