Your letters - July 9

Happier gull outcome

I AM sorry to hear that Mr Morgan (Observer letters, July 2) was unable to summon help to a stranded seagull chick.

I had a similar experience the other week when my neighbour had a stranded chick, but fortunately a happier outcome when we contacted The National Gull Rescue and Protection service, which run a 24-hour emergency service on 07765 114599.

These very dedicated volunteers came out within a couple of hours and rescued the chick.

They intend to rear him and let him go when ready, as unfortuntately he couldn't be re-united with his own family.

I can't praise them highly enough and the great work they do is vital to our wonderful seagull community.

MADDY BERNARD

Hamilton Terrace

Bexhill

Adizone concerns

WITH the provision of new sport and recreation facilities should always be applauded, I would like to raise some concerns over the development of Egerton Park.

The installation of the 'Adizone' may be the thin end of the wedge in the corporatisation of our public realm. What next? A picnic area sponsored by McDonalds? Flower beds courtesy of Monsanto?

But beyond this concern the citizens of Bexhill are served with a true double-whammy.

Not only is this new facility sponsored by Adidas, a company whose employment practices in South East Asia have consistently violated the core conventions of the International Labour Organisation, but it also features the symbols of the Olympic movement; a movement that long ago abandoned Pierre de Coubertin's vision of innocent youth striving to be faster, higher, stronger - to one that now openly embraces and rewards an over-professionalised, bio-chemical performance culture the Soviets would be proud of.

Shame on Rother District Council for endorsing such discredited organisations instead of investing in the amateur, voluntary and community groups that have long sustained sporting opportunity in this country and which remain the true bedrock of any effort to increase participation.

Dr Paul Gilchrist

Cornwall Road

Bexhill

Alarmed over link road

I WAS astonished and alarmed to read that a Tory councillor, Matthew Lock, the transport leader for East Sussex County Council, is persisting in trying to get the go-ahead for the Bexhill-Hastings link road (BHLR) when the rest of the country and county is making cut-backs and sacrifices in welfare departments affecting the old, young and weakest in our society.

This is unacceptable, and Cllr Lock and ESCC should be setting an example.

Cllr Lock should be told that this is no longer a Labour spend-and-print-more-money government, and be more responsible as our Prime Minister and Chancellor are enforcing.

Most locals agree that the BHLR is a waste of money and is only being built to free green belt land for housing and factories, which could be built with no new road at all.

However, if Cllr Lock and MPs Greg Barger and Amber Rudd promoted the cheaper route out of Combe Haven valley it would show a more responsible attitude.

Am I correct in saying that the BHLR scheme is now costing some 120 million, and that 76 million was promoised by a quantitative easing to spend more Labour government?

Could you please tell me the current financial position of the BHLR?

How much extra will the link road cost, with the new VAT increases and the potential rise in interest rates?

R NAYLOR

Buckhurst Road

Bexhill

Fiscal austerity...

OH frabjous day, oh frabjous night

They've kicked the Link Road

Out of sight!

It seems there are benefits from government fiscal austerity, after all. And, with the nation's finances in their continuing parlous state, I'd reckon it will be a very long time, if ever, before this ill-judged project again sees the light of day.

Hallelujah!

Sinclair Robieson

Marina

Bexhill

Not explained

I WAS interested to read the Bexhill Observer's report on the recent Town Forum meeting concerning the DWLP.

Unfortunately I was out of town and unable to attend, however I did note that examples of the councillors' "challenging" approach were not sought or given (they must be minuted somewhere for instance), nor were the "certain criteria" for Arts Council funding explained. Does RDC think we would not understand or is this more council smoke and mirrors?

The fear factor of "it would cost you millions of pounds" was not explained, millions of pounds over how long? How much does it cost us now? Finally, if RDC are only one partner, why were the others not there to answer questions, especially the DLWP Trust? I would like to see their costs, expenses (and remunerations) set out.

Why do councillors elected by non-Bexhillians seem intent on ruining Bexhill?

On another subject, I note that the vision for a regenerated town centre comes from two un-elected RDC officers, not from the voters or even elected members. Perhaps they should go to Specsavers to improve their vision.

