Welcome to this week's newsletter!
It was great to have the chance to speak with members of the Bexhill Chamber of Commerce recently, who work so hard to support the interests of local businesses. Fittingly we were kindly hosted at Trattoria Italiana, whose popularity I now understand!
I want to ensure that government policy is working for our farmers, so I organised to meet with the NFU and Local farmers to hear about how the new Sustainable Farming Incentive and Environmental Land Management Schemes were working. I was also keen to know how well these post-Brexit farm subsidies are supporting farmers in food production to support UK food security.
I’m happy to be able to offer an update on the Battle Pavilion following my meeting with Lee Suter, Delivery Manager for the Football Foundation. We discussed some of the long and short-term funding options available for the project. I look forward to working with the Football Foundation and Battle Town Council to secure Battle its new Pavilion.
My meeting with Sussex Police Chief Inspector, Simon Yates, focused on some of the common concerns I have heard about recently, including anti-social behaviour and shoplifting. Speaking with CI Yates we will soon be agreeing plans to put words into action and encourage retailers to report shoplifting with a commitment by Sussex Police to arrest and charge whenever the evidence allows.
I also wanted to offer my congratulations to PCSO Darryl Holter for securing a grant to improve Sidley Park, making it a more pleasant space for families to enjoy. I look forward to visiting when its finished.
I had the pleasure of speaking politics students from Bexhill College earlier this week, as they visited Parliament to learn more about our legislative system. It is always a privilege to engage with students studying politics and was a great opportunity to talk about how to ensure young people’s voices are heard.
Volunteers from Bexhill & Rother HUG kindly invited me to St Barnabas Church, where I was able to see the incredible work that this dedicated team do to support those struggling with insecure housing. There is no doubt they make a huge difference to many people’s lives.
Lots of constituents contacted me about Hospice Care Week, so I went along to their event to get a better understanding of the issues facing the hospice care sector.
Looking ahead to the festive season, I am delighted to launch my 2024 Christmas Card Competition for Primary School children in Bexhill & Battle. The winning design will become my official Christmas card and even be sent to His Majesty, the King. The winning school will be awarded £100, to be spent on creative arts supplies, with the two runner-up schools awarded £50 each. This is courtesy of our very generous sponsor Blackbrooks Garden Centre. Entries usually come via schools but children can submit an entry independently.
Lastly, I wanted to dedicate the final section of this newsletter to events which will be taking place locally around the October half-term. There are a whole range of great activities, from a Halloween Trail at the Manor Barn, to stargazing at Herstmonceux Observatory. Make sure to give them a look!
That's it from me for this newsletter.
Have a great weekend.
In this newsletter:
- Bexhill Chamber of Commerce
- Update on Battle Pavilion
- NFU Meeting
- Meeting with Sussex Police
- Sidley Woods Project
- Speaking with Students at Bexhill College
- Meeting with HUG
- Hospice UK Event
- The Christmas Card Competition
- Events on this Half-Term Holiday
Bexhill Chamber of Commerce
It was great to have been able to sit down with members of Bexhill Chamber of Commerce recently.
Local businesses create jobs, pay taxes and invest in our local area. In East Sussex there are around 23,000 enterprises - 90% of which employ nine people or fewer. I will always do what I can to help them solve problems, and the focus at this meeting was on retail crime.
Shop-lifting is a real concern and I want to see a crackdown on individuals who think they can walk into our local shops and steal with impunity. It is not a petty or victimless crime.
The day before the Chamber breakfast, I had met with the Hastings and Rother District Commander for Sussex Police. We discussed the police response to reports of shop-lifting and the penalties for repeat offenders.
They have agreed to work with me to encourage local shop keepers to report shoplifters and to ensure every opportunity to prosecute is taken.
Photo Credit to Jeff Penfold who works hard to raise money for Charity for Kids and thank you to Trattoria Italiana for hosting us.
