Your Letters - February 8

Cats rescue shock

WE want to rescue a young cat or cats but live on a wide tree-lined avenue in Bexhill.

We tried to rescue a couple of young cats today from a local animal refuge. We have always had rescue cats, and even a rescue dog. The children's pets had over the last couple of years succumbed to the inevitable and now my husband and I wanted to adopt/rescue two young cats, so that they could play together. The cats we wanted to rescue were born in the rescue place and are now 10 months old, so desperately need a loving home. I phoned up and made an appointment for a home visit.

I thought we were ideal; we have no young children at home, our youngest being 18, and no other pets. We have experience of dogs and cats and both love cats and are ready and willing to give all the care and attention these two cats required which had been discussed with the home inspector on the phone prior to the home visit. We had worked out where they were going to be kept in the house, which would be their space. We have a local vet and a cattery where our old cat used to go during holidays.

But it seemed that from the moment the home inspector came, they had decided our home was not suitable due to the area. It seems the reason we cannot adopt a rescue cat is that on our wide, straight road cars may drive fast and therefore it was potentially dangerous. Although they also said that if we lived up a half mile drive the cats could still wander on the road - yes that's true! Let's face it cats are cats and will wander, you can't stop them unless they are house cats, and you can't really train them. So c'est la vie, accidents happen. Apparently not to rescue cats! But - they did tell us that if we wanted to adopt an old cat or a semi-feral cat that was streetwise, that was OK, but to be honest if we had wanted an old cat we would have asked for one, and if we had wanted a semi-feral cat (don't they wander too) we would have gone to a local farm.

Anyway, to cut a long story short we are not allowed to rescue a young cat, even though the rescue centres and refuges locally are overrun with cats and kittens requiring understanding owners, who can supply care and attention, and pay the vets bills. In fact they are so full they advertise in the local papers and all have statements on the internet saying they are closed to new rescues. (Please note - this does not apply to Barby Keel - although closed to new rescues, she just did not have the right cats for us).

We feel we have been told we are unfit to have an animal, and are reluctant to go to another refuge in case they tell us again that Bexhill's wide roads and avenues are not safe for cats. We are totally gutted - even though they are desperate to have owners for their animals, we can't have one! I know rescue shelters have to have rules, but in an area where we have already had a cat (and a dog), an area where there are other cats, just exactly what are they looking for, and is this not why the rescue shelters are overrun - they are too fussy. So long as an animal is going to be loved and looked after, you cannot guarantee that nothing will happen to them and that they will live a long life.

I have since been to the local vets to see if they had any cats and they were astounded that because we live in a wide potentially fast road we can't have a young rescue cat, and are not best pleased as they are constantly told they can't place any more animals in the rescue centres. They took our name and address and will keep us in mind if they hear of anything - apparently where we live is not an issue with them, just that we can care for them and love them.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

Homecall thanks

'Through the letters page of The Bexhill Observer' I would like to say a very big THANK YOU to everyone who supported the Homecall Quiz Evening last Friday.

I am so grateful to Jan and Bernice, the main organisers, and to Geof, Jill, Marilyn and Sylvia for their help on the day. Also to Barry Turnwell for allowing us to hold the event in their church hall and for his help on the day.

Thanks also to our musicans 'Smooth' who entertained us admirably setting just the right atmosphere. And lastly, but definitely not least, to the most generous 80 people who attended the event and other supporters who, by their contributions, helped us raise760.

With no statutory funding it is support like this that enables Homecall to continue to support visually impaired people living in our community.

Thank you all.'

Jenny Private

Homecall Co-ordinator

Stroke awards

I WAS delighted to host The Stroke Association's 'Life After Stroke' awards last year. The awards not only recognise the courage and grit people have in the face of such a devastating condition but that of carers and volunteers too.

An estimated 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke each year and they change people's lives in an instant - affecting them physically, mentally and emotionally forever.