Tony Ashby

Lychgates Close

Bexhill

It's time for change

I HOPE everyone has received their diary of events at the De La Warr for July to September. After opening the first page,my first reaction was to have a long laydown in a dark room. Would a more educated member of the public please tell me what this is supposed to represent? The holiday season is nearly upon us and this exibition is just what our young holidaymakers will enjoy. The Arts Council and the Rother District Council are supposed to be in partnership running the Pavilion. Judging by the events that have been staged since the De La Warr re-opened we seem to have a parnership of one. It's time for a change.

R Sanderson,

Top Cross road

Bexhill-on-Sea

Traffic problems

I LIVE in Dorset Road which is, as most people are aware, a major route into Bexhill for drivers travelling from the Hastings direction.

Dorset Road is not particularly wide so in order to ease the flow of traffic, we the residents have for many years parked our cars with two wheels on the pavement. The pavements are very wide so it has never posed a problem for pedestrians of whom I am one.

At the beginning of June we each received a letter from the police warning us that if we were to continue parking on the pavements we would be liable to a fixed penalty, or reported for the offence and summonsed to court.

It came as a surprise to nobody that the sudden restriction in the width of the road caused problems particularly during busy periods, as it became difficult for two moving vehicles to pass each other especially if one was a bus or lorry. In no time at all parked cars began to lose wing mirrors and in a somewhat more serious event my car suffered serious damage as a result of a speeding hit and run driver attempting to squeeze through a space insufficiently wide to accommodate two vehicles.

Although I accepted that the police would be unable to assist me, I thought it sensible to report the incident as I am sure the situation is being monitored. When I called on the police, I found it somewhat ironic that all of the cars outside the police station and in the immediate vicinity were parked with two wheels on the pavement!

Keith Hilman

Dorset Road

Bexhill-on-Sea

Should've been kayaks

I REFER to your article on Page 14 of the July 2 edition on the recent "Norman Invasion" of Herbrand walk Beach .

Mr Hall's claim that he has given up his jet-ski school ambitions would surely be more convincing if the invaders had arrived in kayaks and not on jet-skis!

C W Andrews

Cooden Sea Road

Cooden

Our elegant past

REGARDING the Daily Mirror Eight:

As I recall the girls, on arrival in Bexhill, would go to the elegant Sackville Hotel for refresments - then change into their bathing costumes - wearing their colourful towelling cloaks they then left the hotel's central glass lounge, walked down the steps, across to the lawn opposite which has been squared off with deckchairs for the enthusiastic public waiting to watch their display.

The Colonnade featured with the Daily Express and community singing - just once a year and early evening. The man who conducted the singing was always so immaculate in white shirt and slacks, we were all given song sheets and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The following evening he had an evening in Alexandra Park.

Yes you've guessed it - I am an old Bexhillian.

PHYLLIS CRESSWELL (nee Hall)

Cranston Avenue

Bexhill-on-Sea

Brilliant Big Sing

I HAD the pleasure of attending The Big Sing at the De la Warr Pavillion last week and was delighted at all of the performances. Bexhill High School really shone with Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, there was such a marked difference from their performance last year and their discipline and stage presence was of a very high standard. All the children who participated were fantastic, they really worked hard and it is such a blessing to know the teachers believe in our kids so much and give them the time and dedication to express themselves. The primary schools community choir was the best and brought the show to an end with a bang. My only complaint was that it was short lived! We would love to see more of this happening. A huge congratulations and thank you to all who were involved.

Lynette John-Roberts

De la Warr Road

Bexhill

Thanks for phone

THROUGH your pages may I thank the lady who found my phone and handed it to the girl at the pitch and putt kiosk.

I cannot find words to express my gratitude.

Thank you.

TIM HARRIS

Sedgewick Road

Bexhill

Galley Hill speed nuisance

May I refer to the various and recent correspondence from these columns that relate to public speed nuisances on Galley Hill.

The many

residents of Sutton Place and the numerous residents of Bexhill who enjoy the open space at Galley Hill will be familiar with the activities of a minority of motorists who persist in using this narrow road as a race track. In the main, excess speeding takes place during the evening up to and including the late hours, often in the darkness.

