Council clearly didn't understand
AS AN employee of Robertsbridge Post Office for the past six-and-a-half years, I was amazed to read the comment made by our parish council regarding this Post Office.
Fortunately, due to the actions taken by Mr Claydon, no jobs were lost and any bad feelings that have occurred have been as the result of the actions taken by our parish council and I can assure you that they, together with Cllr Prochak, have been very negative and extremely unhelpful from the day that his office was under a serious threat of closure.
I have seen the stress and problems that my boss has had to face and his situation has been made far worse than it need due to the opposition that he faced from Cllr Prochak and the parish council.
It was very clear to me that they either simply didn't understand the problems or just refused to acknowledge that change was necessary if this Post Office was to remain open.
The conduct of our local councillor at the public enquiry had to be seen to be believed and I for one was glad that the planning inspector, having considered all the facts, allowed the appeal to stand.
I am still very anxious about my future, as over the past few years I have seen so many products and the number of people using the Post Office has certainly drastically declined and if the Government does announce the Post Office Card Account is taken away from the Post Office, then so many more offices will be forced to close.
Where our Post Office will stand will be anybody's guess, but I am not hopeful.
This on top of all of our recent problems leaves us both very worried, so help from our local council would have been encouraged, but alas no help was forthcoming - in fact the very reverse.
These are just the facts as I have seen them.
Daryl Critchley
Robertsbridge Post Office

Please take your rubbish home
PLEASE, please can walkers and visitors to Pannel Lane, also known as Wickham Rock Lane in Winchelsea, take their rubbish home!
Again I have been out approximately 100 yards from my home and collected a binliner full of plastic bottles, dirty nappies, dirty towels, etc!
Would fly-tippers like me to come into their neighbourhood and leave my rubbish?
At least once a month we have old fridges; ovens; garden rubbish left down this lane.
It is begining to look like a dumping ground rather than a beautiful and tranquil piece of unspoilt National Trust Land.
For all our sakes let's try and keep something that is part of our national heritage as lovely as possible.
Julie Walton
Winchelsea

Are wind turbines effective solution?
I HAVE not met anyone yet who actually likes the wind farm so visible from Rye.
Opinions vary from those who seethe at the very sight of them to the more silent majority that accept them on the basis of their necessity. But are they necessary?
Some months ago a team of very distinguished scientists cast doubt upon the damage caused by carbon to the atmosphere.
Climate change was not denied but the idea that it was, in any way, man made was roundly pooh-poohed.
These scientists also made the point, that has rather sinister overtones, that research to demonstrate global warming was related to pollution would receive government support; conversely that if it were to cast doubt upon this contention it would be unsupported or gagged (my words). So I am in some doubt.
Dr David Bellamy, in an article in Daily Express (November 5), reinforces my doubts and also doubts the effectiveness of wind generation.
Why should governments around the world- and especially ours - be so adamant that global warming is due to polluting carbon etc?
I think the answer is obvious - taxes, taxes and more taxes. Having increased taxes in a number of areas (eg. air travel), government has to show how some small part of these extra taxes are spent.
What could be more visible than a wind farm? And what could be less efficient?
If the government was serious about global warming it would have invested heavily in nuclear generation (as have the French - whose electricity we now buy- at a price).
I am not arguing that the climate is not changing nor that we should be extravagant with finite supplies of fossil fuels. I am simply challenging the sincerity of government intentions.
C R DENT
Peasmarsh

Wonderful care
MY mother Mrs Doris Marsh died on November 6, 2008 at the age of 99 years. She would have been 100 in January.
Unfortunately she developed dementia and eventually went into residential care at Tusker House where she was cared for, for nearly 11 years.
Her illness was short, just one week, and I would like to thank all the staff who cared for her with such love and tenderness during that time.
My mother was not easy and of course over time she became well-known as 'quite a character'.
Thanks is never enough for carers but my appreciation for not only caring for mum and, at times, me will not be forgotten.
Mrs J HAMMOND
Reedswood Road, Broad Oak

Can we have some of our money back?
THE article 'Councillors not to worry about spending' (November 7) is intriguing.
You quote Malcolm Johnston, Rother's Director of Resources as saying it is good news the council is spending the large amount of money it has accumulated on various projects.
These projects must even include, many people in Udimore will muse, those which are opposed by the majority of people affected by them. £50,000 for a hall in our village, for example.
Councillor Johnston said he would be worried if Rother had all these savings and didn't know what to do with them. He added that officers were always looking to secure grants to ease financial burden on major projects.
May I attempt to bring him back to Planet Earth? Why has it not occurred to the self-important 'Cabinet' of Rother District Council this amassed wealth could be best applied to reducing the Council Tax burden on the residents?
It might only work out at a few £s per capita, but at least it would show that councillors' hearts (if they have such things, that is) were in the right place, and that they had realised that their hard-pressed tax-payers deserved some of their own money back.
Tony Bridgland
Udimore

What's happened to consultation?
I Wonder how many readers are aware that at a recent district council meeting the Rother Cabinet was recommended to approve the setting up of a new arts centre at the site of the now closed Freda Gardham School in Rye.
It was moreover suggested that the council should contribute £45,000 to the venture in revenue and capital costs.
Were the people of Rye consulted about this? Was the Town Council consulted? Were various arts and cultural groups within the town asked for their opinions?
To many this will appear, yet again, as a district council overzealously imposing its authority. It is no small wonder that a campaign to democratise Rye' system of local government has started and is flourishing here.
Then, there is the question of public money. Those of us who contribute to council taxes have the right to determine how they should be spent.
Just over 200 years ago the American colonists said that there should be no taxation without representation. Shouldn't this also apply to Rye with the added proviso that there should be 'no taxation without consultation'.
Keith Taylor
Lion Street, Rye