The chances are you already know somebody who has had a stroke and demonstrated outstanding courage and determination in rebuilding their life.

If you do, why not nominate them, a career or volunteer for a 2008 'Life After Stroke' award.

The closing date for this year's award nominations is February 15 - so be quick. For more information on the awards or to download nomination forms visit www.stroke.org.uk or email [email protected] or telephone 01604 623956

LYNDA BELLINGHAM

Actress and presenter

Swimming pool

I USE to swim in the outdoor swimming pool in Egerton Park years ago and really enjoyed it alas it had to close. I have been to Bexhill swimming pool but not being a strong swimmer there are no bars around the outside to grab hold of, we went to Hailsham which is a lot better. Maybe Bexhill could take a leaf out of their book.

A suggestion for a new place for a swimming pool would be next to Bexhill Leisure Centre - there is loads of space there, handy for everybody including all the schools.

MRS SWATRIDGE

Cumberland Road

Knitting lives on

CAN I suggest Mrs Pearson of West Parade ventures into Town Hall Square and 'Fancy That' regarding knitting and craft. They celebrated 25 years in their business last year.

Their wools are many in quantity and colour and not expensive which a lot of people can afford, they stock any craft you can think of, as the saying goes everything from a pin to ... but draw the line at the elephant.

Also if you have any problems or wish to be shown how to do something they are only too willing to offer their help and advice which is free.

I taught my daughter, and my granddaughters to knit and will also teach my little nine week old great granddaughter when she is old enough also the art of knitting.

I am never without my knitting neither is my sister and if the lady cared to visit 'Fancy That' she would also see the art of knitting has not died out.

M F P OLIVER (MRS)

Eastwood Road

Seafront strategy

FROM recent reports in the Bexhill Observer, and a review of relevant council proceedings, it seems clear that the TGLA consultants proposal (the "Tim Gale" Plan) for the "improvement" of Bexhill's promenade, published in 2002, is now financially unattainable.

The proposal's projected cost in 2002 was 6,315,000 with a recommended annual building cost inflation factor of 6%. The council's proposed start date is 2009/10, finance permitting. By that time the total projected cost will be theoretically 9,495,424 including 442,971 for a public art component.

The projected cost of the West Parade section of the overall proposal in 2002 was 1,128,316. Applying the same 6% inflation factor as above increases this to 1,696,569 by 2009/10. (This is about 0.5 million more than the figure given in recent reports but there is probably an explanation for this somewhere).

Whatever the true figure, the council can only set aside 600,000 for the West Parade section and hopes to raise the remainder from various grant-awarding bodies. An application is being made to the EU Interreg Fund for 250,000 of the balance. This will require a "joint" proposal with a neighbouring European partner and any grant will doubtless be heavily circumscribed by EU objectives. The demands of the 2012 Olympic Games on the Lottery Fund, and the deteriorating state of the nation's finances generally, make external funding from the other usual sources highly unlikely.

The question therefore arises as to whether this is now the time for the council to reconsider the current strategy and to reduce the scale of the wider project, and the West Parade component in particular, to what is realistically attainable. Revised priorities would then be necessary.

There never was meaningful consultation on the seafront strategy and with regard to the promenade itself its enormous popularity with residents and visitors alike is precisely because it is traditional, unspoilt and totally different from the seafronts of our neighbours. Rather than converting the seafront expensively to a trendy plastic backdrop for "Public Art", resources should more properly be applied to proper management, effective and detailed maintenance and all-round good housekeeping. (The public lavatories on the seafront are a disgrace for a town which has aspirations as a destination location. Sections of the railings are corroding badly from lack of preservative maintenance. The shelter at the Richmond Road end of the promenade has been without its glass screens for many months. The Colonnade deteriorates daily from misuse. The notice boards are tacky. These are just a few examples at random of where we are failing our most valuable asset).

