All members will have had the minutes of the last meeting by now, (or should have…)

In it is the news that Victor Homewood is stepping down as Vice Chairman. Victor has been an incredibly hardworking contributor, giving freely of his time, effort and ability. We’ll miss his enthusiasm.

Thanks from everyone Vic. Nice one. Top man.

Happy New Year to all!

Looking forward to a great and prosperous New Year here in St Leonards.

St Leonards is ablaze with Christmas, showing the world we are up for it; up for trade, up for Christmas, up for a bit of fun. And of all the windows there had to be some winners, so, as chosen by Graham How, here they are:

FIRST: LOVE, Norman Road.
First Prize cup & Digital Radio winners.

Don’t you just luurve it?

SECOND: PLENTY, Grand Parade.
Second Prize cup & Champagne winners.

Somewhere there is a Santa missing a reindeer.

THIRD: HAIRZONE, Kings Road
Third Prize cup & Meat voucher winners.

Nice and elegant.

Highly commended were Gilberts of Kings road , Gill of Kings road, and Essence of Beauty of Kings road.

Well done to all the winners, well done to everybody who made such a good effort: together we are slowly putting St Leonards on the map as a quality shopping destination.

Thanks very much to  Terry Drinkwater of HBC for supplying start up packs of lights and the original concept, Peridot Jewellers for donating the cups, Adams & Jarrett (Retail), Ltd, donating the 1st prize Alpha Cars for donating the 2nd prize, Orton Butchers for donating 3rd prize. All greatly appreciated.

Thanks again to Graham How for taking time to judge, and to Victor Homewood for pulling it all together, again.

Are you all ready?

Christmas Shop Window Displays.

Mr Graham How, Chairman of the Hastings & St Leonards on Sea Management Board will be judging the shop window Christmas displays on Thursday afternoon of the 17^th December.

• Some members are unable to receive emails. Could you please inform as many members as possible so everybody is ready.

Many thanks,

Victor Homewood   (Vice Chairman)

Getting right Christmassy now, no time for Scrooges in St Leaonards. So Christmas Carols are coming:

• Monday 14 December.
• Outside Mr.Heelys @ 6.30 till 8.30.
• Sussex brass band.
• Hot refreshments.

See you there!
Tell your customers!
See them there!

A summary of the meeting :

Meeting of S B A members held at the Royal Hotel on  Tuesday 17th November at 6.30

• It was suggested that  there was a need for better signage of shopping areas and car parks in central St Leonards, a letter has been sent to the parking manager (this can be viewed on the S B A web site)
• Four Members have volunteered to liaison with Terry Drinkwater from Hastings Borough Council with the aim of promoting the area over the Christmas period and any  events in the  future.
• It was decided to support the Christmas lighting scheme , and the markets due to lack of time to hold further meetings. (A copy of these proposals was delivered with the S B A letter/notice about the meeting, by hand, to all members).

The S B A would like to thank all the members who attended the meeting, their constructive input, and their continued support. Meeting closed at 8.00.

The following letter has been sent to Hastings Borough Council by SBA, regarding parking in Norman Road, (West side), and Crystal Square car park.

S.B.A.

St Leonards on Sea Business Association

Chairman- Bill Orton
Ortons The Butcher
11 Norman Road
St Leonards-on-Sea
East Sussex TN37 6NH
01424 420322
www.sba-online.co.uk

18th November 2009

Rasoul Shahilow

Head of Parking & Highways Aquila House

Breeds Place

Hastings

East Sussex TN34 3UY

Dear Rasoul

Parking in St Leonards – West Side Norman Road Si Crystal Square

On behalf of the St Leonards Business Association I have been asked to request that the one hour parking restriction on the west side of Norman Road be reviewed and adjusted to a two hour no return limit

Generally the one hour restriction on the eastern side of London Road including the east side of Norman Road is working well for businesses and customers alike. Silchester Road at two hours is also satisfactory, however the majority of the customers of the businesses in the west side of Norman Road need time to browse and find the one hour insufficient. The antique shops located here are gaining a wide reputation for the quality of their offer and attract customers to St Leonards from far afield. There have been numerous cases of these customers receiving fixed penalty notices which is a deterrent to them but these are exactly the type of customer the regeneration programme was designed to attract.

I believe that during various discussions with you on parking issues we have reached a consensus that parking is a vital element in creating a climate where business can flourish and therefore I hope you will be favourably responsive to this request.

At a meeting of the Business Association last evening concern was also expressed that Crystal Square car park is underutilised; this we believe is in part due to poor signage directing motorists to this amenity and there also seems to be confusion about the route to leave the car park. There have been cases of drivers trying to use South Street to access London Road. When the proposals to close the junction of Cross Street and London Road we did request that this needed more thought, but unfortunately the closure has happened without any further discussion with the Association.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss the above issues with as a matter of urgency or at least your response to this letter as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

Bill Orton Chairman

Cc Pranesh Data

On top of the very generous cups for the winners, donated by Peridot, a selection of other prizes has also been donated by members: Adams & Jarrett, a digital radio; Ortons Butchers, a whole bunch of fine steak; Alpha Taxis, a bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne. Big thanks to them.

Hastings Boro’ Council is running a series of street markets before Christmas. Among other things they are looking for stewards. They are coordinating this through The Gensing Community Forum, who write:

“HBC are running 3 Christmas markets in St Leonards which the Forum is supporting.
The markets will run on Saturdays  12^th and 19^th December between 10am and 4pm.

Please Note: The December 5th market has been cancelled.

Yes you guessed it…….I am looking for volunteers to steward the 3 events!!
If you are available on any of the dates or dare I push it and say all 3, between 10am and 4pm and would like to help could you please let me know the days and times you are available.

So, if you would like to help, or have other enquiries, please contact:

Beverly Winchester
Community Engagement Worker
Gensing and Central St Leonards Community Forum
Community Information Centre
16 Silchester Road
St Leonards on Sea
TN38 0JB
Tel: 01424 438291