I have asked some Sussex Police officers if they are aware of the offences, the standard reply being that there are many visits to the area but prosecutions are rare. Privately, some local police officers agree that there is a major issue of safety, law-breaking and public annoyance here but no authority seems prepared to tackle the issue.

It is commonly and incorrectly believed that there are no road traffic accidents, complaints or any speeding offences there, but that is only because no other authority is keen to retain what is a beautiful area of our town used by many people, residents and visitors alike.

At 50,000 each a static speed camera is too expensive, even if planning permission was sought and granted.

The speed limit of 30mph is already low enough to be suitable but it is disregarded.

A blitz by traffic police (remember that lost species) would be costly and temporary.

Any dialogue with 'offenders' would be foolhardy in this day and age.

Is there anything that is legal, inexpensive, effective and easy to manage that would solve our problem? Yes, there is.

Just to the east of the town is Ravenside shopping area. Used by lots of people and vehicles all day and every day. Whilst some might question such out-of-town style shopping, they do not suffer from one menace - speeding vehicles. That is because the area is littered with 'sleeping policemen' of a type that if a car was to try and cross at any speed would make the wheels join the windscreen wipers via the bonnet.

1. The narrow road of Galley Hill would only require two or three properly sited speed restrictors of that particular type to force motorists to drive at a suitably safe and sensible speed.

2. The cost in comparison with other suggestions would be minimal.

3. It would be effective permanently.

4. No policing is required.

5. No ugly, verbal confrontation would be necessary and all our children, older residents, animals and car park users would be a lot safer than they are at present.

So what about it East Sussex County Council, Sussex Police and Gregory Barker MP? Are you prepared to do something for the good of the majority for once?

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

Must beach huts be white?

In response to Michael Green's comment as to why a beach hut in Bexhill has to be painted white (Observer July 20) I hope the following is useful.

In May of this year under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) I asked the council as to what by-laws or council decision prohits them being painted any other colour. Their reply was as follows;

The council has a requirement within its beach cabin licence, item 3.4, which states that:

To paint the beach cabin white with eaves of the roof painted dark green.

This item is integral to the list of conditions set out in the licence, by signing the licence the beach cabin owner is accepting these conditions.

The licence was last updated in 2005 by the leader of the council, director of services and council's solicitor under the provisions of the Public Health Act 1936, section 232 and powers delegated to those officers.

As this did not give a legal explanation I complained and I was told that the solicitor to the council would get in touch. And indeed he did by telephone on June 9... asking me what I had against white, adding: "I suppose if you get one you'll want to paint it purple."

He didn't give me a legal reason but told me that it was members of the amenities committee that decided that the beach huts must be painted white. Even when I suggested that the council has a selction of say 20 to 30 pastel colours to choose from he came back to: "what is wrong with white?"

In October last year, again under the FOIA, I asked the council as to how many prosecutions there had been for cycling on the promenade and for failing to clear up dogs' mess. The council informed me that under the by-laws that exist there had been no prosecutions within the last 10 years. But there was a prosecution for cycling on the promenade in 1992.

So residents, visitors and tourists can walk through the town centre that at times still resembles a giant rubbish dump as many establishments still put their refuse out far too early. Tread in plenty of dogs' mess and get knocked down by a cyclist all because certain by-laws are either ignored or not enforced. But heaven help anyone who as the rebellious audacity to paint their beach hut some outrageous shade of magnolia, or worse, cream.

I do not think that nicely coloured beach huts are going to transform Bexhill into Sodom and Gomorrah or Sin City. Of course if it does I suppose we will have to put our names on a council list and await for etiquette instruction before we get a licence to participate.

Kenneth Shilling

Lionel Road

Bexhill

Not transparent on shelters

Dark and secret deals are going on up at the Town Hall.

The latest news on the seafront shelters and kiosk suggests that the truth is being kept from us. Unelected officers, paid for by us in rates and taxes, are privy to the latest designs but we are not.

Does the "shelter" still have three openings, a tree or a hole in the roof, and does the kiosk still look like a workmen's metal hut - who knows? Certainly not us.

