Your letters - February 19

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The waste debate

A RECENTLY published survey of waste disposal sites in the Sussex area shows several possible areas east of Lewes and only one in Rother-Bexhill; the clay pit left by industrial activity along Turkey Road.

Facts: all human activity creates some degree of waste. We can, with our current technology, recycle increasing percentages of the waste we all create, but so far not all of it.

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Should we incinerate the remaining waste we reduce the quantity we would need to bury. The heat generated by the incineration can provide us with a useful source of energy but the process will create more CO2 and so contribute towards the greenhouse gas problems.

Should we decide to bury what is left after our first efforts to recycle, then some will decompose over time, a long time; and we hand on the problem to future generations. However, research may find a way of disposing of that waste without creating other problems. We should, I believe, concentrate our efforts in reducing the scale of the problem we are handing on.

To simply be against the use of the Turkey Road site to bury our problem, is ducking the issue. In effect BALI is saying that they do not want the facility, any facility, here; let someone else have it; and in any case where is here? There is, or there will be very quickly, an organisation ready to oppose the transhipment of our waste to their doorstep. We have, in this area, only one site left. So is it not possible to accept responsibility for our waste and seek to mitigate the quantity, the disruption and the timescale of the disposal solution.

I am suspicious of those that are simply "against". The waste is going to go somewhere and BALI promotes itself as representing Bexhill. Should a decision be made that the present site between Bexhill and St Leonards be continued and the countryside park scrapped, would they be so keen to strongly oppose that solution? Of course, a hole to take the waste or an incinerator would have to be built first so possibly there is time for BALI (west) to become BALI (east) as well.

NEVILLE WRIGHT

Buckholt Avenue

Bexhill

Beachfront plan

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As certain people are still unsure of my plans and intentions for my beach at Herbrand Walk, I would like to offer the following explanations:

Re: schools. As the beach is under used during term time weekdays, my idea is to offer the schools and local youth organisations use of the kayaks and facilities for free.

I'm hoping they will enjoy it and come back with their friends and families at weekends, evenings and holidays and hire one of my kayaks.

Initially I contacted six schools to get a response regarding kayaking, two private and four local council schools. The two private schools have already agreed to take up my offer. The local schools have yet to respond, probably not being able to until the result of my planning is known.

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Ifobjectors think that this isdeceitful,then they'reentitled totheir opinion.

Re: parking for beach hut users. Perhaps objectors should take a trip down to Herbrand Walk and see the parking arrangements for the 54 beach huts already there. Most of the current ownerspark on the double yellow lines and theones with parking spaceshave to reverse back out onto the carriageway. If all the current hut owners turned up at once it would become a bottleneck and single lane traffic.

The idea of putting cycle racks at the beach is that local schools and residents will be able to cycle to the beach, secure their cycles and enjoy the facilities, therefore reducing road traffic. The schools will not be turning up in 54 seat coaches but in minibuses. A hardstanding area next to the toilets and lifeguard hut is being set aside for two minibuses and eight disabled parking spaces.

Re: beach maintenance. I have lived in Bexhill for the last four years paying BandE council tax. From the Cooden Beach Hotel to the fishing huts to the west, the beach to the mean high water mark is all privately owned.

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Perhaps the current beach hut owners along Herbrand Walk (many of whom do not even live in Bexhill) would also like to contribute some more towards the sea defence maintenance. At present the rates payable by them are about 44 per year.

As I've said before, I have no problem in contributing towards the ongoing maintenance of the sea defences.

STEVE HALL

Collington Avenue

Bexhill

Armed Forces parade

IN reply to the letter from John Ellis, your readers may be interested to learn that the Bexhill-on-Sea and District Veterans' Association is currently organising an Armed Forces Day Parade to be held in Egerton Park on Saturday June 26 from 10.30am to 5pm.

The day will commence with a parade consisting of local veterans' assocations, serving members of the Armed Forces, TA units, local cadets and members of the Guides and Scouts amongst others yet to confirm. The parade will be followed by a short drumhead service after which the salute will be taken by the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex, before the parade disbands.

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Throughout the afternoon, stallholders will be present around the area of the park, consisting of local charities, support groups, retailers and craftsmen, the day being an ideal 'shop window' for these organisations and businesses to advertise their services. Alongside these, there will be plenty of activities to keep the children amused. Refreshments and snacks will be available throughout the day and various events, including a tug-of-war, will be held in a central arena to entertain members of the public, and music will be provided throughout the day by the Royal British Legion Band, Little Common.

Entry to the park will be free, however we are collecting valuable funds for our nominated charity Help For Heroes, and it is hoped that visitors will make a generous donation in the collection buckets provided. This will be the first time that such an event has been held in the town and we hope that the day will be well supported by the people of Bexhill-on-Sea and surrounding areas.

Although this event is not on such a large scale as the one suggested by John, it is hoped that the Bexhill Armed Forces Day Parade will put Bexhill well and truly on the local map at least and that the event will be a great success and become an annnual event in the town.

