Danni Segal, needing more sleep The (ir)regular thoughts of Around-Bexhill.co.uk founder, Danni Segal, on life in Bexhill-on-Sea This column reflects the thoughts of Danni Segal, and does not claim to reflect the opinions of around-bexhill.co.uk or any of the shops or businesses listed on this site unless directly stated

Dateline: April 2008

Item: The “People’s” Post Office

This is not the editorial I had planned for April; the editorial I had planned was a light and breezy one about the coming of Spring and our recent odd weather. Sadly events have overtaken me and I feel the need to speak out.

The Post Office cull has confirmed that all the local Post Offices are to be closed, with Collington Rise having been added to the list. We are being advised that we should use the town centre Post Office, which I’m sure is great advice to those of limited mobility who rely on their local Post Offices.

And what really grates with me the most is that the thoughtless individuals who make these decisions that affect the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in society have had the audacity to start branding it “The People’s Post Office” at the very same time they are taking it away from the people.

We are told the Post Office serves the community. It does, in much the same way as KFC serves chickens.

The problem is that the Post Office has a monopoly and knows full well that for all the anger we feel, there is nothing we can do about the closures. I would hope that those responsible would lose sleep over these decisions, but I suspect they’ll be too tired from counting the bonuses they have earned from their attack on local communities.

Our sympathies to everyone affected by these closures, whichever side of the counter they stood on.

Item: Nepalese Fried Chicken..?

It was mentioned to me that a new Italian restaurant may be opening in town, and I for some reason this bothered me. Not that I am against competition - in fact I wrote in support of competition back in my October 2007 column - but I am concerned about any section of the market becoming over-saturated. We already have a number of popular Italian restaurants in the town centre; do we really need another? Or would we prefer a different type of cuisine to appear in our town (tex-mex, for example, or a Japanese noodle bar)?

The recent closure of a couple of local estate agents could be due to any number of factors, but Bexhill has had a high number of estate agents for a while and it seemed in the end there were too many agents for the customer base available. Over-saturation.

One of my favourite things about the shops and businesses in Bexhill is the sheer diversity that is on offer. I love that there are loads of different shops and restaurants to appeal to lots of different people, and I think it’s wonderful that the town can offer so much to so many people.

Whilst walking down Sackville Road recently I was intrigued to see that Pizza Plus, which had been closed for many months and many had assumed would stay that way, had opened again with a strong emphasis on fried chicken. Almost opposite had opened The Gurkhas, a beautiful new restaurant offering fine Nepalese cuisine. Two businesses, a road apart in position and a lot further away in the food they offer, but both offering something a bit different from the rest of the town. And, depending on my mood, both will get business from me.

Like I always say: Viva Diversity!

Until next time,

Danni Segal
founder
around-bexhill.co.uk

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