Your letters - May 7, 2010

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Thanks to everyone for open day success

I am writing to thank everyone who made the Open Day at The Lighthouse Rehabilitation Centre last Wednesday (April 28) such a success.

We were visited by health and social care staff, local mental health resources, local residents, mental health service users and carers and two of the parliamentary candidates, Michael Foster and Nick Perry, all of whom showed great interest in the project.

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The positive feedback received throughout the day was both appreciated and helpful.

STEPHEN SULLIVAN

The Alliance Group

The Lighthouse Rehabilitation Centre

60-62 London Road

St Leonards

Spring brings forth flowers '“ and tailbacks

AAH! Spring has arrived in Hastings once again.

How the various colours complement each other, the yellows of the daffodils, affording a fitting background to the red and white of the traffic cones, and the ever changing red, amber and green of the temporary traffic lights, both of which only appear in springtime.

Sitting patiently in our cars we can pass the time observing the triangle with the picture of a man trying to open his brolly in a high wind, and we can take in the peace and quiet of the roadworks where 'not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse'.

LEN WRIGHT

Woodbrook Road

Looking from a pedestrian's point of view...

DENNIS Moon calls the speed humps in Hastings and St Leonards an 'unnecessary scheme' and would apparently prefer a town without any humps.

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As a pedestrian who walks many miles each week around the streets of our town, I witness drivers flouting the speed limits on a daily basis.

One only has to walk along the seafront or Queens Road in the evening to see many examples of people driving at dangerous speeds, apparently with impunity.

A few years ago residents of Milward Road set up a camera to monitor the speed of cars on our street. It was found that a substantial minority were well over the (in my view, too high) 30mph limit.

Several were recorded at 60mph or over - this on a narrow residential street, with cars parked on both sides and a dangerous bend.

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The unfortunate residents who live on the bend have had cars crashing through their front walls (and almost through their front windows) repeatedly.

Obviously at that speed people are completely out of control and present a huge danger to pedestrians, and particularly to the children who play out on the pavement.

The council is finally acting in Milward Road after years of lobbying by residents and councillors, and we are soon to have a very welcome traffic calming scheme - complete with speed humps.

Far from being an 'unnecessary scheme', traffic calming measures such as speed humps make our roads safer.

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While I appreciate that for motorists who are careful drivers and obey the speed limits, the humps are no doubt a nuisance, I do feel very strongly that the right of all road users - and particularly pedestrians and children - to be safe outweighs the convenience of motorists.

ANDREA NEEDHAM

Milward Road

Tributes to a 'wonderful, caring young man'

AFTER reading the article regarding the sad death of Stephen Williams I feel I have to make two important points.

As the manager of Xtrax young people's centre for more than six years I knew Stephen very well and held him in very high regard.

He was selfless, energetic and always fighting against injustices involving other young people.

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The inquest (Observer April 23) was a very sad occasion with emotions running high and people who loved and cared about him looking for some closure, trying to make some sense of why a seemingly outgoing and community minded young man would take his life so suddenly.

In the article it quoted me stating that the family had shunned him primarily about his sexuality.

This was indeed a difficult issue for some of his family, but only confounded for Stephen a ongoing sense of abandonment in his personal life.

It's so important that we look after our own children from the moment we give birth to them with unconditional love and encouragement throughout their whole life.

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To watch as I do in my role as centre manager, so many young people struggle with the poor and selfish parents they have had the misfortune to be born to, it fills me with real anger and dismay.

All parents and children have disagreements and problems but to ostracise them and treat them as strangers is unforgivable.

Secondly in the article it stated that Stephen had been listening to suicidal music loudly for days at Xtrax before his death. Painting a picture of uncaring staff and young people at Xtrax this has to be challenged.

Xtrax was set up for young people in just the situation that Stephen found himself in and my staff and volunteers would never leave a young person wallowing in suicidal thoughts without attention and support.

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Stephen was supported for years by my caring and dedicated staff and maybe postponed his death for many of those years allowing him to express his sexuality in a safe and supportive space, walking the South Downs, taking part on the 'you controlling u' course, Prince's Trust, Youth Council and Kiss project '“ all this was possible with the support of the staff not just at Xtrax but YDS and Gizmo and he repaid this with respect, fundraising and voluntary hours.

