Your letters - January 22

Join my petition

AS a resident of Bexhill who frequently walks along our seafront I am at a loss as to why it is in need of improvement. Says who?

The shelters which have stood for many years were built fit for purpose and as far as I can tell they are not broken. Why then do our councillors feel the need to force this ill-designed tin shed upon us?

Why has the pathetic model for the new seafront shelters (aptly described by Terry Carter January 8) been hidden away on the top floor of the De La Warr if it is such a great design? The whole thing is an insult to our town, even without the pink tree!

As for the kiosk, please...

The exhibition (laughable) ended on January 13 after the worst week's weather for some years and no doubt our councillors will be delighted that not too many residents will have been able to view this masterpiece.

Perhaps they should consider extending the deadline and placing it on the ground floor.

It really has to be seen to be believed, I dread to think how much it cost and all because we have been given 220,000 to spend by the commission for architecture.

This surely smacks of panic spending. As anyone who has ever worked for local government or our civil service will know, far too much money is wasted on projects because the money has to be spent, or lost.

I have spoken with a number of residents and have yet to find anyone who is in favour of the seafront improvement scheme,

I have no doubt there are some who would like these changes, however, if like me, you do not, the time has come to make it known before it is too late.

Don't delay... e-mail [email protected] and join my petition.

PAT LONGLEY

Upper Sea Road

Bexhill

It's not difficult, surely

WHAT is the matter with people who get a little piece of leadership? It goes to their heads. It's no wonder we don't trust them.

The new shelter is a repeat of the fiasco that was Post Office square.... concrete balls and all.

The dictionary explanation of shelter is a thing serving as a shield or barrier against attack.

In Bexhill's case other than aforementioned councillors, it's the elements - a place of safety from rain, snow and wind and even sun, all the things we come across.

Get a grip - surely it's not difficult to design a three sided construction with a roof, is it?

J CAMDEN-FIELD

Marina Court

Bexhill-on-Sea

Colour scheme needed

I HAVE followed with interest the shelter debate. Is the council now in the quicksand and are they sinking fast? I wholeheartedly agree with the views expressed by Jackie Bialeska; a shelter is 'a structure which protects and shields especially against the weather'.

Thanks to the paper for publicising the fact the display is on in the De La Warr; I, like many I suspect, visited the recent architecture display on the ground floor totally unaware the other display was upstairs!

One can only conclude the lack of signs to direct people to it is an indication of the council's desire to conceal it as much as possible and not surprising when you see the final design.

After I had visited the small display I stopped to speak to one resident enjoying what the present shelters have to offer and he observed that whichever way the wind was blowing you could find a place to sit out of the wind, whereas these proposed 'upturned boats' (or is it wrecks?), will merely act as wind tunnels.

In the days when our shelters were built those in charge clearly made things fit for purpose so they would shelter mothers and young children, teenagers and adults alike.

What is also clear is that they are constructed of well-seasoned wood which shows only a few signs of needing repair, if the council took time to look and sit in them.

They have been painted dark possibly in a bid to persuade us we need change.

What we need is a colour scheme which links the whole promenade and gives Bexhill a sense of identity.

Painting the existing shelters and the railings and wastebins in the same colours as the clock tower and the shelters at the other end of the promenade would achieve this. The toilet facilities also need updating. This would be true progress.

So come on Rother; you seem to be acting like pressure salesmen selling us something we do not want by telling us if we do not agree we will lose the money.

If this 'shelter' is your idea of progress better to lose the money I say.

Come to your senses, councillors, before you take us all down with you!

CAROLE WOODLAND

Cooden Drive

Bexhill

Not the only answer

COPY of a letter sent to the highways department at East Sussex County Council:

WE understand that the current East Sussex County Council priorities are to grit all major roads first, only hand-gritting pavements if there's any time and grit left over.

Surely this is not only wrong environmentally but makes little sense in terms of people who need to walk to their shops to get essential supplies.

The casualty departments in our hospitals have been overwhelmed during the recent icy spells. This demonstrates lack of gritting to be a false economy given the bill the NHS will have to foot for all the people who have broken bones and torn tendons after slipping on icy pavements.

We also ask you to look again at enabling access to essential services including schools, hospitals and railway stations.

The time has come for an end to the argument as to which authority, district or county, education or health, is responsible for clearing snow and making roads and pavements safe.

