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What's on the council's agenda?
On Wednesday it's the night of the year when the council set next year's budget and we can expect our bills to go up by 3.44 per cent.
I'll write more about that next week.
But also on the agenda, are four 'motions' for the council to consider. They all make interesting reading, although in my opinion none of them go far enough.
Firstly, there's a motion on last years' Airbourne scandal, when the council decided to charge everyone for entry, and which led to an entirely predictable disaster. The final loss to you and me was about 380,000. Cllr Belsey is calling for the Leader of the Council, David Tutt to take full responsibility and apologise. That is of course the very least he should do.
Then there's a motion from Cllr Elkin calling for the council to do everything in its' power to support Royal Marine Joe Townsend in his quest for planning permission for his home. Joe is the Eastbourne hero who lost his legs serving in Helmand province.
There's very little Eastbourne can do in this case, as the site in question is in Wealden – however the support is to be welcomed. I personally believe Eastbourne should go a little further in honouring Joe for the sacrifice he's made. But I'll expand on that another week.
Thirdly there's a motion from Cllr Tutt on bus fares, complaining that we don't get enough money from the government to support the concessionary fares scheme. This is not news. The Government has never supported Eastbourne properly in funding concessionary fares, and little else for that matter, so for the council to 'call upon' the government to change this policy as Cllr Tutt suggests has a less than zero chance of being successful.
It seems more like trying to deflect blame for the high council tax rise away from the council.
Finally there's a bizarrely worded motion from Cllr Morris on bicycle lanes, stating that Eastbourne is a fantastic place to cycle in, that it's one the flattest towns in England, and that we already have excellent cycle routes in Eastbourne. I'm glad she thinks so!
It goes on to say if we have more cycle lanes, we'll have traffic calmed streets, quieter roads and traffic-free routes. If only!
What she should have said, is that Eastbourne should consider all safe and practical options to have a cycle route up part of the seafront. It may be a bit controversial but at least we'd know what she meant. At the moment she's using such bland language that it's close to meaningless, as it doesn't actually say anything.
So if you can stand the excitement, that's all happening at 6pm on Wednesday (25th Feb) at the Town Hall. If you can hack it, I'll see you there!
Have a great week friends…
PS – Congratulations to Slumdog Millionaire, well worth an Oscar or two (not sure about eight, though). And I always think 'less is more' when it comes to actors taking their kit off on screen, but apart from that Kate WInslet also deserved one for her role in The Reader, a very powerful film about the holocaust.
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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
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Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
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