Andrew Dakyns fears that the next 'wheeze'of our council disability champion, Cllr Goodwin, will be to knock down the Town Hall and replace it with a building that is 'equipped with every conceivable mod con' (Herald May 2).
On top of that, Cllr Goodwin should be helping disabled folk with their parking. I fear these comments have been penned by folk who are completely unaware of the progress being made by Cllr Goodwin on behalf of one section of our community, namely, the disabled.
In a very short time he has managed to move council meetings to an area of the Town Hall that can be accessed with greater ease by disabled people, worked with our vice-chairman (Ian Westgate) to improve future parking facilities for the disabled, worked with me personally on disabled access problems at the Redoubt Fortress and finds time to be a very active member of the council's disability involvement group (DIG).
Taking swipes at Cllr Goodwin because he advocates binning 19th century garments is one thing, but to suggest he is uninterested in a disabled person's parking problem is another; it is particularly insulting to a man who, with or without his robe, has instigated some excellent long-term policies in the interests of the disabled community.
The Town Hall, according to Andrew Dakyns, is 'an historic civil building, rich in tradition'. Perhaps he means rich in the tradition of denying disabled folk full access to democracy? And why sneer at a 'fully functional, state-of-the-art' building? Would that be any more of a 'carbuncle' than the present gloomy, non-welcoming museum that currently serves as our Town Hall? Working with a group such as the Eastbourne Society, I am sure we could all come up with a new 'tradition' – a tasteful building that also complied with the 21st century Disability Discrimination Act. That would not be a 'wheeze' on the part of Cllr Goodwin, it would be a major step towards giving disabled folk their full and rightful access to democracy. Something, that as able-bodied folk, we take for granted.
Sadly, we have few champions like Cllr Goodwin who battles for equality for the disabled with the same fervour as the champions of Victorian bricks and morar and robed officials. The Mayoral robes, quite rightly, are to be retained. We benefit from the dignity of that office in the charity sector. Just as important, instead of simply paying statutory lip service to the disabled community in his role as disabled champion, Cllr Goodwin is striving to give some dignity to the disabled community. We applaud his efforts and credit should be given where it is due. – Bernard Curtis, chairman,
Eastbourne & South Wealden MS Society.

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