Decimus Burton Gets TUSL Treatment
Decimus Burton Way, a pedestrian walkway in the heart of St Leonards between the top of Silchester Road and The Lawns, has been given a radical make-over under the Tidy Up St Leonards project (TUSL).
As a partner in the Safer Streets programme (see article in HIP 164 last November: Cleaner, safer streets for St Leonards) TUSL brings volunteers together on a regular basis to assist in keeping the town free of litter and waste. More than 100 local residents have signed up to participate, and a Facebook page catalogues a number of locations that have been cleared. But TUSL also manages more concentrated projects requiring professional help – contractors armed with chainsaws and clippers, and council waste units disposing of overgrown vegetation and other detritus – with the aim of reclaiming particular streets or open spaces where dilapidation or wilderness growth attracts drug dealing and other unsavoury activities.
Decimus Burton Way was identified as a path where people have expressed fear of walking at night. Not only used needles but a dangerously edged machete were found in the undergrowth. Other sites which are due for similar clearance are the pathway down to Warrior Square Station from London Road and the grass triangle on Church Road below Lidl.
Although East Sussex County Council is generally responsible for maintenance of streets, and Hastings Borough Council for upkeep of gardens, neither will generally undertake more than the minimum work deemed to keep such areas free of physical hazards.
Decimus Burton followed his father James Burton in planning and designing key buildings and other features of
St Leonards during the Victorian era.
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