The recent Sustrans grant for a cycle track from Bulverhythe to Galley Hill will no doubt provoke a renewed demand for cycling to be authorised on Bexhill's promenade. This must be firmly rejected. Anyone who saw the hundreds of residents, visitors and their families so much enjoying the promenade in the sunshine on Boxing Day will surely accept that cycling (other than by children) and promenading are mutually incompatible.

Rather than the continued pursuit of what now looks clearly like a forlorn hope I wonder if the council should not now revisit its seafront strategy which now needs to reflect the prevailing and prospective financial reality.

As a start point I would propose that the council take Bexhill's residents, and their compatriots in the wider district, into their confidence. I would suggest a dedicated public meeting where the seafront strategy could be explained and its current actual status confirmed. A fresh start could then be made after establishing residents' and electors' views on their wishes and priorities for Bexhill's promenade. A realistic and attainable revised plan could then be developed, endorsed and implemented with genuine majority ownership by those who will have to live with it and who, one way or the other, will have to pay for it.

J A LEE

Southcourt Avenue

Recycling rubbish

FOLLOWING on from a letter implying "too much rubbish equals not enough recycling", I am afraid in my case this is probably true since Rother council removed the Little Common cardboard recycling facility.

To reduce my "carbon footprint" I no longer drive and queue at Pebsham tip, all my cardboard goes in my black bin. I place all "triangle"1,2,& 3 packaging in the recycle box but because manufacturers can't or won't standardize plastic packaging the rest goes in the bin.

On the subject of bins and the problem of excess non recyclable waste over the Christmas period why didn't the council just "skip" the green collection and do a second black bin collection instead?

Also on the bin thread are we ever going to get our green bins or have we fallen into another con whereby we the taxpayers of Bexhill continue to buy two black bags a week in which we put our green "recyclable" waste to be collected on the same day as our black bins and end up in the same place "landfill"?

The last time I saw the dustman collect my recylcable boxes they were both put in the same wheelie bin and tipped into the back of the dust cart I would be interested to know how this eventual crushed and mixed mess of plastic paper and cans is separated.

Finally, while still in grumpy old man mode I see as we approach April 2008 we are once again entering the silly season where the roads around Bexhill are being dug up to justify allocated annual budgets. Well having got that off my chest I think I'll go and lie down in a darkened room.

R.E.Wilks

Woodsgate Park

Cardboard waste

WITH reference to your article in last week's Observer in the News Digest section titled Cardboard Waste, I would like to ask, if cardboard can not be recycled in Bexhill because it is not cost effective could you not just change to Hastings council way of recycling.

We moved from Bexhill to St Leonards last October and our way of recycling has changed to accommodate Hastings much simpler way of doing things.

No more different boxes for different things but one black bin for rubbish and another big green bin for your recycling.

We now put paper, tins, cans, plastic and cardboard all in the same bin for recycling. Yes Hastings Council are able to recycle cardboard. If Hasting council can afford to recycle cardboard I see no reason why Bexhill council can not do the same.

Sharon Minter

Bexhill Road

Signs of the times

THE council has seen fit to disfigure all trees in De La War Road with two large red signs per tree warning pedestrians of the uneven footpath. I would have thought this was blatantly obvious to all, other than the blind.

Paying heed to these warnings I proceeded to walk along De La War Road with my eyes glued to the footpath to avoid any mishap with uneven path. I promptly collided with a tree obstructing the footpath, doing severe damage to my nose.

Whilst I consider litigation, might I suggest the council disfigure our trees further by attaching two more signs to each tree warning us short sighted walkers of trees obstructing footpath.

It might also be a good idea if the council were to duplicate each sign in Braille for the benefit of the blind.

M.Coleman

Cranston Rise

Take care choosing

EASTENDERS' viewers saw the angst and turmoil as Dot helped her husband Jim move to his care home.

Dot is not alone in finding it difficult when a relative needs care. Every year we meet and help scores of families in the same position, often having to make a decision about a care home at a time of crisis - for Jim and Dot it was caused by the after-effects of his stoke.

