Open Letter to the MP on Parliamentary Reform
It seems that our MP may well be away on his summer holiday as my letter to him dated the 8th of August remains unanswered twelve days later, lets hope he has enjoyed his break and will return raring to go and ready give comfort to us that he does support the majority view from the public that and will be voting yes to the following; 1) to reduce the number of MP's in Parliament from 650 to 600 at the next election with possible further reductions to follow after that, 2) to redraw the constituency boundaries so that they are of even size and more fairly represent their electors. This is a clear part of the coalition agreement and our constituency is to remain unchanged at this election in the findings of the independent review which has been undertaken by the Boundary Commission.
Visit Eastbourne & Buy Local
This Wednesday sees the third of the new Eastbourne Street Markets held at the sea end of Terminus Road. Congratulations to all of the traders who have helped make this happen including Tim Tradewell of Secret Garden who has been the guiding force behind the market. One slightly concerning issue that has come to my attention in recent days however is the fact that one local craft seller tried to contact the Council to sell her produce at the seafront promenade market during the Airbourne weekend. She was told that the she could not take part as it was organised and managed by an out of town travelling market company and therefore local traders could not be involved. I will be raising this with Council officers as it seems crazy to me that at one of the biggest events of the year, when we hop that local businesses will benefit from the millions of visitors, local traders are turned away in favour of a company who is not even local.
Harbour Lock Gate Incident
Following the incident on the 4th August when a tidal surge caused damage to pontoons and a small number of boats, there was a statement reassuring members of the public that the event was being investigated. No further information has yet been forthcoming and whilst I have no doubt that the investigation will prove to be thorough, the blog story on this topic has attracted lots of page views and I have heard residents express concerns. Many seem under the impression that it may have been caused by human error but the lack of further comment is understandably leading to concern that if it was not an innocent mistake, the public could be placed at risk again with more serious damage occuring next time. I will make contact with the Management Team to find out what the latest news is.
Sniff of scandal over loss of a dog warden
This topic has become the most read blog to date in under a month which goes some way to showing how popular our dog warden is to the people of Eastbourne. I recieved several expressions of concern after the story first broke following the husband of a Lib-Dem Councillor leaking it via his newsletter. The Town Hall has remained tight lipped about the subject after the dis-unity broke out and we understand that even the local newspaper have experienced difficulty getting a comment. Since then we understand that the Leader of the Council has since pledged that he will continue to provide the services of a dog warden but it seems far from clear if this will mean that the popular officer who currently fulfills the role will be asked to continue or if the effectiveness will be diluted from the role being merged with another post. Conservatives will continue to push for the Lib-Dem administration to come clean over their plans at the earliest opportunity!
County Council's £2m investment in Eastbourne Town Centre
There has been widespread appreciation of the news that Conservative controlled East Sussex County Council is investing £2m in our Town Centre regeneration. This money which is only available because of profits gained from the decriminalised parking scheme will be used for highway and public realm improvements at the same time as Legal & General invest £70m in the extension of the town's Arndale Shopping Centre.
Arndale Planning Application being considered by members this Thursday evening
A special planning committee meeting has been convened to look at the application for the extension to the Arndale Centre at 6pm this Thursday 23rd August in The Court Room in Eastbourne Town Hall. This is a public meeting so members of the public are welcome to watch your Councillors in action. My colleague has rightly expressed concern about the design of the main entrance to the extension which faces the magnificent main entrance to the station and victorian clock tower opposite what is currently The Gildredge Public House. Early sketches showed a somewhat hideous white cliff edge which seemed to clash horribly. I have also previously raised concerns from independent traders at the Enterprise Centre about the proposed iron curtain along the external boundary on Ashford Road which concerned traders feel would block off any view of their shops and residents concerns in the Longstone & Tideswell Road areas who are worried that they will be cast in an even greater shadow if the existing car park is extended by two further floors. I will be present at the meeting and aiming to re-iterate these concerns and I hope that the applicant will relook at these concerns and agree to amend the application.
Five Acre Victory for Residents of Langney Point
Following a well organised campaign by Ward Councillors in Sovereign and residents in Langney Point the seemingly impossible was achieved and the Lib-Dem run council was shamed into a u-turn recently as barmy plans to hold the Moscow State Circus close to residents properties without proper regard for the comfort of residents or the safety of circus goers were ditched at the last minute! Both this and the Olympic big screen event passed off safely on the spacious events fields at Princes Park after all. I wonder how much this fiasco cost the taxpayer and why common sense did not prevail in the first place!
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