WELCOME TO ORE WARD |
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I was born and brought up in Hastings and have lived in Ore for many years. Living in the ward for so long and using the "village" shops has given me an understanding of what Ore represents, there is often confusion with the Broomgrove area designated as Ore valley. I work with several local voluntary groups and societies and have a clear picture of issues that are of concern to residents. I previously served as a Councillor for Old Hastings 2000/01 and enjoyed working with individual residents and the community. As a fairly new grandmother I am strongly support retaining both Hastings and Eastbourne maternity services and I oppose all attempts to downgrade the facilities on offer at the Conquest Hospital . Hastings , with its higher than usual proportion of elderly residents and some of the highest areas of deprivation in the country, needs all existing facilities. I value the green spaces that bound our area and much regret that Church Street and the surrounding valley are earmarked for development. If elected I will fight to retain our green spaces. I take an active interest in the Country Park and keep a watchful eye on any works proposed there, along with the Lib Dem team in Old Hastings. Ore has some traffic issues - I know, as I contend with one on a daily basis walking down Fairlight Road . I always go the long way round if I have a push-chair, the narrow section is just not safe for pedestrians. This could be improved by a chicane with single file traffic. Another improvement would be a "keep clear box" on the A259 by the church so that traffic from Saxon Road can merge when the lights are red. Community safety is high on many people's agendas in Ore and we need a fair share of the resources cake. Indeed with Ore Ward has very high levels of deprivation and poverty and we should expect to see additional funding to meet this extra need. Do you still have problems storing and using wheelie bins? I support the Lib Dem pledge to give residents more choice and more respect, and to allow you to refuse any option that puts at risk your health or your safety. On issues of townwide concern, I deplore the current “cabinet” system of local government because it limits local people from being heard. I will continue to press for greater public information and genuine consultation on a variety of local issues . I welcome the move towards community planning but only if there is genuine local involvement. There has been a deplorable waste of money on external consultants on parking, for example; also the legal and compensation costs paid initially to set up and now to get rid of the ‘arms length' Foreshore Trust- needed for Labour's hotel on the beach. The bill for the Foreshore Trust is over £1million. Labour left the Tories with a poisoned chalice, but nothing has improved under Tory control. Muddle and confusion and obfuscation all round. Look at the fiasco over the funding of some council posts - is there funding or not? The posts threatened with being cut are those most valued by the community - wardens, rangers and neighbourhood workers, the people who deal with the day to day work in the community. I suspect we have not heard the last on that one. Seaspace was trumpeted as a "Task Force", which we were told would bring in £400 million in private investment. Where is this investment? Where are the NEW JOBS ? What has the company cost to run? The development on the Station site would not have happened without yet more public funding from health and education budgets. Buildings that residents would have liked upgraded, conserved and given new uses - Hurst Court , the Observer building, the Pier, Pelham Arcade- remain neglected. |
