Rother partners grapple with big issues at unique meeting

Rother employed a rarely-used facility in its constitution to call a meeting of its partners to debate an update to its corporate plan.

The Town Hall council chamber and its gallery were packed for the 90-minute debate which preceded the council meeting.

Representatives were drawn from bodies ranging from the county council to the police, Rother Homes to Hastings and Rother Primary Care Trust.

The meeting was chaired by Jeremy Leggett, chairman of East Sussex Strategic Partnership.

The corporate plan was approved in May 2006 in response to the Rother community plan, the "umbrella" plan for quality of life in the district.

Chief executive Derek Stevens explained the need for the meeting in notes attached to his invitation to representatives.

"Whilst there have been many factors, positive and negative, which have impacted on the quality of life of residents and businesses in the intervening two years, one area which needs perhaps greater consideration in terms of future planning is the latest index of multiple deprivation. This indicates a worsening position in a number of parts of the district in relation to the rest of the county and the country.

"This data shows in particular that low incomes, low skills and isolation levels in Rother present a growing challenge to our ambition to increase prosperity.

"Of equal concern are the figures which shows that a growng number of our 16 and 17 year-olds are not in education, employment or training, a situation that impacts very considerably on both the young person's chances in life and on the future prosperity of the district."

He suggested to the meeting that perhaps the time was coming when Rother should invest some of its carefully-maintained capital reserve to finance projects in the district.

East Sussex County Council leader Cllr Peter Jones opened a wide-ranging debate by warning that the western world faced an "uncomfortable" economic climate for the next three years.

"There is a transfer of resources from the old west to the new east and consumers in the west are going to subsidise producers in the east.

"We have to be very careful of doing all we can as public bodies to ensure job creation for the communities which we serve.

"I think that in Rother district you have got to go for it'¦"

Rother Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Sue Prochak said that what changed it Rother's rural areas since 2006 was access.

In conversations with young people, lack of transport to facilities was a key issue.

This was echoed by Robertsbridge Community College head Karen Roberts who said people had to travel at least 12 miles.

She said the college desperately needed a sports hall in order to offer facilities locally.

Rother member Cllr David Vereker said Bexhill was getting all the money in the district for regeneration when it didn't know whether it wanted an hotel or an exhibition hall.

He called for more money to be diverted to developing village facilities.

Taking up a point raised by Cllr Jones who had said the county council needed to re-examine the wisdom of subsidising "empty buses" and think about alternatives such as community buses and even taxis.

Cllr Paul Lendon said the reason many buses were seen travelling empty was that they were school specials going to pick up children and later returning, empty again.

He suggested that better use could be made of them by using them for ordinary passenger use on the return journey.

Rother and county member Cllr Michael Ensor said the working age population was increasing. Job-creation was needed if Rother was to retain younger people in the area.

"I would like to see some emphasis on attracting more employers into the area'¦."

He said the county youth service was entirely orientated towards disadvantaged young people and called for more work to be done with "mainstream" youngsters who needed out-of-school activities.

Taking up Cllr Jones' "go for it" call, Rother member Cllr Wendy Miers called for greater emphasis on promoting tourism.

Listing attractions like Bodiam Castle, Battle Abbey, Batemans and the De La Warr Pavilion, she said: "We have got so much here!"

Summing up, Rother leader Cllr Carl Maynard said: "It has been a good debate."

Key issues had been deprivation, job creation, young people, transport and the need for partnership working.

Discussion had been challenging. There had been constructive criticism, not only of Rother but of its partners.

There had been significant changes since 2006. The 2012 Olympics meant that Lottery funding of the kind which had restored the De La Warr Pavilion was no longer coming Rother's way, he warned.