We're not just a business, say owners of threatened bowling alley

There were more than 100,000 visits to Ocean Bowling in Ravenside last year and owner Lazerace claims it provides a sporting, leisure and social activity for young and old of any ability, and is an important draw both to locals and visitors.

Lazerace has asked Rother District Council to provide a suitable site to relocate but so far its offer has not been taken up.

The loss of Ocean Bowling at Ravenside thanks to the arrival of Marks and Spencer has been a concern to local people who raised the issue both at Bexhill Town Forum and also during Monday’s cabinet.

General manager Chris Karitzis told the Observer: “This is more than just a business, it’s part of the community. Seeing the joy and smiles on the faces of severely handicapped people presented with their medals when taking part in our special needs tournaments is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

Pam Alty, centre manager, added: “Ocean Bowling is more than just a job to all those that work here. It’s their life. We love being here for the people of Bexhill and surrounding areas. Relationships are really close knit and we view some of our customers as friends. I think Bexhill should retain a bowling centre for us, our children, and future generations.”

RDC’s director of services Tony Leonard said: “We are very willing to discuss plans by the owners of Ocean Bowling, Laserace Limited, to open a similar business elsewhere in the town and have had several informal discussions with them in the past. We have not ever received a formal request from Laserace to provide them with land.

“Rother officers advised a year ago of possible sites, both public and private. However it should be noted, even with a formal approach, we are not in a position to be able to buy or give land to the operators.

“The Section 106 money received from the Ravenside Retail Park application to replace the bowling alley is not specifically put aside just for a replacement bowling facility, but for improvements in general leisure provision in Bexhill and the town centre business area. It may very well be that a new public leisure facility built for Bexhill can include a ten pin bowling alley – however, this is a long term Council plan and does not fall within the time frame under consideration by Laserace.

“In summary, the council is committed to providing a new leisure facility in the town under its Local Plan and Sports Strategy. It is not required to specifically be ten pin bowling, although we are very much open to discussion on the idea. Although we are very happy to meet with Laserace again, it is unfortunately the case that we have no suitable land to offer them and our time frames differ. Despite the lack of readily available sites, we would be happy to support them with advice on any development they can privately fund.”

Following the airing at the Town Hall on Monday Cllr Sue Prochak was “extremely disappointed” by Cllr Johnson’s “negative and unhelpful” responses to the questions by representatives from Ocean Bowling.

She suggested that other councils seem to do things differently with S106 funds, involving members and the public, and felt the lack of a satisfactory answer could reinforce “the view that RDC does not listen to or work with the community.”