Why a town council?

The idea a town council “would give Bexhill control over her own destiny” is complete fantasy. A town council has limited powers. Similar to a parish council it would, as you say, give Bexhill control over its playing fields, cemetery and street lighting (Yippee! I hear residents exclaim), but all the important stuff like planning would still be decided by Rother District Council. In such matters it would only have the ‘power’ to give its opinion on matters like Next Wave, but Rother District Council would have no obligation to take any notice.

And our town councillors might well share the same views as our district ones. They’d likely be nominated, controlled and manipulated by the same tired old political parties. They may even be the very same people!

By gaining a town council Bexhill would not be recovering that which it lost in 1974 – regaining its independence as it were. What we lost in 1974 was Bexhill Borough Council, which was, like Hastings and Eastbourne, its own self-sufficient local authority. It merged with Rye Borough Council and Battle District Council and there’s no way back from that without Act of Parliament I’m afraid.

If we want democracy in Bexhill, where people have a real say over what is decided for their town, rather than the parlour game being played out currently in council, where real power resides with the Cabinet (mostly not from Bexhill) and senior officers, what we really need is not a Bexhill town council, but a Bexhill ‘area committee’.

Many councils currently divide their districts into ‘area committees’ or ‘area councils.’ With Rother, this would mean there’d still be a Rother District Council, with councillors as at present, handling matters which affect all parts of the district. Otherwise it would be split into four or five areas (perhaps Bexhill, Battle, Rye and North Rother) each having its own ‘area council’ meeting in its own area consisting of the district councillors elected for that area. These bodies would decide on all matters affecting that area alone eg the Bexhill area committee would decide on planning applications within the town, the Battle one those within Battle etc. Surely this is right?

How would ‘area committees’ help us get democracy in Bexhill? It doesn’t directly, but the system puts more pressure on local councillors to focus on matters in their own area.

That greater devolution will happen is sure; whether it will happen in a way that empowers the people of Bexhill is another question. I don’t believe a town council will help achieve that goal; only area committees can and with less extra cost.

NICK HOLLINGTON

Whydown Farm

Bexhill-on-Sea