Seafront plan objector lodges complaint

John Lee claims that Rother leader Cllr Carl Maynard breached the authority's Code of Conduct when interviewed during BBC South East's Deckchair Tour visit to the town.

Mr Lee submitted a video recording of the interview with the leader with his complaint on Wednesday morning.

Mr Lee says: "All councillors are bound by a statutory Code of Conduct, and have a general duty, which requires them to be objective and unbiased when commenting on matters under consideration by the council.

"This does not preclude them from stating an opinion but this must be done in such a way as not to indicate their total commitment in advance to one particular outcome.

"If this requirement is shown to have been contravened then a breach of this duty of the code arises.

"Rother councillors have routinely been reminded of this duty and the provisions of the Code of Practice and have always striven to conform to the code. Sometimes with the unintended consequence of a somewhat frustrated public debate.

"In the television broadcast South East Today on August 22 it was very obvious tha the presenters had been briefed that Bexhill was to undergo a major seafront redevelopment project costing 5.1m which was subsequently stressed during the programme.

"The full council has yet to consider this proposal, however, and has absolutely not yet agreed to spend nearly two thirds of the district's available taxpayers' funds on this highly speculative and commercially nave vanity project.

"As all councillors become more aware of the almost clandestine way in which this proposal was developed, the way it was bounced onto the community and the objections of taxpayers they may well not support the project.

"At the end of the television programme, Cllr Maynard, formally dressed, and in a clearly authoritative prepared statement to camera, made it clear that the seafront project would proceed and eulogised over its many 'advantages.'

"I have referred this matter to the appropriate authorities as a formal complaint alleging a breach of the Code of Practice and duty referred to.

"Were I a councillor I should strongly resent the way that my opinion on the advisability or otherwise of the seafront project was being taken for granted and so publicly by the council leader.

"As a taxpayer, I an incensed at the way this unjustified, unnecessary and unwanted seafront project is being manipulated so unscrupulously.

"No political party included this costly seafront regeneration scheme in its manifesto.

Hopefully that will ensure an objective scrutiny and examination of the proposal on its merits by the council since no political positions will need to be defended."