Your letters - September 26

Market forces

Re: Anglo Continental Market

ONCE again, we had a busy and successful market, the sun shone on Bexhill for all of last weekend.

How good it was to see the centre of town so very busy with shoppers and visitors on both Saturday and Sunday. Lots of visitors were in town enjoying the market, our shops and a day by the sea. The cafes and restaurants were really busy all weekend. The promenade was enjoyed by thousands of people taking advantage of the lovely weather. This is what we need, plenty of visitors to our town to help our town centre traders. Several of the stall holders are existing town centre businesses and we know they benefited by promoting their businesses at the market.

This market only takes place because of the goodwill of so many people and organisations, many, many thanks to the Bexhill 100 Motoring Club for providing such good, experienced marshals, many thanks to Rother District Council for help and assistance. A big thank you to Verdant for the street cleaning, morning and evening. Grateful thanks to our local police for their help in getting a parked car towed away from our road closure area on Sunday morning and for the presence of the Community Support Officers over the weekend.

Thanks to Stagecoach for putting up temporary notices on the bus stops and for providing a temporary bus stop on Marina - it was really helpful for passengers. Many thanks to C-Side cafe for providing the refreshments for the marshals.

Thank you to the traders and residents of Devonshire Road for parking your vehicles elsewhere and for generally putting up with the disruption this market can cause you.

Most of all, thank you to the residents of Bexhill, without your support this market would not be worthwhile, we asked you to support your town centre - and thousands of you did - thank you.

SUE SPICE

Bexhill Chamber of Commerce & Tourism

Curate's egg

Re seafront refurbishment

THE council's proposals are a veritable curate's egg but they should not be entirely thrown out.

First the good parts:

The Sovereign Cafe is retained with more seating outside east and west. This is as it should be but, unfortunately, Bexhill is not actually on the Mediterranean yet. More sensible would be for the Council to put its money where its mouth is and provide toilets for the cafe.

Trees in the De La Warr car park - not a bad idea, though the proposal is for rather a large number of trees. Fewer, larger trees and a budget for their initial protection from wind and on-going maintenance might be better. Why not some trees on the promenade?

A direct route form Sackville Road to the promenade is a good idea. I have seen quite a lot of people getting over the wall and traipsing across the Pitch and Put to avoid going the long way round the Crazy Golf. But the proposal is for a walkway wider than the promenade - an architect's fantasy?

Street calming at Sackville roundabout and at the Devonshire Road junction - a good idea to stop some of the 'boy racers' amongst us.

Development of the Colonnade - a good idea in principle and long overdue.

As it exists, the Colonnade is extremely tatty and adding depth to the site by excavation and seeking to attract a mixture of shopping, cafes and restaurants is a good idea.

However, the proposals come with several bad parts, which might render the whole entirely spoilt:

The excavation proposed at the Colonnade is unduly large and it would be better to tackle the development in phases with the first phase at the western side of the Colonnade. That way, the existing cafe could continue in operation and expenditure could be limited until the commercial appetite for the development is known.

The renewal of the seafront shelters with stainless steel shelters is a thoroughly bad idea. They look like nothing so much as some sort of open 'pissoir' supported on steel legs. They certainly offer no protection from a north wind.

The proposal to 'tidy up' the area near the Park Road junction with West Parade by removing the shop, children's sundial and wishing well is a bad idea. The sundial is educational and interesting and doesn't clutter up anything and the shop serves a public need in this location. Not everyone will want to walk to the Colonnade for their ice creams, even if it does offend some architect's view. The bollards shown in the proposal drawing strike me as just as much a clutter. The promenade should be punctuated with several cafes and the council should not seek to centralise everything at the Colonnade.

The replacement of seating with stainless steel benches is a daft idea. The great majority of seating on West Parade is, in fact, of one design with cast iron ends and backs and arms and it would be perfectly possible to retain this design in new locations on the seafront.

The removal of the fishermen's access to the promenade in line with the ramped access to the beach to the west of the Sovereign Cafe and its replacement with an access to the promenade 100 metres further west, is simply perverse and ridiculous and shows us all how little the architects have thought about it.

On balance, Councillor Ensor is right. The Council should refer this proposal back for further consideration by a working group who should come up with a much more business orientated plan for the seafront. What the seafront really needs, to add evening activity, is a hotel next to the pavilion, as Mendelsohn and Chermayeff planned.

GEOFFREY LAWSON

Maple Avenue

Be sensible

I WALK along our prom very often and thought maybe that is the reason I don't notice that it needs knocking down and rebuilding.

So I thought "Let's go and have another look" - and I am still of the same opinion. There is nothing wrong with it.

True, it can be improved. But by sensible, cost-effective measures - not with a 5m grandiose scheme.

