Reaction to seafront shelters questionnaire

Jackie Bialeska of Vox Pop said that of 201 forms completed during the Rother District Council exhibition at the De La Warr Pavilion, almost 85% rejected the designs.

Only a handful of people (7.9%) approved the proposed designs, and Jackie said of these the majority were visitors, while almost an equal number (7.5%) was undecided.

She commented: "On the whole most questionnaires were very well answered and contained many sensible suggestions.

"Some very interesting and surprising responses came from youngsters under 18, of whom only one like the design.

"One young chap echoes the voice of the majority of the adults '“ 'Look at Bexhill seafront '“ it's Edwardian '“ make the design be in keeping with old Bexhill."

"What a pity the council officers don't listen."

Jackie examined the questionnaires with co-objecters Jack Seabrook and John Lee.

She added: "It's what we expected '“ this is what we wanted to confirm. I wanted to see if people have cooled off and are not interested, but they certainly were interested. I was there every day to check and there was a bunch of people there every time I went up.

"I think the council will say that they have read them and presented them to the architect. But the way they analyse them is different to the way we analyse them...they pick the odd favourable remark out.

"They take out positive remarks and use them to their advantage."

Next Wave project officer Janice Windle said: "It is impossible to divide the comment forms into simply 'for' or 'against'. The purpose of the exercise was to obtain constructive comments from residents and visitors about what they think the shelters should include or how they should be altered to improve their functionality. The council gained a great number of responses and these have been passed on to the architects to incorporate where possible in their final design.

"Personal details were removed from the forms when viewed by external parties, so a distinction between visitors and residents would not be possible. This is because the Next Wave scheme is being created for all the people who enjoy visiting this unique place. We are looking forward to seeing the final designs of our architects, Duggan Morris, which will feature points made during the exhibition process."