Your letters - January 8

Broken slabs hazard

IN reply to L & M Sterling, I agree with the comments about the tarmac.

But lets be realistic - it would be lovely to see paving slabs or even brick pavers.

But when they are uneven or broken as in many areas of Bexhill they are treacherous and look unsightly, as many people who have tripped and fallen will tell you.

Until the council stops any vehicles, especially lorries, mounting the pavements and breaking the slabs, we will continue to get tripping hazards.

The ideal thing would be to have the metal bollards that are in Sea Road continued all around the town, then maybe we could have the slabs back.

At the very least it will stop vehicles mounting the pavements.

J BURTON

Millham Close

Bexhill

Model was pathetic

TODAY (January 1) I went along to the De La Warr Pavilion to see the selected model for the new seafront shelters.There were no directions to where the model was exhibited.

When I found it on the top floor I realised why our local government did not want many people to see it.

The model was pathetic. How a qualified architect could produce such a travesty eludes me. If it was not for the fact that thousands of pounds are to be spent on the project it would be a laughing matter.

The "shelter" as shown in the model provides no shelter from the elements, no comfort, is aesthetically poor and completely unsuitable for its purpose.

When will all the councillors involved listen and take into account the opinions of the Bexhill people?

Everyone I speak to says exactly the same. We are not all disgruntled residents who deride anything that is new or modern but have long experience to help make judgements.

TERRY CARTER

Knebworth Road

Bexhill-on-Sea

Measuring Colonnade

SINCE my comments on December 24, I have taken the opportunity to carefully remeasure the diameter of the proposed glass tower on the roof terrace of the Colonnade from a larger scale drawing.

This diameter I now ascertain to be 5.65 metres (18ft 6ins). From the same drawing the diameter of the existing cupolas measures 4.65 metres, one metre smaller than the glass imposter.

Worse, the distance between the glass tower and the concrete wall boundary to the south side of the Pavilion terrace measures only 9.75 metres (29ft 9ins).

This means that the tower will loom very large in the foreground when the Colonnade is viewed from the Pavilion terrace, and will be intrusive when the Pavilion is viewed from any angle from the south.

I appeal to local artists to create A4 sized pencil sketches of this tower superimposed in the existing landscape, and forward to the editor as a matter of urgency so that the full impact of this scenic disaster can be assessed by your ueaders. The planning committee may even take note. The date for public consultation expires on January 7.

When preparing such sketches from the published drawings artists should note that the photograph of the alleged "model" of the tower is totally incorrect in its proportions. The model appears to be smaller in diameter than its 11ft height, whereas the drawings indicate that the diameter is nearly twice the height, at a ratio of 1.68 to 1.00.

I wonder what the Pavilion publicists think of all this?

Do they understand the impact the presence of this structure will have on their favourite photographic panorama of the Pavilion from the south?

JOHN HODSON

Cooden Sea Road

Bexhill

Go and have your say

BECAUSE of the general fiasco at the exhibition of the proposed seafront shelter at the De La Warr Pavilion, and because many of the consultation forms were the wrong ones, quite a few people turned away saying "it's no use, it won't make any difference".

However the public's opinion could still make a big and important difference.

The present design is a disaster - it affords no shelter to anyone, not even a sparrow.

The thing is wide open to the cruel gales and the hot sun prevalent on our seafront.

There is no protection for regular brave walkers or the disabled, no haven for little day trip families and certainly no private cosy corner for courting couples.

Your opinions could possibly change the council's mind.

It claims to be listening and is promising some changes. The tree is going, for instance.

The exhibition, poor though it be, is open until January 13.

If you go and have your say you can have a hand in the shaping of Bexhill seafront's future. If we don't try we'll end up with something as useless as the bandstand at the De La Warr Pavilion. If we have to have new shelters let's try and make sure they are truly fit for the real purpose.

JACKIE BIALESKA

Chairman, Vox Pop

A canine request

MY dog, Maddie, is requesting that the benches along the seafront are not removed, as she finds them useful for her games along the walk.

Similar benches were removed from Broadoak Park because according to an official no one used them. I personally used them and know of many others who did.

For the many others and I who can only walk a short distance, to be able to sit and recover in order to enjoy the park was great.