1. Attendance:

• Hastings and Rother Disability Forum
• Rother Seniors Forum
• Hastings and Rother Rainbow Alliance
• Ability to Access
• Rother District Council
• Bexhill Dementia Action Alliance

2. Apologies:

South Downs; Care for the Carers; Rother Voluntary Action; Little Gate Farm; Councillor Jay Brewerton & Sussex Police

3. Matters arising from the Minutes of the Meeting held 25th September 2019: –

• Accessible map of Bexhill – press release.
• Business Exploitation Workshop 4th December
• Improve signage at the back of the DLWP
• Parking Enforcement in Bexhill the date is still be confirmed, probably in the Autumn 2020.

4. Presentation on the new Rother website

• Members of the group where given different devises to test the new website on
• They were asked to try out the top tabs; report it, pay it, apply it and check it.
• One member of the group that is VIP, used the Readspeaker and try out the new settings.
• Discussion took place about colours, search box and accessibility, comments were gathered, and transformation team would look at ways in which they could implemented the suggestions & comments.

Action: – DW- to take back suggestions about some of the colours and search box to the transformation team.

5. Rother Corporate Equality Objectives 2018-2022

The group will be looking at Equality Objectives at every meeting and to be reviewed once a year, this will be September 2020. Also, now this document is joint with Wealden District Council, but this will be changing, and Wealden D C are going to implement their own objectives to show the changes within their Corporate Plan sometime this year. Some of the objectives we have been working with you all have been new accessible layout for the Town Hall reception, website and looking at services at each meeting.

Action: – This will be included in future agendas and annual review September 2020

6. Organisations update

Rother Senior Form – on 26th March we have event at Emmanuel Centre in Battle, which is Listen to the Band. Looking at organisation a trip on 15th July to Pugin’s House & Church in Ramsgate, with afternoon tea at the Pavilion which is now a Weatherspoon’s. Older Peoples day event is going to be 1st October and we are looking outing to Maidstone to Mote Park.

Hastings & Rother Rainbow Alliance – We have developed an informal social club in a pub in London, St Leonards, a drama group & choir. The trans group has manged to get some funding so they are looking at setting up a bio group, they have one to one session. The Alliance is looking at doing a consultation for members to find what they would like in the future. IDAHOBIT is on Sunday 17th May, so we discussed about flying the rainbow flag at the Town Hall on Monday 18th May. DP to speak to Communications team, Community safety team and contact ESFRS and Sussex Police.

Hastings & Rother Disability Forum – Nothing to report now in the Rother area. The forum is having trouble in recruiting members now, so DP suggest to the Forum in putting an article on the My Alerts and she happy to help them with this.

Bexhill Dementia Action Alliance – AGM took place in November, Chairperson stepped down, but we did not have anyone to take up the position, so CA and JH have offered to share the role for the time being. The meeting in January 2020, we reviewed all the things that were taking place last year, Singing Down Memory Lane is still going very well, we have had some good film afternoons at the DLWP, BDAA have paid towards the carers to attend the films for free. Just to say that Care homes have already phoned today to cancel attending the film, due to them going in to look down this week.

Ability to Access – Issues that people with VIP are having with not enough crossings around Bexhill. MJ suggested to speak to East Sussex Highways response team. The traffic lights in the town centre need to be brighter and change very quickly if someone has a disability. Also, CW said about having issues along the seafront with cyclises whizzing pass and not taking in to account that I have a white stick. DP said that people need to report these incidents otherwise there is no evidence that this is taking place. There are problems with over hanging vegetation that is hanging over the path by seafront just before Hartfield Road. DP said that she is working with beach control to get the owner of the property to have this cut down.

7. Dates of future meetings for 2020 at the Town Hall

• Wednesday 17th June at 2pm
• Wednesday 16th September at 2pm
• Wednesday 9th December at 2pm

8. Any other business

Town Hall reception area is being redesigned and HDRDF has been helping look at colours, contrast and access.

Meeting Closed 15.20pm

Date of next meeting: Wednesday 17th June 2020 at 2pm Town Hall, Bexhill, Committee Room.