Your Letters - October 19

Cliche king IF clichs won elections David Cameron would be Prime Minister. Clichs and banality. "Call that election. We will fight. Britain will win!" thundered Carneron to ecstatic applause at the Conservative conference. It's pure Kiplingese. And that trick of speaking without script or autocue. Does anyone really believe he hadn't rehearsed until he was word and gesture perfect? But what do David Carneron and his wealthy colleagues know about the world? They who have wanted for nothing? Who are they to lecture - and threaten - the unemployed, the poor, the struggling families? They who also pledge unblinkingly to maintain the wealth divide and protect their own with tax breaks? The Tories make great play over Inheritance Tax. IHT is paid by just 38,000 people. For the Tory prediction of millions being caught in its clutches there would have to be a mass die-off virtually overnight. No; it is preposterous. The Tories are not serious about reducing burdens for the general population. If they were they would pledge to abolish that other tax on property. A tax that really is paid by millions. Council Tax. Or is that their secret weapon, their biggest ever U-turn? Liberal Democrats hang on to your clothes! STEPHEN JACKSON Second Avenue Recycling view Copy of a letter from Sarah Page, Defra - Customer Contact Unit "THANK you for your letter of August 29 to Joan Ruddock regarding cardboard recycling in your local area. I have been asked to reply. I note your disappointment at the closure of a particular recycling facility in your local area. I hope you will find it helpful if I outline the current Government position on the issue of recycling. Waste management and waste collection services are considered to be a local issue by Defra - local authorities are given demanding centrally-set recycling targets to meet every year, but they are free to achieve these using the best possible methods available to them. As such, the Government does not become directly involved in decisions on the best way to collect waste. These are rightly a matter for the local authority to make in close consultation with local residents, rather than central Government. On May 24, the Government published the Waste Strategy for England 2007, which sets out our vision for sustainable waste management. The Strategy sets new, more challenging targets for recycling and composting of household waste - at least 40% by 2010, 45% by 2015 and 50% by 2020. These are significantly higher than previous targets and are intended to put England on a par with its European neighbours. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is funded by the Government to provide local authorities with advice and best practice guidance on implementing a variety of waste collection systems. You may find it helpful to contact your local council with your concerns." MRS P O JARRAD West Parade An unfair tax A YEAR ago, the government decreed that there was to be a change regarding council tax, but we are still waiting! On the reverse of my annual statement there is a list of 12 types of citizens that are exempt from paying council tax. This is unfair, and poor economics, as these people will inevitably use all public services, there should be a minimum payment for such people, this would alleviate the heavy increases imposed on those of us who have been loyally paying council tax since its inception. M MOCKLER Maytree Gardens Brilliant hospital MAY I through the Bexhill Observer say how lucky we are in this area to have such a wonderful hospital as the Conquest. My deep gratitude goes to the brilliant team who has recently treated me with such care and devotion for cancer. Also to my daughter Jacky who had a raffle and plant sale for Macmillan Nurse Care and raised 240. MRS JOAN MCLEON-FINCH Reginald Road Leash thief I WOULD like the person who stole my two distinctive dogs' leads and halter collars as I stood and exercised my two black labradors on Sunday morning at 7.30am on Sutton Place green to know what distress they caused. The halter collars are a necessity to walk my dogs as I am disabled. I hope you will find them of great use. NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED Wind turbine THE erection of a wind turbine at Ravenside is an innovative and exciting proposal and I very much hope that planning permission is granted for the erection and use of the turbine. Most people I suspect approach this with the knowledge of the three-bladed aeroplane type propellers that are seen in Cornwall and Devon. The three bladed propeller types need to keep pointed into the wind and have a horizontal axis of rotation. The proposed wind turbine is a very different wind turbine. One of its most appealing features is that it is designed for an urban environment and to be quiet in operation. Since it rotates on a vertical access it will respond to wind from any direction. The wind collection is accomplished by three helical blades that are only 5 metres in length and the turning radius is only 1.5 metres. This is tiny compared with the rural and offshore behemoths. It will be visually attractive and an iconic land mark and brighten up the more dreary aspects of the this retail park. Its total height will be 14 metres certainly higher than any point on the retail park but well within keeping with the telephone masts that are situated in Rother. One innovative feature is that the blades are made