The Chairman reported that since the last meeting a couple of milestones on the roadmap to the new normal had been passed, although this meeting was still on line as we could not yet all meet indoors. On a personal note, it meant that he must wait until July before he could physically sit in the chair.

On the 16 March, the Chairman joined the meeting of Dallington Parish Council online – a village of just 300 residents with five Councillors – he got a clear sense that all the councillors were really engaged in their community and he was pleased to learn that they had contributed both to the Review of planning and the consultation on the Corporate Plan. At the same time, he was horrified to discover the average house price there and the plight faced by those who have grown up in Dallington and who would like to raise their own families in the village.

The Chair of East Sussex County Council (ESCC) had held a Virtual Civic Catch Up on 18 March. Rother was fully represented by the Chairman and the Mayors of Battle, Bexhill and Rye in attendance. They were given a presentation from Sussex NHS Foundation Trust mainly around the effects of COVID and the lockdowns on people’s mental health and how employers and line managers could assist. They also had a short presentation from the ESCC external fundraiser on how charities and other bodies could perhaps plug any gaps in their funding.

On Friday 2 April, the Chairman was invited by The Mayor of Bexhill to attend the dedication ceremony for The Tree of Hope on the seafront adjacent to the WWI Tommies and the War Memorial. The Tree designed by Mr Langlands and built by local people from donated items marked the passing of those loved ones lost during the pandemic rather than because of it and to promote a future of hope. The Council’s contractors, ID Verde also planted rosemary bushes in the surrounding gardens. The Chairman had not realised the significance of this until he was pointed in the direction of Shakespeare’s Hamlet where Ophelia says “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance”

On Thursday 8 April, as a member of a local environmental group called Strandliners, the Chairman attended one of their litter picks around the mouth of the River Rother in Rye Harbour and followed this up on Saturday 17 April, both as a volunteer and having been invited as Chair of the Council by attending a warehouse in Rye Harbour where the Group began the process of unloading and logging the items found. In nine 2-hour sessions involving six volunteers per session, over 750kg of rubbish had been taken from the strandline.  A short article on this would be in the Member’s Bulletin.

At 3:00pm on that same Saturday, the Chairman was joined by the Mayor of Bexhill, Councillor Langlands and four members of the Bexhill Royal British Legion on the steps of the Town Hall for a minute’s silence marking the start of the funeral of His Royal Highness The Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh.   The Chairman had sent a letter of condolence to Her Majesty on behalf of Rother District Council, which had been acknowledged by Buckingham Palace.

Members were aware that Councillor Hart stood down following her election as the MP for Hastings and Rye in December 2019 and the Chairman looked forward to welcoming her successor at the next meeting.

The Chairman had one last tribute to pay as the Council took part in what was probably the last wholly virtual meeting. Lisa Cooper, Julie Hollands, Louise Hollingsworth and Elinor Evans in the Democratic Services Department had interpreted and dealt with the impact of The Coronavirus Act 2020 on the Council’s various meetings with diligence and common sense.  Through their work, supported by others in the IT and the Digital Transformation Departments the Council had, the Chairman believed, presented residents with an excellent alternative to geographically based meetings and with Members’ co-operation throughout, the Council had acquitted themselves very well indeed.          

The Chairman closed his communications by offering his best wishes to all those standing as candidates in the various elections on Thursday 6 May 2021.