It is only January and there could still be snow falls over the next three months. Action needs to be taken now to ensure that, if necessary by devolved powers, communities are enabled to carry out works locally when the need arises.

The current system of large gritting lorries running over many miles of the of the county's roads is not the only answer and does not achieve the required result.

MARY VARRALL, Parliamentary spokesman

SUSAN PROCHAK, Rother councillor

Bexhill and Battle Liberal Democrats

Late trains? Run early!

I BRING you news of yet another cunning plan by Southern Trains to ensure that they don't get penalised for late running. The solution?

Run early instead! I normally catch the 9.37am train from Collington to Brighton. On Friday, however, I managed to get a lift to Cooden Beach station to catch the same train from there. It was due at 9.40am but arrived, according to the electronic station clock, at precisely 9.37 and 24 seconds. On my return journey, later that afternoon, I timed the trip from Cooden to Collington using the stopwatch on my phone, and it takes two minutes 20 seconds. Which means that the morning train must have left Collington almost two minutes before it was even due to arrive.

Hard luck to any Collington-based commuters who arrived just in time to catch their train, only to see its rear red lights in the distance.

ROB SCHIFREEN

Cooden Drive (The Collington end)

Bexhill

Kindly gesture

ALTHOUGH it is nice to receive Christmas cards and enjoy the pretty pictures, a lady

in Bexhill worked out how much it would

cost her to purchase all her cards and post them.

So instead she divided the cost between her favourite charities and sent off cheques with a little note, "...this will do more good in your coffers than it would sitting on the mantelpiece in the form of a card."

My charity Animals Helped Abroad benefitted from such a kind, considerate thought.

Hopefully more of us will do the same, not just at Christmas but any celebratory time.

MARCIA LINDEN

Martyns Way

Bexhill

A friend worth sharing

IF I recognise someone who loves me,

If I admit I need their help,

If I see only they can help me,

If I take the step to call them my friend,

If I see that they respond,

If all their friends become my friends,

If our chats gave me all I needed,

Now that is a friend worth sharing!

PAUL MINTER

Dorset Road

Bexhill

Charity shop success

THE only Alzheimers Research Trust charity shop in the UK opened eight weeks ago and is going from strength to strength.

We would like to thank the supermarkets for their donations and the public for supporting our Christmas raffle, which raised 388.

J THOMAS

Sussex Close

Bexhill

Town going downhill

BEXHILL: a medium sized seaside town which once boasted two railway stations, good shops and well established private or public schools.

The local council, ambulance and police were always very polite and helpful.

But today that same Bexhill, still a medium sized seaside town with one railway station of dubious repute, has local shops which are mostly charity shops or cafes and local council and police of a different character.

For example, a severely disabled person of nearly 70 years parked in Parkhurst Road in a loading bay to offload a van to his house in Albert Road.

He pushed a shopping trolley round the corner, and by the time he returned with empty boxes from a local shop he got a ticket for parking. After complaining he was threatened by a policeman to be arrested.

Local councillors and our local MP please take note.

DAVE GREEN

Albert Road

Bexhill

Thanks for assistance

PLEASE may I through your letters page thank the lady and gentleman who came to my assistance when I collapsed in Devonshire Road on Christmas Bank Holiday Monday and called for an ambulance.

They kindly stayed with me and kept me warm with a coat and blanket. Thank you also to the paramedic who dealt with everything.

I really did appreciate being looked after so well.

Thank you.

VIVIEN MEHOSE

Bedford Avenue

Bexhill

Colonnade: well done Jack

AS a result of letters of objection sent to English Heritage by Save Our Seafront and other concerned Bexhillians, Rother District Council has been refused Listed Building Consent for the construction of a spiral staircase in the centre of the Colonnade.

The entrance would have been through an 11-foot high, 18-foot six-inch wide, glass and steel cylinder sited on the green between the De La Warr Pavilion Terrace and the Colonnade balustrade.

What was RDC thinking? It would have ruined the architectural setting of these two Listed Buildings.

The real hero in all of this is Bexhill resident Jack Seabrook who, in November 2008, had the prescience to recognise the danger and threw a very large spanner in the works by successfully applying for Listed Building status for this elegant century old building.

Well done Jack! Bexhill will be forever in your debt.

RON STORKEY

Save Our Seafront (SOS)

Please modify the scheme

I WAS amazed last week when Cllr Starnes stated in the Observer that we protesters support "many of the elements of the Next Wave scheme".