using carbon fibre rather than steel thus lowering the weight of the blades while retaining strength. The cost of purchase and erection will be recovered in 18 years assuming an average wind speed of 5.9 metres/second and assuming a price of 9p per kwh. This is a quiet reasonable pay back for this outlay. I am very much in favour. Simon S. Allen Heatherdune Road Great jazz WHAT a pity Sinclair Robieson wouldn't put his hand in his pocket and fork out 8 for the Mike Hatchard and Friends Sunday morning jazz performance. Almost two hours of great jazz which included one of this country's finest saxophonists, Alan Barnes, in a relaxed atmosphere. Let's give the De La Warr Pavilion credit for some imagination and good value for money. Take a deep breath, Mr Robieson, and give the next gig a try. Who knows, you might like it - and eight quid might not break the bank. S.R. Wilson The Highlands Eyesore Copy of a letter sent to Planning Department, RDC Re: Planning application RR/2007/2595/P - Wind turbine at Glyne Gap MAY I register my objections to the above application. It will constitute an eyesore visible for some distance. How long before the 14 metre pylon is festooned with illuminated advertising, an additional eyesore? Not to mention a potential road hazard for the distraction of motorists. As indeed the pylon would be without the advertising during daylight. The noise pollution of wind turbines is played down by all interested parties. The constant rhythmic "thrum, thrum" of the blades will be accentuated by their slipsteam. How many sleepless nights for those in it's path? The relatively low height will ensure that the noise will remain well within hearing. Larger turbines are in excess of 60 metres and they still cause problems. Presumably, the miniscule 1% energy saving will only apply to that used by Land Securities themselves and not their tenants? If they are so concerned with their "green" image, would it not meet the 1% "turbine trade" by, for example, reducing the intensity of the car park lighting? This would also mean a financial benefit to LS which must be their main concern. Perhaps they have their own agenda. Obtain planning consent for one and then ... just as Ravenside was extended into Brett Drive? G W E COSTON De La Warr Road De La Warr I NOTE there are a number of criticisms in the October 5 edition of Bexhill Observer regarding the DLWP. I am surprised that there are not many more as the claim by the staff of DLWP that they alone have brought so much money to Bexhill cannot be further from the truth. What of the fact that there are many varied shops, no parking fees, a good sea front, and places like High Woods and some excellent sporting facilities etc all of which must bring in people from all over the local area and others from a distance apart from those who choose Bexhill for their holiday or a week-end break.. The publication of the DLWP programme for October to December brings little joy to the vast majority of local residents other than perhaps Jazz fans and there appears to be no arrangements at all for the Christmas period. The elitist exhibitions might bring in the occasional visitor but even this is not going to raise the income of the DLWP or Bexhill by any amount. I have submitted my version of the form published in the previous week's Observer but I feel that Rother District Council needs to place an embargo on the Trustees to such an extent that unless they make a profit in the next 12 months then part or the whole of the 500,000 subsidy should be withdrawn. In order to achieve this they will need to replace the existing managerial staff and find people who are conversant with the desires of the local population, have a sensible knowledge of the running of a theatre, and in particular put on a decent set of shows every week in the auditorium. The fact that the high fees for the hire of the services at the pavilion must to a certain extent prohibit local art bodies, charities etc from using the building. If they have a larger number of events in the auditorium then a reduced hire fee would be possible and could encourage other local groups to use their services. As observed by one of your letter writers a good example for the pavilion lies in the running of the theatres in Eastbourne. As a design fault with the auditorium the lack of a bar in the foyer must have reduced the DLWP income quite considerably. The use of a bar by the public before, during the interval and even after the end of a show is a complaint I have heard many times, but with so little going on in the auditorium perhaps this is pointless. D J Digweed Duke Street Traffic wardens IT is about time we had more traffic wardens in the town but a shame that it is only temporary. There are some lovely, bright, more individual, new businesses opening in Bexhill, giving it a welcome lift which will, hopefully, attract more people to the town. But, businesses need customers and customers need parking spaces. I hope these wardens succeed in keeping parking spaces for shoppers rather than letting people park all day in restricted areas. This will create a more buoyant, upbeat, attractive and thriving town. PLEASE keep them employed here. LYNNE BULLEN Sandhurst Lane Pavilion funding I AM writing in strong support of Rother Council's continued funding of the De La Warr Pavilion to the same level or higher. I am concerned at the general views expressed recently in the letters page