Your Letters - June 1

Unimpressed

I VISITED the exhibition at Ravenside arranged by our County Council on May 26 to see the proposals for the building of the Bexhill Hastings Link Road and was not very impressed.

It would not serve many of the essential traffic routes and will not materially reduce the volume of traffic on the A259 De La Warr Road and Glyne Gap Roundabout.

It is not planned to have any connection with the existing roads in Sidley and so any traffic intending to go from the A269 Ninfield Road, Hailsham, Heathfield etc. towards the existing London Road, Bexhill will be blocked off.

The map that has been issued far and wide shows no detail whatever, especially with regard to existing features. It is difficult to see where it runs in relation to other buildings, byways etc. Even the plans I saw at the exhibition were not really all that clear.

However, it will help to make the route from the centre of Bexhill to the hospital shorter, but I would have thought that that could have been better achieved by an alternative option for this road which has not even been considered, and will be described below.

I cannot see that it will relieve much of the traffic at the Glyne Gap roundabout and it will certainly increase the traffic at the Little Common roundabout. Traffic travelling east from Bexhill Centre wishing to go to Hastings would still go via the De La Warr Road.

And what of the existing traffic from Sidley and northwestward on the A269 from Hailsham, Heathfield and beyond driving to Hastings and beyond.

A much better alternative to my and others way of thinking would be to take a road from the A269 at the site of the old prison roughly along the line of Coneyburrow Lane and Sandhurst Lane towards the crossing of Peartree Lane, where it could help towards access to the planned landfill site at the Turkey Road Brickworks and then proceed in a northeasterly direction towards St Mary's Lane, crossing this and then the A269 towards Preston Hall.

It would then go eastwards towards the bridge over the railway at Glovers Farm across Worsham Farm to give access to the proposed housing development there.

After that it could go eastwards north of the Pebsham estate and go north of the present landfill site, which is due for closure in the next year or two, giving good access to the proposed Country Park.

It would then cross the Combe Haven at the north end of the Combe Haven Caravan Park near Field Way, going northwards to go under the railway near The Grove School to join Queensway near the reservoir and to its junction with Churchwood Drive. Traffic proceeding north and north east would still go up Queensway.

I am quite convinced that this would be a much better route than the present proposed Link Road, though it is a bit longer, but it would be much easier to build and could still cost less. Lets hope that better routes than the one chosen will be built.

Dr John V. Thurston

Buckholt Lane

Whitewash

HAVING visited the (Link Road) exhibition/presentation, I have several valid points that should be heard.

Firstly, the Link Road will not have pedestrian access or a cycle lane. Two lanes of fast moving traffic no doubt, a road for boy-racers!

Secondly, the proposed developments, will this be a white wash!

This excuse for a presentation does not include any Ordnance Survey maps of the proposed developments that are of a large enough scale to read, attempting to establish the new boundaries might be guesswork, and how close this proposed development would come to the backs of our gardens if we overlook existing farmland.

The proposed development may be housing, industrial, warehouses and God knows what, all on the doorsteps of Pebsham and Sidley, without any proposed infrastructure to support it.

We have no idea at all looking at the so-called maps where new access roads will be built.

Conclusion: This amateurish presentation should be thrown out.

Richard Paine

Gwyneth Grove

Circus clowns

HAVING read your article/comment in Friday's paper, and I must say it was a very sincere view of the proposed road link plan, it was then on Saturday with my wife that I visited the travelling exhibition.

The conclusion was quite simple to see and after speaking with a few of the so-called advisers you too would see the simple conclusion.

This is not about a link road caring for the traffic of Bexhill - this scheme is all about the building of approximately one and half thousand new homes and getting access to them.

What did come across to me is why build a link road that is only going to take one lane of traffic in each direction, except for the last climb to the Queensway where there will be a slow lane added.

I was told the reason for only one lane was that the volume of traffic taken on survey did not require a dual carriageway. So why is there the need for the new road?

Also I questioned the access to the A21 and was told that the time the road is finished there will also be a link road to meet it to take you through to the A21. This is the first i have heard about this.

They also talk about accidents as being fewer -yes fewer less serious accidents, but I fear far more major and fatal accidents as drivers try to overtake slow-moving vehicles to oncoming traffic having only one lane.

The start and finish of this road will become a sure bottleneck with the usual rush hour traffic jams, so what do we gain there?

They mention better access to the Conquest Hospital but surely a better bus service all week from Bexhill and surrounding areas would help cure that one. People will still want to pour into the Ravensdale retail park along with the goods lorries so how does that solve that and the traffic that the retail park attracts?

