Your letters - January 9

Vital for economy

I STILL read the Bexhill Observer every week even though I moved to West Sussex last year and I am not a bit surprised to learn that the plans for the Bexhill Hastings Link Road have been resurrected.

This planned road will not help anyone much at all and will make it much more difficult to get a good south coast road built which was taken through all its planned stages some 10 years ago but was cancelled by the then Transport Minister Stephen Byers without any really good reasons.

It has become very obvious to me, living as I do near Horsham, in West Sussex, how important good roads are for the economy.

Horsham is a very prosperous town with many major businesses here in good business parks and thriving retail outlets as well, in spite of the financial crisis.

I am sure this is largely due to the good roads we have around here connecting easily with Brighton, Worthing, Gatwick and the M25.

Were there to be a good south coast road connecting the towns such as these to the M27 and the Channel Ports and Tunnel the whole situation around would be quite different.

This applies particularly to Hastings which is well known as being the most deprived town in the south east of England.

Dr John Thurston

Horsham

West Sussex

Affordable homes

HOW outrageous the people at Nazareth House fear houses on the new development may be sold to housing association.

What makes these people believe that those living in high-priced private houses are all good quiet honest people. We have huge individual debts, family breakdown, crime and mental depression in our communities - mainly caused by a mortgage or rent that is beyond their means.

The Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg was right in saying 'Let's build council houses'.

Would it not be better to instruct developers to build 3,000 houses in Rother for those on the waiting list with an option to rent or buy, but only be able to sell back to the council to keep houses affordable for other generations.

Laurence Keeley

Herstmonceux

Time for a tissue!

GOOD news for the new year! I don't know how long it has been there, but in my doctor's waiting room a little notice proclaims 'Coughs and sneezes spread diseases'.

Patients are then urged to use a tissue - and offered one from a box which stands below.

As we re-enter economic conditions the young can only read about in history books, I hope they will be proffered other worldly wisdom from pre-tissue World War Two.

We might even get back a touch of the social solidarity of that tragic but united time.

Allan Bula

Wickham Avenue

Pavilion ticket sales

HAVING just read the Observer's comments on the great Christmas attraction at the pavilion - I mean, of course, the circus - you state that 'early indications show that three quarters of the tickets were sold during its week-long run'.

Seeing that it was 'buy one, get one free', I work it out that only three eighths of the number were actually SOLD, three eighths given away and two eighths unsold - not a lot of money generated over a period when there should have been but, there, we ought to be used to that by now!

Phyllis Cresswell

Cranston Avenue

Imprisonment policy

I READ with interest Martin Humpage's letter regarding prison failing as a deterrent. If imprisonment worked our prisons would be empty by now and not, as they are, bursting at the seams.

Crime figures will never be reduced until we address the reason for the behaviour of miscreants and stop the futile method of locking people up and then releasing them back into the world they were unable to previuosly cope with.

Most of those in prison are not a danger to society - they are a nuisance. Locking them up alienates them and costs tax payers a fortune,

David Barry

Terminus Road

Time to think again

IT WOULD seem that the council majority now plan to proceed with the changes for the sea frontage. But all is not lost.

We the electors do not agree with this decision. We say that the plans prepared by an architect do not represent the ideas of the electors but reflect the ideas of the director of services which are largely substantiated by a small number of councillors who apparently only want to push the scheme through to show that they are contributing to the regeneration of the town.

These councillors do not appear to have analysed the problem or the ridiculous costs involved.

They think that by spending unnecessary sums on the sea frontage they will bring people and therefore business to the town.

Do they not live in the town and visit the sea front to see what people do and need?

Have they consulted the Chamber of Commerce and the commercial agents in the town? Above all, have they walked the promenade on a weekend in summer and watched the visitors and natives enjoying themselves?

Have the councillors seen the brief that was given to the architect? Was the instruction given to him to produce a scheme reflecting modern ideas of architecture?

Why did not the brief reflect the evident preference amongst the visitors and inhabitants for the Edwardian basis of our townscape? Why was the decision taken without listening to informed voices in the town?

Perhaps the few people who are behind this decision are rejoicing in the sight of the two hideous blocks of flats at the bottom of Sackville Road. Perhaps they do not see that they are not selling.

I personally implore the Conservative councillors to think again and be rational. If they would only venture to oppose the director of services and suggest that there are more important schemes that must be put in hand.

I suggest as a start that we should forget the architect's plans and put on hold the million pound grant from CABE unless it can be spent on a more comprehensive list of improvements including a multi-storey car park and a practical approach to our empty shops.

Will the leader of the council please stop, stand back and realise what he is doing? A change of direction would be welcomed, not derided, and he should do it forthwith.

We await immediate results.