of your paper, that Rother should not continue funding because the pavilion does not cater for the local people of Bexhill. I don't know how anyone can say this if you look at the varied programme put on in the theatre over the past few months. There has been opera, ballet, the RAF Squadronnaires band, old time music hall, gospel music, classical music, jazz, young bands, the local BATS and BLODS, a Ceilidh, a Christmas panto, films featuring Orson Wells, comedy - not to mention the Bexhill Festival of Music, free music on the bandstand regularly during the summer, as well as a host of special events such as the Antiques Roadshow, the Big Spin, the Youth Arts Festival, a Children's Book Festival and the Bank Holiday Jour de Fete. As well as all this, there are free art exhibitions - a new one every three months - one of which this year was curated by local school students and included wonderful art work by local A Level students. The art exhibitions are contemporary, innovative, and cover the whole spectrum of art - painting, video, installation, design, sculpture, textiles, light and sound and whilst not all exhibitions will be to everyone's taste, we are fortunate in Bexhill to have an opportunity to see the sort of art on our doorstep that you usually have to visit a big city to see. Even if you don't like the art, it should make you think about things in a different way if you give it a chance. Rather than constantly moaning about the money Rother spends on the De La Warr Pavilion we should be pleased that they continue to do so. It is a huge asset to the town and to local people and what would happen if they withdrew the funding? It would close, the building would fall into disrepair or maybe bought by a large retail outlet and developed as a supermarket. Is that what local Bexhill people want? Where else can a local person go, and in one typical summers day, in one marvellous building, see a free art exhibition by an artist who won the Turner Prize, wander outside on the terrace and spend an hour listening to free music on the bandstand, enjoy a pot of tea in the cafe overlooking a wonderful view of the South Downs and the sea, then maybe later in the evening return to the theatre for a top-quality concert. I appeal to local Bexhill people to celebrate the fact that the De La Warr Pavilion is different and special and to support its bid for continued funding. Lesley Wilder Park Road Thank you all I FEEL the need to write to thank all the kind people that helped in my hour of need having suffered a senior moment in the Highwoods a week ago last Wednesday when I became lost and totally confused. I would like to say a special thank you to Alison, Paul and Amber who co-ordinated my capture and return to my mum and dad. As you can imagine being dishevelled, exhausted and somewhat frightened I was very relieved. It is comforting to know that in times of need there are people prepared to help. PS - My dad says that mobile phones are a wonderful invention! CHARLIE 10 YEARS English Springer Spaniel Little Common Untidy town I AM writing to express my disappointment when I visited Bexhill-on-Sea in September of this year. I have visited your area for the past six years and have found over the past three, it has become very untidy as you approach the outskirts of the town on the A259. A petrol station used to be located here, and since it's closure it has become a dumping ground and is an eyesore to visitors coming to the area. The petrol station has become a health and safety issue due to the fence not securing the area properly. People can enter the area where there are deep holes in the ground due to the petrol tanks being removed. There are also old drinks machines left on the premises, all of these could cause injury. I believe that the owners of the property have been asked to tidy the area and make it safe, but to no avail. I look forward to coming to Bexhill-on-Sea in the future to find something has been done about this situation. DAVID R JELLEY Upper Stratton Swindon Wind turbines I WAS very interested in your article on "A Wind Turbine at Glyne Gap" (Bexhill Observer, October 12). My interest is twofold. First, is that I am shortly putting in a planning application for various energy capturing devices on a house extension but these will be in a domestic context. Thus, the first plans will encompass (a) Photovoltaic or solar cells (b) Solar hot water panels and (c) Wind Turbines. Some of these, if a go-ahead is sanctioned, will put electricity back into the grid. The second point of interest is that if Land Securities get permission from Rother for their 25,000 "gr5" unit plus another 8,000 for its installation, it will be a very useful precedent to see what Rother's Planning Department will allow. However, maximum use should be made of this windy site and - at the very least - two or more of these quiet turbines should be placed at the west end so that a proper electricity output can be provided. By putting them at the west end of this industrial site, minimum effect will be felt on the domestic area. However, it must be emphasized that, come what may, these sorts of devices are coming in over the next few years and, happily, technology is improving them at a rapid rate so that the original risible "Mk 1" models are now museum specimens and the payback period of 20 years is getting shorter all the time. NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED