Author: Miles

Bobservation 21. Fulking Fair and Fun Day

Purple Banner for Bobservation 21

We have had a good response to a plea for volunteers for Saturday 30th July but, as ever, there is still a need for various types of help:

The Teas Team are desperate for cakes!   Please ring Tricia (255) or Pam (271) with your promise of a donation (which can be homemade or shop bought, they won’t tell!) and to arrange delivery.  Even if you are bringing your cake on the day it is still important to let them know what you are bringing.  Teas will be served in and outside the village hall (weather permitting).

Tombola prizes of any type are much needed and can be delivered to Louise at 13 Clappers Lane or call her on 773.

Childrens’ Games.  Here Angela needs help in supervising the events which include Bouncy Castle, Stocks, Hook the Duck and Coconut Shy. Volunteers will have time to enjoy the other events but relief helpers would be very welcome. Please give Angela a call on 122.

Parking controllers are needed to direct the traffic to the parking in Downside Meadow, allocate spaces in the meadow and control traffic through the village. If you can help on this one give me a call on 271.
So, please:

  • Come to the fair on Saturday July 30th from 1pm till 5pm and make it a really successful day.
  • Come to Call my Bluff at the Shepherd & Dog at 7pm on Friday 29th July. Tickets from the pub are £15 each and include superior nibbles and ten, yes ten! wines to quandary over. Bring your own food and drink if you wish.
  • Be as helpful as you can to visitors from outside the village and remember this is a Fulking village and Shepherd & Dog combined event.
  • Be as cooperative as possible where traffic is concerned. There will almost certainly be some disruption in The Street due to pedestrians moving from Downside Meadow to the North Town Field. Nothing will be gained by getting upset or abusive.

Bobservation No 20

Bobservation Banner - Fair from the 90s with effects

I do encourage you all to take on board this year’s Fair and Fun Day is on Saturday 30th July. The venue has changed and will now be in the North Town Field and Shepherd & Dog.

However, parking for visitors will be, as last year, in Downside Meadow and the public will be directed along the Street to the North Town Field and the pub.  Along the way we will be having teas and cakes at the Village Hall and garden. The usual country craft and food stalls and lots of childrens’ events will be in the North Town Field

It would create a happy village atmosphere if some stalls could be operated by villagers or their children/grandchildren in the front gardens in the Street. I would suggest this would be a good way for some of the younger villagers to make a bit of pocket money by selling craft or food or drinks they have made or selected.

This is a new direction for the fair its success can only be guaranteed by the input from the villagers (and the weather!!).

The next Social Committee meeting to discuss the Fair is in the Village Hall at 8pm on Wednesday 22nd June. All helpers are welcome. For further information, call 271.

Rubbish Proposal?

Banner - WSCC docs about waste site consultationWest Sussex County Council is running a consultation on the provision of Household Waste Recycling Sites (HWRSs) as it needs to save £18.6m in the coming year.

The main proposals affecting Fulking residents are plans to limit the opening hours of the Burgess Hill and Shoreham sites (Shoreham closed Mon & Tues), and to charge more for non-household waste.

The consultation runs for 16th May to 12th June. You can respond here (when it opens)
More details: Letter, Briefing Pack, FAQs

Bobservation No.19

Fulking Fair 2016

This year’s Fair will be held on Saturday 30th July organised by the Social Committee in co-operation with the Shepherd & Dog.
posterThere will be stalls in the North Town Field as well as demonstrations and plenty of childrens’ games. The fair will start at 1pm and continue until 5pm. Parking for the general public will be in Downside Meadow, the site of last year’s fair. The Shepherd & Dog will provide a marquee for live music, and food and drink will be available at the pub all day.

Obviously there will be some degree of traffic congestion in the Street but this will be alleviated by controllers at each end of the village. Quite a few pedestrians will probably be walking from Downside Meadow to the North Town Field and the pub, but every effort will be made to ensure safe transit for them.

I suggest that on the basis of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ villagers should make a note in their diaries that there may be some disruption and avoid using their cars that afternoon and bring their families and friends to the fair and make it a really good village social event. The success of the fair depends largely on village input.

If you would like to get hands-on and help with the fair, we are holding a Social Committee meeting in the village hall to organise the day at 8pm on Thursday 19th May and you are most welcome to come along. Suggestions are carefully considered but remember we want doers not talkers.

Bobservation No. 18

Mini_trafficTraffic Problems…

I understand that there have been recent occurrences of minor gridlock in the Street and that the parking problem has become of more and more concern to villagers. So the Parish Council, after discussions with Highways at West Sussex County Council, has agreed that the ’backway’ will be refurbished, asphalted and form the east to west section of a one-way system in Fulking.

The Street will form the west to east section. This will necessitate the compulsory purchase of land at the southern end of properties that abut the ‘backway’.

To obviate the need to negotiate the value of such land it has been mutually agreed that a standard sum in compensation of £50 be paid to the freeholder of each of the properties involved. It is expected that work will commence at the beginning of August and completion is anticipated by January 2017. Due to the Government Austerity Programme, the cost of the work involved will be shouldered by Council Tax bands D to F over a five-year period.