In my remarks I am trying to encompass all the various opinions about the seafront scheme and suggest a positive, optimistic and helpful approach so that the town and district can agree and proceed to do their best for us all.

Basil R Streat

Cantelupe Road

Thanks from Bunnies

I AM writing on behalf of the Cuddle Bunnies team, to say thank you to all those who have supported us and for all the donations we have received.

We are a small part of a larger charity called Canine Concern which is run by Eve Waring of 'Smocks', Wellington, in Somerset, telephone number 01823 664300, if anyone would like to contact her.

Sue Horseman, our leader and founder of Bexhill Cuddle Bunnies, works very hard in keeping us 10 senior members and nine juniors, all busy with our visits to nursing homes and other work we do in the community.

If anyone has time to spare, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Sue on 01424 224982. For and on behalf of all Cuddle Bunnies.

M WORTH

Buxton Drive

Overflowing bin

WHY do the people of Eastwood Road and Little Common Road insist on filling the bin on the corner of Eastwood Road with their household rubbish instead of using their wheelie bins, which is what they are supplied for?

This morning, where it was overflowing, the seagulls have come down and pulled it all over the green. It looks a mess.

I also had to clear up rabbits' fur and feet on our drive dropped by the seagulls.

Last summer we got fed up clearing up old tea bags and salad remains and when they had been shopping all the rubbish they did not put in their wheelies ended up in the bin on the corner.

Haven't the people who live round here any pride where they live? I am beginning to think the answer is 'no'.

M Oliver (Mrs)

Eastwood Road

Parking plea

Copy of a letter sent to The Managing Director Hastings Direct

MAY I first congratulate you on the success of Hastings Direct. I am glad you are able to increase the number of employees which surely must be a help to the employment situation in Bexhill and the fact that you can afford to spend 20m on advertising.

May I respectfully request a small amount of this money can now be spent on car parking on your site, (as I believe at the rear of your building you have a large unused area which used to be a playing field) and making your employees use the car park thus relieving the chaos caused to your neighbours in Collington Avenue, Sutherland Avenue, Normandale and Harewood Close and thereby allowing them access to their own properties.

Mr P D MORGAN

Harewood Close, Bexhill

Cancer Care appeal

I AM appealing to readers to 'detox' their party wardrobes in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Many women may have treated themselves to an extra special new outfit for celebrations over Christmas and the New Year, which they may have worn to their work do, or a friends and family get-together.

Even though we love these outfits, sometimes they only get worn a few times before they are relegated to the back of the wardrobe'¦never to be seen again!

So why not donate those clothes to your local Marie Curie Cancer Care Shop? You never know what bargains you may find for your 2009 wardrobe while you are there.

Marie Curie Nurses care for terminally ill people at home and in the charity's hospices over the festive period, so they can spend their final Christmas in the place they most want to be. But they couldn't do this without support from people like you.

Everything you donate will help give terminally ill people the choice over where they spend their final days. Thank you for your generosity.

Julia Bradbury

Bench survey plea

ON THE present trolley survey 100% of respondents have voted to keep the dedicated benches on the west end of the seafront.

Only two people did not tick the box.

If you own a memorial bench and want to keep it, ignore any letters you get from the council and drop a letter into the trolley and we will help you.

Thank you to all the brave townspeople who have so far filled in voting forms in this bitter cold weather. We have even had people voting in the snow. The trolley will be out a little longer for those who still want to vote.

Jackie Bialeska

Vox Pop, Cantelupe Road

Fantastic dance

MAY I thank the Royal British Legion entertainments committee for the fantastic New Year's Eve dance they put on with music from the band Quicksilver; but the highlight of the evening was the surprise entry of the Bexhill Pipes and Drums, they really were superb and put us all in the mood to welcome in the new year. This rounded off a very successful year of entertainment for Bexhill RBL.

Mr Peter Morgan

Harewood Close, Bexhill

Booming nuisance

PLEASE can someone give an indication as to when the 'bird-scarer', which is booming every day from dawn until dusk, will be turned off? What with that, clay pigeon shooting at the weekends, fireworks going off at Christmas and then on New Year's Eve, my dog Alfie is permanently frightened and is almost too scared to put his nose out of the door, let alone go out for a walk. Can't be good for his bladder or bowels!

Doreen Mills

The Briary

Dog mess plea

I WOULD like to say to whoever walks their dogs down Cornwall Road or, adjoining the road, into Egerton Road, could they kindly pick up the mess they leave near the hotel.

For the past two months there has been one big mess for the customers and residents of the hotel. It does not take much to pick up the mess and put it in the bins provided. Please try to keep it clean for the hotel and customers. Thank you.