Of course, each protester may have his own favourite element of the scheme shown to us so far by the council, but all of us are definitely against most of the scheme as it stands at the moment.

This "open dialogue" the council speaks of seems to have been designed to keep us at bay, to keep us happy while in reality the scheme has remained as it was planned long ago: contemporary metal shelters, ridiculous, uncomfortable benches and the destruction of the Colonnade Cafe.

But do not worry, we know how the council has been trying to fool us.

Councillor Starnes also stated that the council always "listened to comments". No, it hasn't, otherwise this unpopular scheme wouldn't be going ahead.

I challenge Cllr Starnes to show me written evidence from ratepayers who favour the scheme to match the 3,000 plus objectors whose letters which we collected were dismissed by the council. Even the results of their own consultations have been ignored.

From what I am saying here the council will call protestors negative. That is their favourite description of us. On the contrary, we are positive. We want shelters and benches that really will enhance the town.

The council will know one day when they come up with such a scheme because they will get 3,000 letters of support. Then they will not have to pretend the protesters are in favour.

Let's hope the council will, in these last weeks, listen to the people's comments and modify the schemes accordingly.

JACKIE BIALESKA

Chairman, Vox Pop

Can we trust councillors?

I GATHER that today's debate between Mr Storkey and Councillor Starnes will concern the seafront shelters and the design competition imposed on the council by CABE as a condition of its grant to the council.

The only thing most people want to hear from Cllr Starnes in the debate is good reason why residents should trust local councillors ever again to represent the views of their electors.

How is it that a design which was rejected by the council's own official CABE/RIBA Jury Panel one week, as being "not the right scheme for this specific location", is miraculously transformed the next week into glorious acceptability with the enthusiastic advocacy of Councillor Starnes and his local councillor colleagues?

This was a truly disgraceful display of contempt by councillors for the council's own rules, and for the opinion of local residents, in blind and wilful pursuit of an unnecessary vanity project at residents' expense.

Discuss!

JOHN LEE

Southcourt Avenue

Bexhill-on-Sea

Nostalgia Spot feature

I AM very surprised to hear from the Observer offices that no pictures for the above are being submitted.

People often tell me when I am around the town that they have sent in photographs so lets get the ball rolling again and please send to the Observer loads and loads for publication that will give an interest to people on the past.

I think it is very important that we carry on this feature, especially as the identity of many places are slowly being lost in the world of today.

So come on Bexhill people, get those pictures rolling in for publishing.

ROBERT CAREY

Eastwood Road

Bexhill-on-Sea

Help from her friends

WHAT amazing people you Bexhillians are! Wow, give you a challenge, like a blizzard, and there you are, all stops pulled out. And your first thought is for the elderly and vulnerable in our society. You are offering support, help, assistance - what incredible community spirit, young and old alike.

I want you to know my uttermost grateful thanks for all you have done for us, specially my dear old faithful black labrador - going that extra mile literally to get Sammy out for a necessary walk.

When you read this you will know who you are - the friend who trudged in the deepest snow to reach us and exercise Sammy before opening up her business, doing this twice a day, the friends who constantly kept in touch, the granddaughter who drove from Devon to shop and procure urgent medication for my dog.

The list of Good Samaritans is long. When I was beleaguered the most, I was sustained immensely by all of your tremendous kindnesses. Thank you most sincerely.

YVONNE LIGHTFOOT-ST-JOHN

Nazareth Close

Bexhill

Well done for feeding wildlife

WE would like to say a huge thank you to all of you that have looked after and fed all of the wildlife during such bad weather conditions in Bexhill and the surrounding areas.

I am sure that the birds, squirrels, badgers and other wildlife are truly grateful for what has been provided for them.

We have found it very satisfying supplying our customers with a range of feeds for all of the wildlife, even customers that haven't been able to get to us who have phoned for a delivery of items.

Well done everyone, from all at the Wobbly Rabbit, Western Road.

WOBBLY RABBIT

Western Road

Bexhill

Thanks to Bexhill Football Club

THANK you to Bexhill Football Club, and the team lead by Mr Ben White (was it?) who arranged a Christmas lunch for elderly people on Tuesday, December 22.

We had a most fantastic meal, and the people were so kind. We were all very pleased and it was one of the best Christmas meals that we had been to. Dial-a-Ride took us and brought us back and we didn't have to pay a penny. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

BABS PATTENDEN

Jubilee Road