Message to Residents from the Mayor of Hailsham

On accepting the chain of office of Town Mayor and Chairman of Hailsham Town Council for a fifth year at the Annual Meeting held last Wednesday [17 May], Councillor Paul Holbrook said that his long-term vision is for a town that is community-driven – with a positive and co-operative mindset – and stated that it will be another busy year ahead for the Town Council.

“As Town Mayor and Chairman for another term, I look forward to contributing to the Council’s future achievements, including continuing to work hard for our residents to make further significant improvements to our services, finding more efficient ways to carry out our activities and make front-line operations as efficient as possible.

As we all know, due to the cost-of-living crisis, several changes have affected the Town Council, and we have all had to work hard – and under greater constraint than usual. These changes include a significant increase in the cost of utilities across most of our sites which we maintain for residents, in addition to an increase in other running costs across the board.

Throughout the course of the next year, myself, my fellow town councillors and council staff will continue to work meticulously to ensure that we provide value for money for residents and make further improvements to our services.

We will be working in a variety of new projects in the year ahead, and continuing with existing ones such as the exciting ongoing work to upgrade some of the town’s play areas, which is seeing the replacement of equipment at the Battle Road, Stroma Gardens and Maurice Thornton sites, bringing them up to optimum standard and offering excellent play value for all users. The project, which should be completed soon, will future proof the play areas for the next 10-15 years.

Additional improvement work is also set to be carried out at the Common Pond site as part of the Town Council’s obligation to ensure that its parks and open spaces are well maintained and visually appealing to the public.

Furthermore, it is hoped that an Assets Improvement Plan will be set up in the near future to include improvements to other sites including Hailsham Country Park, Hailsham Cemetery, the town’s recreation grounds and public open spaces.

Also worth mentioning is that the James West Community Centre will celebrate five years this summer since it first launched and opened to the public in 2018. A valuable asset to the local community, the centre currently has a wide range of local groups and people of all ages using the space and facilities on a regular basis.

In many ways, the next year (like the last) will be one of change for the Town Council and to some extent, our town as a whole. That said, we will continue to work in partnership with residents, stakeholders and the community at large to meet the infrastructure needs of the town’s increasing population and set a positive course for the coming year.

In terms of my role as Town Mayor, I feel honoured once again to be able to represent the people of Hailsham and hope to meet members of the local community at future civic engagements, whilst helping to raise the profile of local charities, community groups and voluntary organisations – all of which work selflessly to help others and make individuals’ lives just that much better and brighter.

A lot can be achieved in our town and, as mayor, I will endeavour to work with different groups of people to overcome the challenges we face now and in the future, especially moving forward and seeing us through the cost-of-living crisis. Hailsham is a special place, and I will work hard to ensure that it remains so.

In closing, I would like residents to know that the Town Council is here for you. If you have any issues about the town you should contact us. While we can’t promise to be able to have a solution to every problem, we will always do our best to attempt to get some sort of positive outcome.”