Anyone interested in providing a stall during the event should contact me for further details call 01424 220917 or e-mail [email protected]

STUART MARFLEET

Branch secretary

Bexhill-on-Sea and District Veterans Association

Lack of democracy

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I WAS interested to read in last week's Observer that two separate readers' letters mentioned the word democracy (lack of) when referring to Rother District Council. This word appears to be missing from RDC councillors' vocabulary.

A previous Observer article concerning opposition to the granting of licences for open air functions on the Polgrove, reported that the RDC head of amenities was "aware of the opposition" but she did not add "but as usual we will ignore the overwhelming opinions of our ratepayers and proceed with our own agenda irrespectively".

The proposed desecration of our beloved seafront and Colonnade is a prime example of the RDC attitude to any opposition to their plans.

Councillors beware at the next local elections.

E KNIGHT

Hastings Road

Bexhill

Help for Heroes

ON behalf of myself and staff I wish belatedly to thank all the very kind and generous people who contrbuted to our Help for Heroes evening at the Christmas late opening in Bexhill.

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We have only just recieved confirmation from the charity organisers that the total raised was 1,000.

To raise such a large amount in such a short time shows remarkable generosity Thank you once again.

CHRIS WESTBURY

MD, Orchard House Residential Care Home

Bexhill-on-Sea

Thanks for giving

ON behalf of myself and staff I wish belatedly to thank all the very kind and generous people who contrbuted to our Help for Heroes evening at the Christmas late opening in Bexhill.

We have only just recieved confirmation from the charity organisers that the total raised was 1,000.

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To raise such a large amount in such a short time shows remarkable generosity Thank you once again.

CHRIS WESTBURY

MD, Orchard House Residential Care Home

Bexhill-on-Sea

Food for thought

TO counteract this dreary winter, have other people discovered, apart from our excellent library, one can chose from hundreds of secondhand books at the indoor market in Western Road?

There you can buy your sprouts and oranges and get a book as well along the back wall. Buy one book and get half back when you buy the next.

ANGELA BULA,

Wickham Avenue

Bexhill

Here we go again

HERE we go again. It is too early to contemplate an early return to trusting national and local politicians, and as if to emphasise this, your front page bombshell (February 12) proves yet again that once in power politicians ignore their electors' views, and in a way that seems highly suspicious.

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Having elicited documents to show what is happening and finding that ESCC has been opening negotiations before the promised consultation has begun, shows a distinct disdain for the people of Bexhill, Little Common and Sidley. It also shows why the ESCC representative left the November meeting at Bexhill High School as soon as he had given his stutteringly bad presentation. He presumably knew he was merely going through the motions. Now we read that despite BALI chairman Nick Hollington's request under the Freedom of Information Act, ESCC only gave him what it wanted him to see.

This is ridiculous, but not surprising. What are they hiding? Their defence was to say that to do so would not be in the public interest. Wake up. We are the public and we are very interested.

I cannot wait for the next round of local elections when I feel certain that some of these local councillors will be looking for new ways of occupying themselves, rather than attending meetings in which the main reason for doing so is to try and ignore everything the local people are up in arms about. If there were a few people actually trying to impress these councillors that a landfill was wanted it wouldn't be so bad, but with everyone set against it, why are our views ignored as if we were idiots?

Let's hope that at the very least our MP Greg Barker can force someone to do the right thing and show us everything.

NORMAN FRANKS

The Ridings

Bexhill

It's a positive outcome

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THE meeting organised by Little Common FC was successful, allowing local residents to voice their concerns, hear the facts and understand the small implications of the floodlights on the local people.

In many other districts like Hastings and Eastbourne it is common to have recreational grounds with multi-purpose all-weather floodlit facilities used from 5pm - 9pm daily serving the community leisure and sport needs.

Our application for floodlights is a tiny drop in the ocean in comparison, asking the council to allow us to play football matches with limited usage and set times.

If Little Common FC was not established at the recreational ground another sports club would be, for example rugby which at a similar standard to us would need floodlights.

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I believe the application process was fair which allowed the locals to voice all their concerns in writing and there were many letters of support to the club.

Therefore the council took these in consideration and made the correct decision as the lights would have very little impact and implications on the residents, and we would have to abide to the strict rules set out by the council.

This positive decision will improve provision of facilities locally at no cost to the council whilst meeting the national agenda through Sport England.

We feel confident this decision would be made by any council in the same situation.

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Therefore, the council is allowing people to be active, feel part of a community and club whilst allowing children to have aspirations of becoming a professional football player due to the excellent reputation of the club.

The lighting expert explained that the light pollution is minimal with only five lux, with a full moon producing between one to two. The six streetlights on every night in the Eastergate area will cause more light pollution than our floodlights for houses which back onto the ground.

Also, it is well documented that lighting deters youngster from an area. I believe this put the issue into prospective and I believe this is a small compromise for benefiting people who want to participate in sport.

