Your East Sussex county NFU update

Following concerns raised by NFU members about delays to firearms certificate applications and renewals, the NFU recently met with Sussex Police to and Surrey discuss the situation, understand the reasons behind the backlog and seek reassurance on how the force is responding.

Members should be aware that Surrey and Sussex Police firearms licensing function is collaborated, meaning all applications and renewals from across the two counties are handled by the same firearms licensing team.

The key message for members is that Surrey and Sussex Police has significantly increased resources within its firearms licensing team to address the backlog and improve processing times. More than 20 additional staff have been brought in on secondment and are working through outstanding applications, with further planning underway to manage anticipated demand over the coming year. As part of this work, Sussex Police has advised that any applicant who has been waiting since before July 1st 2026 will be allocated to a backlog team and will be contacted directly and provided with a point of contact for their case.

What members should do

If you are awaiting a firearms certificate renewal or application decision and:

• You have been waiting since before 1st July 2026, and
• You have not received any contact from Sussex Police

please get in touch with the NFU by emailing your County Adviser: [email protected].

The NFU will continue to engage with Sussex Police and keep members updated as progress is made in reducing the backlog. 

The Wealden Food Partnership has been commissioned by East Sussex County Council to coordinate the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) Small Grants Programme for 2026-27.

The fund aims to support projects that help build financial resilience, tackle food insecurity, improve access to advice and support services, and develop long-term, community-led solutions to hardship. Funding is available for small grant projects and wider food system development initiatives delivered in partnership with community organisations.

Potential areas for support include:

• Development of community supermarkets, food pantries, social supermarkets, community kitchens and food hubs.
• Projects combining food support with financial advice, income maximisation and wider wellbeing services.
• Partnership and coordination work aimed at reducing reliance on emergency food aid.
• Community engagement and co-production projects that inform local service development.
• Innovative approaches that strengthen long-term resilience and help prevent repeat crises.
• Activities that improve referral pathways between food support, housing, health, welfare and advice services.

The programme reflects a growing focus on sustainable, community-based responses to hardship, with a greater proportion of funding expected to be distributed through local small grants during 2026-27 while longer-term priorities are developed.

Organisations interested in delivering projects, or wishing to make an application, can find further information and access the application form by clicking here. 

Applications close on Friday 4th December 2026.

Alternatively, contact Helen Graham for an informal discussion about your project idea before applying. Helen can be reached on 07538 314616 or by email at [email protected].

A specialist response team for South East Coast Ambulance Service is looking for suitable land for off-road driver training.

The Hazardous Area Response Teams need areas in Kent and Sussex that provide realistic off-road conditions, such as muddy tracks, uneven terrain, gradients, fields, woodland tracks, or other challenging ground where vehicles may become immobilised and require winch recovery.

Access to such environments would enable the safe and effective training of staff in vehicle handling, recovery techniques, and winching operations under controlled conditions.

HART Team Operative Rob McGlew said: “The support of the local farming community plays an important role in helping us maintain the skills needed to respond effectively to incidents in rural and difficult-to-access locations.

“Any training would be pre-planned, risk assessed and carried out by qualified instructors.

“We would work closely with the landowner to minimise any disruption during training activities.”

Please email Rob McGlew if you can help.

Wednesday 9 December | 9:30am - 1:00pm

Want to get better at telling your farm's story and engaging with the public? Join this practical, farmer-led workshop designed to help you share your farm, tackle misconceptions and champion the industry with confidence.

You'll hear from Brighton creative agency TILT on the art of storytelling and how to capture people's attention, before learning from local farmers Rachel from Trenchmore Farm and Kathy from Berries on Tap, who will share real-world examples of engaging customers through farm visits, newsletters and social media.

The session also includes interactive workshops, take-home resources, and plenty of opportunities to exchange ideas with fellow farmers.

Tea, coffee, cake and a light lunch included.

For more information and to sign up click here.