I want to tell readers that help is available. There are websites run by charities such as Help The Aged and Age Concern. They can also contact the Elderly Accommodation Counsel (020 78201343) or their local social services department.

Our leaflet "Checklist for choosing a care home" helps families to compare different homes and gives suggestions on what to look for and ask about. To get a free copy, call 0800 001000.

Families are also welcome to visit care homes like ours to talk over their concerns, ask questions and have a look around for themselves.

MRS JANE SMITH

Manager BUPA, Grosvenor Park, Bexhill

MRS ALISON SOWERBY

Manager BUPA, Ancaster Nursing Home, Bexhill

Catholic foresight

MR Bromley (School Rules) shows a fundamental misunderstanding of Catholic education.

I began my teaching career in non-Catholic schools and soon found that Christianity was often taught by non-believers, if at all!

The Catholic community in Bexhill, Hastings and Eastbourne made financial sacrifices to pay 50% of the initial building cost of St Richard's Catholic College to ensure that their children, and those who followed, had an appropriate spiritual education.

The expense did not end there as the Catholic Church has always had to fund a proportion of all building maintenance and development costs.

The State benefits considerably from faith schools not only financially but from the well-qualified students it sends into the world. Non-Catholic students could not benefit fully from a Catholic education and it would be a sad day indeed if they were to have preference over Catholics.

It can hardly be termed discriminatory if the Catholic Church has had the foresight to invest so much money and effort into education for its believers. If St Richard's were not such a brilliant school there would be few cries of discrimination, I guess!

By the way, I am a retired Catholic headteacher but have no connection at all with St Richard's.

Ron Brazier

Winston Drive

Young Christians?

MAY I correct an error by A. Bromley in their letter entitled School Rules. Children are not selected for St Richards because they are Christian - they are selected because they are attending a Roman Catholic primary school, attending Sunday school, their parents are Roman Catholic, they are baptised perhaps. My point is only an exceptional child, 1 in 1000?, could confess their sins at the cross of Jesus and be baptised. Show me an 11-year-old Christian and most likely they haven't a clue what the word actually means!

There is no baptism of children in the bible. There is no direct teaching of children by Jesus or anyone in the New Testament. As a Christian father it will be a great day to rejoice if any of my children become Christians, but only when they fully understand what it means.

PAUL MINTER

Bexhill Road

Misuse of power

LAST Friday afternoon, Scottish Power became the latest domestic fuel provider to sneak out an average 15% price hike in the cost of gas and electricity.

Such price rises hit both retired people on fixed incomes and young families hard, and are doubly harsh because they will apply to winter bills with immediate effect.

These companies, which are predominantly foreign-owned have been quick to raise prices in response to increases in wholesale prices but very slow to pass on reductions.

Can I use your good columns to urge readers to sign my petition on the 10 Downing St website? This urges the government to levy a windfall tax on the profits of these greedy companies, and can be accessed via the following link:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/fuelwindfalltax/

Richard Madge

College Road

Global solution

NOW that the fuel costs have reached a level where the old age pensioner can no longer be sensibly expected to be able to heat his home, he is forced to rely upon global warming. It is therefore incumbent on him to create as much carbon emission as he can legally get away with.

I am therefore buying a herd of cattle which I shall feed so as to make them pass wind excessively in the hope this may help to bring about a global heatwave.

DR R V WHITLOCK

Knole Road

Young monsters

I FOUND your headline, about those who throw bricks down onto King Offa Way, somewhat bland.

I would hope that the charge, if these monsters are caught, would be that of 'Attempted Murder'. We gather that these people commit these acts 'for a laugh, because they are bored'.

One day they may be successful, and render themselves guilty of mass murder in a multiple accident. If their victims then prove to be members of their own families, as could easily happen, they can perhaps enjoy a really good laugh.

