Hailsham Town Team Partners Discuss Key Projects At Stakeholder Meeting

Road improvement works to the town centre, the success of the weekly street market and the reconnection of the local business community were just some of the items discussed at the latest meeting of ‘Hailsham Forward’ — the Town Team which aims to bring together key local stakeholders to review the best ways to revitalise Hailsham.

People came together at the Diplocks Hall on Friday [30 January] to determine the next move in terms of fulfilling town centre revitalisation objectives.

Among the attendees were local councillors, Member of Parliament for Wealden Charles Hendry, business association members and representatives from voluntary organisations.

At the meeting, updates were provided on the work of Hailsham Forward in recent months including the monitoring of shop frontages and progress so far on the Team’s attempt to have additional tourist signs on the A22 directing people to Hailsham.

Also discussed was the expansion of the ‘Hailsham Town & Shopping Guide’, a smartphone-accessible directory aimed at supporting local traders, the introduction of a ‘Welcome’ letter to new residents and the proposal to look at the potential to provide free Wi-Fi in the town centre to help encourage more people to visit the town.

Councillor Nigel Coltman, chairman of the Town Council’s Business Enterprise Committee and Chairman of the Hailsham Forward stakeholder group summed up the meeting:

“My fellow Town Team members and I are delighted to be working closely with the Town, District and County Councils, local organisations and businesses on a range of projects for our town.

We’re very lucky to have the these stakeholders on board, all of whom are prepared to work hard and give up their time to develop Hailsham Forward’s ideas and proposals further.”

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Deputy Town Clerk and Business Enterprise Manager Mickey Caira commented:

“The Hailsham Forward Executive Team continue to meet monthly to progress the projects detailed in the Plan for Hailsham. The Team’s various projects make an important contribution to the improvement of the local economy and will ultimately help revitalise the town centre and surrounding urban environment in the long term.”