The council has a policy of transparency. But all along there has only been a pretence of transparency. Take those big, expensive posters on the seafront for instance. The benches shown are not the benches we are to get. This is not transparency, this is meant to mislead. Long ago we were told we would not get metal shelters but what was revealed at the De La Warr Pavilion exhibition - a metal shelter. 3,000 letters - 95 per cent against metal shelters were ignored, as were the overwhelmingly critical remarks in the council's own questionnaire. "What do you like about the shelters?" asked the council. "Rubbish" said many respondents. And they were ignored.

Tony Leonard even declared: "There is little opposition".

At the moment final decisions are being made by a small panel. Presumably these select few are making these momentous decisions by looking at pictures. It would seem strange if they were not. But apparently, although they can see these images, we cannot - not for about three weeks. Just about time for them to be put out for tender, I suppose.

We have been, over the past year, consulted to bits and some of our replies have affected details of the plan, no doubt. But as for the appearance of the structures our opinions count for nothing. Cost and timescale seem to be the prime concerns. We are in the position now where the director of the Pavilion who presently has an exhibition of found rubbish in our galleries has more to say in what our shelters will look like than we do.

Jackie Bialeska

Vox Pop

Thought-provoking expo

LAST Sunday my husband and I paid a visit to the De La Warr and spent time walking round the new exhibition by Tomoko Takahashi.

We both found it absolutely fascinating after the initial surprise of being met by what looks like a pile of rubbish. I found it both thought provoking and interesting. Well done De La Warr. Too much criticism is leveled at a building which as residents we should be very proud of.

We then went on to Egerton Park and were most impressed by the new AdiZone. How amazing Rother should be one of the only authorities in the south east to win the grant to build it. Egerton park was a hive of acitivty with teenagers enjoying the new equipment and young and old enjoying the park.

Rother and the De La Warr rarely get praised through the letters page, but here is one happy resident.

ALISON HIGGINS

Holmesdale Road

Bexhill

No-go area for day visitors

I decided to have a walk along the promenade last week as it was a very sunny day and I had not been able to get out for some time due to ill health.

I was shocked to find that the whole of the promenade had been dug up from the South Lane right down to the De La Warr Pavilion. It was one massive building site stretching the length of the front.

I had heard about the Next Wave, but this was ridiculous. There was no-one working along the whole of the fenced off area and it was 10.15am.

I saw families drive up in cars and park in the road and then they had to walk along the road holding onto their children for a distance of 200 yards either way to get to the beach. Normally it was possible to park on the road and then cross the pavement to the grass and then to the beach.

My first reaction was to wonder why the whole of the front had to be fenced off and then dug up in one fell swoop. Surely it would have been better to do it in lengths of 300 yards or so, allowing people to use sections of the promenade while the workmen concentrated their efforts on small sections of the scheme at a time.

I saw a notice stating that the first stage will be completed in October. That means that Bexhill front is a no-go area for day visitors this summer, which will hit the town's traders. This could have been avoided just by working on short lengths of the promenade.

Whoever was responsible for overseeing this work has not given a moments thought to how best to complete it with the least amount of upheaval to the town and its visitors.

This has to be the worst example of planning in this town for years. Stupidly at its peak.

J Griffiths

Collington Lane

Bexhill-on-Sea

We would have answered

In answer to Peter Morgan's letter last week I can tell him, in no uncertain terms, there is no way he couldn't get through to me. He said he waited 10 minutes with no answer - no way, as my answerphone kicks in in two seconds and there was no message on it at all.

Why didn't he phone the police, vets or me, where he would have got the phone number of the Seagull Rescue? They always come and get any gull in distress.

We have seagulls brought to us here at all times of day or night, and the Seagull Rescue come and take them until they are ready to return to their life, then they come back here and then are released from here.

We have about 150 seagulls come to us for food every day so there is no way we would ignore one with problems.

As a lot of people will tell you, we are one of the rescue centres that do answer calls, so I suggest an apology wouldn't go amiss as you have certainly got your wires crossed.

Anyone with an iota of brains would have taken the little chick indoors to safety or take it to the vets, or bring it up to my sanctuary as I live here, and there's always someone here.

The Seagull Rescue numbers are Jean 01424 216361 or Tim 077561145599 - they do a fantastic job out at all hours, doing it off their own backs, so if anyone can help them I'm sure they would be pleased.

Barby Keel and Helpers

Freezeland Lane