Let's focus on the real issue
WITH reference to Mr Tollet's letter of May 16, let me first apologise if the councillors for Winchelsea have given any impression we are trying to rename the Rye Harbour Lifeboat.
We were told, by a former and long-serving councillor for Rye Harbour, that the Rye Harbour Lifeboat had also been known as the Winchelsea Lifeboat and, on these grounds, were exhorted by that gentleman to support the proposal to do something about the disintegration of the Mary Stanford Lifeboat House (he was unaware we had initiated the proposal).
We took this information at face value, given that Rye Harbour had been in the old Liberty of Winchelsea, and the connection with Winchelsea seems to have been strong enough for stained glass windows to have been fitted in Winchelsea church in memory of the Mary Stanford's crew.
However, rather than getting into a squabble over names, it is rather more important Rye Harbour (and other wards) focus on the real issue, which is what the parish council should do about the deteriorating state of the Mary Stanford Lifeboat House. Winchelsea councillors took the initiative, not as an attempt at some sort of annexation, but simply because others refused.
I trust Mr Tollet agrees the consultation has been sensitively drafted and will encourage fellow residents of Rye Harbour to respond. There has recently been a response from the RNLI which has very helpfully shed some light on the recent history of the Lifeboat House and suggested there is a way forward which can command a wide consensus.
With regards to Mr Tollet's letter in the Observer of May 23, his informant seems to be misinformed. No-one in Rye Harbour was shown the Winchelsea Report. However, another Mr Tollet was shown, and approved, the text of the consultation letter (which had been drafted by Winchelsea councillors).
Mr Alford seems to have been brought into the story because he was the source cited above about the alternative naming of the lifeboat.
Councillor Mike Terry
Icklesham Parish Council

Only Lib Dems take recycling seriously
I WOULD like to respond to the letter from Pam Tomsett published last week.
Pam is absolutely right that the recycling scheme in Rother is going from bad to worse. This is also the view of Cllr Susan Prochak, leader of the Liberal Democrats on Rother District Council.
It has been Liberal Democrats who have been attempting (across a range of issues) to get Conservative-run Rother to be more transparent in its decision-making processes, as well as to devolve power to Area Committees, so that local people, with local expertise, can shape local services.
I am afraid that, whether your MP is the Labour MP for Hastings and Rye, or the Conservative MP for Bexhill and Battle, you will not find the kind of commitment to devolution necessary to make recycling work for everyone.
Moreover, over in Hastings, the Labour Group has been responsible for a massive overspend on recycling, introducing a scheme which has been wildly unpopular and which the Conservatives have now adopted wholesale.
I would like to assure Ms Tomsett there is one party that is taking recycling seriously - both the need to increase our recycling successes, and for the scheme to be operated on principles of commonsense. Prior to coming to live on the South Coast, I used to live in the Lib Dem-run London Borough of Lambeth, where a mixed recycling scheme operated brilliantly.
As the Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings and Rye, I am working in partnership with the Lib Dem Group on Rother District Council to make a difference. Can I encourage local people to make use of their Lib Dem campaigners?! Please contact me via my blog - 'Nick Perry for Hastings & Rye' - at www.nickperrylibdem.wordpress.com
Nick Perry
Parliamentary campaigner
Hastings & Rye Lib Dems

Campaign thanks
I WOULD like to thank all who voted for me as candidate for the Campaign for a Democratic Rye in the Town Council by-election last week. Thank you for displaying posters, for messages of support and for such a successful outcome. I would also like to assure people I will do my very best to work for the benefit of our community and for the achievement of the aims of the Campaign.
Mary Smith
Tower Street, Rye

Do not argue from ignorance
I AM concerned about some of the assumptions that surround the idea of devolving some of Rother District Council's duties and responsibilities to Rye.
Do not think that anyone who supports the idea of greater responsibility for Rye feels that it is a universal panacea. Far from it. The issues will remain and people will be as divided as ever, no doubt.
But it will mean that those on the local council will be more accountable than ever to the people of Rye and the surrounding area, as they will be much closer to scrutiny.
The journey to Rye to hear decisions being made will be far easier to make than to Bexhill.
I would expect many local people to attend meetings of, say, planning issues, which directly affect them.
I can understand that this may be worrying to some councillors. On the other hand others may welcome the greater transparency of the decision making process.
The devolution of power is not a simple process, as those of us who attended the Democracy for Rye meeting at Thomas Peacocke School discovered.
The Eastleigh model was discussed and papers relating to it given out. That is one model, no doubt there are others.
I would urge all those who are at present uncertain about the mechanics of this new model of local government familiarise themselves with what is done elsewhere.
It is really important not to argue from ignorance of what is proposed.
Rosalind Collier
The Grove, Rye