Stephen Williams was a wonderful caring young man and put all his energy in order to hide his personal sadness, hoping to give others the life and consistent love he so dearly wished he had in his life.

ANDREW BATSFORD

Xtrax young people's centre manager

Clarifying the aims of SHRIMP

FOLLOWING a lot of publicity '“ especially in the Observer '“ we feel it would be worthwhile to clarify the objectives/aims of SHRIMP (St Leonards and Hastings Rail Improvement Programme).

There are a number of facets to the SHRIMP campaigns, including:

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1) Liaising with the rail industry, opposing the proposal to withdraw the Cannon St services

2) Finding a viable replacement to the (to be) withdrawn Cannon St service

3) Reducing journey times to London, Gatwick, Brighton, Ashford through better timetabling and infrastructure upgrades to all routes to and from Hastings

4) Encouraging more use of the European and High Speed connections at Ashford

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All of above are aimed at encouraging more business and tourism to Hastings and thus creating better employment prospects.

SHRIMP is a voluntary, non-political, group and are a founder member of East Sussex Rail Alliance (ESRA). We are recognised stakeholders with both Southern and South Eastern Trains (SET) and are in regular contact with all the main political parties and rail industry bodies.

Follow SHRIMP at www.1066shrimprail.org.uk. Contact [email protected]. Also on Facebook and Twitter.

MARTIN WOODFINE

St Leonards and Hastings Rail

Improvement Programme (SHRIMP)

Call for services for foreign students

I am a teacher of English in Turkey. I also work as an education agent. I take students with me to the UK.

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They go to language schools and study English there. I have been to Hastings twice and hopefully coming this summer in July with a group of students, again.

I do not take my students to any other towns in the UK because I like Hastings a lot. It is a nice town. I have seen lots of foreign students studying in Hastings.

They study, eat, travel, do shopping and stay in Hastings. This provides a huge contribution for the economy.

The council should take good care of these students. Their safety must be its primarily concern. I think that the council should also offer some other services.

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Students could be met at the station, a student counselling centre could be opened in order to solve their problems or maybe a social event could be organised.

OMER HANCER

Turkey

Sara Lee Trust thanks Rotary members

The Sara Lee Trust was thrilled to receive a donation of 1,000 from The Rotary Club of St Leonards.

The Trust would like to thank all the members of The Rotary Club for their superb fundraising efforts, and for their support of our work.

The funds will be used to fund our core work, providing complementary therapies, creative arts therapies, sanctuary days and counselling to patients living with cancer, motor neurone disease and HIV/Aids in Hastings, Rother and Rye.

MARIA GONET

Fundraising Manager

The Sara Lee Trust

Worse rubbish than cigarette butts

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SO a young lady gets a 140 fine for allegedly discarding a cigarette (Observer April 23)

If this is the best these sneaky jobsworths can achieve might I suggest they search around our supermarkets (especially Sainsbury's) or around any of our local schools first thing as lots of children discard their chocolate sweet wrappers.

Better still, if they can't catch the culprits perhaps they would be better employed (with our council tax money) picking up the rubbish themselves and disposing of it in the proper place.

Cigarette ends eventually decompose, Plastic does not and continues to mar this town's appearance far more than the odd 'fag end'.

ALLAN BEARD

Wishing Tree Road,

St Leonards

Affinity with town since first trip

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I have always liked Hastings since the first time at the age of five I was taken by coach on a day trip by my parents.

Later as a teenager living in Tonbridge I visited the town whenever possible. Hastings with its mixture of old town and new, its ruined castle, dungeons and caves, together with the beach, sea and pier seemed to have it all for me.

As I grew older, business interests have meant that my wife and I are now based in Northamptonshire, but such is my attraction to the town that we now have a holiday home here which we visit frequently.

So it was with some disdain that I read the letter from David Gale stating how he and his fellow 'hooray Henrys' had laughed and laughed at the thought that the local peasantry would rather retain the old coach park in preference to a new art gallery to bring a bit of culture to the town.

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Of course the fact the the day trippers brought money into the town and helped with the local economy and as a consequence the amount of council tax he might be called upon to pay seems to have escaped his notice.

The central aspect of this coach park is of primary importance. Now I note that Mr Gale has decided to give us the benefit of his opinion on the subject of the pier.