Name and address supplied

Pet tragedy

THANK you to the kind person (people) who picked up the body of my little cat Monty, in the De La Warr Road, near Ravenside. He must have been hit by a car, on Saturday night, about 8pm. They took him to the Greenleaf s vets surgery who identified him from the Petlog microchip and phoned me straight away.

He was just a teenager really, born in May '07. He was a brave, naughty, affectionate cat who wandered too far from home. One consolation is that I fed him an hour before, with white fish fillets from Tesco and a sprinkle of Go-Cat. He didn't have a day's unhappiness in his short life and was loved by the neighbours who watched him climbing trees and chasing squirrels. He was loved and spoilt, and I wish he had had a longer life.

Thanks again to that person who collected him. I'm glad that he wasn't just left by the road.

CAROLINE HERNU

Larkhill

Pavilion v Heights

WHILE glancing through the notes provided with the exciting new exhibition at the De la Warr Pavilion I noticed the sentence 'Use of the knowledge of proportion is one of the contributions which the artist can make to social wellbeing.'

This is probably why the sight of the iconic building has always given my spirits a lift whereas the new De La Warr Heights I find utterly depressing.

The latter is completely out of scale with the surrounding buildings - formerly Sackville Road looked quite an elegant shopping street, but not now. Moreover in itself De La Warr Heights shows no sense of proportion with an utterly dominant upper section.

The artist Mary Martin, writing in the same period of optimism in which the pavilion was conceived, was in my opinion justified in her conviction that art (and architecture) could indeed be a force for social wellbeing.

I think there is a dreadful warning here of how the greed of developers, who seldom have any interest in good design, are ruining our town.

Heather Morrey

South Cliff

Funding the Pavilion

JOHN Williams (Letters, February 1) must forgive me for being more concerned about the DLWP's and Bexhill's futures than their pasts.

Perhaps he would prefer it if the De La Warr remained closed, thus giving people no reason whatsoever to visit Bexhill. The socialist Earl De La Warr wanted the Pavilion to be a publicly funded building, but nowadays we have to accept that Tory councils are unwilling to retain control of public buildings and at least the Pavilion Trust is not a private company which would only be interested in profit. It amazes me that some residents are opposed to the use of council tax to subsidise the building, when the Labour Government has provided such a great opportunity to put Bexhill "on the map".

STEPHANIE WEBB

Collington Avenue

Train reforms needed

SINCE Labour came to power in 1997 train delays have doubled throughout the country, services have been cut and we have the highest fares in Europe.

The ticketing system is so complicated that finding the cheapest fare is impossible, even for railway company staff themselves.

Liberal Democrat research shows that our rail fares in Britain are the most expensive in Europe. Ten pounds will take you about 320 kilometres in Italy, over 160 in France but a measly 60 kilometres in Britain.

The Liberal Democrat solution would be to streamline the railway system with fewer train operating companies, each with longer contracts, in return for more investment and better services. A licence to operate trains lasts for about 7 years, which is far too short to make the expensive investments needed to run a railway properly. Train companies fear losing their contracts, which leads to low levels of investment and short termism.

We would reform the system so there would be fewer franchises. Each franchise would last longer than 7 years, even up to 20 years and to get the contract, companies would have to promise to invest for the long term and improve services. At the end of a contract there would be a presumption in favour of renewal, and if the company has delivered on its promises they would keep it and not find the contract handed over to the lowest bidder. A good train operator should be rewarded for keeping its promises and acting responsibly in the long term interest of passengers.

It is vital that train operators are allowed to own their rolling stock. At the moment trains are owned by separate rolling stock companies who charge the train operators for using them. They have an unjust monopoly which adds unnecessary cost. Liberal Democrats would end this hangover from Tory privatisation.

The whole mess was created by the Tories who dogmatically privatised the railways and split the business up into 143 separate units, so that it would be almost impossible to put it back together again. Labour however have had 10 years to sort it out and they've failed miserably.

