Town will not be worth living in

With reference to the result of the Stage 1 public consultation as to the future governance of Bexhill, I note that the Executive Director’s recommendations are that three options should be considered for Stage 2.

These are: 1, that there should be no change to current arrangements; 2, the creation of a Parish Council (to be styled a Town Council); 3, the creation of an Area Committee.

Am I alone in concluding that the Executive Director’s recommendations are perverse? Of all responses received, 59 per cent were in favour of a Parish/Town Council, 12 per cent were in favour of an Area Committee, 16 per cent were in favour of either a Parish or Area Committee. Only three per cent were in favour of ‘no change’.

That is a huge 87 per cent desiring some kind of change.

It is the case that only 2.6 per cent of the electorate responded, but it is acknowledged that this was still a higher than average response rate. I wonder how the Executive Director’s logic would apply to the outcome of a Parliamentary General Election?

Presumably, in the event of a very low turnout, we would just continue with the incumbent political party continuing to govern even though a massive majority of those who had voted had chosen a different party. I did not realise that democracy worked that way.

The Executive Director’s first recommendation should have been the creation of a Town Council. Who is this person? Why is he/she so concerned to maintain the Status Quo?

In the next few years this town is due to be engulfed with thousands of additional housing units in the North and West of the area. Apart from road construction (and even that will be inadequate), there will be very little in the way of infrastructure to cope with the vast influx of people which will result.

I have yet to speak to any other resident who actually thinks it’s all a cracking idea.

If we had a Town Council which truly represented the wishes of the residents of Bexhill (as they do in the much smaller settlements of Battle and Rye) we might have stood some chance of preventing that situation. Think on guys! Make your views on this subject known to your local councillors and even your MP (as soon as we have one again after June 8).

Otherwise, in a few years time, this town will not be worth living in.

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