Anger at parish meeting

A BLAZING war of words broke out at the town meeting in Polegate this week, with shots fired from every conceivable angle.

Discussions about road safety soon turned into a frenzied row between members of the public, leading one onlooker to describe the meeting as 'like an episode of Jerry Springer'.

An unusually large crowd of about 70 people turned up for the annual assembly, at which electors can express their opinions on any Polegate matter.

Referring to an incident last week in which a playing child was knocked down in Victoria Road, some emotional members of public blasted the panel of councillors and police for not easing the problem of speeding traffic in the town.

One person said: 'Traffic is moving through Polegate way too fast. Can't we put up some speed bumps in Victoria Road, Brook Street and Albert Road?'

Another suggested blocking off Victoria Road and Brook Street at the High Street end to stop people using them as a rat-run.

An impassioned mother asked: 'Do we have to wait until one of our children is killed before anything is done? We don't want to wait for a fatality, we want something done now!'

Town mayor Cllr Ivy Scarborough, who chaired the meeting, explained that the power of the town council is strictly limited. It's obviously a very emotive subject, and no one wants to see anyone knocked down by a car,' she said. 'But we do not have the legal ability to change the roads ourselves.

'Members of the town council will meet with the Highways Agency and county council next month, when we will express all your concerns.'

A spokesman from the county council tried to explain that road alterations and traffic calming measures were expensive and have to be done on a priority basis.

Polegate, he said, does not have a particularly bad history of road traffic accidents, there having been just three recorded incidents in the last three years.

However, his words were not well heeded by an excited throng who would not take 'no' for an answer.

One person stood up and asked why children play in the road in Victoria Road, when the houses there have large gardens. After that, discussion quickly descended into bitter dispute.

Cllr Scarborough brought the m l e to order and swiftly moved on to the next agenda item, at which point some people chose to leave.

After presentations and reports from committee chairmen and councillors, the three-hour meeting came to a close at 10.30pm.