Author: LocHist

Electricity at risk from fly-tippers

Fly-tipping at electricity substation
The Shoreham Herald reports:

The UK Power Networks site, off the A283 Steyning bypass, has been targeted, along with more than 150 substations which deliver essential power supplies in the south east, London and the east of England.

The incidents can put power supplies at risk by delaying access to vital equipment and endanger staff visiting the sites to carry out inspections, maintenance or repairs.

A piano, builders’ rubble, guttering and downpipes have all been found outside the Steyning substation.

Fly-tipping is a criminal offence under the Environmental Protection Act, carrying significant fines and even prison sentences in more serious cases.

The CPRE parse Boles


It seems that the Campaign to Protect Rural England does not share Nick Herbert’s benign interpretation of what the minister said. The West Sussex County Times reports:

A ‘huge solar farm’ could be built in the South Downs if national parks were made to promote economic growth, warned the Sussex-Horsham district chair of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

The chair, Dr Roger Smith, said: “Even under the present regulations, the South Downs is subject to the threat of a huge solar farm development.

“This is the kind of development that could be pushed through if National Parks were given a duty to promote economic growth.”

Parsing the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

Nick Herbert MP for Arundel and South Downs
Nick Herbert has told the West Sussex County Times :

We are not going to see house building all over the South Downs National Park, and the Minister [Nick Boles] did not say that there should be a relaxation of planning controls in parks, as press reports implied. He said that the parks should not become museums, and I agree with him about that.

I also agree with what the minister said about the need to express localism more fully in parks. I have always warned about the democratic deficit in national parks, which was reflected in the controversy over the South Downs National Park’s decision over to allow a travellers site at Crossbush.

It was the backbench MP who moved the debate [Simon Hart] who suggested that the duty to conserve parks should no longer be given primacy over the duty to secure economic well-being. The minister did not endorse this view, and it is not Government policy.

Ace Café Reunion Brighton Burn Up

Ace Cafe Reunion Brighton Burn Up
This Is Local London warns:

Motorists are being advised to allow extra time for their journeys if they are using the M23, M25 and A23 this Sunday (September 15), as tens of thousands of motorcyclists are expected to take to the roads. The mass convoy of motorcyclists will be travelling down from London to Brighton as part of the 20th Ace Café Reunion event. They are due to travel along the anti-clockwise M25 between junctions 16 and 7, the southbound M23 and the southbound A23. Ben Wates, from the emergency planning team at the Highways Agency, which is responsible for motorways and major trunk roads, said: “We are asking road users to plan their journeys and allow extra time as we are expecting the M25, M23 and A23 to be busier than normal.”

Two free guided walks

Number 77 bus to Devil's Dyke from Brighton
Saturday 14 September: 1100 – 1530 leaving from the bus stop outside Brighton Rail Station on the 11.12 Breeze Bus 77 to Devils Dyke then on a 6½ mile linear walk along the South Downs Way to Saddlescombe, Pyecombe, the Jack & Jill windmills and Hassocks where you can return to Brighton via train or bus. Remember to bring a picnic lunch.

Sunday 15 September: 1015 – 1345 for an 8 mile circular walk starting at Clayton windmills car park OS Explorer ref 122/303134 (bus service 769 leaves Brighton Station at 0940 to stop nearby, walk up from the A273. Return on 40X or 769) and heading south to the Chattri Indian Memorial. Then along the Sussex Border Path and the South Downs Way back past Pyecombe Church to the windmills.