Protest group set up to save green space
by JOHN DOWLING
Published: 31 January 2003
A PRESSURE group has been set up to try to save Gullivers Bowls Club from the developers.
A CASH injection by neighbours is among radical suggestions from a packed public meeting to oppose the disappearance of the club greens in Knole Road.
Even though extra chairs were brought into the functions suite at The Mermaid, many whose homes surround the historic open space had to stand in order to take part in last Thursday's meeting.
More than 150 signed a petition opposing development.
The site was once the home of the Cantelupe Croquet Club. Gullivers Bowling Club has occupied it since 1952. But the clubhouse is now so old and dilapidated that it is almost impossible to insure.
A rebuild would cost an estimated £500,000. The club has long planned to move to land at Turkey Road near Bexhill cemetery.
But plans for 30 flats and houses at Knole Road would mean the loss of the last remaining open space between the town centre and Galley Hill.
An informal group of worried neighbours called the public meeting to coordinate opposition to the development.
It swiftly became apparent that club members - many of whom were present - and objectors to the development share the same goals.
Both would prefer the club to stay where it is. A number of councillors were present as the platform party - David Adams who chaired the meeting, estate agent Brian Hell [sic] and surveyor David Foster - explained the situation.
David Foster said the strength of the opponents' case included the fact that an historic open space would be lost for all time and that the new homes would be "back-land" development surrounded by existing housing.
Cllr Stuart Earl won applause when he suggested trying to "turn a negative into a positive." He believed the opponents should approach a body like Old Town Preservation Society, a charity with a brief to assist with town conservation. Such a body could act as "vehicle" for residents to purchase the Knole Road site and lease it back to the club, he said.
Other speakers backed the idea. One resident said it would probably be cheaper for neighbours to contribute to a scheme to safeguard the loss of open space than to suffer the drop in property values that loss of the view and amenity would cause.
The meeting agreed that a pressure group should be formed. At the request of the platform, the committee includes a member of the club.
The group is not only formally objecting to development as a body, it is encouraging the public to do so. It is writing to Earl De La Warr to ask that he does not release the family estate's restrictive covenant preventing development of the land.
Among other suggestions the new committee will examine if the group by submitting its own planning application for a limited development on the Knole Road frontage could fund a new club house.