Update on Battle Pavilion
Last week I met with Lee Suter, the Football Foundation’s Delivery Manager for the South East of England, to discuss funding options for the rebuild of Battle Pavilion.
As many will know, the Battle Pavilion is an important part of the local community, hosting a range of different sporting groups, including Battle Town FC, as well as providing a space for community support groups. Completing the rebuild will mean that more people can take advantage of the facilities on offer and get involved in local activities.
It was great to hear about the longer term funding opportunities which would make such a difference to this project. However, I was also interested to hear about the smaller grants, capped at £25,000 which include funding towards Pavilion rebuilds, as well as grass pitch improvement and equipment upgrades.
I am looking forward to a positive working relationship between the Football Foundation and Battle Town Council, to secure Battle its new Pavilion.
NFU Meeting
I recently joined a number of local farmers in Herstmonceux to talk about farming priorities, funding schemes and food self-sufficiency.
It was really good to meet local farmers to hear about the challenges and opportunities they face. They're as passionate about food production as they are about ensuring biodiversity and careful land management.
The NFU and farmers were clear about the challenges they face in balancing environmental management with food production. They felt it was important to make sure that incentives to use land for renewable energy projects like solar and windfarms along with environmental and biodiversity schemes do not outweigh the incentive to produce food.
I want to work with local farmers and the NFU to ensure that the UK’s farm subsidy schemes work for their businesses and that the focus of farming remains about producing home grown food and providing UK food security.
Meeting with Sussex Police
It was good to meet with Chief Inspector Simon Yates from Sussex Police recently.
As a former volunteer policeman and someone who has campaigned for an improved criminal justice system that puts victims first, ensuring I work closely with Sussex Police on your behalf is important to me.
My plan is to meet regularly to discuss some of the common concerns I hear about – this time, it was speeding, anti-social behaviour, drug dealing and shoplifting. I want to make sure that the Police know what issues you are raising with me.
CI Yates and I will be agreeing plans of action that help turn words into actions. This time we agreed a joint focus to encourage retailers to report shoplifting with a commitment to arrest and charge whenever the evidence allows.
This should work in conjunction with the newly formed Business Crime Partnership (BCP) for Rother District DISC system (a secure app for information-sharing and reporting business crime and anti-social behaviour) which is about to be launched.
We also agreed to identify some further locations for possible Community Speedwatch initiatives. Even the most well-resourced police can’t be everywhere all at once and sadly, worrying speeding is widespread.
I would encourage anyone who is concerned by this to think about volunteering to help if they want to help make their local roads safer.
Sidley Woods Project
I was delighted to hear about the cash boost for the Sidley Woods Project.
This is thanks for PCSO Daryl Holter and his incredible work in securing a £1000 grant from the Police Property Act Fund, made up of monies received by the police from property confiscated by order of the court and then sold.
The grant was presented to David EP Dennis of Bexhill Wild CIC and will be used for a community project to clean the stream bed of pollution, create leaky dams, deepen pools and plant more trees, flowers and hedgerows. They hope to also widen the footpath by the stream to allow better access and to install benches for residents to enjoy the area.
I look forward to seeing the positive impact of this projects once it's completed.
Speaking with Students at Bexhill College
During the week, I had the pleasure of welcoming students from Bexhill College to Parliament.
It is important to me that as an MP I engage with young people interested in politics. It was a good opportunity to give them some insight into my role as a Member of Parliament and speak a little bit about why I wanted to become an MP. I also enjoyed discussing my thoughts on who will be the next leader of the Conservative Party.
They had lots of thoughtful questions on issues that matter to them and we talked about how to ensure young people's voices are heard. It's essential that the next generation play a part in our democratic process as they shape our future.
Meeting with HUG
Recently, I had the privilege of visiting the Bexhill & Rother Homeless Unity Group at St Barnabas Church.
The dedicated team here provides a safe space, hot meals, and practical support for those struggling with insecure housing. Their compassionate approach makes a real difference to people.
Thank you to everyone at HUG for your incredible work!
