STATEMENT RE: BEXHILL COLONNADE PETITION
The Rother Labour Group of Councillors are disappointed to read Independent Councillor Winter’s spurious misrepresentations of Council proceedings regarding the Colonnade traders’ petition to council, in which they ask for a guaranteed right to return following the necessary works that will take place once their leases have expired.
Despite the emphatic speech that was clipped for social media, Cllr Winter made no attempt during the meeting to propose or alter the motion that was written down in front of him. If he had wanted to guarantee traders a right to return and believed this was lawful, he could have proposed this. He did not.
The truth is, councillors were informed that a guaranteed right of return was not lawful. Because of this, Labour Councillor Christine Bayliss who holds the relevant Cabinet position was unable to propose the guarantee asked for by the traders. Instead, Christine made sure that her motion would put on record that favourable consideration and fair terms would be given to the traders should they apply for new leases after the repairs are completed.The only change to this motion during the debate was in the form of an amendment by Cllr Osborne to remove the first line of text (and a subsequent grammatical correction). This first line simply stated the council’s legal position that a guarantee was not possible. Removing this line did not change the council’s legal position. We understand that this may not have been clear to members of the public, who did not have sight of the motion.However, Cllr Winter had the full motion text on a piece of paper in front of him, the amendment was clarified by the Chair prior to voting, and all councillors have had ample training to understand the council’s constitution and meeting procedures.
Either Cllr Winter did not read what was in front of him, did not understand it, or is being dishonest about its content. Either way, Cllr Winter’s claim that the motion minuted is different to what councillors voted on is untrue.
Any public misunderstanding could have been clarified sensitively and the council’s positive response to the traders’ petition explained after the meeting. Instead, Cllr Winter’s unfounded conspiracy has caused a great deal of upset and stress to local businesses and the wider community, eroding trust between them, the council and its councillors.
We hope bridges can be mended, and that the traders will apply for new leases once the works are complete so that their wonderful businesses can continue.
Meanwhile, we encourage everyone to watch the full proceedings recorded online: https://rother.public-i.tv/…/webcast_interactive/994601
Truth matters.
The Rother Labour Group of Councillors.