Battle needs busy thriving High Street
MORE interesting letters! The thought that Battle might have been a Utopian ideal some years ago is a great credit to our community but unfortunately, tourism, and trying to make ends meet, has got in the way.
When you think that the first modern tourists in the area were the aggressive Normans you realise that Battle has been a tourist town for a thousand years! It is a fact of life that Battle is a one street town that seems to provide a 'rat run' for through traffic… or is the now ubiquitous 'tom tom' the culprit?
I suspect not altogether as traffic was heavy in the High Street long before satellite navigation became fashionable.
Traffic brings visitors, visitors spend money and Battle remains much more than a relatively nice place to live. Without a busy and thriving High Street what would Battle be like?
It would be a boring dormitory community for retired people and commuters who would then spend their money elsewhere……. in this case Battle would wither and slowly die.
Yes, traffic is a problem and I do wonder if all the big trucks we see are actually delivering or picking up within the environs of the town? If not, what are they doing here?
Also, the car is here to stay as a means of transport whether we like it or not. Surely, parking in the High Street is a means of traffic calming, as is the pedestrian crossing.
Is this better than traffic rushing through, or is it just muddleheadedness?
There has recently been talk of a marketing plan for Battle and area; this is all very well if there is some practical and well thought out scheme to manage the plan.
Where is the traffic control in the High Street? Where are the up-to-date sign posts that visitors rely on? Are there enough parking spaces?
Aand why does the district council persist in Sunday parking charges? Is there no give, only take, when it comes to cars?
We have a big community spirit in Battle which is marvellously supported by the Town Council…. would we have that enthusiasm if we were a mere dormitory town, I wonder?
I suppose that Rother District Council could simply become the local government for Bexhill; or perhaps it should be consigned to the footnotes of history. Battle Town Council could then report direct to Lewes.
But, whatever happens, Battle and Rye need to be recognised now by Rother District Council as the jewels in the crown of its rather biased fiefdom.
SIMON ALEXANDER
Battle

Alarming decision
I NOTE I am not the only one to comment on the article about the Conquest Hospital sending letters to be typed in India.
I am amazed and alarmed a government-funded organisation should contemplate such a thing, considering the implications to employment opportunities in this country.
Even if the cost of transferring data is negligible, I would like to know how there can be any real cost saving.
If there is a more 'efficient and cost effective' way of working than this should be adopted by those already doing the job.
If, as I suspect, typists in India will be paid minimum wage and conditions regulations and make a saving on paper, it will leave the government to pick-up the bill by paying more unemployment benefit because of less job opportunities.
Given the number of breaches in personal data security recently, I would be very sceptical about any assurances of 'high level of security'. The more people who handle data, the more likely there will be a problem.
If my analysis of the situation is incorrect, I would be pleased to hear from the hospital trust; otherwise, I will assume it is so.
On a brighter note, I am pleased to see that John Hill has relented regarding his recent decision not to contribute any more to the Observer Mailbag.
While I may not always agree with him, the Observer would be poorer without his letters.
Furthermore, I am sure that neither of us will be sending our letters to be typed in India!
JOHN HARMER
North Trade Road
Battle