To learn more, take a look at their website, at https://bexhillhug.org.uk/
Hospice Care Week
This week is Hospice Care Week, and as such I took the time to attend the Hospice UK event in Parliament to raise awareness about and celebrate the invaluable support they provide to patients and families across the country when they need it most.
Hospice care is a great example of the importance of community support in delivering these services, and local support from Hospice charity shops is a great way to support hospices in meeting the unique needs of families and patients. As a Conservative I don't believe that everything positive has to be delivered by government - I welcome all of us coming together to fund things we care about as well. Certainly the government has a role to play and I know funding from government across the country is very variable. I will work to see if a better balance can be struck.
I will of course continue to support the hospices in my constituency however I can, ensuring they can continue to deliver compassionate end-of-life care for everyone that needs it.
The Christmas Card Competition
I am delighted to launch my 2024 Christmas Card Competition for Primary School children in Bexhill and Battle.
This fun and creative competition gives thousands of local pre-school and primary school children a chance to design my Christmas card. The winning design will become my official Christmas card and will be sent out across East Sussex and to the King. I am really excited to see the creative ideas that children come up with this year.
There are of course prizes on offer for the winner and two runners up! The winning school will be awarded £100 to be spent on creative arts supplies for the whole school, and two runner-up schools will be awarded £50 each for the same purpose.
These prizes have been very generously provided by Blackbrooks Garden centre, which has been a fixture of our local economy for a generation and I'm incredibly grateful for their support.
All entries must be submitted by Friday 15th November, with the child's name, address and school attached. Either email a scanned copy to [email protected] or post to 29-31 Sea Road, Bexhill on Sea, TN40 1EE
Good luck to all those children who choose to take part and I look forward to seeing the designs being sent in shortly!
Events on this Half-Term Holiday
The October half-term is fast approaching, and I am sure that we are all looking forward to enjoying the brilliant range of activities that are on offer in the local area. Below is a list of a few highlights for you to keep your eye out for!
The National Trust are holding a host of activities at their properties. At Bateman's, Burwash, you can go on Kipling's Scottie Dog Trail, which lets you follow in Rudyard Kipling's footsteps as he discovers what his Scottie has been up to.
There are also several events at Bodiam Castle, such as meeting flying witches, a dragon master, various arts and crafts, as well as undertaking the Castle's spell quest! More information can be found at https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/.
In Herstmonceux, at the Observatory, they are running a number of late Autumn stargazing and other educational events, for all ages. This ranges from learning about what it takes to become an astronaut, to constellation spotting to workshops about volcanoes and glaciers. Book your place here: https://www.the-observatory.org/.
On Sunday, October 27th, the Manor Barn in Bexhill will have a Halloween Trail, with a ghostly pumpkin trail, Halloween crafts, and lots of sweets to be found (https://www.facebook.com/events/2074645699597511/).
Pebsham Community Hub are also holding a Halloween Disco on the same day, with music, a costume competition and refreshments. On Halloween itself, the Hub has a spooky arty party, with plenty of different decorative crafts to make (https://www.facebook.com/events/839633724943508).
Bexhill Artists' Workspace are having their annual Craft Fayre at the De Le Warr Pavilion at the beginning of November too. It is a great opportunity to see some incredible pieces, to learn more about the Workspace and to support local artists! Read more at https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/community/bexhill-artists-workspace-craft-fair-4816679.
I would recommend heading to Battle Abbey, where English Heritage are putting on Halloween events too, including witches training, the Folklore Museum and a special mystery quest around the Abbey's Grounds. Find out more at https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/whats-on/battle-abbey-halloween-half-term/.
On November 2nd, there is also the Battle Bonfire, run by the Battel Bonfire Boyes with rides, food, parades and, of course, their famous bonfire. Certainly not one to miss! Take a look at the event on their website - https://www.battelbonfire.co.uk/.
If there is anything that you would like included that I have missed, please let me know so I can look into promoting this for you!