Name and address supplied

Some took the plunge

I WAS so sad to hear that the annual Christmas swim was cancelled this year, especially as the monies collected on previous years must have been sadly missed by the charity they supported.

I enclose a photograph, which I thought you might like to see, of some friends of mine that came down last week, which they do every year, for their annual swim, which they did with no ill effects.

Barbara Campbell

Bedford Avenue

Uninspired and profligate

YOUR editorial of January 2 returns once again to the eternally vexed question of what the De La Warr Pavilion is doing at the pavilion.

In the wake of yet another year's drably-indifferent and heavily subsidised performance, your concern about DLWP is, in my view, thoroughly apposite.

I also note that you treat the recent DLWP offering of an 'Xmas circus' as a kind of allegory for the DLWP yearly record.

Judging by the photographs of the 'circus' in your paper, this is severe criticism indeed as the event appears to have amounted to only three leotards and a hula hoop.

However, given the abysmal damage inflicted on the backstage area by the 10m refurbishment, I suppose we should regard ourselves fortunate not to have been confronted by three thongs and a Polo mint.

Overall though, how depressing it is to look back, just a few short years, to the time we were tantalised by the prospect of part of the pavilion being let to JD Wetherspoon.

And if that had come to pass, local people would now have been able to enter the pavilion at virtually any time of the week and enjoy beer at 99p a pint with meals at 2.99.

Another suggestion in your paper was to house the local library in the remainder of the building, just as the Earl De La Warr proposals originally intended. What a pleasing prospect that combination would have offered!

Literate culture on the one hand and excellent value food and drink on the other - and no half a million pound per annum subsidy picked out of the pockets of needy taxpayers for the sole benefit of the uninspired and profligate DLWP.

How bitterly ironic, too, that this half million lump sum (per annum) is exactly the same amount that Rother District Council is now frantically looking to cull from votes for really vital local services. This all brings to my mind the saddest expression of any language - 'if only....'.

Amanda Nixon

Peartree Lane

Rude awakening

'THE firm belief that Britain is a great country whose best days are yet to come is central to my politics and indeed my whole outlook on life!', writes Greg Barker is his New Year's message (Observer, January 2).

And how scrupulous is he to avoid any mention of the financial deregulation of the 1980s which unleashed the demon credit which is now wreaking havoc.

But the future of oil depletion and climate change we are accelerating towards, without any prospect of return, has no place or use for glory days and jingoism.

What it will DEMAND of us is cooperation, adaptation, innovation and the rediscovery of old skills, and, above all, a far greater emphasis on sustainability and localism: a reconnection with the land that nurtured us instead of a ruthless plundering of its resources. The Tories are hopelessly becalmed, stranded in a rose-tinted Nineteenth Century of rugged entrepreneurs, a benevolent landed gentry and a wise imperialism, all wrapped up in silver paper and topped with a big bow labelled 'British values'.

Mr Barker and his colleagues are in for a rude awakening when the real world shatters their illusion of a time and a place that never was and which they so firmly believe is now the salvation of our country.

Stephen Jackson

Second Avenue

Destructive construction

EARLY in 2005, during the controversy over the Sea Space proposals, Save Our Seafront applied to East Sussex County Council to register the putting green as a statutory common.

Alarmed by this prospect, Rother District Council argued that such status would require the removal of the walls around the green (now proposed by themselves) and would even allow gipsies to graze their livestock!

Ultimately, SOS were persuaded to withdraw their application by a Rother decision to declare the green public trust land, subject to the provisions of the 1972 Local Government Act, which allowed public objections before 'appropriation to another purpose'.

Aware of this condition, I submitted a written public question to the leader, Cllr Maynard, before the meeting of the full council on December 22, 2008, asking if this consultation procedure would be invoked before concreting over nearly 2,000 square metres of the green to construct the 'Next Wave Boulevard'.

I was staggered to receive a written response, which stated that as the land would remain a public open space no consultation was required and the 'procedure is not concerned with details of management such as changing the surface'.

These weasel words caused some merriment among my four fellow questioners (the usual suspects) and at the meeting I asked a verbal supplementary question contending that 'to cover nearly one third of the grassed area by paving was not a detail of management as he described but was appropriation to another purpose as defined in the public trust agreement'.

Predictably, this question only evoked a verbal repeat of the original answer from Cllr Maynard and, sadly, there were no comments from other members.

Unfortunately, press observers were absent from the meeting, otherwise these statements would probably have been reported in the Observer.

The proposed dimensions of this pointless slab are truly awesome. It will measure 20 metres (65ft 6inches) wide by about 96 metres long, and will extend between kerb level at the Sackville junction to the back edge of the promenade.

Since there is a fall in ground level of over two metres between these points, it will slope at a gradient of 1:41 and will look like the stylised level platform depicted on page 12 of the Next Wave document.

