Bexhill man urged to take down Halloween decorations

A Bexhill man who transformed the outside of his house to celebrate Halloween has been asked to remove his display.
The house is lit up at night. Picture from Ashan Jeeawon SUS-201028-130356001The house is lit up at night. Picture from Ashan Jeeawon SUS-201028-130356001
The house is lit up at night. Picture from Ashan Jeeawon SUS-201028-130356001

Ashan Jeeawon, of Collington Avenue, decided to decorate the exterior with floating ghouls and ghosts to bring the Halloween spirit to the neighbourhood.

The house also lights up in the dark.

He said his intention was to spread a little joy and happiness.

The front of the house adorned with Halloween-themed decorations. Picture from Ashan Jeeawon SUS-201028-130406001The front of the house adorned with Halloween-themed decorations. Picture from Ashan Jeeawon SUS-201028-130406001
The front of the house adorned with Halloween-themed decorations. Picture from Ashan Jeeawon SUS-201028-130406001
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But he received an email from a concerned person asking him if they were his decorations.

After he replied, confirming that the display was indeed his, he received a response from the individual, urging him to take down his decorations ‘as soon as possible’.

The email read: “Hello Ash, thank you for coming back to me, and for letting me know that you are responsible for the display.

“Although I respect your opinion to celebrate Halloween, I am sorry to say that I hold a different opinion.

Three statues of witches as part of the decorations. Picture from Ashan Jeeawon SUS-201028-130416001Three statues of witches as part of the decorations. Picture from Ashan Jeeawon SUS-201028-130416001
Three statues of witches as part of the decorations. Picture from Ashan Jeeawon SUS-201028-130416001
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It is my belief that the Halloween celebrations are detrimental to the mental health of many people. In particular of children and the vulnerable.

“There are more than enough things happening in the world to scare people without adding to it with the spectrum of ghosts and witches.

“I would respectfully ask that you take down the display as soon as possible. It is important that we promote a message of hope and not a message of fear.”

Ashan, who is a Rother district councillor for Bexhill, said: “Everything I do with my time as a councillor is to support the community.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He added that he took to Facebook, posting on The Bexhill-on-Sea Group’s Facebook page, asking the public what they thought, to see if they felt the same way as the concerned resident.

Cllr Jeeawon said: “Within an hour after posting, there were 200 comments, every single one of them positive.

“That grew to 400 comments, then 700, then 1,000.

“There was also a significant number of people commenting, who said that they suffered from mental health issues and that it was nice to see some normality, a lot saying that this person didn’t speak for them.”

In the past few years, Cllr Jeeawon and his family have adorned their home with decorations to celebrate Christmas, as well as mark Armistice Day and Easter.

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.

Related topics: