Bexhill Highway Maintenance
Dear Editor,
Whilst I appreciate the long-term dangerous state of Bexhill’s roads is very familiar to all residents, I hope the East Sussex County Council’s new contractor, Balfour (for 2024-2031), can react better than their previous contractor.
Do be aware that when you report a highway danger to ‘East Sussex Highways’, you are in fact dealing with the County’s contractor and not the ESCC staff.
Having given up waiting for either parties’ staff to inspect, report and repair (some) really dangerous potholes, as they are self regulating/supervising their own work, I have today reported online — the two subsidences in Cooden Sea Road, both near the roundabout, Turkey Road’s multiple sharp edged potholes and of course Birkdale’s driver’s exciting experience.
I’ll leave the now total surface breakdown of Westcourt Drive for someone else to report, I first reported this in 2018. No action.
In my fruitless correspondence with all levels of the ESCC up to CEO, I have learned the following since 2013;
1 The ESCC cannot tell the difference between a water-caused subsidence and a pothole, e.g., 1, Westcourt Drive subsidence I reported in 2013, treated by their unsupervised contractor for five years as a pothole, filled in five times with a blob of bitmac before finally a dig down repair treated finally as the reported subsidence. The wasted cost! Eg.2. Sackville Rd, Subsidence near the seaside roundabout, reported in 2021, waited 3-4 years.
2 Lack of supervision, confirmed by an email to me, by the then ESCC Highways Committee Chairman — ‘our contractor does not require supervision, we trust him!’.
3 The ESCC pre-tender subcommittee was presented with a detailed report showing the failure of the ESCC Priority Specification for highway repairs and its cost implications. This was prepared by a Tory Councillor, also an experienced Highway Engineer, as am I.
All his recommendations were rejected by the ESCC Councillor Leader, except for one new addition — the new contractor shall provide a list of the work he carries out each month to the ESCC. This begs the question — were the ESCC paying the previous seven-year contractor blindly (and unsupervised by direct ESCC staff), except for a ‘random six month’ or so visit? The wasted cost!
4. Thanks to the approved Government TIGRR Report of Feb 2021 which stated, ‘complainants should be asked to take Personal Court Action! When complaints were ignored, appeals to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) elicit the same advice. The LGO, under new management, is reviewing that approach and will now become involved!
5 The ESCC parking meters in Bexhill, (my experience, those on West Parade), were not second-hand, but, the CEO confirms were ‘pre-used’ ex-Eastbourne!
They have been consistently unreliable for coin operation and sometimes credit card operation. Apparently, we residents are expected to report the failures — as clearly their contractor does not inspect them for which they are paid. But the ESCC CEO confirms they are all ‘remotely supervised’. That is not working well is it?
6 As a trial, ESCC masked off three meters ‘to see if they were well used’, surprise, they weren’t and have been removed.
There is now a half-mile return trip to a working Meter in West Parade for some users. The CEO then ‘instigated a more regular inspection by the contractor’!
At first complaint, she stated all the meters were working correctly — which was untrue. She finally confirmed only three meters required their initiating green button be replaced.
Apparently, this was because some users were using a pen or other hard item to make the heat-sensitive button work! So, presumably, that’s why many of the ex-Eastbourne meters didn’t function at installation? Or was it too cold in Bexhill?
The ESCC had one of the worst records for Highway repairs and expenditure in England before 2010 Austerity, before Covid, and the’ lowest County Council taxes in the South’. So make your choice, cheap or safe?
So, readers, don’t be complacent, report your complaints directly to the ESCC, keep records and do not give up, but imagine the current ESCC Lead Councillors having the majority vote on ALL LA local services after the Local Government Reorganisation next year. Dear God.
Mr. I.M.Griffiths.
Empty seafront bays
Dear Editor,
I live in Sutton Place, TN40. The seafront for most of the year is empty of cars, mainly because (understandably) people don’t want to pay to park!
Therefore, everyone parks in Sutton Place. However, this causes major problems for the residents. The majority of the residents are over 70 years old and are unable to gain easy access to their flats because of this.
Sutton Place has also become an overflow car park for several cars and vans, the same ones park everyday, who are avoiding paying permit charges in the roads surrounding Sutton Place.
This is a crazy situation, when the seafront is empty!
I will not shop in town any longer if I have to pay to park. If I went into town three times a week at £1.35 for two hours, that will be an extra £16.20 + a month out of my already inadequate pension!
I can no longer pop in to visit friends, browse in the shops, buy a loaf of bread, treat myself to a coffee. It will cause isolation for many of the aged population in Bexhill.
There is not even an adequate bus service along the seafront that I could use. The yellow bus is great, but only runs every two hours.
How anyone can say that increasing the parking charges will have a positive impact on the local economy I do not know! I know for a fact that several residents have spoken to counsellors about the situation, but we are just fobbed off.
The fact remains that the seafront parking areas are for the most part empty so where is this scheme working?
Anon
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Town Centre Improvements suggestions
Dear Editor,
Here is a suggestion on improving the town centre environment for business, local people and visitors.
The car park in Wainwright Road, although hidden away, is actually only 3-5 minutes walk from the traffic lights in Sackville Road. Although some goodwill and collaboration between various parties would be needed, it could so easily be the main town centre car park.
The dreadful Twitten down past the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ building to Terminus Road needs to be taken in hand and made safe and welcoming.
If Bexhill Estates could get behind the initiative and lower its east wall so that there was good visibility when using the Twitten, (or even allow the Twitten to be widened though I guess that is asking too much), that would be wonderful.
Some lighting in the Twitten and a zebra crossing to enable folk to safely cross Terminus Road are presumably all do-able. Now the pavements under the railway bridge have been widened to accommodate people walking in both directions, this all becomes much easier. Maybe Network Rail could be persuaded to tidy up the railway embankment both in Terminus Road and in Sackville Road.
Artwave might like to revisit their work at the bus stop shelter and repaint with light, bright seaside colours? The car park could be easily signposted from the Link Road and A259 as the main town centre car park. If Public Conveniences ever come back into fashion as a core public amenity, then a set of those to welcome visitors would be brilliant.
This way whilst Devonshire Road benefits from footfall from the railway station, Sackville Road with its splendid view of the sea would benefit from visitors arriving by car.
Friends in Eastbourne and Hastings like to visit Bexhill because of our wonderful diverse range of small restaurants and cafes and the fantastic service from our local shopkeepers who have proper conversations with their customers.
Kathryn Cole
What are we marketing?
Dear Editor,
It’s of some surprise to read of the advertisement for the position of Marketing Officer at Bexhill Council in your newspaper.
Thought must be given to the abundance of serious road potholes, broken weed-ridden pavements, bank, toilet and threatened post office closures and increasingly vacant shops in addition to the recent parking restrictions. The list is hardly a catalog to attract visitors to our town.
Would it be better to get one’s house in order first and find ways to put the heart back in the town — only then can it be promoted.
We read that Eastbourne, Hastings and now Worthing are all successfully pedestrianising their main streets. What an opportunity there is in Devonshire Road from Albany Road to the Sea which is crying out for the same treatment.
There then could be alfresco eating, license-controlled street entertainment and market vendors producing additional Council revenue and all in a green vehicle-free environment.
Residents parking could be easily reallocated in the underused Square and delivery trucks restricted by times as in other towns.
Urgent action is needed by the Bexhill Town and Rother District Council while they have the power to do so. Or are we to watch our town die and get left behind at the risk of becoming a pawn when the newly proposed Greater Sussex Council takes power.
Anon
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