Your Letters - July 27

School help

I regret that it is necessary to respond to the comments made by the chair of governors of St Mary Magdalene Catholic Primary, Julia Dance, as reported in the Bexhill Observer last Friday under the headline: "Struggling School asks: Why did we have to wait so long for help?"

I totally refute the central allegation that East Sussex County Council somehow dragged its heels in coming to the school's assistance in tackling some of the issues it was facing. In fact, the absolute opposite is true - the school has received ongoing and intensive support from this authority over a number of years.

From spring 2003 to spring 2006 the school's senior leadership team and governors received appropriate advice and support in relation to the school's standards, quality of leadership and curriculum provision.

In the autumn of 2006 our adviser agreed with the head teacher and Miss Dance a plan of intensive support following the results in summer 2006 that were judged to be inadequate.

As Miss Dance acknowledges in her comments, our support since December 2006 has included the allocation of a consultant head teacher, teaching and learning support for all staff, ICT support, early years and foundation stage support and support for behaviour management. Some of the support offered has been accepted only reluctantly by governors.

We, together with colleagues from the diocesan authority, have been relentless in our support to governors with the considerable challenges experienced during the head teacher appointment process.

The suggestion that we as the Children's Services Authority have not supported or were slow in supporting St Mary Magdalene is quite wrong. Our records clearly show that governors have received continual advice and guidance from our Governor Services team and that school teaching staff and school management have been intensively supported.

I would like to conclude with a direct report from the Ofsted report of June 2007 which said: "The strong commitment of the local authority and staff mean that the school's capacity for improvement is satisfactory."

Matt Dunkley

Director of Children's Services

East Sussex County Council.

Top research

I WOULD like to pay tribute to Anne-Marie Loader, our advocate at last week's public inquiry.

She has spent the past year researching on behalf of Gullivers Action Group and the document we produced at the Inquiry bears testament to this.

Despite having never presented in this capacity before, she was prepared to carry out this task in front of an illustrious group of professionals and a large audience. She, like the rest of GAG, is passionate about our cause and this came across sincerely and in a totally dedicated manner.

During the course of two and a half days I received endless comments of support for her stoicism, and at the end of the proceedings even Churchill's barrister came over and congratulated her!

However, the whole event was marred for me by two people in the audience who thought they knew better. Whilst entitled to their opinion they would have done better to have fully understood the serious nature of the inquiry and its regulations with respect to those actively participating and to those attending the proceedings.

As one of our number is often heard to say '“ "all power to your elbow" Anne-Marie and our heartiest congratulations and sincere thanks from us all.

Christine Madeley

Chairman

Gullivers Action Group.

Think park

ROTHER and Hastings councils have backed the Link Road. They have spent so much time sitting on the fence they must have splinters. However, Rother have requested that Little Common roundabout could be made more attractive. This is an excellent idea because motorists will have something to admire while they are waiting in a queue for access to Church Hill and Little Common Road.

It is obvious that the main purpose of the Link Road is to feed he new housing estate. In an article this week, ESCC stated that the new scheme would attract 356 million to our economies. I would really like to know how this miracle is likely to happen. I eagerly await my share. How are we going to cope with our already overloaded services. The new road is going across marshland prone to flooding. Building new houses as well will increase the risk of flooding in neighbouring existing housing.

The Pebsham and Combe Valleys are our last green areas between the two towns. For the sake of our health this should be maintained.

The suggested route of the link road will bring nothing but congestion and more pollution than ever before. The junctions at The Ridge and Little Common will be bottlenecks.

If our two councils are serious about regeneration, they should scrap the existing link road plans and concentrate on developing the country park and the surrounding country area.

R. SANDERSON

Top Cross Road.

Fog ahead

Copy of a letter sent to the Assistant Director, Policy, Transport and Environment Department, ESCC:

WE write with reference to the Hastings and Bexhill Link Road. It is our public duty to place on record that the proposed route of this new road is in an area severely affected by dense and heavy fogs.

Many lives will be put in danger if the road is built on this part of the Coombe Haven Valley.

We shall be writing to the Chief of the Fire Brigade, Chief of Police, Director of the Conquest Hospital and our local MP to inform them of this potential loss of life due to the positioning of the road.

We feel duty bound to also contact the local press and television company so the public are made fully aware.

