Re-imagining Newhaven | Latest News
Friday 28 November 2025
This email newsletter has been produced by Lewes District Council on behalf of the Re-imagining Newhaven Board
Construction of Fish Landing Stage 21 nears major milestone
Good progress is being made on the construction of the new fishing stage at Newhaven Port.
The front combi-wall and both wing walls are now complete. The team is currently installing the tubular piles that will support the new fishing stage deck.
What’s next?
All piling works should be finished within the coming days — a major milestone that also marks the end of the noisiest construction activities.
Piling activity will continue to be carefully managed to minimise disruption and Sundays remain a quiet day.
After that, work move on to:
- Installing structural steelwork, including mid-level beams between the tubular piles.
- Adding primary and secondary steelwork to support the new deck.
The first batch of steelwork is on its way and will arrive in early December. It will be delivered to East Quay by road and then transported by boat across the port to the West Quay work site.
Noise and vibration levels are monitored throughout the works under the approved environmental management plan and Section 61 agreement.
A letter with further details has been sent to residents and businesses. Thank you for your continued support as we deliver improvements to Newhaven’s working waterfront.
Update on Wayfinding and Public Realm Improvement Scheme
Excitement is growing for delivery of Town Centre Streetscape Improvements, with completion due by Christmas 2026.
The project will realise many ambitions of Newhaven’s Neighbourhood Plan and the Re-imagining Newhaven Board’s overall vision for improving the quality of its public realm for the benefit of our community.
High Street traders and community members initially joined together at the Hillcrest in October 2024 to help steer the design which focuses on decluttering, high quality lighting, street trees, and rain gardens, as well as street furniture upgrades.
Public feedback was extremely positive at the final consultation event in June 2025, and December now sees the tender process underway and due to complete in the new year.
Example quotes from Public Exhibition
- “A good use of smallish budget. Planting, murals, rocks, colour palette…really positive impact on the overall feel.” Newhaven Resident
- “This looks great! I love the lights”
- “Lots more trees will be great! Less concrete jungle.”
- “Love the large stones, love the trachycarpus, love the blossom trees”
- “It shows Newhaven the love it deserves!”
Most importantly, the target for spades in the ground is Spring 2026 and traders will be kept closely informed as work progresses.
Lewes District Council, on behalf of Reimagining Newhaven Board, has been working with Newhaven Town Council and East Sussex County Council on the town scheme to ensure all assets being improved are of the highest quality, robust and ultimately maintainable.
The Wayfinding Scheme has already successfully launched Look Again through a series of murals, as well as smaller scale landscape projects at Chapel Street, opposite the award-winning Stowe Place development, and two other key gateway locations.
The Newhaven Interchange project and additional wayfinding and signage is approaching the end of the design and planning stage and will strongly support key sites in the town and completed Re-imagining Newhaven projects.
The projects will also assist partner projects including Experience Sussex, which aims to realise Newhaven’s Tourism potential as an extraordinary gateway to the UK and Sussex Downs.
Eastside Rec playground officially reopened
Eastside Recreation Ground Play area has reopened after its recent refurbishment.
Improvements to Eastside Recreation Ground has been delivered in two phases. The first phase was completed in June 2024 and delivered new allotments, each with a water supply, trough, shed, hard standing and fencing, together with a new 95m footpath from the entrance of the Recreation Ground. The allotments are fully let to tenants.
A brilliant new play area was completed in September 2025 and has been well received by local children and families. The playground is now safer, more inclusive and more exciting than ever before with new and refurbished play equipment.
Fort Road Recreation Ground Update
Major works have commenced in Fort Road Recreation Ground to deliver multiple projects of improvement works which are due to be completed in April/May 2026.
The project will deliver better facilities and improved opportunities for sports, play, leisure, health and well-being for all site users.
Detail of what the project will deliver:
- A complex retrofit of Shakespeare Hall to create space for a new indoor café (which will be tendered for an operator).