Stephen Hardy MBE

Press Officer

Rother Liberal Democrats

Gentleman in the gales

I WOULD like to say 'Thank You' to the gentleman who helped me on Thursday during the storm.

I foolishly thought I would walk up Devonshire Road from Fantasia to Somerfields. I do not know how long that walk took - hanging on to walls etc.

Finally I managed to cross St Leonards Road but had to hang on to the lamppost on the way to the zebra! The wind was horrific and finally this gentleman asked if he could help and gave me his arm across the road.

I do not know his name but I was so grateful. The age of chivalry is not dead! Once again, thank you.

MARGARET MATTLAND

Woodville Road

St Richard's at an advantage

I TOTALLY agree with your correspondent A. Bromley in last weeks' Observer.

Of course St. Richard's school's admission policy is discriminatory. Only the minority of Bexhill children who fit their tight criteria are lucky enough to attend. To have a chance of admission these children need to be regular churchgoers (Catholic is best) and have references from their priest.

Most of them will have been born Catholics, and lucky enough to have stable family backgrounds and parents who can invest time and effort into their moral development.

The majority of Bexhill children end up at the High School which is a true reflection of society, inclusive of the less-advantaged children from unstable backgrounds and vulnerable family situations. Consequently there are going to be a greater percentage of children at St. Richards who are higher achievers.

The selective entrance criteria of St Richard's puts the High School at a disadvantage. Instead of the 'difficult' or disadvantaged children being shared between the two schools, the High gets the vast majority. Yes, St Richard's can be proud of its educational record but all the more reason to share it with its local community.

P. Bedwell

Landsdowne Way

Missing family Bible

I HAVE been researching my family tree for six years but I have hit the proverbial brick wall. My grandfather had a large bible and a photo album both of which disappeared sometime in the 1970's or 1980's. The Bible would have the names of Everest and probably Courts written inside, the album was about 12 inches by 10 inches, mottled brown with a pink cord tie at the spine end. If anyone knows of their whereabouts please could they get in touch with me.

Thank you.

PAT HAROLD

Mt Pleasant Road

Hastings

Employing family members

IN the light of the recent disclosures about the MP Mr Conway and his employment of family members, (I do feel he was probably the unlucky one that got caught), would Mr Barker the MP for Bexhill and Rother care to divulge if he is paying any of his family out of our money and what exactly they are employed to do and how many hours a week they spend doing it? I ask this question under the Freedom of Information Act.

P M ADAMS

Hornbeam Avenue

IT would be comical if it wasn't such a serious matter. I mean the Conway affair. David Cameron has just asked (!) his front bench team to reveal employment of relatives in their offices by April 1. He said: "There is a need for greater transparency and greater openness when it comes to MPs' pay and MPs' staff ..." (Not to be outdone Gordon Brown has also popped up with similar honeyed words). Could this sudden conversion to transparency and openness, I asked myself, have anything to do with the fact that TWO days earlier the Lib Dems had announced they were going to reveal details of ALL their MPs? Or that only a few months ago a group of Tories tried to have MPs exempted from divulging details under Freedom of Information Act? David Cameron didn't spend seven years as Carlton TV's spin doctor for nothing!

And so to the hapless Derek Conway. In a nutshell Conway came up against the Old School Tie. Compare his treatment to that of George Osborne, the Tory Shadow Chancellor. When storm clouds gathered over Osborne's failure to register nearly 500,000 in donations to finance his office, the response was immediate. Up popped Cameron waving the O.S.T. and, miraculously, the skies cleared. Conway, on the other hand, was hung out to dry. Labour has accused Cameron of "dithering" over Conway's fate. Not so; he was weighing up the risk to the party of someone who was, essentially, an outsider.

Few in the Tory party will mourn for Derek Conway - and a well-known pro-Tory national newspaper has done a pretty good hatchet job on him - but the real question is how the public might now see that party.

STEPHEN JACKSON

Second Avenue