New Bexhill Town Forum chairman's pledge after complaints

Christine Bayliss was appointed as the new chairman after its annual general meeting on Friday, September 2.

Some complained about the Forum becoming ‘an arm of the council’ and losing its heart but Ms Bayliss hopes to bring people round and fight for a Bexhill Town Council.

“It’s an incredible privilege to be able to serve the people of Bexhill in this role and I’m honoured that the committee felt I was up to job,” she said.

“I promise to do my best to be inclusive, open and transparent.”

Ms Bayliss has been campaigning for a Bexhill Town Council since the 1980s when she was chair of the Bexhill Tourism Association.

She said her main objective is to make the Forum redundant when Bexhill achieves a council of its own.

Paul Courtel was among those to complain about the previous committee, saying it had turned the Forum into ‘the oral equivalent of a company’s house magazine’.

But the Labour Party campaigner is supportive of the new appointment.

“I’m delighted to learn that the new committee of the Bexhill Town Forum has elected Christine Bayliss as its chairman,” he said.

“I think she’ll be democratic, inclusive and fair. I’m cautiously optimistic that the Forum will return to being Bexhill’s leading consultative body.”

The previous committee argue the move towards pre-organised lectures and topics has made the Forum more inclusive with attendances rising since it took over.

The change has caused some animosity with some people but the previous committee would say they are in the minority, and most people prefer the new make-up of the Forum.

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