I would love to see some statues along the prom - maybe of people who are or who have been important to the history of our town.

Some nice lighting to enhance the prom and flower beds at night.

I agree the Sovereign Cafe is rather tatty and ugly - so how about building another one by the shelter by the Clock Tower with all the facilities it needs by today's standards. It would be near enough to serve the park and the museum as it seems they are not having a cafe.

Then the shelter could be re-erected where the old one is knocked down.

All the shelters can be repaired and painted to match the ones on De La Warr Parade.

The putting green and crazy golf should be greatly improved and flood-lit in the evenings so people can play for longer. It would bring in some revenue.

How about putting in a bowls or petanque area? People could use their own or hire there.

All the seating is fine. It is unique to Bexhill, having seats dedicated to loved ones.

And as for building shops in the Colonnade well that is going too far - just improve the cafe that's there at the moment - maybe put in some glass screens so that it is sheltered from the wind.

Make sure the Rowing Club gets a new home worthy of their needs.

Or maybe build a casino there - where the profits go back into the council's funds so we have a kitty pot to spend on improving Bexhill further and putting in some amenities.

We already have dozens of empty shops in Bexhill and the rents are all cheaper than the 25,000 a year they propose to charge.

Why doesn't the council run a "design the seafront" competition for the residents of Bexhill?

Then we wouldn't need any more consultants.

Jacky Crouch

Marina

Join us

Re: Letter from David Wolf, Observer, September 19

WHAT a pity, Mr Wolf, that you rejected the opportunity to put a letter on the campaign trolley when it was out. You would have been very welcome to do so. The questions on the trolley ask you merely "do you want the latest council plan or not?" You can vote either way and there is space for your own opinion too. There is no pressure: No one stands by the trolley. In fact, this time, nine people out of 1,020 did vote for the new modern look planned for the seafront. This is NOT a petition. This is a request for the public's views and ideas.

So next time, Mr Wolf, engage in the trolley's democratic process. Don't stand whingeing on the sidelines, part of the imaginary "silent majority". Otherwise, how do the council know what you think.

Don't be just a moaner, Mr Wolf. Come and join us in trying to make this town the best it can be. Don't just let the Quangos and planners have their way.

JACKIE BIALESKA

Vox Pop

Cantelupe Road

Tinsel coating

MR David Woolf, fresh to the area, takes exception to the way long-established Bexhill residents tend to cast a beady eye over the various gimcrack schemes so beloved of the presiding clique at the council. It can only be hoped that, if and when Mr Woolf gains more experience of living here, he, too, will learn to see through the tinsel coating of all too many of these proposals, to the genuine dross beneath.

Or, perhaps, Mr Woolf has just washed up on the wrong stretch of beach.

If he really wants to live in a theme park town - and his comments suggest this could be the case - maybe he would do well to up sticks and migrate to somewhere more compatible with his tastes - like Margate or Folkestone.

Meanwhile, with or without Mr. Woolf, the rest of us can continue to resist the Disneyfication of the town to the best of our ability and our thanks are particularly due to those councillors of independent mind (and all parties) who are prepared to stand up to the bullying tactics of the cabinet.

MARGARET STACEY

Maple Walk

Bare necessities

SOME rhetoric by your correspondent Mr Woolf in last week's paper, but if "the town is tatty, commercially unattractive, offering little in the way of decent employment", this begs the question - why on earth did he move here?

Bexhill is all of the above - nobody can truly deny this - therefore I would be far happier to see our councillors fight for (greatly) improved rail and road links (which would hopefully bring greater investment/jobs to the area) before throwing millions at a development which does not guarantee a greater return. One presumes that RDC's finance department is headed by professionally qualified and astute, individuals, so where do they stand on this point?

All the while, it takes over two hours from London by rail and nearly as long by road; no amount of 'luxury' flats or art galleries are going to give Bexhill the financial security the backers of these schemes think they will. Sort out the necessities first then build on things from there.

M J CHRISTIE

Reginald Road

Stay focused

DAVID Woolf''s "Think Ahead" letter (Observer, September 19) is a coherent overview of regeneration issues but unfortunately, only from his own perspective (or perhaps Rother Council's).

He refers to "furious correspondence" in the first line but then takes that approach himself as inclusion, tolerance and definitely diplomacy, sink beneath the waves. He's pointing to the right issues but like the Colonnade crew places his faith in a "one note samba" commercial development concept that is not at all proven! The notion of resources spread more thinly and imaginatively (once again) doesn't get a look in! As for hotels with sea views being essential. Maybe in some towns. Let's face it, there is not that much to "sea" most of the time.

