This week I promised to say something nice about the Lib Dems council budget. Well, here it is.

There is a line in the new budget about putting some money into a new, updated type of 'resident's card'.

This is a great idea.

It's not everyone's cup of tea – some people see it as a bit too 'fluffy'.

However, if this is done well, it could be something the council, and all of Eastbourne become rightly proud of.

While I was on the council we looked at this, but it never got off the ground. We never really got to grips with how it would work. But I'm sure it would have been one of those things that would have developed over time.

It's a great opportunity for the council to support local businesses.

The residents card itself is outdated – as is the 'leisure card'. But a new card, probably electronically based, that rewards local people against their commitment to the town, is exactly the sort of 'reward' the council would get a lot of kudos from.

Indeed it doesn't actually need to be a card – it could just be a code based on the council tax reference number.

The resident's card in the end failed because the offers, such as they were, were not of significant enough value to really turn people on.

But these days, 10 years later, the promotional expectation of people has changed.

A good business will reward its loyal customers. The reason is that it is cheaper to get the same customers coming back time and again than it is to get new customers all the time.

That thinking can be bought into the council, and the opportunities that exist within the council grasp – cheaper theatre tickets, buy one get one swimming and sport sessions, free coffees, bonus points, exchangeable for tickets for the tennis, or airbourne – these are all things that will get the council well thought of by local people and should be introduced.

I would imagine the local press/other media would want to be involved, printing what offers are available in particular weeks/months, with local businesses buying in with unique offers for Eastbourne residents.

It needs to have teeth – it's not enough to have five or ten per cent off a swimming session, but a buy one get one free swim encourages twice the number of people to use the facilities, twice as many coffees to be sold, and twice as many people going out into the community telling their friends what good value they had at the swimming pool.

To put it in business terms – when you have a product as good as Eastbourne, you should use every marketing opportunity to tell people about it. If the council gets this right, it will have the people of Eastbourne doing that hard (and expensive) marketing work for them!

Football

Last Wednesday I went to the Emirates Stadium to see Arsenal v AC Milan. I'm no Arsenal fan particularly, but I do appreciate seeing quality players and a quite magnificent stadium. It put me in mind of what us Brighton fans can look forward to at Falmer in two or three years time!

Happy leap year everyone!


Ian writes his own blog at www.iloveeastbourne.co.uk