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22 May 2009
Airbourne may be poised to irritate and annoy the letter writers of Eastbourne once again.
The four-day festival hit the headlines last year when Eastbourne Borough Council made the unwise decision to charge for admittance to a screened off enclosure on the prom.
Residents were furious that they were being charged to walk on their own seafront, holidaymakers surprised that the previously free event now cost 5 and politicians scrabbled to declare themselves vehemently pro or anti the - in hindsight - disastrous plan.
This year, organisers promised that Airbourne would be free. However, it must also pay its way or risk being scrapped. Some local groups, notably the Greens, would welcome this, but the majority of people would be sorry to see Airbourne fly off into the sunset for good.
The council, advised by an Airbourne 'think tank', has come up with a raft of measures to ensure the show is self-funding, including a fund-raising dinner and more sponsorship opportunities.
However, the council's plan to ask local Rotarians with collecting tins to raise money may well backfire. For every 1 donated, 70p would go to the council and just 30p to local charities.
The muddying of the waters between charity and council is hardly the way to restore local good feeling towards Airbourne and its organisers - and could well lead to confusion from donors who believe all their cash will be going directly to good causes, rather than filling Airbourne coffers.
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Weather for Eastbourne
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