As a club we want to work and develop relations with our neighbours and appreciate their time and effort in attending the meeting and want them to understand the small implications and impact on them as possible.

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We appreciate their concerns, but sometimes we will have to agree to disagree as we cannot please everyone and only address issues related to the club.

The council understands the bigger picture and this is why they have given permission for floodlights. We would be happy to meet again with a representative from the local residents to discuss this further if they choose to.

MARK LINCH

Team manager

Little Common FC

Don't ban windsurfing

I AM writing to protest strongly against Rother District Council's decision to close certain areas of the Bexhill seafront to peaceful watersports.

In particular, as a local resident overlooking the Beaulieu Road open space, I think this decision is totally unjustified for this area.

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The wind-surfers and kite-surfers have been operating off Beaulieu Road for many months as I understand that the area is particularly suitable for them, being quiet and with minimal rock hazards.

The local residents here have had no problems over this usage and, indeed, the majority of us welcome the surfers.

They are well behaved, provide an interesting spectacle and cause no parking problems as the weather they need for their sport is not the weather for sunning and resting on the green or even for people bathing.

I am too old to indulge in this sport myself but am appalled that the opportunity for younger Bexhill people to partake in a good healthy sporting activity is being unnecessarily restricted.

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Once again it would appear that the council has decided to take action without consulting any members of the community most affected.

Why do council officers repeatedly ignore the council's own "Consultation Charter", which the council itself has written?

It states clearly "The Council acknowledges that consultation is a fundamental part of good public service; it will be a starting point not an afterthought".

The signs were already up in early February but the council is now belatedly calling a meeting in March!

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Come on Rother, think again and revise your unacceptable decision.

FRANK BARRACLOUGH

Beaulieu Road

Bexhill

Shelters: it's not over yet

ALL is not over yet!

We protesters are still fighting on to get the ridiculous proposed new West Promenade shelters and benches modified so that they will give proper protection and comfort to the seafront walkers, their dogs, their children et al.

If Councillors Starnes and Maynard continue to ignore the wishes of Bexhill's citizens, they will be ridiculed forever in local folklore - just like Mr Gubby and the infamous balls.

JACKIE BIALESKA

Chairman

Vox Pop

Our hopes for design

The RDC seafront steering group will be meeting today (Friday) to discuss the proposal to replace the existing seafront shelters with the design chosen by RDC from the recent architectural competition.

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In their interview with the Jury Panel, when asked about the level of shelter, the Duggan Morris architectural team explained "they had wanted to be honest with the environment, they weren't seeking to provide enclosed shelter, but were embracing the weather".

This is diametrically opposed to what the majority of residents expect from a shelter. They do not want, in the words of the designers, to "embrace the weather". They want the shelters to do that for them.

Since the decision to appoint the architects was taken, the steering group has had the benefit of the public feedback from the exhibition of the shelter in the De La Warr Pavilion.

The architects themselves also recently held discussions with a number of Bexhill residents, including myself. This was to ascertain not only our views on the conceptual design itself, but also the modifications that we felt would be necessary to make it fit for the purposes that residents and visitors expect from a seafront shelter. Satisfying the requirements of the residents, who use the seafront 12 months of the year, is fundamental to ensuring that the needs of visitors are also met.

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The reason that the existing shelters have been replicated in so many other seaside towns is precisely because of the flexibility of use inherent in the design, taking into account as it does the many uses to which shelters are put.

It is the hope of SOS that Duggan Morris Architects Ltd and the steering group can agree on a design that will sit comfortably with both the refurbished seafront and the residential town by the sea that Bexhill has been for at least the last 40 years.

Ron Storkey

Chairman

Save Our Seafront

Concerns over floodlights

I HAVE been following with interest the correspondence on the Little Common floodlights saga, and I applaud the impersonal reporting of the meetings. I completely endorse the sentiments of the two letters printed on the issue of February 5, highlighting several aspects of the objections.

What concerns me most is the cavalier attitude of some of the committee members in dealing with the much bigger issue in that a privately owned enterprise - a football club - is dominating an area of a publicly owned open space for their self-serving interest in a particular sport, and the far reaching implications of this on the town and county council tax.

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The majority of residents both in the immediate vicinity and further afield are against installation of these floodlights. The planning officers initially recommended refusal mainly on technical grounds. The applicant quickly reduced his over-estimated needs and the committee granted approval in spite of the protests that had been made.

We elect our councillors to protect our interests, and in the event of a clash of interest expect them to honour the wishes of the majority.

But this was not reflected in the approval, except obliquely in the conditions.

Prior to this application the usage of pitch four was regarded with a high degree of tolerance in spite of the intermittent inconvenience caused by the increase of traffic generated.

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But removal of the dugouts and fences was not enforced by the council. The unsecured dugouts were misused. This point was made by several objectors.

I am not against sport nor am I against change when it benefits the majority, but I feel the time has come to be counted instead of rolling over and subsidising this minority.

I hope more of your readers share my sentiments.

C PRESS

Peartree Lane

Bexhill