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Airbourne Review; where it all went wrong
So it looks like the Airbourne charging affair has come to a sorry end, with the review, chaired by former Council Leader Graham Marsden into the debacle, going public this week.
I have yet to study the report, but the coverage in the Herald over the weekend gave a clue as to the severity and outrage of the decision to charge. That decision not only saw just a handful of the usual numbers turn up to see the show in August 2008, but also the sheer extent of the complacency of the council cabinet that led to the disastrous decision.
Senior members of the council ignored comments from many council staff, and the vast majority of people in the town, and pushed forward with the decision to charge, despite enormous evidence that it would all end in tears.
The bill to local taxpayers is between 360,000 - 380,000. Remember this loss compares with the 2007 loss of 72,000 - and the decision to charge was supposed to get the books to balance!
It's amazing that no heads have rolled as a result of all this. Imagine if this had happened in the business world!
Still, there is some good news, the show returns this year with no charge. For this the council deserve some credit, for trying to repair their damaged reputation. I will certainly be supporting the show again - I think it's a key part of an Eastbourne summer, and our town would be poorer without it. It looks like the council now at last realise that.
Too much snow? Why not just chill out
Most of the schools in Eastbourne were shut last Monday and Tuesday, as they were throughout the country. Elsewhere there's been plenty of moaning about how awful that decision was, although locally It seems most people just accepted it as a chance for kids to make some snowmen and have a bit of fun.
That's the right attitude in my opinion. We've got some superb schools in Eastbourne, and the teachers do a superb job. In most cases they closed because many of the teachers couldn't get in, and the roads and pavements close by couldn't be made safe in time.
I know it can cause a bit of aggravation for parents to rearrange their day, but it's not as though it happens all the time.
Have a great week friends.
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Weather for Eastbourne
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: 1 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North west