Speed cameras?
I AM sure I read a few weeks ago in the Observer that a mobile speed camera was going to be alternatively placed between Rye Hill and Udimore Road, these two locations being recognised as having speeding traffic problems.
I, like many others who live on Udimore Road, and I am sure, Rye Hill, would welcome any measure that would slow traffic down, even if it were only to the legal speed limit, ie. 30mph. Well then, where is this mobile camera?
I can only comment on the traffic on Udimore Road and can only wonder at the revenue that has been lost already since this decision was made but not put into place.
If the camera were to be placed on Udimore Road from around 4am on a Monday morning, it would record the many trucks and tippers that use this road at great speed, waking all the sleeping residents as they thunder past. Then just as the first influx has passed, the Monday morning rush to work begins.
During the day the speed on this road is little better, with the incoming traffic refusing to give way to traffic proceeding up the hill.
This, in many cases means that the outgoing traffic, including HGVs, mount what little pavement there is while the down traffic screeches to a halt, or sometimes not, or just smashes off the remaining wing mirrors of the parked cars.
I have telephoned the police about cars regularly mounting the pavements, only to be told that unless I stand out on the street and take registration numbers there is nothing they can do about it.
Needless to say, I have even witnessed police vehicles doing the same thing, so can only presume that this kind of driving must be okay.
I don't know whether it is the police or Rother Council who collects the money from these mobile speed cameras, but whoever it is they are missing out on a tremendous income without lifting a finger, and who knows what benefit could come to Rye if the money was allocated back to the place where the speeding took place.
I think I must be dreaming, after all Christmas is coming!
Mrs Pat Mash
Udimore Road
Rye

Ungrateful lot?
DO YOU suppose the householder in Morpeth, standing in several inches of water, appreciates how much more important it is to send billions to support the EU bureaucracy and all their expensive frauds, than to attend to local flood protection?
Do you suppose the beleaguered soldier in Afghanistan, screaming for a helicopter to take a wounded mate to hospital, appreciates how much more important are MP's enormous expenses than saving a soldier from death or mutilation? Somehow I doubt it. Aren't we an ungrateful lot?
Robin Dent
Peasmarsh

Food for thought!
I REFER to the headline in your edition of the Rye Observer dated September 5 - 'MP wants free school meals'. Do you not think that with a substantial Parliamentary salary, substantial Parliamentary expenses and with a Parliamentary pension fund far in excess of the amount that anyone in the private sector could hope to accumulate from out-of-earned income who is on a similar salary, he is already amply rewarded ?
JOHN A. BALL
Broad Oak

Thanks for brilliant turnout
AS patron of Cancer Research UK's Race for Life 2008, I would like to send my personal and heartfelt thanks to each and every one of the 2,700 Hastings women who responded to this year's invitation to walk, jog or run 5k.
I have been told that thanks to their genuine enthusiasm and emotion, the atmosphere at Alexandra Park on Sunday, June 15, was once again truly inspiring.
The brilliant turnout in Hastings has helped make the 2008 series the second largest in the 15-year history of Race for Life.
More than 700,000 women came together at events across the UK, all raising money for research into all forms of cancer while remembering loved ones lost to the disease or celebrating those who've survived.
Regardless of their ages or abilities, or how long it took them to get round the course, the common goal was to help beat cancer - a disease that will affect one-in-three people in the UK at some stage in their lives.
Race for Life is an event very close to my heart and I find it very emotional when I see participants with photographs of loved ones on their backs or emotional personalised messages.
I feel for them because of my own family's experience of cancer.
It is now four years since I lost my daughter Caron, but even in this short period of time, treatments for cancer have improved so much.
That's why Race for Life is so important because the money raised really does make a difference - making sure the brilliant scientists, doctors and nurses at Cancer Research UK can continue their vital research into the prevention, treatment and cure of all types of cancer.
So far, those taking part in the Hastings event have returned an amazing £124,000 in sponsorship.
But I would just like to send a gentle reminder to those who have yet to do so to take that final step and send in their money - helping us reach the Hastings fundraising target of £182,000.
Once again my deepest thanks to all of you who have taken the time and made the effort to support Race for Life 2008. Together we will beat cancer.
GLORIA HUNNIFORD
Patron
Cancer Research UK's
Race for Life