NFU East Sussex members are being encouraged to take part in an upcoming stakeholder workshop that will help shape the future management of trees, woodlands and hedgerows across Wealden District.

Wealden District Council is developing a district-wide Tree, Hedgerow and Woodland Strategy, which will provide a long-term framework for protecting, restoring, connecting and expanding the district's treescape. The strategy aims to address a range of challenges including habitat fragmentation, climate change, pests and diseases, and biodiversity decline, while building on initiatives such as the East Sussex Local Nature Recovery Strategy and Weald to Waves.

As landowners and land managers play a vital role in managing the countryside, the council is seeking input from the farming community to ensure the strategy reflects both local priorities and the practical realities of managing rural land.

Landowners & Rural Land Management Workshop

Date: Wednesday 11 November 2026
Time: 10.00am - 1.00pm
Venue: Uckfield Civic Centre, Bellfarm Lane, Uckfield, TN22 1AE

What The Workshop Will Cover

The workshop will explore the current state of Wealden's trees, woodlands and hedgerows, along with ambitions for the future. Discussions will focus on the role of landowners and rural businesses in delivering nature recovery, improving ecological connectivity and supporting the objectives of the emerging strategy.

Participants will have the opportunity to:

• Hear about the work completed to date.
• Discuss opportunities and challenges for trees, hedgerows and woodlands on rural land.
• Share practical experience and local knowledge.
• Help shape the strategy's vision, priorities and future actions.

How to register

Members wishing to attend, or nominate a representative from their business or organisation, should confirm their attendance by 9 November 2026 by email to Harry Vassey Urban Forest Consultant at Treeconomics at [email protected]

Members should be aware that parts of East Sussex and West Sussex have moved into severe drought status, following months of low rainfall.

The Government made the announcement on Thursday (15 October) after the latest National Drought Group meeting, which NFU National Water Resources Specialist Mark Betson attended. 

It said the change to severe drought status had been prompted by specific concerns for reservoir levels. Ardingly in West Sussex is only 19.4% full.

Declaring a severe drought ensures proactive steps are taken to safeguard water before any disruption occurs. These include: 

• Ministers instructing water companies to conduct daily monitoring of reservoir and river levels and tougher water quality monitoring; 
• The Environment Agency to increase compliance checks on businesses that withdraw water from natural sources, to ensure they are only taking permitted quantities of water
• Local Resilience Forums stood up to enable quick and effective development of support if required.

The NFU has pulled together information and advice on the impact of dry weather.

Members in the High Weald National Landscape may be interested in the Removing Barriers to Access Fund, which supports projects that make the countryside more accessible and welcoming for people of all ages and abilities.

Funding is available until March 2029 for capital projects such as replacing stiles with accessible gates, improving paths, installing accessible facilities, creating inclusive outdoor spaces, and providing adapted equipment. Landowners, farmers, businesses, community groups can all apply.

Projects should be sustained or kept open for at least five years and up to 100% of eligible project costs may be supported. The contribution may be limited to 40% of eligible project costs if the project has a commercial benefit.

Members interested in improving access on their holdings are encouraged to submit an expression of interest and discuss their project with the High Weald team. Applications are typically considered within three weeks.

Find out more: https://highweald.org/grants/removing-barriers-to-access/

The South Downs National Park Authority is inviting Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the 2027/28 Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme. Applications will be open from 1 October to 31 December 2026.

Funding is available for projects that deliver lasting benefits for nature, climate, people and place within the South Downs National Park. Farmers, land managers and rural businesses are encouraged to submit an Expression of Interest via the official FiPL online EOI form. 

EOIs submitted by email or any other method cannot be accepted.

As demand for funding is expected to be high, we have produced an Expression of Interest ​​Guidance Document to help applicants prepare their submissions.

Successful EOIs will be invited to develop a full application for projects starting from April 2027.

Further details of FiPL in the SDNP can be found on our website by clicking here.