DAVE WALSH

Rotherfield Avenue

Old designs

JUST a thought . . . Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff did redesign the Colonnade area back in the 1930s but it was never built. Apparently, it showed a two-storey pergola which enclosed the lawn area, an outside swimming pool and a pier. Plus a hotel and cinema. If it was possible I think it would be a great idea to find a copy of these designs and compare them to what is happening now.

It would make an interesting feature.

GAIL PLOWMAN

Park Avenue

Sea view

I SHOULD like to join the swelling band of readers who agree that no-one in his right mind would ever build a luxury hotel in a seaside town without a sea view. I propose, therefore, to place the mini golf now along the seafront where the old Granville Hotel was in Sea Road (now a derelict site) and a new hotel next to the DLWP facing the sea with views to Eastbourne and Beachy Head. The mini golf certainly does not need a view of the sea, Eastbourne or Beachy Head.

DANIEL FRANKS

The Glades

Crossing

I AM writing to draw the public's attention to how extremely dangerous the zebra crossing on Cooden Sea Road, Little Common is.

I have a 10-year-old son at Little Common School who I am trying to make more traffic aware, ready for when he goes up to secondary school next year. As we live in Barnhorn Road I arrange to meet him the other side of this crossing so that he gets used to knowing when he should cross.

I have watched him from the other side of the road waiting and the drivers just do not stop. They are totally unaware that anyone is waiting to cross and carry on at such a speed totally oblivious to the fact that he is there.

I watched an elderly gentlemen today also nearly get knocked down.

This is an accident waiting to happen. My heart drops every time he tries to cross.

They come in off the roundabout, pick up speed again and do not notice the crossing.

I have been in touch with the highways department who have told me it is a police issue as these people are dangerous drivers but something needs to draw the driver's attention to the fact that there is a crossing there perhaps a button for pedestrians to push like the one further round the corner in Church Hill Avenue.

The highways department told me they will not put in traffic lights as it is too close to the roundabout but the other crossing is also close to the roundabout and this has lights!

It seems to me that the most sensible thing would be to scrap that crossing and move it further along the street towards Co-Op and add lights and a button and then we would know that our children and the elderly can cross more safely.

Mrs J Hammond (A safety-conscious parent)

Night crisis

ON behalf of all those of us who have to get up early for work, or just appreciate a good night's sleep, may I take this opportunity to send an open letter to a thoughtless minority of excitable insomniacs?

To those of you who fall out with a partner or 'mate' at 3am (with or without the help of alcohol): please refrain from sharing your anger/frustration/sorrow with the rest of the world in the immediate aftermath.

If you really believe that others should know what a b*****d Vic is; how angry you are that John slept with your best mate, or how frustrated you are that Lauren won't speak to you after your row, why not sell your story to the tabloids, 'true life' magazines, or Jeremy Kyle, instead of screaming the details to a sleeping world? Go home and thump a sofa cushion or shout at the dog - release your feelings in your own home, not the middle of the street! Better still, have a civilised discussion in private with the one who caused your frustration.

If I knew where you all lived, I'd be tempted to let you and your neighbours know in no uncertain terms how I feel about being woken up in the early hours, but I was brought up to resolve my personal problems without an audience. So please - don't share your crisis with us - take it home and deal with it quietly!

NAME AND ADDRESS

SUPPLIED

A&E

I MUST respond to Mark Wey's experiences of the Conquest A and E as the management clearly cannot respond in these pages - there are always two sides to a situation. My wife and I were there on the evening of Thursday, September 18 and could not fault anything from our arrival, the initial assessment and the treatment. Yes, we had to wait two and a half hours but quite accept that.

As the information screen states, there are ambulances arriving frequently at the other door with patients in need of much more urgent treatment and there are bound to be busy times.

The information also stated that 98.3 per cent of patients are seen within the Government target of four hours.

Interestingly enough I was sitting next to a teacher from Germany who had brought several students at different times to our A and E and she said that it is far better than any treatment they would receive in Berlin! I do, however, have one concern - while we were waiting we could smell cigarette smoke and it was not until we left that we realised its source.

There were around ten people from the waiting area standing just outside the automatic doors, so close that they were permanently open and the smoke drifting into the waiting area.

Two were standing underneath the no-smoking sign! The regulation, since January 2007, is no smoking anywhere in the buildings or grounds but how this can be enforced when dealing with such unreasonable people I do not know!

RON BRAZIER

Winston Drive

Welcome

THIS Sunday (September 28) is a very special day. Our churches are calling people back to the pews as they mount Back to Church Sunday.

In this area we are so fortunate to be able to celebrate our Church's rich heritage because while so many parishes have abandoned tradition in favour of more modern services, with tambourines and guitars, St Andrew's in Bexhill sticks to its roots.

Visitors will find a warm welcome there, as I discovered recently having moved to East Sussex. It still does things the old fashioned (proper?) way.