Fatal mistake on new hall
THE long-suffering people of Udimore, the wishes of most of them ignored for years by their old parish council, are now witnessing the boring saga of the new hall coming to an end at last. It is now in the process of being built.
The proponents of the project deserve to be congratulated for the way in which they have managed to evade a whole succession of mainly bureaucratic obstacles that would have defeated a less overbearing and less lucky team.
They have come a poor last in every one of a series of various forms of ballot about the hall, from a full-blown one held under professional scrutiny, and various straw polls, to an overwhelming show of hands at a packed-out meeting in the pub.
Yet we have been lectured, in patronising terms, that somehow, none of these results were valid.
They have been held up through the recent summer, waiting for a £50,000 grant from Rother District Council to be released.
Yes, that's right. £50,000 of tax-payers' hard-earned cash, to help build something that only a few Udimore poeple want.
Rother's guidelines on grants to village halls were standing in the way, you see.
Mainly, these required that the parish council should support the project, as should the village population, and that as it is a hall wholly owned by the Church of England there should be a properly constituted management committee set up to avoid 100% control by the church.
It should not compete with comparable facilities nearby and Brede has an admirable hall a couple of minutes away. None of these 'rules' were in place a few weeks ago.
Then, with staggering arrogance, Rother District Council decided to draw the curtains on this awkward stalemate, simply by waiving all of their own rules and using their discretionary powers to dole out the £50,000 to please their friends anyway!
Carl Maynard's little junta may have made a fatal mistake with this one. I hope they will be made to pay for it dearly when the next election arrives. As a life-long Conservative voter, and disgusted to see the district council being brought into disrepute in this way, I can say that he will certainly not be getting my X next time. As for the new hall, many of us have vowed never to set foot in it. What a waste.
Tony Bridgland
Udimore

It's only a matter of time!
REGARDING Deadmans Lane in Rye - it was good to see an article on this subject (August 29) but I think your reporter is mistaken.
I think the majority of Rye inhabitants support making the Lane one way east to west (Rye Hill to Love Lane).
This is the logical route, allowing people coming from the A268/259 and from outlying villages east of Rye to enter the town by the shortest and most direct route, disturbing the least number of Rye inhabitants (access west to east to the three houses in the Lane could be retained).
As a resident of one of these three properties, we have been talking and writing to the Highways Department regularly over the last few years asking for action.
We were told that making the Lane one way was on the 2008/09 action plan, but now this is not a priority and will not happen, since there have been no fatalities on the road. There are constant near misses, and it is only a matter of time until a car reversing out onto Rye Hill causes a major incident.
There are many instances of road rage, with cars meeting head to head refusing to give way and some erratic backing up this dark narrow lane, often backing into the street light or surrounding property.
Now, with the increase in traffic going to the new primary school, I feel action should be taken as a priority. Surely it cannot be too expensive to put this into effect.
Please support this call for action by writing to the Highways Department or contacting your local councillor.
SALLY COMPTON
By email

Problem of land hoarding
WITH construction workers laid off, plant and machinery idle, and stockpiles of materials, it is evidently not a shortage of labour or capital that is causing distress in the building industry.
The problem is land hoarding and land speculation have driven the price beyond a point at which profitable operation is not possible, not only immediately but in the foreseeable future too.
Against this background, it is instructive to do a calculation to see how much land is needed to house everybody comfortably.
If there is a population of 60m in the UK and we had a density of eight houses per acre, four persons per house one could, if one wished, house the entire population very decently within a circle having a radius of less than 31 miles, leaving the whole of the rest of the land area available for agriculture, industry, commerce and leisure.
Land prices have become unacceptably high, and are encouraging too much development and redevelopment on the most expensive sites, forcing otherwise viable businesses to close when rents are reviewed or when the owner simply decides to take his profit.
Land speculation is undermining applications of labour and capital which are fundamentally economic, and sites are being moved in to uses which are justified only by illusory expectations.
With the collapse of state capitalism in Eastern Europe, one might have thought this would have induced some humility or some fresh thinking. But no, not a bit of it, the world is in turmoil, but all we are offered are contradictory forecasts of when the housing market will 'recover' - as if high prices for shelter are self-evidently good news!
The doctrine that land is not important must be interred. There will be few mourners outside its own priesthood.
LAURENCE KEELEY
Fairfield, Herstmonceux