The ORRA Committee

Clive Roland Tomsett: Chairman

Clive was born in Sierra Leone and brought up in Africa and Eastbourne. His grandparents and parents all lived in Eastbourne. He went to St Bede's, later training at Eastbourne District General Hospital.  

Clive has worked in Healthcare, both in the NHS and the Private Sector in a number of various roles.  His last NHS role, as a Director of the National Patient Safety Agency, was concerned with writing and publishing the national guidelines for the prevention of wrong side / wrong site surgery.  

More recently, Clive's work has been concerned with medical technology related clinical risk management and patient safety.  He has worked in Europe, Africa, the United States and more recently the Caribbean.  

Clive and his wife, Gillian who also trained as a nurse in Eastbourne, have latterly retired and moved back to Eastbourne from West Berkshire last year to be closer to family and friends. Clive is looking forward to having more time playing the piano and developing his photography interests.   

Clive and Gillian, together with 'Hector' the Cockerpoo enjoy exploring the local area, especially the South Downs with its wonderful views and fresh air.  Finding a home on the Ratton Estate and the opportunity to work with and support the ORRA Committee team is a real privilege.

Clive was co-opted as Chairman on 25th March 2025.

Mr Gary Robinson : Company Secretary

Gary has lived in Ratton for a number of years and has had a professional interest in roads and transport for some years.

Janet Olliff : Treasurer

I was born and raised in London,  moved to Brighton to attend university and subsequently decided to make it my home. I am a pharmacist and have recently retired and was lucky enough to move to Old Ratton two years ago. I am pleased to join the ORRA committee to help preserve the environment of the estate in which we live and from which we all benefit.

Greg Evans : Committee Member

My background is in the building industry as a manager for commercial projects.  Having worked for a few companies in London and the South East, I really like being employed by an excellent building company in Eastbourne and putting my skills into local projects.  With two grown up daughters, running, yoga and my wife, I am a busy person and feel privileged to reside in Eastbourne and most especially on the Ratton estate. 

Jenny Diack : Committee Member

I have been a Ratton resident since 1993. I love living here with my husband and son. I was a Graphic Designer for various organisations for about sixteen years and then I retrained to become a playgroup worker. I worked for two local playgroups - Chalk Hill Pre-School and Playmates. Playmates was sold Little Rockets. I then joined Sussex Downs College and that had a change of name to East Sussex College Group. I am a Teaching Assistant there working with young people with complex learning difficulties. I love working there with a supportive team of people and wonderful students. I will hopefully still be working there for less hours in September. My hobbies are tap dancing, going to the theatre, swimming and being a Kids on Sunday helper at St Mary’s Church in Willingdon which I have done for about twenty years. I can also face paint! I hope to assist the committee with the running of the estate.

Charles Hattersley : Committee Member

Charles was born in Cambridge, just after WW2 ended, to an RAF family. Educated in Hampshire with subsequent first job searching for & finding oil and gas in the North Sea and West Africa. Followed by a varied 47 year Cambridge based career with Pye/Phillips dealing with central and local governments regarding CCTV Traffic surveillance (M25 most local example & Hong Kong most distant).

Very recently moved into The Grove in this delightful area and very happy to be involved with maintaining the status quo. 

Jan Creasy : Co-opted committee member (trees)

I have recently retired from a career in the Pharmaceutical industry, working as a Commercial Director in the field of cardiovascular medicine. 

I enjoy spending time with my family and travelling but have a keen interest in gardening and horticulture hence the desire to support the committee with the trees on the estate. 

John Cuzick : Co-Opted Committee Member

John moved to the Ratton estate in 2021, having lived much of his life in London, and more recently Brighton. He has fallen in love with the beautiful estate and surrounding natural environment, exploring the Downs on a daily basis while walking his dog. 2023 saw the birth of his first child,  so he has some very special memories associated with Ratton.

He is committed to maintaining the unique characteristics of the estate while addressing the requirements of modern living, for the benefit of all residents. As of November 2024, he is working as the lead to bring Full Fibre Broadband to the estate. In December 2024 he also took on the duties of Webmaster and Acting Chairman, but stepped down as Acting Chairman in March 2025, being replaced by Clive Tomsett.

He has a broad spectrum of interests, ranging from science and computing, to music, filmmaking and the arts.

Graham Carn : Co-Opted Committee Member

I have a financial background with a major bank specialising in the commercial and corporate sector and involving heading up teams of managers around the South East. Following that I operated my own Consultancy company acting for clients in a commercial trouble shooting capacity or where fund raising was problematic. I am now however all but fully retired.

I have been fortunate to have been a resident on the Estate for 28 years with my wife bringing up our three children, to which can now be added five grandchildren, plus a dog! My main sporting hobby is golf and I’m a long standing member of a local club.

In terms of being co-opted onto the Committee I feel it is maybe overdue that I stood up to hopefully help contribute to the running of our Estate and maintaining its charm and uniqueness.