A national charity, the Prayer Book Society, works to promote the Book of Common Prayer which dates from 1662 and is still the bedrock of our nation's church. It knows of many who really miss the Prayer Book services they grew-up with. Fortunately, there are a lot of cathedrals and churches (such as St Andrew's) still using them. Many are listed at www.pbs.org.uk

TREVOR R. G. BUTLER

Sutherland Avenue

Rowing

AS someone who has been associated with Bexhill Rowing Club for 50 years I am so pleased that once again the crews have won the beautiful Bideford Bowl.

The club has brought honour to the town so let the town now repay the members by helping get better facilities for them especially with the boathouse where the conditions are not up to the standard they so richly deserve.

Congratulations again, BRC.

DOREEN WILSON

Wrestwood Road

Genuine

HAVING followed the on-going debate about off-seafront bars and eateries - similar to the concrete balls debate - give them what they don't want or need.

May I suggest something a good proportion of the residents want and need:

1 car parking space reinstated at post office square and

2 how about a frequent direct bus service to the Conquest Hospital along De La Warr Road, up Harley Shute, non stop up Queensway and on to the hospital, better still of course would be an A&E at Bexhill Hospital.

J. CAMDEN-FIELD

Cranfield Road

TV times

WHILST in the queue for the Bexhill Road tip, a man staggered past the car carrying a large television.

" You can't bring that in here".

"Why not?"

"Cos your walking".

"But I've carried it all the way up from the bus".

" It's the rules mate".

"But I can't leave it in the road and I won't make it back to the bus".

Shoulders were shrugged.

Just who causes fly-tipping?

PHIL MORRIS

Bexhill

Paramedics

I WOULD like to thank the two ambulance men who came to my aid when I fell in my flat on Friday afternoon and to thank the paramedic who came later to check on my health.

I cannot remember their names, but I am very grateful to them all.

I thought that I had fallen off my chair because of vertigo but, with hindsight, I think I fell asleep!

Luckily, I was not hurt.

M R COOKE (Mrs)

Park Avenue

Home truths

THE De La Warr Pavilion is truly iconic, so beautiful, a joy to observe but far from user friendly. I have no objections to supporting it with my rates (taxes). Though many call it a white elephant.

My pleasure each day that I am able, I walk through the parks as do many people of all ages, with dogs or children or on their own, and on the seafront. No broken paving to negotiate.

This is where I start to count my blessings. The sea view and a welcome rest at the Sovereign Light Cafe, many stop by and chat and many buy a coffee and have snacks.

The staff do not make you feel unwelcome for spending so little cash. It has become like a club, a gathering.

Everyday they are full because the nutritious lunches are available at such a small cost. Quite honestly I do not know how they make it pay but they do. They do not ask for handouts, they just provide the best service.

They are busy even in bad weather. The day trippers are able to come off the beach safely and get their drinks and fish and chips without going far. This place stands out so I beg you do not close it down.

Why is this council so short-sighted over what people need in their daily lives? We can't have the locals enjoying simple pleasures on the seafront. Heaven forbid.

Rother Council be truthful you do not give a monkeys about the ratepayer and their needs.

Do you not want visitors? Perhaps you have some hidden agenda, a night club or casino on the front that no one can get to in the evenings. Sorry, I am having a flight of fancy.

On the late Spring Bank Holiday Monday the town was desolate, hard pushed for a visitor to get a cup of tea it was like an old 30's seaside resort that had never known tourism, but the Sovereign was open and a few restaurants on the front.

What a sad picture I have painted of a town that I truly love but the truth must be told.

PAT MILBANK

Buckhurst Road

Morning mist

I OFTEN take my dog for walks in the Coombe Haven Valley early in the mornings, due to my shift work.

There is often fog and heavy mists just where the new proposed Link Road is going. Could this be due to the very wet weather or has it always been like this? It could cause a lot of accidents if the road goes ahead. Have any of your other readers experienced these fogs?

PETER SLADE

Preston Road, Sidley

Station name signs

I'M currently working overseas in Belgium and to remind me of home I am collecting the Green 'hot dog' shaped signs that were used to display railway station names during the 1950s and 1960s.

Of particular interest are stations from the lines that ran to the South Coast.

To fill some of the gaps I am particularly interested to track down signs from the stations at Bexhill West and Bexhill Central and would be delighted to hear from anyone in the area that has any knowledge of these signs.

Thank you.

SIMON BAKER

Vossem, Belgium (0032 479 98 5909 - email [email protected])

Colonnode

BEWARE of man

Wielding spade...

He aims to dig

'Neath Colonnade

Catch him at it

If you can...

It really IS

A stupid plan

Joyce Humphrey

Reginald Road