Almost £60,000 has been awarded to make the Western Road Recreation Ground safer at night at to allow more activities to take place at night.
Working in partnership with Hailsham Active and grant specialist Annette Buswell, Hailsham Town Council has been awarded £58,333 from the Veolia Environmental Trust through the Landfill Communities Fund towards the cost of lighting the new perimeter footpath around the ground.
The lighting scheme, which was approved by the Town Council in 2020 as a recommendation from the Assets Management Committee, involves the installation of 4-metre lights and bollards (under permitted development) interspersed around the perimeter pathway to give additional light and make walking or cycling through it at dusk and the evening safer for residents.
The introduction of such lighting at the recreation ground also enables more people to access the site using the pathway all year round, and in inclement weather.
Council members agreed to allocate funding of £13,000 from its existing Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) receipts for the cost of installing the lighting, which will be completed in the coming weeks.
A public consultation took place in Hailsham in 2020 concerning the lighting of the pathway, and a final report presented to councillors indicated that 100% of respondents believed that lighting the pathway would make them feel safer when using the recreation ground at night or early in the morning.
Councillor Trevor Powis, chairman of the Assets Management Committee said: “It’s excellent news that we secured a grant from the Veolia Environmental Trust to enable us to carry out the Western Road Recreation Ground footpath lighting project.”
He added: “The feedback we have received since we installed the new perimeter path a couple of years ago there suggested strong support for the installation of pathway lighting, and work is now underway forward to get the project done and make it something we can be proud of.”
Hailsham Active Chairman Steve Wennington, who partnered with the Town Council on the project commented: “The provision of suitable lighting on the recreation ground perimeter path goes beyond the needs of the local sports clubs. The recreation ground is also a walkway and cycle path from the Diplocks Industrial Estate to the town, so serves many purposes and our feedback is also that many would use a ‘safe’ well-lit path for exercise.”
