In a brand-new addition to the updates you can receive from Uckfield Town Council, we are starting a ‘Last Month in Your Council’ feature which will arrive at the start of every calendar month.
These articles aim to give you further insight into the work your Town Council does and shine a spotlight on the ways you can get involved in your community.
This first edition celebrates the work of the Council’s grounds team, as well as reflecting on the night that Uckfield transmitted live to the nation, so let us begin as we mean to go on!
Over the last few months of 2023, Uckfield Town Council’s grounds team were hard at work completing a range of significant improvement works.
These tasks included maintenance of the Uckfield Civic Centre and remarkable transformations to the site that hosted The Hub and The Source on Civic Approach.
With tireless work in testing conditions, the team got things ready just in time for Uckfield Late Night Shopping.
James Hollingdale, Estates & Facilities Manager at the Town Council and lead of the project, explained: “The Hub and Source site consisted of two buildings linked by a PVC corridor, with The Hub being built first and The Source added a few years later.
“The Hub side had reached the end of its useable life due to various issues, but we wanted to keep the newer Source side open.
“The decision was taken that due to the site needing to be useable for Late Night Shopping, myself and our caretaker Ron, with extra help from builders and our grounds team, would carry out the works to ensure this deadline was met.”
Impressively, the deadline was indeed met, with The Hub taken down and plenty of renovations made to The Source.
These improvements include the addition of a new entrance ramp, new outdoor lighting, and new heaters, as well as refurbished doors, repairs to the roof, and the decoration of indoor areas.
A host of other important steps were taken to ensure The Source continues to be a flourishing site for its main tenants, Uckfield Baptist Church, for many years to come.
“Although there are still further works to carry out, these are not time-sensitive and the site is now vastly improved in terms of how it looks, the access, the practical sense, and compliance-wise,” Hollingdale said.
“The tenants of the building are very happy with the improvements made to the building.
“The Civic Centre has also undergone a full paint refurbishment of the main Weald Hall, as well as a deep clean,” added Hollingdale.
“Luxfords Restaurant’s kitchen has had new flooring, an upgraded cooker, and new lighting installed, as well as undergoing a deep clean and some compliance works.”
Following on from the achievements of the grounds team, our amazing crew at Luxfords Restaurant were also proudly commended at the end of 2023.
After plenty of hard work, Luxfords secured another five-star, or ‘Very Good’, rating from the Food Standards Agency for overall hygiene standards.
This is an excellent badge of honour for our staff, whose tireless efforts continue all year to ensure customers have the best experience dining with us.
Congratulations to everyone involved!
On January 19, the Civic Centre welcomed BBC Radio 4 for a night of topical discussion broadcast live to the nation.
It was a real thrill to welcome Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion, Steve Reed, MP for Croydon North, Michael Tomlinson, MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, and Anita Boateng, former Conservative special adviser, as the panel guests on the night.
With the event’s free tickets selling out in no time at all, it was extremely encouraging to see such an enthusiastic and informed audience for the evening.
Producers reported having a tough choice to whittle down the questions to the final five that were asked, and also praised the atmosphere throughout the recording.
We would like to thank the BBC Radio 4 team for their expertise and warmth on the night, as well as the panellists for the time they took out of their schedules to appear before the audience.
It had been a long week of parliamentary action, especially for Michael Tomlinson in his role as Minister for Illegal Migration, and everyone was grateful for their contributions to a key part of the democratic process.
It was a huge honour for the Civic Centre to be chosen for the event, and we would love to welcome the team back again in future.
With Uckfield emerging from winter, February promises to be a brilliant month in the town.
In half-term week, we look forward to Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday events – namely Pancake Day and Valentine’s Day – and a thrilling Kapow Wrestling event featuring former WWE star Gangrel at the Civic Centre.
There will be plenty more opportunities to get outside this month as the weather improves, so we recommend Our Parks events at Harlands Farm Playing Field and any number of walks around the town to see the changing of the seasons.
We look forward to seeing many of you in and around the town this month, and wish you a fabulous February!
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