MEGA Issue #11 is now out! Making Eastbourne Great Again in 2026

Phil from Eastbourne

MEGA JANUARY: EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE (MOSTLY AT ONCE)
MEGA kicks off 2026 the only way we know how: eyes open, eyebrows raised, and mildly amused by the state of things.
This issue tackles the shared pathway that somehow manages to be finished, unfinished, overdesigned, and confusing all at once. We ask the questions no one seems keen to answer — about safety, fences, colours, surfaces, bus stops, trees, timelines, costs, and why traffic management feels like interpretive dance.
It’s an election year, where calm suddenly feels radical. Luxon steadies, Hipkins recalibrates, Winston loiters with intent, ACT keeps rising, others quietly fade — while Trump supplies the global background noise New Zealand never ordered.
We shine a light on academic priorities, including the transformation of the C-word into a funded intellectual exercise — proof that public frustration can always be repackaged as research.
We take a sideways glance at charities, churches, and commercial empires, asking whether faith is a belief system or just another hobby with excellent tax settings.
Closer to home, we celebrate Eastbourne businesses doing things right — clever butchers, ice-cream-fuelled retail innovation, and new barbers bringing life back to empty shops.
We also call out media narratives that don’t quite match reality, especially when grey photos are published during weeks of sunshine, packed beaches, and traffic jams that say otherwise.
Plus: AI — in or out?
Our monthly cartoon.
Chef Gordon Ramswine’s summer recipe.
Add pigs, paperwork, lightning strikes, and overcomplicated signs — and a reminder that sometimes boring, local, and practical beats loud and chaotic.
Same village. Same humour.
New year.
Still asking the awkward questions.
Visit: www.mega.kiwi.nz...
#MEGAJanuary #AskTheAwkwardQuestions #DaysBayReality #LocalBeforeLoud