Shelters: formal call to go back to drawing board

Chairman Ron Storkey claims most residents would "applaud" Rother District Council if it took a step back and looked for a more acceptable solution.

At Bexhill Town Forum he proposed an ad-hoc show of hands on whether members supported the design in terms of appearance and functionality and the vote was unanimous against both.

And last week some 400 protestors gathered outside the town hall for a rally to demonstrate and express their opposition.

Now Mr Storkey is asking: "Will RDC take any notice of the residents' concerns?"

He added: "If these new shelters are built they will be on our seafront for decades."

Having been invited onto the consultation committee for the design back in January Mr Storkey made the point the main users of seafront shelters were not tourists but residents who visit them all year round.

He commented: "When RDC's Jury Panel questioned the level of shelter provided by their design, the Duggan Morris architectural team explained 'they had wanted to be honest with the environment, they were't seeking to provide enclosed shelter, but were embracing the weather.'"

"This is diametrically opposed to what the majority of residents expect from a shelter. They do not want, in the words of the designers, to 'embrace the weather'. They want the shelters to do that for them."

Nine months has been spent by the RDC Steering Group on "unsuccessfully" modifying the design, chosen even though it was judged not right for the specific location, according to Mr Storkey.

He said: "The resulting structure, now devoid of tree, perforations and metal cladding, is still a single open space with views from the internal seating in two directions - the sea or the back wall!

"Its shelter-wide front elevation is completely open.