Lib Dems support EBFC??

[vern]

Stephen Lloyd - and local Lib Dems have emphatically won control of Eastbourne Council. As Lloyd threw his support behind EBFC, during the rent row, does that mean EBFC will have a more sympathetic political party to work with us, as opposed to one that wanted to steal the clothes of our Clubs back??
I hope this is a sea change in the way the Local council sees this massive local sporting asset for Eastbourne!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D
We don't just have tennis - we have great football too!! ;D ;D ;D

[Jim "Convertedeagle" Stewart]

This was my 1st thought today on hearing that the Lib Dems ahd gained control... Lets keep fingers crossed that the new regime will see sense

[shadwellarmy]

Agreed. And, even though over here in Hastings we didn't have borough-wide elections, we did have two by-elections, the Tories lost them both and so Hastings has gone from Con to No Overall Control, but a similar situation has been going on at Hastings United - they want a new ground that can be developed into a decent stadium (the Pilot Field is, as visitors this year would have noticed, a bloomin odd shape and has limited room to expand capacity), and have offered to Hastings Council to give up their long-term lease on the ground, and that on the Firs, so allowing housing development on the site (which has a guaranteed profit to the council of well over three million pounds), in exchange for a new site, developed to a good standard, including an athletics training ground, at an estimated cost of two and a half million (probably less with the various grants available).
The Tory council was keen to accept the gift of the ground, but said that any profit made would be debated by the council and then they would decide what to do with it.
Maybe the new council will be a bit more sensible, and slightly less greedy.

[davidb]

Stephen Lloyd is the Lib them parliamentary candidate and (correct me if I'm wrong) not a local counsellor ... no more than Nigel Waterson is a Tory local counsellor.

Sorry to disillusion anybody but my recollection of Mr Lloyd during the last general election was that he turned up 'to be seen' at Priory Lane with a couple of colleagues and the impression was that he didn't have the first idea about football. How many times has he been seen at Priory Lane before or since? At least Nigel Waterson turns up and watches the occasional match, even though he had little option but to support the local (Tory) council.

I wouldn't get too excited about Mr Lloyd's support of the Borough cause I'm afraid. If it will win votes there will be support but not otherwise. Call me a cynic if you like.

I can't help thinking that the result of this election was principally determined by the electorate demonstrating their dislike of the car parking proposals.

... and in case anybody is wondering I have no political affiliations

[vern]

I realise that Lloyd is a prospective MP for Eastbourne, but I was grasping at straws in so far that he and the Lib Dems had aligned themselves with EBFC and the argument that the then incumbent Council were principally being unfair.
I saw him in photo opportunities with the winning Council and in the recent past with EBFC and was hoping that he might have some core of decency in following through with the rhetoric and having some influence with the New Eastbourne Council....but, feel in my bones that your reading of the situation is nearer reality

[shadwellarmy]

Surely there ARE votes to be won by supporting EBFC - how many is debatable, and how many fans would change their vote over the rent issue is problematic, to say the least.

A few letters from fans to Lloyd, making the case and stating that their vote is up for sale, so to speak, may well have an effect. I read somewhere that each letter to an MP is taken as representing about 100 votes, as most people don't bother to contact them, and just moan. With Eastbourne as a tight marginal, plus being a council that swings from Tory to Lib them as voters always assume that the other lot couldn't do any worse, the thought of catching a few hundred votes may well be enough for a couple of statements for the local press, maybe even a firm committment to support us.
Sorry, I can't help directly, as I live in Hastings, but I throw it in as an idea.

[davidb]

Football fans can definitely have an influence ... as our previous Lib them MP David Bellotti found out to his cost when he got embroilled in the Goldstone fiasco!