On 16 Oct 2008 at 7:49pm Retired Archbishop wrote:
The Argus tonights reports that theTories are going to close County Hall and move it to Polegate. Two thousand Lewes jobs will go. They have no understanding of the fact that Lewes is the County Town, senior in East Sussex to that fishing village with the indian palace down the road and certainly to the old people's towns and fishing village with smugglers to the East.
I suppose the removal of that nice building might not be too bad but what a time to spend all that money. Pehaps its the parking fees in Lewes which are funding it!
On 16 Oct 2008 at 7:52pm Lysdexic wrote:
The move has been public knowledge for the past seven or eight years. It's not been a secret.
On 16 Oct 2008 at 7:56pm We love the tories wrote:
Less congestion in the town, less polution and that bloody horrible building can be pulled down.
Tories will get my vote
On 16 Oct 2008 at 9:28pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
I wonder if there will be much effect on the local economy of 2,000 fewer people around on weekday lunchtimes?
On 16 Oct 2008 at 9:56pm food hall wrote:
looks like a great opportunity for a multi-complex restaurant. prezzo, ask, pizza express, shanaz, spice merchant, lewes spice, dil raj, palin could all relocate and perhaps we could have a dominos and pizza hut. charcoal grill mcdonalds, kfc and burger king could all be on the ground floor. great for parking and takes the heat off the town centre at the weekend. or maybe just sell the land to wetherspoons. would like to see the building gone but it would kill lewes. 2000 workers has to be worth the best part of million a year in takings for local business?
On 17 Oct 2008 at 12:56am harold wrote:
Before you get to happy about it going I was told that it has been built so it can be turned into flats, so it might stay as an eyesore
On 17 Oct 2008 at 6:37am SHS wrote:
The move to Polegate, and many other expenses, will be more than funded by sale and re-development of the site. Remember St Anne's School was closed specifically to enhance the re-sale value of the County Hall site. Prepare to see several slightly-lower blocks of flats built around the existing high buildings. County Hall an eyesore? You ain't seen nothing yet! It'll be presented as something like 'if this development is allowed it will allow Lewes residents to enjoy improvements to public transport and prevent steep rises in council tax that would otherwise be necessary....' etc etc
On 17 Oct 2008 at 7:29am Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
What a joke. As if bringing all those extra people into town wouldn't require more council services, that would in turn cost more money etc, etc. And as for improvements to public transport, wasn't that one of the supposed benefits of the parking scheme that has failed to materialise?
I'd liek them to build a decent supermarket on the site so that people in the north and west of the town don't have to go schlepping through the town centre to get their shoppng. Imo, that would reduce congestion (unless, of course, it was so good that everyone from the east and south started going there instead of Tesco!).
If County Hell goes though, the site will be used for housing, as sure as eggs are eggs. It's a huge site, quite possibly bigger than the Phoenix Sixteenth, so I wouldn't be surprised to see an application for 1,000 or more dwellings if the property market recovers.
On 17 Oct 2008 at 9:43am Mystic Mog wrote:
RA The parking scheme makes no money....and it was the Tories who gave us the dreadful parking scheme.
The building is a poor state and that is a contrubitory reason.
The Tories dislike Lewes and want it devoid of any power.
The Tories will never get my vote
On 17 Oct 2008 at 2:36pm I dont live in lewes anymore wrote:
Agree with Mystic Mog and will add it's sad that inspite of peoples feelings they labour doggedly on with a non-profit making parking scheme that scars the town and that no one wants.
PhilX
On 17 Oct 2008 at 7:08pm Earl of Lewes wrote:
2000 people are going to lose their jobs?
Polegate's less than 20 minutes by train from Lewes Station, so it's not the end of the world.
It does make sense to have the HQ more central - it takes the best part of 90 minutes to get to Rye. What's the sense in having the building right on the edge of the county? However, I agree that as we're not a Tory safe seat, we'll probably end up getting shafted in every direction (and not in a nice way either).
With all of those council workers out of the equation, we won't need the parking scheme any more will we? 
By the way, why IS the parking scheme controlled by the county council rather than the town council? can anyone tell me?
On 19 Oct 2008 at 11:39am Merlin Milner wrote:
ESCC run / own the highways and pavements (apart from trunk roads like A27, M23 etc).
Blame, in part, what happened with local government in 1974, before that Lewes had Lewes Borough Council that could wield more influence. Very frustrating, believe me!
On 19 Oct 2008 at 3:11pm I dont live in lewes anymore wrote:
Seems a bit suspicious to me that a large organisation announces that it intends to move in 3 years time (may be longer Dahlings) but doesn't know EXACTLY where it's going to (near Polegate or Hailsham? ?? ???... lets hope it's further... moon, mars, neptune...).
I guess we can conclude that the motivator is the land value where the present much loved blot on the landscape sits.... unless Merlin the wizard knows different.
PhilX
On 20 Oct 2008 at 9:59am Arthur Broomhead wrote:
Apart from traffic exactly what do the workers in County Hall contribute to the Lewes economy? It's too far to walk into the High Street in their lunch hour and if they were so willing to spend their money in Lewes all those shops in Western Road wouldn't have closed years ago. Goodbye County Hall - Good Riddance more like!
On 20 Oct 2008 at 8:04pm SHS wrote:
Somehow I think the Phoenix Development will seem like the Garden of Eden compared to what will be proposed on the County Hall & St Anne's site.... but I totally agree AB, good riddance.
On 23 Oct 2008 at 8:30am Thomas Paine wrote:
Try comparing Lewes, Brighton, Chichester, Canterbury with all the places without a huge County Council. Seaford. Newhaven. Uckfield. Polegate.
Don't underestimate the long-term effects of having so many Council employees begging to live in a town. They also have partners living here and lots of children whose parents have books in their homes.
Council jobs are among the most stable in the UK - just ask the mortgage lenders why they see Council employees as such a safe bet. They also have final salary pensions etc. Being a County Town made Lewes what it is. Why are we going to risk this?