Eastbourne council is facing calls to make anti-social driving restrictions permanent at Beachy Head following a council vote.
Members of Eastbourne Borough Council approved a proposal on September 29 that would require the cabinet to examine expanding the town’s Anti-Social Driving Public Space Protection Order to cover all twelve months instead of its current seasonal arrangement.
Conservative councillor Penny Di Cara introduced the motion, asserting that the current time-limited order conveyed an inappropriate message.
She acknowledged that data collected during the order’s initial consideration showed fewer complaints during winter, but suggested this difference was not substantial.
Di Cara proposed alternative explanations for the reduction, including decreased reporting due to lower visitor numbers during colder months.
According to her, the present arrangement created a negative perception by appearing to permit irresponsible driving behaviour when seasonal restrictions expired.
The existing order remains enforceable only between April 1 and October 31.
Documentation from February 2022, when the protection order was initially established, indicated that this restricted period was deemed suitable given proportionality considerations and enforcement capacity.
The records demonstrated that 250 incidents were reported between April and September 2021, while 175 incidents occurred between October and March.
The spring months of April, May and June recorded the highest complaint volumes.
The council chamber backed Di Cara’s proposal unanimously, though several members attached conditions to their support.
Kathy Ballard, the Liberal Democrat cabinet member responsible for community safety, stressed that implementing any extension would depend on cooperation from Sussex Police.
She referenced baseline figures from 2021 prior to the order’s introduction, when police logged 185 reports during the peak summer period.
Ballard noted that the subsequent October-to-April enforcement window had achieved a fourteen per cent reduction in incidents.
While acknowledging public demand for year-round protection, she emphasised that effective governance required collaborative relationships with police partners rather than dismissing their operational constraints.
Given current limited resources, Ballard indicated that police carefully examine historical patterns and remain hesitant about committing permanent staffing to periods historically showing lower incident rates.
The order prohibits multiple categories of behaviour, including engine revving, abrupt or rapid acceleration, racing, excessive speed, and vehicle modifications producing loud noise.
It additionally bars stunt driving manoeuvres such as doughnuts, drifting, skidding, handbrake turns and wheel spinning.
Breaches may result in fixed penalty notices reaching one hundred pounds, with court cases potentially imposing fines up to one thousand pounds.