Ideas to improve town centre are considered

That was the question asked of Town Forum members at the DLWP meeting on Tuesday - and they came up with a number of suggestions ranging from a public orchard and more trees in Devonshire Road to pedestrianised areas and repopulating Devonshire Square.

Chairman Paul Plim said the idea was to “steer the Town Forum into something Rother District Council could take a little bit more notice of”.

He told members: “What we expect as a Forum is some sort of reaction from the council...positive, or negative - either way.

“We are going to listen to these suggestions and pass them to the decision-makers.”

First out was an HSBC employee who said when he first worked at the bank he looked out and saw Devonshire Square which was a “little car park” outside the Post Office.

“Twenty-five years, later I look out and it is a large empty space outside the Post Office,” he said, before asking - “Could we not make something better of the town centre?”

He spoke of the need to bring visitors and shoppers in by making more of Bexhill “every day” and suggested pedestrianised sections as well as cycle lanes to give more reason to people to come to the town centre.

Jackie Bialeska of Vox Pop said her discussions with residents show that lack of parking is the biggest problem, with the loss of the Devonshire Square spaces keenly felt.

She added that “the odd ugly areas need to be cleaned up” and described the cinema front in Western Road as “in a disgusting state”, before calling for Rother’s Tony Leonard to enforce clean-up of rotting properties.

She claimed that the council should stop concentrating on “grandiose plans” for the future and said: “If it tries, it could be the ‘we can do it’ council for a change.”

Green campaigner Barbara Echlin suggested the town centre streets should be lined with more trees while her husband Edward thought one tennis court less in Egerton Park could make room for a community orchard, of which Bexhill has none.

Nick Hollington, of BALI, said Rother District Council could not effect “massive” regeneration on its own, but that this would require collaboration with the private sector and the people of Bexhill.

He envisaged a town centre enterprise partnership of local businesses, groups, and members of the public, to start with wide public consultation rather than reflecting the aspirations of the council or a developer.

Other suggestions made covered a tourist information office to publicise Bexhill and inform visitors, an outdoor farmers’ market in Devonshire Square, and that Western Road should be pedestrianised with Devonshire Square being reopened for parking.

Tom Back said he appreciated being able to use Devonshire Square for community events, such as carol singing, and suggested Devonshire Road being pedestrianised instead.

Taxi driver Dave Dicken Smith said he would like to see controlled enforcement on limited parking and local parking, and that this was not happening since Bexhill lost its traffic warden.

“If people parked correctly on Devonshire Road and Western Road and left then others could come in, park and shop,” he commented.

“We would have more people shopping...and taxi drivers could more around more easily.”

Ron Storkey’s suggestion was for the regeneration steering group to consult those in the town centre with the appropriate knowledge - the shop keepers, bankers and businesses operating in Bexhill.

“They are the people with expertise,” he told the Forum.

“They know what is wrong and what could be made better.”

LEFT: Devonshire Square