A question of priorities - July 25

Both could involve Rother departing from a long-held financial principle and dipping into the capital reserve, the interest from which helps to keep down the yearly Council Tax rise.

Both are expensive. But while one involves an issue which has been the subject of much of the Observer's letters columns for more than a year the other seeks to address an issue which readers of this paper evidently don't see as such a pressing need. While one is expensive the other is vastly more so.

On Monday, members of a Rother council overview and scrutiny committee play their part in the democratic process which will lead to decisions being taken on both.

Of all the elements of Rother's kerbside recycling scheme, the issue of green wheelie bins for compostible garden waste has been the most appreciated '“ by those householders who have received the bins.

Others are still waiting, many with growing impatience.

To extend the scheme to all of those with gardens will involve taking 150,000 from a capital reserve which is largely the product of the sale of Rother's housing stock.

If Rother is unable to access European Union grant aid via the INTERREG fund '“ and officers are warning that this appears uncertain '“ the authority would have to take a whopping 3.5m out of its nest-egg for plug the seafront funding gap.

In this paper's view, regenerating the seafront comes under the heading of Desirable But Not Essential.

Yes, like Egerton Park, the seafront would benefit from a makeover. Some elements are shabby.

It looks today much as it did 50 years ago or more.

One of the questions our elected representatives have to consider is whether looking traditional is a handicap or an asset. If it is a handicap then this calls into question the whole concept of town centre conservation and attempts '“ most recently through the installation of period-style street lighting '“ to preserve its Edwardian architectural integrity.

Like all consultants' reports, the New Wave proposals are a mixture of the attractive and the whimsical.

If the present curved path from Marina Court Avenue to the promenade is a skateboarders' challenge, replacing it with a broad flight of steps will be like building a ski ramp for Eddie the Eagle.

When first proposed, the idea of excavating behind the Colonnade to create shops and restaurants seemed attractive.

But already the Rowing Club has been forced to withdraw; faced with an impossible 800,000 bill. Given that purpose-built new restaurant-retail space stands empty only a couple of hundred yards away, what are the prospects in a time of international financial crisis of finding takers for the Colonnade? Their money would help offset the seafront scheme's 5.1m costs.

Unlike last week's seafront working party meeting, Monday's 5.30pm gathering of the services overview and scrutiny committee will be in public.

The public has been told precious little about the seafront scheme '“ rather like the seafront working group itself which, reportedly, was somewhat miffed that it had not been kept better informed of developments.

Monday's double debate boils down to two questions:

* Does Rother need to extend the green wheelie bin service to all applicable homes?

* Does Bexhill seafront need a radical makeover - or just a little tender, loving care?