Please inform us when the Public Enquiry is scheduled as we will wish to make representation regards the fog in the valley.

Please also inform when there is the opportunity for the public to speak when application are determined at planning committee as we also wish to make the council members fully aware of the potential danger.

The problem of the fog is the Coombe Haven Valley is well documented and was discussed at the Public Enquiry for the Bexhill Bypass some years ago.

We would like you to confirm in writing that you have been made aware of the fog in the Coombe Haven Valley. The costs in both life and rescue services will be questioned if this road is built.

R A BOGGIS AND L A BOGGIS

Crowhurst.

Fair deal

WE were delighted to hear that Bexhill has now been given Fairtrade Status. Well done to Jack Doherty and his committee.

Locally we have always highlighted the effects changing our consumer habits can have on those producing day to day products like tea and coffee. The Fairtrade mark is now a well known symbol and pressure is put on businesses and other outlets to stock and supply such goods.

Ten years ago supporting International Development with adequate aid and assistance and raising awareness about the economic and personal impact on globalisation on farmers in Africa and the Caribbean were not priorities on all political agendas.

Looking outward from the UK has now drawn in many people who want to provide practical assistance across the developing countries.

The Labour Party has a strong tradition to support those less privileged than ourselves. It is good to see so many others now joining that cause.

CONNIE RATCLIFFE (Mrs)

Women's Section

Bexhill Labour Party.

Stretching belief

WHEN voting for my local councillor I am electing him on the basis that he will endeavour to work in the interest of Bexhill residents and the town. I do not elect councillors to enable them to interfere in people's private lives and businesses.

Providing all is legal what goes on in a stretch limousine it is a private matter between the owner and his client and none of the council's business.

If they have nothing better to do may I suggest the council do what they were elected to do such as: -

Get uneven pavements repaired;

Sort out the eyesore Granville site;

Get the promenade cycle lane in place;

Have Ravenside roundabout cleaned up;

Lobby the Government into having a proper bypass around Bexhill instead of a link road that will do nothing to reduce Bexhill and Hastings traffic problems. I will not mention the wheelie bin problems.

M COLEMAN

Cranston Rise.

Strip ban

OH dear, the busybodies are at it again. A senior Rother District Council bureaucrat, Tony Leonard, wants to ban lap-dancing, striptease and pole-dancing in stretch limousines.

And he's written a long (and, to me, largely impenetrable) report on the subject. He and Rother councillors must surely have better things to do with their time. Is this really an issue worth worrying about? It's not as if the streets of Rother are choc-a-bloc with stretch limos.

Why can't these people mind their own business and let the rest of us have some innocent fun? At what point did we allow public officials (whose salaries are paid for by you and me) decide they were our masters and not our servants?

ROY HAYNES

De La Warr Parade.

Limo parking

I DON'T care what they get up to inside their limousines (Spoil sports! Council wants to ban striptease and lap-dancing in stretch limousines, Observer, July 20), I just wish they would not park them at the side of the road.

Derek Duly

Newlands Avenue.

Sticky problem

ON behalf of Mayhill Classics I sincerely apologise for the distress caused to patrons of the Dela Warr Pavilion attending a recent concert who were affected by leaflets that stuck so firmly to car windscreens and proved very difficult to remove.

Our intention was to inform people of a forthcoming concert (in aid of ESSPA, a local theatre arts school for children) and we had no idea that the flyers would adhere so firmly when wet. The quality of paper chosen for its high gloss proved to be the problem, together with the thunderstorm and torrential rain that struck during the concert.

Kim Colvill

Mayhill Classics.

Medium rare

ANY publicity is good publicity. So the bowling alley wants us to believe it has a ghost and has called in a couple of mediums to get rid of it.

Let's look at the facts. Medium Michael Kingscot on a preliminary visit believes the bowling alley MAY be haunted. He says a past explosion on the old gas works site MAY provide an explanation. Michael tells us that staff say the common denominator SEEMS to be a shadowy figure. He also says HOPEFULLY we can collect some information. Further he states, we COULD be looking at a spirit ... .it COULD be residual energy. He will do HIS BEST to find out what's going on.

