We are not your scapegoat, Chamber tells council

It is the latest volley to be fired in an astonishing war of words which it is now feared could tear the heart out of Bexhill's dreams of regeneration.

It was just last week that Rother District Council leader Graham Gubby and Seaspace representative John Shaw berated the Bexhill business community for its lack of vision and energy in putting forward plans on which the regeneration team could work.

Their attack followed on from the Chamber's own annual meeting at which commercial lawyer David Getty was elected president for the year.

After hosting the harangue of his members in silence on the night, Mr Getty this week hit back hard in a statement to the Observer.

In language of icy formality and savage criticism, he laid the blame for just about all the problems bedevilling Bexhill's dreams of regeneration firmly at the council's door and the regeneration consultants it has employed.

And he sprang to the defence of his Chamber members with equal ferocity.

In a thinly-veiled hit at Cllr Gubby and the Rother ruling group, Mr Getty said: "It is simply not good enough for political leaders to blame others for their failures.

"The business community is not responsible for town planning, for regenerating town centres nor for leading campaigns for a bypass."

"Isn't that the role of the professionals at Rother both elected and employed?" he demanded.

And he went on: "To blame business because politicians and their consultants can't come up with a big idea that is workable and acceptable to the public is, at best, unfair and, at worst, a very public attempt to find a scapegoat."

And he concluded by stating that while the Chamber's role was to help with staff training, legal advice, enterprise funding and supporting local events ... "To bring the town to a standstill, make parking impossible, and alienate just about every age and interest group within the town - that requires power beyond the scope of those who simply try to earn a living and provide employment."

Now there are fears that such a public spat between two figures so important to the regeneration scheme could see the town as loser.

One chamber member, who asked not to be named, said: "David Getty was absolutely incandescent after Graham Gubby's speech last week. These are two men with a lot of clout. If they are going to be at loggerheads over the whole regeneration business, it's going to mean trouble for Bexhill."

On Wednesday, Mr Getty confirmed that he had not sent a copy of his letter direct to the council leader.

When asked whether he thought the tone and content of his letter could prejudice the Chamber's ability to work with the council in future he replied: "I don't think it's something I want to discuss at this point.

"I'm simply responding to comments that were made.

"Of course, the chamber will work with anyone and everyone when it is asked to do so."

Cllr Gubby said he stood by his comments at the Chamber of Commerce meeting adding: "I didn't target Chamber members directly.

"I simply wanted to point at the increasing apathy and lack of participation in the town generally. It would have been irresponsible of me not to have sent out a strong message about the need to work together."

And of Mr Getty he said: "I genuinely look forward to working with him."

Town mayor and district councillor Stuart Earl was keen to draw the two sides together.

In a letter to the Observer and chamber members (published on page 6), he said: "The local council, like business, has limited resources and cannot alone create the type of community spirit that is required; but together we could achieve a lot more than we do."

And he pledged: "I am prepared, as mayor, to do all I can to help any organisation or group which wants to contribute ... We are all shareholders in Bexhill and have an interest in its future prosperity."

Pauline Bullock, secretary of Bexhill's Old Town Preservation Society, who attended the Chamber's AGM, was also anxious to advance a conciliatory line.

She thought Cllr Gubby's comments had not been aimed at the Chamber members as much as the general negative attitude that runs through the town.

"People don't understand the funding process of regeneration," she said.

"They don't seem to realise that you can't have the money without meeting certain requirements and if those people dislike change and fear it, then there's going to be a problem."