There will remain a steep bank between the eastern edge of this paving and the general level of the terrace and the high ground south of the pavilion, thus creating a veritable skateboarders' paradise.

I suggest that such vast, sterile expanse of sloping paving will not only seriously reduce the area available for putting ('we can shorten back the holes', suggested Cllr Starnes!) but it must also impact upon and detract form the landscape setting of the south west elevation of the pavilion.

I challenge Rother District Council to publish a realistic perspective sketch of this proposal to inform both themselves and the public of these dire effects before pursuing this destructive construction.

Prospective putters may also wish to comment!

Perhaps local artists may wish to contribute their own ideas? I am sure your readers will be very interested to see the results.

John Hodson

Cooden Sea Road

Surviving Christmas

I AM pleased to say the 24th Surviving Christmas project has been successfully completed.

More than 1,300 local families in need received food vouchers during December and 450 food hampers were delivered over Christmas, mainly to elderly or housebound people.

Despite an increase in the numbers attending, all guests were able to enjoy themselves at our three day 'Open Christmas', where in addition to good food they could choose from the clothing store and have their hair cut by one of the hairdressers.

In all more than 4,000 people in Hastings, St Leonards, Bexhill and Sidley were helped by Surviving Christmas during the festive season.

This would not have been possible without the help and generosity of local people who donated not only their time but also food, gifts, clothes and monetary donations. Thanks to everyone for the contributions.

Our thanks go out to all our volunteers, especially the two new chefs and hairdressers, who worked tirelessly for the three days, and also to the young people from Darvell Bruderhof, who worked so hard both in the preparations and clearing up afterwards.

Thanks also to the local schools, churches and organisations who raised much-needed funds and collected food, clothing and gifts for us.

We do appreciate their continuing support and special praise must go to St Richards College in Bexhill who raised the magnificent sum of 1,500 in addition to collecting a van load of goods for us.

Last, but by no means least, we are indebted to the local Trusts and charities who loyally support our work each year.

We are also most grateful to Richard Stevens for his Sox Appeal, the Observer and Sainsbury's for tin collections, and local businesses and schools for the loan of equipment.

On a personal note I would like to express my sincere thanks to Eileen, our vice-chairman, and Shirley, our part-time administrator, who worked hard to ensure the success of the project when I was unexpectedly absent during the final month's preparations.

Our appeal is not yet closed so if you have donations collected over Christmas please send them in to the address below.

Looking forward in 2009, we are seeking people to run in the Hastings Half-Marathon on our behalf - please contact [email protected]

With best wishes for 2009

JUDITH WYCHERLEY

Chairman, Surviving Christmas

PO Box 290

Hastings, TN34 9DT

We'll never know'A NATION of Shopkeepers'. This accolade was given at the grand opening of a new Woolworths in early 1930 at Burnt Oak, Edgeware, Middlesex.

A few days after this event, upon my arrival home from school, I found my mother very worried. The handle of her kettle had broken off!

I was given two shillings (10p) wrapped in paper, and told to go to Woolworths, 20 minutes' walk, and buy a new kettle.

I was served by an efficient, yet motherly, sales lady, who pushed the lovely tin kettle into a capacious, crisp brown paper bag and gave me sixpence change.

If Woolworths survived the War and the grim economies afterwards without closures why not now, when we are known as a wealthy country? Or have we become too corrupt? If so, we will never know the true reason.

Maria Mockler

Maytree Gardens

Prom wide enough to accommodate all

I UNDERSTAND that Rother District Council is reviewing byelaws, one of which prohibits cycling on the promenade

As a retired resident, who cycles for pleasure and exercise I would make the following observations:

1: The byelaw is not enforced and is a nonsense.

2: While recognising the needs of the disabled, how can the driving of 'mobility vehicles' on the promenade and other footpaths be allowed?

3: It is my understanding that before Bexhill became 'the home of motor racing' it was a family activity to cycle along the promenade.

4: I would certainly not take children on cycles along De La Warr Parade. The parking arrangements are too dangerous, with motorists reversing into the middle of the road.

5: It appears to me that Rother District Council is lacking in any will to complete the section of National Cycle Route2 through Bexhill. The 'cycle-lanes' in Cooden Drive and Barnhorn Road are a pathetic waste of public money.

6: The promenade at Bexhill is wide enough to accommodate all reasonable recreational activity. Hastings and Eastbourne manage without too much mayhem!

We are not, after all, suggesting the British Olympic cycling team comes here to train for 2012!

The grassed areas along the seafront seem to be used only for dog exercise/toilets. With a little imagination the planted beds could remain and stop the area from becoming another sea of paving.

Dave Sully

York Road