DLWP does a great job

In amongst all of this, the common theme seems to be that everyone else could do it better, make it more appealing to locals and spend less money at the same time - all of which I doubt.

Myself and my wife own a small B&B in the town and we fully appreciate that our business depends on people coming in to the town, spending a couple of days here, spending money to stay, eat and be entertained.

The work of the DLWP and the management team in place there is crucial to this.

Like many, I too often struggle to say that what I regard as simple scribbles or bits of rubbish organised in a nice pattern constitute art - but we do get lots of visitors who like it and their presence in the town is exactly what we need to improve the economy of Bexhill.

Recently, there have been calls for more ‘local’ use. What does that mean? And is it of any use at all for the local economy?

Last weekend we had guests from Norway, Dorset and London to attend the concert on Friday night.

With the best will in the world, if the venue had been given over to a local event, we would have been empty.

And let’s not forget that the visitors I mentioned all ate in the town, drank in the town and some of them even went on to the local nightclub - all of which brought cash from outside of the Bexhill area in to the local economy.

In short, I want to say that I think the management at the DLWP are doing a fine job.

They are bringing money in to the town, they are helping lower the age profile of visitors because of the acts they are booking for concerts and despite a building like the pavillion being pretty much a money pit when it comes to maintenance, the building looks in pretty good shape.

And this summer, we can look forward to the Andy Warhol exhibition.

Whether you like him or not, it will bring many, many visitors to the town just as the Gormley exhibition did last year.

People seem to enjoy the sport of ‘knocking’ the DLWP and now some want to pick over the funding in a very public way.

As far as I’m concerned, the DLWP is the jewel in Bexhill’s crown.

The people who work there and take great care over the exhibits they choose and acts they book do so with passion and great professionalism.

They help bring much needed business into the town and we should not forget that.

CHRIS AND LINDA WAIN

Coast B&B

Sea Road

Bexhill