Town votes for street wardens

THE NEGATIVE reaction at last week s public consultation meeting did not stop more than half of Hailsham s residents from voting 'YES to a pair of street wardens for the town.

The scheme will go ahead as planned after 61 per cent of voters decided in favour of the idea.

A total of 8,608 voting slips were issued, and 2,477 (29 per cent) were returned by the closing date of Monday. Completed slips were still being received yesterday (Thursday) by the town council, but were declared void.

Cllr Nick Ellwood, the man behind the street wardens scheme, said he was very pleased by the result. 'I think it s excellent news, he said. 'Some people have looked on the negative side, which is fair and right, but anything we can do to help reduce the level of crime in Hailsham should be welcomed.

At the second of two public consultation meetings held by the town council last week, emotions ran high as residents of the town criticised and belittled the proposed scheme. Hecklers called the idea 'a load of rubbish .

Referendum

South Road resident George Mackintosh said after the meeting that he would rather have seen a proper referendum than the use of photocopied voting slips. A full scale referendum was ruled out because of cost.

Mr Mackintosh said: 'I would rather have paid the extra and had a fair vote. Otherwise, it s totally open to abuse. I would say that there s every chance it has been abused.

'I don t have a problem with the LibDems, I have a problem with Cllr Ellwood trying to push this scheme through like that. I find it absolutely amazing that this guy thinks he can make his own private police force.

Cllr Ellwood said this week that the council would agree the budget on February 12. Then the contract for the wardens would go out to tender. He said: 'Some people will complain that we do not have a majority of "yes" votes, but it s worth remembering that councillors have been elected by turnouts of four per cent in the past.

'We will do further research about how to go about implementing the wardens, and look at towns that currently have them. I think the people of Hailsham have made a good decision.