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Tressell Blogwritten by Cllr. Peter Chowney
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March 2010:
30th March: Went to the 'Positioning Your Business' conference at the White Rock Theatre, as the Labour Group's representative. No Tories or Lib Dems there. The conference was OK, but they tried to fit too much in, with too many speakers, some of whom weren't particularly relevant. Still, I'm sure it was a good networking opportunity. 29th March: Cabinet meeting in the evening. A short agenda, and only lasted 40 minutes. Only significant was a petition asking the Council to do something about seagulls, which it can't, as Herring Gulls are a protected species. We can discourage people from feeding them and leaving edible rubbish lying around, but in the end, they're part of living by the sea. And they are such beautiful birds. 27th March: Out on a 'mass canvass' in Tressell and Castle wards this afternoon. Twenty-two people turned up, and we canvassed 120 housholds in Tressell. And we only found three Tories ... although a few 'undecideds', and a lot of people out, as this was just about the first warm and sunny Saturday of the year. 24th March: Went to the quarterly review meeting of the White Rock Theatre today, in my role as opposition spokesperson on Leisure. The programme seems to be improving, with fewer tribute bands and some sell-out shows - notably Rob Brydon, Jo Brand and Hamlet (that's three separate shows, not an interesting triple act). Some not so good though, like 'Bjorn Again' which managed a massive audience of 162 (in a theatre holding 1000+). I bet that was a good evening. Forthcoming programme looks good, with a few exceptions - like Jim Davidson, whom we could do without in my view. 23rd March: East Hastings Community Safety Special Interest Group today. I raised issues around Tressell Ward, notably speeding cars along North Terrace and continuing anti-social behaviour & drug dealing in Bembrook Road. The police are taking action on this, they say, with a number of arrests. Let's hope it works, although it'll probably just move it somewhere else. 22nd March: Audit Committee this evening. Not the most exciting agenda, but a report from the District Auditor qualifying Hastings Council's accounts for being £2 out on the Housing benefits account - which totals around £50m. Now I'd be the first to criticise this Tory council for financial incompetence, but that seems just a bit too picky to me ... 15th March: Just for a change, went out leafleting in Fairlight today. Interesting, especially the roads that have fallen into the sea! Presumably, the houses that are left perched on the cliff edge are hoping that the new sea defences will hold back the tide. But how long for, I wonder? 12th March: Estate inspection today, of Farley Bank, with the Amicus Horizon estate manager. Not too many problems externally, but some of the blocks were in need of attention internally. Some of the access paths were badly littered too. The big problem there is the state of the footpaths though - unfortunately, these are owned by East Sussex County Council, who refuse to do anything about it. If this was somewhere posh in one of the fancier parts of the county, they'd never let them get into this state. But because it's on a social housing estate in Hastings, they don't care. One more reason why we need to get rid of the county council and transfer powers to a unitary Hastings council. 8th March: Out canvassing in Bembrook Road, and finally got it finished. Good reception, generally. Maybe now the weather has improved, we'll be able to get more done.
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