Praise for hospital
A GERMAN guest staying at Four Seasons last week fell down several steps, and struck the left side of her head on a brick pillar, hitting it with some force.
I immediately rang the emergency services, and from my own point of view could not have asked for clearer, more efficient and better service from the telephone operator.
The paramedics arrived (which didn't take long) - and then the ambulance, and all was taken care of, with the woman in question being given confidence and calmed down by their kindness and efficiency.
They took the decision she needed hospital attention, as the bleeding was profuse and they were concerned about apparent bleeding from the ear.
When she returned from The Conquest she was so full of praise for the hospital and the team that cared for her.
All she could say was that they were wonderful and she couldn't have been given more care had she been 'The Queen of England'.
She added: "I had nine people to care for me, all they ask is my name and address and doctor in Germany, I was not to be concerned they would write to him and take care of everything - it is not like this in Germany and your hospital in England is much better than in Germany".
All too often we hear complaints about our National Health Service, but our guest was so high in her praise for what too many of us take completely for granted, and asked me to pass on her gratitude.
RITA COX
Udimore Road, Rye

More rail woes
GUNNER Chizlett is obliged to Rifleman David Benn for establishing that Light Infantry marching pace is at the tempo of 140 paces per minute and not 120. Gunner Chizlett apologises.
There is a lady in Military Road who click-clicks around Rye at Riflelady pace at about 150 clicks per minute.
Rifleman Benn will be alarmed to learn that Gunner Chizlett was a Command Post Technician and was, thus, occasionally responsible for ordering the direction and range of fire from his battery of eight gun-howitzers.
The Sergeant-Major at the School of Artillery in Wiltshire tried to teach Chizlett that Infantrymen tend to get a bit crusty if, or when, Chizlett's numerical misreadings or miscalculations might cause our own lads to be shelled while in their dugouts. There's just no pleasing some folks...
Meanwhile, with further reference to tunnel vision and yet more of Marshlink's rail shambles at weekends, there was a notice outside Rye Station on May 17/18 to explain why the trains were being replaced by buses again.
Apparently, planned engineering was the reason for the shambles. The word 'planned' was in capital letters and was underlined.
Was that done to distinguish this shambles from the ones where the engineering works are unplanned, carefee, Bohemian?
On Bank Holiday Sunday (May 25), the notice advised us that buses were to be used for the Hastings to-and-fro Eastbourne section of the rail route, between Brighton and Ashford International (International?).
This notice did not use underlining of the word 'planned'. Perhaps there was the possibility that the works were planned but anything might happen to cause postponement.
It's bad enough that one can no longer get off at Three Oaks and at Doleham as starting points for beautiful cross-country walks.
It's bad enough that Mondays to Fridays have to be kept clear of engineering works on line so that family weekends are fouled instead.
And, it's bad enough that 120 paces per minute getting from Snargate back to Rye is proving to be a bit too much for a bloke who will be mumblety-vibe years old next month - just a few months younger that Joan Collins; allegedly.
C R CHIZLETT
North Salts
Rye

The final straw!
ENOUGH! If anyone at Rother District Council is thinking of making one person in a household responsible for bins, for the purposes of more easily-targeted prosecution of bin-sinners (a possibility reported in the national newspapers that some councils could adopt), that will be the final straw. Forget it. United action will be the only choice left to everyone. Aux armes, citoyens! Rise up!
We recycle everything we can, as do most people. The vast majority in this area are responsible and law-abiding.
We and they use petrol, to go to the tip with items RDC do not collect, and take glass and additional paper to the nearest disposal point.
Precious water is used to rinse out tins (it goes on the garden, but…..). No weekly collection. No larger bin for a big family. Warmer weather - now maggots in the bins and I am very very careful.
Rumours of weighing bins abound - how does that leave mothers, the elderly, women. Are they going to supply old-fashioned mangles to wring out disposables?
RICA HARE
Westfield Lane
St Leonards

Village hall plea
OVER many years, I, along with many other residents of Icklesham, have contributed considerably to fund-raising events in aid of our hall.
Now that hall is closed and it will be shut until the end of the year because of work which is being done on it.
I would like to know who is spending our money, what they have decided among themselves, what is to be done and how much the job is costing.
When and where will we, who are paying for all of this, be able to see the plans of what has been decided?
It is our village hall and it is our money that is being spent.
When it is finished, will the refurbished centre of our village include energy-saving facilities and will the result be environmentally friendly as we look forward to the future in this twenty-first century? As one of the many who is paying for all of this, I would just like to know.
Mrs E BAKER
Main Road
Icklesham