They also talk about much-needed business development. How is it that shops are closing down in Bexhill and new leases are not being taken up? Is there really a call for new business development? And as for the impact on the local wildlife and environment it does not bear thinking about.

I am sorry to have to come to the conclusion that it is all about the big fat cats which are developers, surely people in Bexhill can see that the developer is taking all the land possible now in the town and I was informed will help pay for the road if given the green light to build these houses.

I think your comment of we must look 15 years down the line at what we will have and judge it on that, because it will be too late then to change anything or do anything about it.

No, we have not got a travelling exhibition in town - more like a travelling circus, clowns and all...

M. Taylor

Alford Way

Vote for it

AFTER seeing the new link road display,we should all congratulate ESCC for preparing an imaginative and well balanced road scheme.

Let's get on with it and relieve those people who suffer the rat runs and dreadful Bexhill Road conditions and help the motorists.

It is not their fault that their journeys are so bad, a proper road is well overdue and Councillors, please do not be misled nor sidetracked by the minority opposition. Please vote for it now.

David Foster FRICS

Henley Down

Catsfield

De La Warr

IS the De La Warr Pavilion and apartments what we expected it to be?

I know that recently the De La Warr Pavilion has been refurbished and that

the De La Warr Apartments are being built opposite. This has caused many

problems and still is.

Firstly, I am going to comment on the De La Warr Pavilion's "make-over". Although it may look good inside and has all the entertainment an adult would enjoy, I know that children like to visit as well.

The theatre productions are great for all age ranges but the cafeteria is not at all good.

I am sorry to criticise but when I go in to have some lunch or just to get a tea and cake the prices are expensive and it costs around five pounds to buy a sandwich. This is putting people off going into the Pavilion and I think in some cases they are not being fair as they make a lot of money but the prices are incredibly high!

Now the De La Warr Apartments, they started of with railing at the roadside and then it got bigger, but now even though it is smaller, cars find it very hard to get around the corner without getting hit. I have experienced being on a bus trying to get round this corner taking five minutes, therefore making me late for school.

I would like to know when the building will stop, and when they will make the road easier for transport to get through.

Sarah Park (age 14)

Hawkhurst Way

Sidley youth

Copy of letter sent by email to Councillors Jim Carroll and Robert Wheeler:

NEW facilities for young people in Sidley could be built under Government plans to invest in youth services across England.

The proposals will pave the way for long-lasting investment in local youth facilities. If the plans were passed by Parliament, local communities could bid for funding to improve what's on offer to young people in the area.

Young people in Sidley need more things to do and places to go, so we're delighted that the Government is going to make major investment in youth service.

The idea is to create a lasting legacy for the community, creating assets to benefit current and future generations.

Funding for new youth services are part of Government plans to reinvest in local communities unclaimed assets that have been lying dormant in bank and building society accounts for at least 15 years.

We would welcome your comments on the above proposals and your support for the plans which will be of enormous benefit to Sidley.

Philipa Coughlan and Stephanie Webb

Bexhill Labour Party

Gordon Place

Better railways

I AM a member of Railfuture (Coastway Division), the local arm of an independent, unaffiliated, non-political, national society that has been campaigning for more and better railways for the past 30 years.

The current franchise for the southern network ends in 2008. The Department for Transport (DfT) will be issuing terms and conditions for the new franchise, which will run for seven years after that.

They will shortly be canvassing opinions from interested parties what these terms and conditions should be. We will making a deposition but could easily miss something vital.

We cover from Ashford to Littlehampton and would be interested in any suggestions which we can pass on to the DfT which you might have in your own area.

They could relate to any part of the operation of the railway; frequency of service, overcrowding, more stations, integration with buses to name but a few.

If you do not currently use the rail network what improvements would persuade you to do so?

Please reply to the above address, providing your own address and/or other contact details, or you can make contact through our national website at www.railfuture.org.uk

R. J. Tyler

Windsor Road

BUPA's 60th

TO celebrate BUPA's 60th birthday, we are trying to write an illustrated potted history of the building in Brookfield Road, that is now BUPA Grosvenor Park, and used to be the Alf Evans Memorial Home.

Do you have any memories, photos or memorabilia of any period of the building's history?

Did you used to work there, especially before it belonged to BUPA? Were any members of your family resident there in those early days?

We would be delighted to hear from you!

CHRIS COX

BUPA Grosvenor Park

Brookfield Rd