Seafront development: noisy meeting

Rother leader Cllr Graham Gubby explained the scheme and made repeated pleas for representatives to take details of the proposals back to town organisations for considered analysis as a six-week consultation period was launched.

But with 300 people filling the High School, speaker after speaker during a bruising two-hour debate denounced proposals to concentrate the entire package on seafront development.

Hoped-for plans for a shopping mall and multi-storey car park on the Sainsbury site plus relocation of the rail station to Devonshire Square have been relegated to longer-term objectives because of the complexities involved.

With only 18 months left to use the 16m remaining of Government regeneration aid to Hastings and Bexhill, the proposal is still to put a 60-bed hotel on the Metropole site but with plans for flats and office/commercial space moved to the De La Warr Pavilion car park.

The Rother leader made repeated attempts to explain that Rother was keeping its promise to offer the widest-possible consultation.

But Save Our Seafront campaigners say that with 11,000 signatures to their petition the town is already making its views known.

Cllr Gubby said: "The Community Enquiry did not make any decisions. I hope that nobody has come here tonight with a pre-conceived idea in their mind. It is about coming here with an open mind."

He implored the public to say what kind of town they wanted, what kind of economic balance.