Is town in decline?

The Bexhill party chairman said: "The old Grand Hotel site is a dreadful eyesore. Rother District Council has failed to kick start the much needed regeneration of our town."

Cllr Forster has conducted a photographic survey of the town centre.

He said: "There are currently 20 empty shops in the town centre.

"Many have been empty for over a year and this should sound a warning of decline."

He listed the issues on which the candidates will be contesting seats in May.

He expressed concern about what he saw as the decline of Bexhill over the past eight years.

"The Grand Hotel site, the lack of real regeneration and poor infrastructure will ensure that much needed tourists will turn away from this town, why?

"Other places are making enormous efforts to attract tourism and business, while Bexhill appears oblivious to the decline.

"Smaller resorts, such as Seaford, have a vigorous town council which promotes all that is best in their town. Bexhill has none. Rother is busy closing toilets, refusing regeneration and habitually under spends on the budget.

"We will run a vigorous campaign aimed at presenting clear choices on the issues facing our town.

"People have a right to see exactly what we propose, how we will go about tackling the issues put before the electorate and what these policies will mean for the people of Bexhill.

"We need to state clearly the issues which we see as key in this election. Many of the hopes and aspirations of the people in Bexhill are linked to need for a town council.

"The revival of tourism and real regeneration begin with appropriate consultation. Too often in the past Rother, or its outgoing leader, has decided on a course of action and then tried and failed to sell it to the public.

"A great deal of money has been spent on fruitless 'studies'.

"We must challenge plans for the demolition of good housing in order to replace it with high density blocks, which would not fit in with neighbouring properties. Councillor Wood and the team have collected a significant number of signatures for our campaign.

"We must support and encourage the Pebsham Countryside Park Project and work to achieve much higher levels of recycling.

"Bexhill looks bad. The 20 or so shops boarded up, the unfinished Pavilion and the Grand Hotel site are a blight on the efforts of tourism and trade businesses in the town.

"People say that the De La Warr Pavilion is not being steered in the right direction. It is clearly losing money. The building stopped about a year ago and has just resumed, but a lot of the promised work is unfinished.

"It seems that the only idea that the DLWP has come up with is charging entry!

"The seafront is dowdy and the rusty railings are symbolic of the decline evident in many parts of the town. We want a seafront which is attractive and safe for pedestrians and cyclists alike."