The great Lottery farce

Here is a process which was in general warmly welcomed and supported by the country at its inception. It had '“ and still has '“ the capacity to do an immense amount of public good.

Yet support has been dented by a long history of highly questionable decisions which have, quite rightly, been denounced in the national press.

On the one hand there have been many examples where causes of undisputed worth and importance have been denied essential funding. Compounding the situation are a series of over-generous awards to causes which can only be seen as pandering to the current obsession with Political Correctness.

That the situation is demonstrably not new makes the inability or unwillingness of Parliament which created the system in the first place to haul it back on course.

A look back at the lottery system's record in Bexhill sees '“ exactly a decade ago '“ rejection of the original De La Warr Pavilion bid.

This critically delayed an already protracted process.

Whatever one's feelings about the way the pavilion is now run, refurbishment of a Grade One Listed building of world renown was a clear case for lottery assistance and it was scandalous that Rother taxpayers should have been put to needless expense while the complex application process was repeated.

We now have a local situation which borders on the farcical.

While Rother has obtained 1m of Government funding for its 5.1m Next Wave seafront proposals which have raised the public's blood pressure by their controversial nature, Heritage Lottery funding has been denied for the 1.5m Egerton Park scheme which enjoys widespread public support!

There's the makings of the screenplay for a good comedy film to be had from Bexhill's dilemma.

The town has enjoyed a century of service from its park, an essential "green lung" in the very centre of town. But, like every other amenity, there comes a time when it is due for an overhaul. While there are borders which are regularly refreshed with new bedding plants, there are areas of shrubs which are long past their sell-by date and need replanting.

Diversion of the increasingly-polluted Egerton Park Stream to overcome flooding problems left the park lakes dependent on tidal refreshment with sea water. They are overdue for re-dredging and a new look at how to fill them.

The well-supported public consultation process over the park lottery bid identified clear priorities for a much-loved but increasingly shabby amenity.

The best that can be hoped for now is that some form of alternative funding can be found for key elements of the park refurbishment plan and that a phased programme of renewal can be introduced.

The more cynical might think that if the previously carefully-conserved Rother capital reserves could be raided for Next Wave, the more hare-brained elements of this scheme could be unceremoniously dumped and a little of the reserve used for essential park maintenance.