Sea fest: council’s kick in the groynes
MOST businesses seeing something well received by the public would be quick to develop it, wanting to make it even more of a success.
So it is perplexing, to say the least, to watch Rother district councillors, many of whom have backgrounds in commerce, shooting themselves in the foot over the sea angling festival.
Last week’s scrutiny committee took the view that the debut event, held this summer to wide acclaim, cannot be repeated at public expense.
Instead, community groups should pick up the tab - £20,000 a year - while our elected representatives fuss on the fringes, providing “some levels of support around venues, etc”.
So, having helped to create one of Bexhill’s most vibrant events for years and, in doing so, resolved a dispute over beach by-laws into the bargain, Rother is now on the verge of throwing the whole thing to the fishes.
It’s tempting to think that the pantomime season has already started, and at Bexhill Town Hall.
Casting himself in the role of Baron Hardup, council leader Carl Maynard has been busy rehearsing his lines for Cabinet:
“The unfortunate reality is that we are facing huge financial pressures, with further substantial Government cuts in our grants due to be announced in December for the third year running.
“Bear in mind that (to put on the Festival) it would be £20,000 every single year from Council Tax and not a one-off expense, like building projects.”
From a council that’s now seeking to regenerate the town centre, that’s just spent £5.6 million revamping the West Parade, that annually gives £500,000 to the resort’s flagship De La Warr Pavilion - all aimed at putting Bexhill on the map - this seems like penny-pinching in the extreme.
The Sea Angling Festival created interest beyond the fishing fraternity. It got Bexhill talked about . It succeeded. So back it!
Never was the phrase “speculate to accumulate” more apposite, and if councillors cannot see the sense in that then, really, what hope is there for our town?
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Weather for Bexhill-on-Sea
Saturday 25 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North
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Temperature: 6 C to 16 C
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