Your letters - June 12

I'm grateful for care

I WOULD like to say thank you to all the kind people who sent donations for the palliative care Irvine Unit at Bexhill Hospital.

Derek Warner, who sadly passed away in January, would have been proud to call you all his very dear friends.

With your help we collected in the region of 1,300, which will help people like Derek get some extra comfort while they are in palliative care.

I would also like to say a big thank you to all the staff, from cleaners to matron, for their dedication in helping Derek through his final days.

Dr Lee (who has now retired) was his hero, a wonderful man and a truly dedicated doctor, thank you so much for all your help and God bless you.

And not forgetting the other woman in his life, Pauline Ablitt who we both loved dearly, a special thank you Pauline for being there for all of us in our hour of need,

God bless you all and thank you once again.

JOYCE WARNER

Address supplied

Don't let them back in

THE disclosure of the appalling personal standards of so many professional politicians has been truly shocking. Grave damage has been caused to our system of government and to our international reputation.

Even more serious than the venality and lack of probity displayed has been the arrogant and self-serving detachment of these people from life in the real world where the rest of us live.

Even now many of them remain in denial regarding this aspect.

That same arrogant detachment is equally manifest at the local government level. In Bexhill we have seen, and still see today, the same disregard by councillors for the views of residents. The prime role of councillors should be to hold the local executive to account on behalf of electors. Instead we see councillors in an unholy alliance with unelected officers to give residents what the council thinks is good for us. There are honourable exceptions of course but it is difficult for such councillors to act objectively within the prevailing "professional" political ethos at the Town Hall.

Within the next year, and possibly quite soon, we each of us will be able to hold our national politicians to personal account. At the local level we will be able to hold our Bexhill councillors to account some 12 months after that.

The council leader states his occupation as "Professional Politician" on his public website, which must surely qualify as the political oxymoron of all time in the present circumstances! More seriously it illustrates a mindset so clearly shared by the majority of his fellow councillors in Bexhill.

The present political hiatus will surely now stimulate and encourage Bexhill residents to require more than the usual perfunctory and platitudinous four-yearly leaflet when the time comes for Bexhill councillors to seek re-election.

JOHN LEE

Southcourt Avenue

Bexhill on Sea

Festival was success

AFTER all the weeks of planning and discussions, I believe the EdgyFest09 event that was held in Egerton Park was a success.

I would like to thank so many people from so many different places for their support and encouragement for this event.

In particular I would like to thank all the people from so many churches in town for their support, financial sponsorship, and hard work.

Without this support it would not have been possible. Many neighbours have given praise for the EdgyFest, but there were some who did not like the event, the music, or the crowds, and to these people I thank you for your tolerance.

If any reader wishes to give comments or suggestions for improving the event, the email address of [email protected] would welcome the feedback, and perhaps EdgyFest2010 will be even better.

CLLR MICHAEL ENSOR

Cranston Rise

Bexhill

They've all let us down

WE have an amazing MP, for whom blindly I have voted.