Medium Michael doesn't seem to have a clue - may, may, seems, hopefully, could and could, sum him up. This is to be expected because as a christian I am aware that the bible tells us that dead people are just that - DEAD. Sleeping if you like. They can't communicate or appear. If this spiritualist from his so called 'church' would like further educating on what he may be dealing with, I'll be pleased to tell him. Can I suggest a local priest would be far better qualified to deal with this matter. I believe Father Edward at St Peter's may be a good start?

PAUL MINTER

Uplands Close.

Village tip

I READ with interest D. Wells comments in your letters page regarding the overflowing recycling centre at Little Common being compared to a landfill site.

I received a strange reply email from Rother DC last week when I had to (once again) complain about the evergrowing cardboard mountain fiasco. It said that the "Little Common tip was the responsibility of East Sussex CC who could be contacted on ...." Confused? I know I am!

Obviously it has been reclassified from Bring It Recycling Centre to Landfill Site - perhaps Verdant lorries are emptying the recycling collections there after 4.30pm when Pebsham closes!

HELEN PHILLIPS

Cooden Drive.

Water bin

I READ the section in last week's Observer (July 20) where Council Leader Carl Maynard explained that old dustbins would be collected at the end of the year. Why don't residents keep them and do what I have done? I already had four water butts, but my dustbin is now being used for extra water storage.

Just think, if only half the residents of Bexhill used their old dustbins in this way, how much water we could save for garden purposes. All that waste, when we wait for the water to get warm from the hot tap, could be run into a bowl and thrown into the old dustbin.

Yes I know it's been a trifle wet this year!

RAY RIPPINGALE

Firle Road.

Non-collection

I ATTACH a copy of the latest email sent to Mr Wharne at Rother District Council. Emailing him following non-collection of our rubbish has become a weekly event over the last four weeks. To be fair, every other week he has arranged for a 'special collection' of our rubbish. However, he is apparently 'out of office' on annual leave at present, according to the auto-reply I have received today. I have done as the auto-reply suggested and forwarded the email to the Rother Recycling Department. I am not holding my breath for an imminent response from them.

Apparently our block of flats was overlooked when the rounds were drawn up by Verdant, although we used to be included in the All Saints Lane area round by Serco.

A local businessman in the town area did say that apparently Rother District Council never actually kept a list of the rubbish collection rounds when Serco had the contract. They have since contacted Serco asking them for copies of the rounds - to which Serco have, quite rightly, responded that it is not their responsibility to provide the council with such information, especially as they have opted to take the contract for rubbish disposal elsewhere. How true this all is I have no idea, but I am quite willing to believe it.

JANET GREENROYD

Calgary Road.

Flat response

I wrote to my two local councillors about the rubbish problem we have, on June 29, councillors Keith Standring and Deirdre Williams.

Mr Standring did not bother to reply at all, and Cllr Williams replied "I am not sure what you expect me to say".

Oddly enough, I expected them to say they were acting on my behalf - isn't that what they're for? - and protest and try to get things sorted!

In the end I contacted Mr Dodge, the top man (contact him on 01424 787580) who did, eventually, manage to get our rubbish collected, although I had to ring him every day for a week, then three times the following week.

I wait with bated breath to see if our rubbish is collected again this Thursday!

It seems the problem is that as we are in flats and have no new wheelie bins, we are still supposed to be collected weekly - but the bin men don't seem to have been told!

The week before, they came up the road, collected four newspapers from my paper bin, and left the rubbish to be gone carefully through by the rats! Unbelievable.

Juley Ross

Dorset Road South.

Weekly mess

I QUOTE from an official notice left in the wheelie bins this week: "You should have no difficulty in getting all your WEEKLY (my capitals) rubbish in the black wheelie bin"!

No comment.

M MASHITER

Sutherland Avenue.

Our duty

AL SMITH, the 'Happy Warrior' governor of New York, said correctly that people get the government they deserve. Councillors represent the people from whom they come. That Rother District Council delayed our waste problem until fines loomed, and that they seem unaware of the problem's urgency is uncontroversial. But we no less than they make the waste.

We as well as they - and our children - depend on our fragile, finite, damaged climate and environment.

So let's work together. Help councillors and civil servants to appreciate and preserve and even restore what remains of over-developed Bexhill.

We all could learn from a play produced by the children of Little Common School, with Mrs Hoath and other teachers, on 'Reduce, Re-use, Recycle'. Reduce consumption. Tell supermarkets to reduce unnecessary packaging. The national WI says traders should source more local food, reducing food miles and the need for packaging. Re-use rather than discard.

