It has been a privilege to be your councillor over the last 15 years and to get to know so many of you.

Full statement

It is now your turn to have your say as to who gets elected to represent you in Seaford South for the next four years.

This election could not have happened at a more difficult time. I completely understand why it is hard to think of anything other than Covid.

However, the election is going ahead, and I need your support if I am to continue to work for you as your County Councillor and to report back.

As you know, when I say I have done something for our town - for example, the installation of a pedestrian crossing and disabled parking bays - you can be sure I have solid evidence to back it up. Please be careful of empty promises. I would rather be honest with you about what is achievable and by when.

Potholes and accidents on our roads
I asked a written question about pothole repairs as I know how many of you are frustrated by both the quantity of potholes and the quality of the repairs. Here is a link to the question I asked and to the reply from Cllr Claire Dowling, the Lead Member for Transport and Environment. You can also see the question that my colleague, Cllr Philip Daniel, asked about litter on our roads and the answer he received (question 2 on page 4 and question 5 on page 8):
https://democracy.eastsussex.gov.uk/documents/b15636/Item%208%20-%20written%20questions%20from%20councillors%2023rd-Mar-2021%2010.00%20Full%20Council.pdf?T=9

As my follow up question, I asked whether the Lead Member was aware of the 10 year guarantee offered by Screwfix on its £21.99 pothole repair kit and whether she agreed with me that this would seem to offer better value for money.

Cllr Dowling replied that the state of roads in East Sussex has improved over the last five years. The vast majority of potholes are repaired satisfactorily and very few have to be repaired again.

As part of the discussion on this and our Notice of Motion, Cllr Dowling further stated that over 90% of accidents on East Sussex roads are down to driver behaviour and not to the state of the roads.

So now we know.

A259 update - pedestrian crossing
The County Council has now assessed the request I made for a pedestrian crossing near Bishopstone. They tell me:
“The scheme scored favourably against the benchmark score and will therefore be subject to a more detailed assessment for potential inclusion in a future year of the capital programme of local transport improvements. However, there are already a number of other schemes across the county that have been subject to the detailed assessment and are awaiting inclusion in the programme. Therefore the scheme’s inclusion will be dependent on its relative priority to those other schemes and the level of funding that is available.
Notwithstanding we will continue to consider the request for the crossing through the A259 South Coast Corridor Study which, as referred to in the report to the Lead Member decision making meeting, will inform the development of the Major Road Network funding business case to DfT (Department for Transport)”.

Stop the Building Spree
We now have a list of potential building sites in Seaford demanded by the Conservative government. This call for sites has raised huge concern right across East Sussex. It will force the building of 15,000 homes in Lewes District over the next 20 years for example.

We believe that our communities simply cannot sustain this level of building with no requirement for infrastructure. We have already seen the impact of building in Seaford on our schools and doctor’s surgeries. We have therefore launched a petition to the Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick MP. Here is the link:
https://www.leweslibdems.org.uk/building_spree