A sad situation

Michael Ensor attempted to be a real “voice of the people” and did a lot for the town - opening an excellent youth club and cinema in a London Road church, among other things.

There have been others before who have done their best to truly serve the electorate but who have either been forced out or become so exasperated with the system they have walked away.

I, in my simplicity, used to believe that each councillor represented his own constituents and would only vote independently.

But now I see what goes on at the town hall when it comes to the big issues, like the Next Wave. The councillors, apart from being ill-informed, appear to owe more allegiance to their party than their own area.

Though early on in discussions some voice sensible opinions, in following meetings when it comes to voting, after meetings in little back rooms, suddenly by some miracle the main party vote as one man in line with their leader.

Big plans that change Bexhill dramatically, whether approved of by the ratepayers or not, are promoted by unelected officers and the leader of the council, Carl Maynard, and his ally, Cllr Christopher Starnes.

These plans are bulldozed through by the majority party with a perceived threat of councillors being deselected if they protest too much.

I am sure that many councillors who wish to do their best are frustrated by this. I am probably naive in imagining this system will ever change, but I think townspeople should know how flawed the system is.

Meanwhile, I think there are a lot of people at the town hall who work very hard, especially in these economically difficult times. There are many who try their best like Michael Ensor and others.

Let us hope the newest proposals will be executed in a truly democratic way. What we have now is not that.

JACKIE BIALESKA

Vox Pop

Bexhill-on-Sea