The Chairman made the following announcements:

1)            With sadness, the Chairman reported that former Councillor Joanne    

Gadd who served on the Council between May 1999 and May 2015 had recently passed away.  She was first elected to the Council in May 1999 and during her 16 years on the Council served on the Licensing and General Purposes, Planning and Overview Scrutiny Committees. She was Chairman of the Council in 2008/2009 and the Mayor of Bexhill on two occasions.  Councillors Mrs Earl-Williams, Johnson and Maynard each paid personal tribute and the Council gave thanks for the contribution she had made to Bexhill and the wider Rother District.

2)            The Chairman had managed to attend one virtual Parish Council

Meeting since the last meeting and that was Pett Parish Council in July.   The Chairman had hoped to be attending some in person but the possibility of a second spike in Coronavirus had made this even more unlikely in his year and so he hoped to be able to visit more remotely.

3)            On 4 August the Chairman joined in with the Heart of Sidley ‘virtual’

carnival procession where a small group of children’s entertainers walked around the streets of Sidley helped by The Bexhill Lions who gave out free gifts to children on the route. A marvellous idea that helped to fill the gap left by the cancellation of Bexhill Carnival. Unfortunately, it was hampered by the weather and out of the 5 planned Tuesdays, one was cancelled due to the mini heatwave and that rescheduled parade was then cancelled again along with another parade due to the wind and rain.

4)            The Chairman was able to join in with another ‘substitute’ event on 31 August, when the Bexhill 100 Motor Club, who were unable to hold their wonderful annual car show in The Polegrove took to the streets of Bexhill in a cavalcade of 50 of their classic cars. Had the show gone ahead it would have been their 16th and they were hopeful of breaking the £100,000 mark for their charity collections. The Chairman shuddered to think how much Rother charities had lost due to Coronavirus, but he was confident we would get back to some kind of normality by next year’s main fundraising season.            

5)            Friday 11 September marked the start of The Great British September Clean, alas even before last Monday’s tightening of the COVID-19 restrictions, it was almost impossible for environmental groups to hold organised litter picks across Rother so with his wife the Chairman went out on Day 1 onto the beach in Bexhill.  This particular initiative continued until next Sunday.    

6)            On Monday 14 September the Chairman accompanied the Mayor of Bexhill, Councillor Lynn Langlands as she presented The Bexhill Community Bus with the Bexhill Town Crest in recognition of their service to the community. The 13th September marked the 40th Anniversary of their first service.

7)            On Wednesday 16 September the Chairman was invited to mark the opening of the 2020/2021 Football Season by attending the first Home Game for Bexhill United at The Polegrove. The Club, which rented the ground from Rother District Council had made a good start to the season and the Chairman thanked them for their invitation and socially distanced hospitality. It was also good to see that cricket made a short return in August and September.

8)            Across Rother there were some amazing sports teams and individual competitors and residents, in more normal times, through our contract with Freedom Leisure and through Active Rother could access sporting and fitness activities from Pickleball in Bexhill to Health Walks and Walking Cricket in Rye.  Also, on the sports front, Bowls England had launched their ‘Let’s Bowl’ initiative, to get people bowling this summer through one to one free taster sessions at local Clubs. This Thursday the Chairman would be on the receiving end of a free coaching session at Bexhill Bowling Club. 

9)            Earlier today the Chairman was able to mark another 40th Anniversary, the 40th United Nations International Day of Peace and he attended a non-religious/non-denominational vigil at the Bexhill Peace Pole on Galley Hill.

10)         The Chairman made a plea to Members, understandably perhaps, because of Coronavirus he seemed to be finding ways of representing Rother District Council in Bexhill but he was conscious that Bexhill, along with Battle, Rye and Winchelsea had its own Mayor and so would rural Members please note that he would welcome the opportunity to visit events and locations across the District.    

11)         The Chairman ended his communications on the UN International Day of Peace with a quote from the Dalai Lama ‘Peace does not mean an absence of conflicts; differences will always be there. Peace means solving these differences through peaceful means; through dialogue, education, knowledge; and through humane ways.’