Tell traders to stop providing plastic bags. Take and use your own biodegradable bags. Using plastic bags once or twice and then sending them to landfill is unsocial earth abuse like wearing furs or showing off in a silly 4x4 Chelsea Tractor. Finally recycle all plastic marked 1, 2. and 3, and glass, tins, cans, and paper. Treasure and compost all biodegradable kitchen and garden green waste. All of us suffer from mounting waste and the climate disruption which is clearly connected.

Let's co-operate with councillors who after all come from us. And learn with them and youngsters that there is more than one set of 'the three Rs'.

Edward P. Echlin (Dr)

Thornbank Crescent.

Youth respect

I WHOLE-HEARTEDLY agree with the writer of the letter with the title 'Kids' Mentality' (Bexhill Observer, July 20).

As a Londoner who has lived most of my life abroad, I was brought up to respect my parents and elders. If I showed my parents/elders any disrespect and/or misbehaved, I was either smacked or given the cane.

Although this is also biblical teaching, this method of discipline would now be seen as a form of abuse in the UK which is why the morals of children have declined so greatly today.

"Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod and shalt deliver his soul from hell"

Proverbs 23:13-14

My mother was a teacher in an international school where strict discipline was enforced. When I was a teenager, I remember not being allowed out when it was dark and was contented with just reading, writing and listening to music. Computers had also scarcely come into existence during that time.

Perhaps the Western society could learn something from the Eastern culture where the children support their parents when they begin working; after all, our parents brought us up and that is the least the children can do to show their parents their appreciation. Or is it something that, sadly, the children these days do not even take into consideration?

ELAINE FELL

Buckhurst Road.

Charity golf

ON Friday, July 6, Robin Wells of E J Wells and Sons builders, Keith Wiley and Paul Heritage, organised a fantastic charity golf day on behalf of Demelza House Children's Hospice at the Cooden Beach Golf Club.

The day was brilliantly organised, with each hole generously sponsored by local firms. Although it was a very windy day, at least the sun shone.

After the golf there was a lovely meal for over 90 people followed by dancing to Bob Avis and Rick Hendry. It was a really enjoyable day and those who took part contributed very generously. At the time of writing, the amount raised has yet to be determined.

In September, Paul's wife and daughter, Yvonne and Jenna are joining 45 others to take part in a community project at Demelza House's twinned hospice, Jon Hospice in Zambia. They will be helping to build a playground, paint a mural, and engage the children in play and music therapy.

Both Yvonne and Jenna have good reason to raise awareness of the wonderful work done by Demelza House. Six years ago Paul and Yvonne's youngest daughter, Jennifer, was seriously ill and deemed to be on a downward spiral.

Demelza James Hospice at home service gave them help and support and would have helped them care for Jennifer at home during the palliative stage of her illness. Wonderfully, Jennifer's health turned the corner and though she still has health problems she is now 23-years-old and relatively well.

When Yvonne and Jenna are in Zambia, she will be on a Mediterranean cruise with two carers!

Partly due to Jennifer's ill health, Jenna has trained as a children's nurse and now works for Demelza James supporting other families with sick children.

Yvonne and Jenna each have to raise 2500 for this challenge and have had several fund raising activities, including last Saturday's abseil.

YVONNE HERITAGE (Mrs)

Warwick Road.

Drain problem

COULD somebody answer this conundrum for me? Whenever there is planning permission for large blocks of flats to be built in gardens, and other developments, we are assured that our storm water run off drainage is adequate and there would be no flooding problems.

The pedestrian underpass under King Offa Way has been flooded for the past five weeks, forcing parents with children to get to school, to cross the busy road itself.

The Local Authority after three phone calls inform me that their contractor is having difficulty clearing the problem because the drains can't cope with all the rain we have had.

E PULLEN

Holliers Hill.

Neglected sites

WE hear so much about housing shortage and sky-high house prices yet locally we see a proliferation of suitably-prepared sites, purchased by "developers" but neglected for one reason or another.

It may be planning hang-ups, or even the ever-increasing value of land, but some such areas have been abandoned for years, with consequent loss of local authority revenue from frustrated occupancy.

Harry Smith

Buckhurst Road.