3 November 2024

‘Let’s get together and tidy up Withernsea’

by Rebecca Hannant

Newly elected South East Holderness councillor Jon Dimberline has announced plans for an initiative that could see the community work together to clean up Withernsea.

On the back of sprucing up the old Betfred premises in Queen Street, Jon – who became the first Reform UK councillor elected to East Riding Council earlier this month – says he has plans to launch SMART (Strategic Multi-Action Response Team), which could see members of the public and businesses come together and support the town as a collective.

He said he was prompted to launch it after being fed up with unoccupied shops, faded street signs and paths that had become unkempt, bringing down the overall presence of the town. He believes that the town has faced a surge of apathy as people have become used to it, while red tape has made it harder to get things done.

Jon said: “I look at how Hornsea operates as a town, which is like a brother or a sister town to this one. It’s far more efficient than this one. It’s cleaner. It’s tidier. It’s better organised, but I understand it also has more money. I’ve got all kinds of ideas. I’m very practical. I like to get things done. I can’t do with red tape and bureaucracy and rules and regulations. I know why they need to exist, but we are bogged down with them.

“I want to create community unity. The town has a fair share of keyboard warriors complaining, but instead we need to get interested people together.”

SMART, which aims to cover Withernsea, Patrington, Easington, Keyingham, Ottringham, Rimswell, Roos and anywhere in between, will involve identifying things that need tidying up, such as gardens, pieces of land, street signs, flower beds or derelict shops.

Jon added: “It could be anything. It needs tidying. It needs washing. It needs cleaning. It needs cutting. It needs trimming. It needs bringing up to a fresh standard.”

To make the initiative a success, Jon says he is looking for interested volunteers such as retired or semi-retired tradesmen, as well as young people who will be able to learn new skills.

He added: “If we can get young people into taking care and responsibility for the town, we could see less damage or vandalism. If we teach them how to paint, strim and mow, they might take more pride in and care of things. This will feed out to other kids. I will look to get some training through Active Withernsea and other organisations.”

Jon also hopes the SMART initiative could see the formation of a Chamber of Trade, which will allow businesses to help one another.

He added: “I want it to cover all the villages in South East Holderness. Shops, offices and businesses would pay a very small fee. Let’s say a shop or a business has a problem with a member of staff. Maybe they have a legal issue, maybe they need business advice. If somebody wants to set up a new business, but they’re not sure how to register, we can help, we can guide, we can advise, and we can steer them in the right direction.”

Jon says he is keen to fight for South East Holderness and bring money into the area through council and government support. Meanwhile, he believes tourism could be boosted as people arrive for the numerous events that Withernsea hosts throughout the summer.

Jon said: “I would like to see signs around the town highlighting people to the many locations. We need something that identifies where things are. We also need to tidy up the existing signs. Say 3,000 people come to Withernsea, and 3,000 people spend £10 each. That’s £30,000. Let’s say they spend £100, you’re suddenly into £300,000 of revenue. If people go away with a clean image in their mind, I think people like to come back. If they go away with a tacky image, all we’re getting is the one-time visitors.”

Jon defended standing for election under the Reform UK banner, saying he was only interested in his local community. He said: “Reform UK gets labelled as racist. I’m not that interested in the national Reform UK policies. I am only interested in how I can make a difference in this area.

“I would not have anything to do with them if I thought they were racist. I support everybody regardless of who they are. I am very central. I would like to see centralisation. I’d like to see a little bit of left and a little bit of right and a little bit of something in the middle. That’s where I’m at. I’m interested in ‘reform’ around here.”