Upgrade rail line
IN HIS letter in the Rye & Battle Observer (November 7) John Seldon argues that the proposed Bexhill Hastings Link Road is inadequate He considers a Bexhill/Hastings motorway to be essential.
According to the East Sussex County Council plan the road will end at Tthe Ridge but there is no mention of where traffic will go from there.
New roads attract more traffic, with the inevitable production of more CO2, contrary to what is essential today. The cost of the road has increased from the original figure of £47m to £98m.
If this were spent on upgrading the railway line - which runs between the two towns (with new rolling stock) - it would be possible to run four trains per hour, build a new station at Glyne Gap and improve public transport.
The noise and visual intrusion of the road would have a devastating effect on the whole of the Combe Haven Valley which, according to the East Sussex County Council, 'is probably the finest medium-sized valley in East Sussex' and runs close to the Combe Haven SSSI. Our money should be spent on reducing the volume of road traffic and improving public transport.
John Griffin
Saxonwood Road, Battle

Conquest thanks
I WOULD like to express my thanks and gratitude to the Conquest Hospital staff and nurses and especially to the doctor for the excellent work they have done on me. While I was in Cookson and Attenborough wards it was the follow up from my accident last April after my fall in Morrisons. But glad to say I am feeling a lot better.
R J ROBINSON
Netherfield Road, Battle

Where's financial meltdown?
I WAS glad to see that at the district council cabinet on November 3 some members expressed concern that should the council continue to fund the capital programme, based on current spending commitments and corporate plan projects, the capital resources would be exhausted within the next five to six years.
But the director of resources advised the council generated resources to invest for the benefit of residents and visitors alike, the council's plan was adventurous and had recently been endorsed by members. That didn't stop Mr Leonard suggesting yet another major Bexhill capital scheme as a priority project.
This time a 'Bexhill Leisure & Community Development' which proposes consolidation of Bexhill's two leisure facilities (leisure centre and pool) to a single site facility in 2016. He told members the county council timetable for Bexhill High School offered Rother the possible opportunity to bring this project forward to be included in the overall design of The Down site and recommended Rother council allocated resources to develop and manage this scheme sooner than originally anticipated.
This grandiose scheme includes a sports hall (four courts), ancillary hall (two courts), soft play area, climbing wall, 25m (six-lane) swimming pool hall, leisure pool (flumes/rapids etc), teaching pool with moveable floor, fitness suite (100 fitness stations) studio rooms, health suite, bar, cafe and social area, dry and wet changing areas, car parking, external games area, storage and office space, ten pin bowling facility (10 lanes), functions and meeting rooms.
Mr Leonard has already used the expertise of architects (how much did that cost?) to help develop the early initial site layout options and they have provided simple cost forecasts of £14m and £18m for different site layouts.
He recommended to the cabinet that that external consultants be commissioned to complete a feasibility study which would develop detailed design proposals to allow future capital funding opportunities to be pursued including public private partnership funding and any other innovative funding opportunities. And the cabinet agreed to go along with this! And all Battle have asked for is an enclosed heated swimming pool.
One would never suppose the financial world was in meltdown.
The government has announced a scheme whereby any council not exceeding a two and a half percent increase in local rates next year will receive this in an extra allocation and thus our rates would be frozen.
At a recent meeting I attended, the leader of the county council said the county was determined to meet this target. How about a similar pledge from Rother?
J E Goldsworthy (Mrs)
Glengorse, Battle

If only work were available
IT'S not surprising M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) sufferers are 'terrified' of the new welfare reforms, according to a survey by Action for M.E., which hasn't received the coverage proportionate to the effort it must have taken to compile, nor to the effects it will have upon those with largely invisible and fluctuating chronic illnesses such as M.E.
Things have got progressively worse with each government's tinkering over the last 20 years. Under Tony Blair, ministers who promised 'work for those who can, security for those who can't', changed the name of the department, which pays out benefits, to the Department of Work and Pensions so there is no ministry with anything like 'social', 'security', or 'welfare' in its title. Now, Gordon Brown's ministers have removed any reference to 'incapacity', 'disability' or 'illness', since Incapacity Benefit has been replaced by an employment support allowance (ESA).
With its 'No one written off' policy focusing on 'what people can do, rather than what they can't' it is possible to argue even the most severely disabled or most chronically ill person could do some kind of work - if only it were available.
And there's the rub. Employers are always going to prefer suitably qualified candidates with an uninterrupted employment record and even these are struggling to find a job, as the recession bites.
It was bad enough for M.E sufferers to be called for a medical assessment by an agency doctor, who had never seen the patient before, often didn't know their name and made a decision of suitability to work on the basis of a 15-minute appointment, with no follow-up, which is when incapacity may be seen.
The vast majority of M.E. sufferers (79%) say the existing process adversely affected their health and almost a half (48%) had relapsed after it. Now, claimants will be summoned before non-medically qualified agency staff, with unrealistic targets to hit, who are even less aware of the fluctuating conditions of this illness.
Dr John H Greensmith
ME Free For All.org

Freedom of speech
IT IS ironic that the weekend when we commemorate and honour those who died, including 100,000 brave Canadians, to defend free speech and freedom of political thought, Mailbag published a letter from a Canadian complaining about Battel Bonfire Boyes' effigy of Sarah Palin and Barack Obama. I for one am glad we live in a society where we can express our opinions safe in the knowledge the worst that can happen is someone will disagree. As regular readers will be aware I am often at odds with your correspondents but whatever I think of their views I would be the first to defend their right to express them.
Cllr Kathryn Field, Virgins Lane, Battle