Carpet Gardens vote ends Sunday 31 August at 5pm. Council figures put traditional bedding at £1.06m over ten years against £257,000 for the new planting.

Eastbourne residents have until 5pm on Sunday 31 August to say which planting they want at the Carpet Gardens, and the council has now published what each option costs.

The survey decides whether the seafront’s best-known flower beds go back to twice-yearly bedding or keep the perennial planting put in as a trial in summer 2025. Eastbourne Borough Council says the answers “will determine the future planting style” of the gardens. The survey page, with a cost table and the online form, is at lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/carpet-gardens.

What each style costs

The council’s figures, which it describes as typical annual costs in an average year, are these:

Traditional bedding Sustainable planting
One-off planting cost (May 2025) none £137,000
Annual planting cost £10,000 none
Annual maintenance cost £96,000 £12,000
Planting and maintenance over ten years £1,060,000 £257,000

On the council’s own arithmetic the traditional scheme costs £803,000 more over a decade. The new planting cost £137,000 up front, but its yearly upkeep is £12,000 against £106,000 for bedding that has to be replaced every spring and autumn.

Bar chart comparing the council's ten-year cost of traditional bedding, £1,060,000, with sustainable planting, £257,000, at Eastbourne's Carpet Gardens
Ten-year planting and maintenance cost of the two styles, from the council's Carpet Gardens survey page. Graphic by Eastbourne Live

The council says the perennial scheme was “always intended to showcase a new style” and was never permanent. It extended the trial for a second summer so people could judge it once it had bedded in. One section of the gardens has been kept in the traditional bedding all along, so the two can be compared side by side on Grand Parade.

What the last survey found

This is the second time the council has asked. Its 2025 survey drew 3,759 responses, and the council reports the split as:

  • 51% positive about the new style, 41% negative
  • 51% wanting to see the scheme in other gardens across the town, 49% not

Those figures come from the council’s survey FAQ. They are close enough that this year’s vote is genuinely open.

Who is running it

The 2026 survey is not run by the council. It is run by Blueberry PR, a company the council says was chosen by community campaigners from a list of private and voluntary sector providers, because of its independence from the town hall. The council states it had “no previous knowledge or relationship of any type” with the firm before this survey. The questions were agreed with campaigners before being handed over.

The survey opened on Monday 18 May. Councillor Jim Murray, Cabinet Member for Carbon Neutral 2030, said at the launch: “We fully recognise the affection many people have for the traditional bedding displays. The views we receive through this survey will help determine what happens next.”

The case the council makes for the new planting

The council’s FAQ lists the benefits it sees in the perennial scheme:

  • colour and foliage through the year, rather than a spring and summer burst
  • plants suited to the wet, hot and dry extremes now hitting the seafront
  • pollinator-friendly planting with nectar for insects and seeds for birds
  • less wastage and lower running costs

It names the plants people should expect: Mediterranean spurge, rock rose and phlomis early in the year, then red hot poker, Russian sage, lavender and several agapanthus including ‘Ever Sapphire’ in summer. The 2025 works were also used to remove an invasive weed, Oxalis latifolia, and to repair the beds.

The FAQ does not put an equivalent case for the traditional bedding, beyond noting that it “provides an attractive display in spring and summer”. Readers who prefer it will need to say so in the survey rather than expect the council’s page to argue it for them.

What it means for you

  • The deadline is Sunday 31 August at 5pm. The online form is at smartsurvey.co.uk/t/carpetgardenssurvey.
  • Paper copies are at the Seafront Office beside the Bandstand, the council offices at 1 Grove Road (BN21 4TL) and Qualisea Fish Restaurant at 189 Terminus Road (BN21 3DH).
  • Residents, visitors and businesses can all respond; it is not restricted to council tax payers.
  • The gardens sit on Grand Parade opposite the pier. If you are driving in to look at the two styles before you vote, our parking in Eastbourne page has the seafront tariffs, including the car parks that are free on Sunday.

The council has not published a date for its decision. We will report the result when Blueberry PR’s findings are released.

Sources