July 2009

The pace of the project has really picked up in recent weeks. As soon as the appointment of HTA as lead consultant was confirmed it was important that we hit the ground running.

July 6th 2009

The Next Wave tender for a lead architect attracted a huge response from many prestigious architects, however after a period of evaluations and interviews the steering panel were unanimous in their decision that HTA were best placed to take this project forward and ensure that the design for the seafront works would be imaginative, offer something for all, and leave Bexhill with an enduring promenade to be enjoyed for many years to come. I was personally very impressed by the consultant team that HTA had put together to work with them on the scheme. Alan Baxter Associates will consult on the civil and structural engineering works and Stanton Williams will work closely with HTA on the design vision.

The first visits of the project team took place on the 11^th & 12^th June and I had a hugely enjoyable, but tiring, two days organising and attending consultation meetings with councillors, officers and various members of the community. It was a chance for everyone to put ideas and comments to the design team and discuss honestly and openly people's hopes for the scheme – over the course of these two days I could see the project really starting to gain momentum.

The CABE sponsored Spaceshaper event was held on Saturday 6^th June. I was delighted that we managed to get such a varied representation of the community at the event and my thanks to everyone for turning up and engaging with the process. The Spaceshaper event is designed to garner information on how people perceive a space, how it is used and what feelings people have on the space as a whole entity. Surveys were completed, after everyone had had a rather windswept walk along the site, and the results were discussed with everyone. You can see a copy of the Spaceshaper report here.

I've also been sent some historical pictures of Bexhill and how things have changed over the years, I'll be sharing these with you over the coming months. Here's the first...

Now attention has switched to the Shelters competition, which we launched last Friday. The competition will be run by RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) and we are asking for designs for 4 shelters (replacing the Victorian ones on the West Parade, which are pretty much at the end of their design life) and the kiosk.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the designs we receive (the brief for the project can be seen here) and we have put together an extremely high calibre judging panel to assess all the designs. December should see us announce a winning design/s.

Can I also thank all those people; both residents of Bexhill and some just visiting for the day, who have written to me with comments and suggestions on the scheme. I have never had any doubt about the importance of this scheme to residents and indeed to anyone who enjoys what Bexhill has to offer, and all your comments are taken on board and where possible I will reply to all of them.

Finally, I can't end without sending my congratulations to the Bexhill rowers who on the Bexhill Trust Challenger recently, not only completed but won by a distance of some 300 miles the 2009 Indian Ocean Rowing Race, finishing up in Mauritius (which can't be a bad place to finish up.) Bexhill has a rowing team that it can be proud of and the Next Wave scheme will give our rowers a much needed new clubhouse that they can be proud of too.