Eastbourne Council Announces £4.2 Million Consultation Into Whether Another Consultation Is Needed

EASTBOURNE — Eastbourne Borough Council has announced plans to spend £4.2 million consulting residents on whether another consultation should be carried out.

The project, officially titled the Community Consultation Consultation, is expected to run for 18 months before a decision is made on whether it would be appropriate to begin consulting the public on the issue itself.

Council officials say the process is about "putting residents first."

"We could have simply decided whether another consultation was needed," said a council spokesperson. "But that would have involved making a decision, and we felt residents should be consulted before we considered doing anything that decisive."

Every household in the borough will receive a consultation pack containing a 186-page questionnaire, a 73-page guidance document, a prepaid envelope and a covering letter apologising for the size of the questionnaire while explaining why it could not possibly have been any shorter.

The survey asks residents whether they agree that consultations are important, how they feel about previous consultations, and whether they would be willing to take part in further consultations regarding future consultation strategy.

One question asks respondents to rate their agreement with the statement:

"I feel adequately consulted about consultation."

Another asks residents to explain, in no more than 4,000 words, why they selected "Neither Agree Nor Disagree".

The council expects approximately three responses.

Most of the £4.2 million budget has reportedly been allocated to independent consultants, external engagement specialists, stakeholder liaison experts and a team responsible for ensuring the consultation complies with the council's recently adopted Public Consultation Consultation Framework, itself the result of a consultation completed in 2024.

One consultant, who asked not to be named because he is still invoicing the council, described the project as "an exciting opportunity to establish whether there is an appetite to explore the possibility of asking people questions."

He added, "It's far too early to start making decisions."

The consultation has already received criticism from residents.

"I thought it was my mortgage paperwork," said Hampden Park resident Steve Collins. "Halfway through I realised I'd accidentally signed up to a focus group about focus groups."

Retired Meads resident Margaret Ellis admitted she'd abandoned the questionnaire on page 19 after discovering the first section was simply asking whether she'd read the introduction.

"I hadn't," she said. "Apparently that's a separate form."

Meanwhile, Old Town resident Darren Mitchell welcomed the consultation, saying it gave him something to do while waiting for the council to respond to the pothole he reported in 2022.

"They've acknowledged it three times," he said. "I think they're consulting on whether to look at it."

Council leaders insist the process is an important part of ensuring transparency.

"We're committed to listening," the spokesperson said. "In fact, we're currently consulting on how we can improve our listening."

Once the consultation closes, officers will spend six months analysing responses before publishing a 412-page report recommending that residents be consulted again, this time on whether they agree with the findings of the original consultation.

That recommendation will itself be subject to a public consultation.

A council source confirmed the proposal is "currently out for consultation."

At the time of publication, the council had issued a short online survey asking residents whether they found the 186-page questionnaire too long.

The survey consists of 94 questions.