DISABILITY
ACTION GROUP
EAST PRESTON
Village Green public consultation
East Preston Parish Council is looking to enhance the SW corner of the village green with accessible picnic benches.
Michał Zarzecki, a Landscape Architect based in East Preston, has been working with EPPC on designs. Michal would like to invite people to one of these sessions to discuss any ideas and suggestions to help shape the design.
Please come along to one of the sessions, they are:
• Monday 22nd September 2025, 10am – 1pm
• Wednesday 24th September 2025, 4pm – 7pm
Drop in at a time that suits you — stay for a few minutes or longer.
Should the weather be awful, it may be necessary to move the sessions into the Council Office. If that is the case EPPC will post a notice on the village green noticeboard.
Change of day for meetings
Due to a change in circumstances at the British Legion, we have had to change the day we meet for our meetings.
We will now meet on the First Wednesday of every month.
East Preston Access guide complete!
In April 2025 we completed our access guide for the village, you can view this guide under the 'Projects' tab.
East Preston Boardwalk at last!
New Chairman July 2024
Our new chairman is Marion Mitchell. Marion has many years of experience in disability related issues. She has an adult son who has a very rare chromosome disorder, resulting in severe learning disabilities. She also helps to care for her elderly disabled mother-in-law, who lives with the family here in East Preston. For 27 years she worked in the charity sector as a Family Support Officer, supporting members with information and providing a listening ear. She organised family conferences and events and created a network of local contacts for families all over the UK and beyond. Marion has written over twenty practical information guides for families over the years and is currently in the process of writing an access guide for East Preston.
SAD NEWS
Sadly, we have to report that our Chairman, Alan Hultquist, passed away at the end of April 2024 after a long illness, bravely borne. Alan became involved with the group in September 2019 and was elected Chairman in June 2021. He was committed to making East Preston more accessible to all. We will miss his enthusiasm and positivity.
REACH THE BEACH
We were delighted when retired engineer, Roy Allen, became involved with the project and offered to draw up new plans for a boardwalk and viewing platform over the stones at the end of Sea Lane to improve access to the beach. Following an open meeting in June 2023, attended by over 70 parishioners supporting the project, it was decided to set up a company - Sea Road Beach Access Ltd. to take this project forward.
We are delighted to announce that sufficient money has been raised to purchase the components for the boardwalk, which were delivered at the beginning of November and are being assembled by a group of willing volunteers.
A local company, Cloud 9, has offered their services to dig out the footings at the end of January 2025. Then the foundations can be laid and the decking boards fixed in place.
Please email: searoadbeachaccess@icloud.com to register your interest and receive the latest updates.