If he has watched the TV programme Coast he would have heard the presenter state that the coastal towns which by neglect over the years have lost their piers, now bitterly regret it and with hindsight realise that the feature drew visitors to their town I have come to the conclusion that Mr Gale either likes to see his name in print or puts pen to paper before he gets his brain into gear, either way I suggest that he's living in the wrong place.

A traditional seaside town like Hastings is not the place for him, he should move to the metropolis where he will find a surfeit of art galleries and where his eyes will not have to look out upon the crumbling pile of Hastings pier. I'm sure the town will survive without him.

PETER JOHNSON

Burton Latimer

Northants

Jack in the Green is one in a million

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NOW that I am firmly established in the "middle aged" bracket (and it pains me to admit that), I rarely get the opportunity to say about any event or attraction that I have never seen anything like it. However, the Jack in the Green last Monday was an event the likes of which I have truly never experienced before.

I became aware of the event mainly by word of mouth through my frequent visits to the area on business. So strong were the recommendations that my partner and I decided to make the 270 mile round trip from Cambridgeshire just to witness the celebrations for ourselves.

We both left town on the Monday evening feeling that it was worth every single mile of the journey.

The preparation and enthusiasm that went into the event can only be described as inspirational.

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From our vantage point by St Clements Church the precession seemed like a tireless flow of colour and thumping rhythms which had us and all other spectators completely spellbound.

The spirit of celebration then helped us climb the hill up to the Castle where we were further entertained in a manor which is unknown to us outsiders from the Lowlands of Anglia.

It is clear that the townsfolk of Hastings know how to preserve and celebrate their unique customs. We hope to be back again later in the year for the bonfire celebrations, which I'm told are also a bit special, but it can't possibly top the Jack in the Green, can it?

JOHN PAYNE

Huntingdon

Cambridgeshire

Reply over St George's Day parade

I FEEL the need to reply to the letter and article in last week's Hastings Observer about the St George's Day parade.

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As well as being the patron saint of England, St George is also the patron saint of the Scout Association. St George's Day has been celebrated every year by the Scout Association since Scouting began in 1907.

Locally for almost as long as this, it has always been celebrated in the form of a parade on the streets of Hastings followed by a service in a church or lately the White Rock Theatre.

Locally there are over 1,600 members of both the Scout Association and Girlguiding UK who take pride in celebrating St George's day every year, and advertise to the town what they are about. It is a credit to our organisations that so many members give up their time to represent Scouting and Guiding in this way.

The parade this year was, as always, led by the Union Flag followed by the flag of St George accompanied by the representative Scout and Guide colours. The 1066 Pipes & Drums who are a local Band have accompanied the parade for the past few years. They help to keep the parade in order and moving at a reasonable pace. They do a brilliant task and give up their time voluntarily. If people were bemused with the choice of music and band then perhaps they know of a local "England" Marching Band who play "English music" who we could include alongside 1066 Pipes & Drums in our future parades. And as for the dragon, he did make an appearance at the service in the theatre.

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I have been fortunate enough to be a part of the annual St George's Day parade since I started as a Cub Scout in 1965 and yes it does take a lot time and effort to organise this event.

Thanks are due to all the various departments of Hastings Borough Council (road closures) Sussex Police (directing traffic and public safety), White Rock Theatre staff, 1066 Pipes & Drums, and the Scout and Guide leaders for marshalling and hospitality.

KEVIN HARMER

Hastings Rye & District Scouts

Hastings & St Leonards

Division Girlguiding

In memory of Councillor Tucker

IT is with great sadness that I write of the late Councillor Roy Tucker, a tremendous loss to both family and friends, and to all his outside activities.

I have known Roy for nearly 20 years. My first encounter was as a volunteer receptionist at St Michael's Hospice when he was appointed administrator, later to become chief executive.

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He was truly wonderful there, at one stage helping to steer the hospice out of severe financial difficulties.

He integrated so well with staff, patients in the wards and in day care, and with volunteers, going around each morning saying a friendly hello to all, from the top of the ladder to the bottom, and supporting nearly every charity event of the hospice.

Roy was compassionate to everyone and willing to listen and help solve problems. He exuded endless tender loving care, and did so much to improve and further the aims of St Michael's Hospice.

He will be missed so much but wonderful memories of him will live on.

He will be remembered as a compassionate and loving, caring and helpful, true gentleman, and as a wonderful family man.

JILL ANSON-RHODES

Upper Maze Hill

St Leonards

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