- Creation of an outdoor cafe seating area which will be situated adjacent to a new outdoor play area.
- A community space will be available for hire, and the hall will also benefit from new and improved toilet facilities, better insulation, lighting and flooring.
- The children’s nursery will benefit from a new wet and messy play area which will be available in their nursery space on the top floor.
- Externally the building will benefit from a new façade and will be clad in larch and metal cladding which will be much more aesthetically pleasing in its location next to Castle Hill Nature reserve.
- New trees, hedging, shrubs, and perennial planting will be implemented across the site.
- The Cricket Club will benefit from external cladding and improved insulation and a new internal layout and heating to enable the building to be used all year round by the community (not just 6 months of the year) and a new artificial cricket wicket.
- The toilets at the entrance to the Recreation Ground will be renovated on the inside and out, to create single cubicles with robust fittings to prevent vandalism.
- An outdoor fitness trail with 5 new pieces of equipment will complement the new play area.
- Brighton Permaculture Trust are helping to deliver a new community orchard and garden (in the space where the previous play area had been located) – this is a brilliant project which will involve the local community in the design of creating a quiet and reflective space as well as offering gardening and sustainability courses.
- Bird and Bat boxes have also been commissioned and will be installed before the next bird nesting season in Spring 2026.
- A local artist will be appointed for a community arts project to paint a mural on the shipping container which is located next to the Scouts Hut – this will be carried out in the Spring/Summer of 2026 after the construction project has been completed.
For more on this project, www.fortroadnewhaven.org
The winning designs for the Viewpoint benches are currently being constructed and etched ready for delivery before the end of 2025.
The pictures below show the construction and etching process in action!
Newhaven Fort wins award for environmental excellence
Lewes District Council has won two International Green Apple Environment Awards for Newhaven Fort and Stowe Place housing development.
The awards, which reward and promote environmental best practice, position the council as a leader in sustainability and environmental excellence.
Newhaven Fort scooped gold in the Beautiful Buildings category while Stowe Place was awarded silver in the Environmental Best Practice Awards category.
Both projects were selected as winners from more than 700 entries across the world.
Historic Newhaven Fort, operated by Wave Active, has undergone a successful £7.5 million conservation project that was driven by a sensitive heritage approach, improving drainage and ventilation.
The scheme also prioritised sustainability with electrical upgrades, energy efficient lighting and biodiversity enhancements like creating new habitats for bats. Additionally, an adventure playground was built to broaden the fort's appeal to a younger audience.
Stowe Place is a development of high-quality, affordable homes which opened on the site of a former police station in Newhaven last year. Each of the 21 homes at Stowe Place benefit from full electric heating, reducing carbon emissions; hot water is provided by either air source heat pumps or air-to-water heat pumps; PV solar panels on the roof generate renewable energy; mechanical ventilation with heat recovery is installed and the lighting is low energy.
Nature is encouraged with bee bricks and a swift box.
The International Green Apple Awards are run by The Green Organisation, an independent, non0profit group founded in 1994 to recognise, reward and promote environmental excellence worldwide.
👉 Get the full story
A Community Of Kindness
A collaboration between Lewes District Council and Look Again, inviting all primary schools across Newhaven, Seaford, Peacehaven, East Saltdean, and Telscombe Cliffs to take part in a new creative community project designed to celebrate positivity, kindness, and togetherness through art.
Building on the success of last year's public art events, this next phase will use creativity as a simple but powerful way to strengthen local pride and connection across our coastal towns.
Working together, we'll explore how art can inspire shared values, spark conversation, and help children feel part of something bigger within their community.
The project will culminate in a district-wide exhibition of children's work displayed in public spaces alongside designs by renowned artist Supermundane — transforming our streets into a colourful celebration of creativity and collective spirit.
Find out more on the Look Again website: www.lookagainnewhaven.co.uk/community-of-kindness
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