Speed Watch timetable.....
IN HIS letter last week, Councillor Bronsdon claimed Icklesham Parish Council has been supportive of Winchelsea's efforts to set up a Community Speed Watch scheme. This has come as a great surprise to Winchelsea councillors and residents.
Councillor Bronsdon quickly brushes over the fact that, in October 2005, the council would not write a simple letter supporting Winchelsea's application to join this police-sponsored scheme.
Despite having the backing of all three Winchelsea councillors and the local police team -and notwithstanding the issue concerned only Winchelsea - councillors from other wards refused to provide that piece of paper.
This decision was indeed reversed in April 2006, but only in the face of a petition signed by over 150 residents of Winchelsea, and of compelling evidence about the traffic problem in the town, compiled in a week-long survey by residents using a speed gun hired at their own expense.
Councillor Bronsdon can be forgiven for his poor recollection of some of these events, as he did not join the council until April 2006.
But he should be aware of the continuing hostility of Icklesham Parish Council towards Speed Watch, not least, because he has led the attack. In May 2007, he launched a vitriolic attack on the scheme and on the Winchelsea residents involved.
Extraordinarily, at the very next council meeting, Councillor Bronsdon proposed the scheme should be rolled out across all four wards of Icklesham Parish! I was tempted to believe he had undergone a Damascene conversion, until he added that Speed Watch should not be launched in Winchelsea until other wards were ready to do so.
Clearly, this volte face - which would have meant Icklesham Parish Council had changed position on Speed Watch four times - was a just cynical tactic to obstruct Winchelsea.
Any suggestion Icklesham Parish Council was (genuinely) supportive of Speed Watch in Winchelsea is also at odds with the difficulty experienced in September 2007 in getting the council to confirm their decision of April 2006, and their refusal in February 2008 to contribute just £360 to top up the £2,000 raised by residents for the purchase of a speed gun.
Councillor Bronsdon is attempting to rewrite history when he claims the council decided it would be better to put £2,000 towards a vehicle-activated sign (VAS) in Winchelsea rather than to Speed Watch. The council was actually asked pay £550 for a VAS feasibility study. This proposal was mine and was approved in December 2006, some five months before the council first refused funding for Speed Watch.
However, despite his poor recollection of events, I am prepared to take Councillor Bronsdon at face value. If Icklesham Parish Council does indeed support Speed Watch in Winchelsea, then no doubt he will table a resolution for the next council meeting proposing a contribution towards the cost of the ancillary equipment for Speed Watch.
Cllr Richard Comotto
High Street, Winchelsea

Dogs takes time and effort
I WAS amused by the pithy header 'Leading by example' (Observer Mailbag, May 23) which beautifully summed up the article about the contrast between the good dog owner with the Alsatian and the owner of the brown Labrador.
Not only was the owner of the Alsatian leading the way for others by her consideration for other users of the cycle path, but she was putting her dog on the lead to control it properly whilst the cyclist passed.
Another concurrent meaning might also be the need of every dog owner to be their dog's pack leader.
The old wisdom, 'treat a dog like a human being and it will treat you like a dog' is a reference to the way a dog will immediately take on the role of pack leader if the owner does not. If you are unable to walk your dog on a lead, then you are not your dog's pack leader.
When I walk my dog down Tillingham Avenue, I often see a brown Labrador taking its owner for a walk. The dog always seems to be free to run across the road - which is very dangerous, while the owner carries the lead instead of using it.
On one occasion, I was shocked to see the dog run at a small child, barking. The owner shouted at the dog (at least I think he was shouting at the dog) which completely ignored him. The dog does not see his owner as pack leader but as a subordinate!
Some minutes later, the owner reached the dog and started to berate it loudly. I felt the owner was trying to appear concerned by shouting at his dog. He ignored the child!
Dogs do not rationalise and, as a signal to the dog that it was behaving unacceptably, it was far too late.
Also, the tone was quite inappropriate. Instead of shouting at the dog afterwards, a good dog owner would give a calm, assertive signal to the dog before the dog ran.
Dogs need limitations and boundaries and it is up to the owner to calmly, but positively, assert these consistently at all times.
Dog owners should not be embarrassed by their lack of knowledge, as to be a really good dog handler takes a lot of time and effort.
We all need to learn as much as we can to be able to control our dogs properly but it is worth the effort, as both dog and owner are much happier for it.
I really enjoy the television programme 'The Dog Whisperer' on Sky 3. Cesar Milan helps people to learn to control their dogs.
He seems to be able to control the dogs instantly but it seems to take the owners a few weeks to learn to change their behaviour so that their dogs behave in the way that they want them to.
The television programme 'Dog Borstal' on BBC3 shows dog handlers Lynn, Dave and Mick teaching owners how to get their dogs to behave properly.
Their message to the dog owners is very similar. This is that they are often cruel to their dogs through love and kindness. The dogs are much happier when their owners become the calm assertive pack leaders that they need.
I also found some very interesting and informative articles on a website called 'Stop Dog Attacks'.
I would encourage anyone unable to walk their dog on a lead to watch these programmes and to find themselves dog training classes from the local phone directory. There is great satisfaction in learning to control your dog properly. It is a very uplifting experience.
I also agree with the Kennel Club and a previous article in the Observer about the need for a proper dog licence, which could be used to greatly improve the treatment and training of dogs.
As a dog owner myself, I feel very strongly that the Government ought to take the lead in this, as the proper training and control of dogs is a national problem that deserves attention.
Ms B. BOOTHAM
Udimore Road, Rye