Author: Miles
Rubbish Proposal?
West 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.
There 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.
May 2016 Pigeon Post Published
Bobservation No. 18
Traffic 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.
April 2016 Pigeon Post Published
Bobservation No. 17
Village Organisations
Why do we have several different organisations in Fulking? Wouldn’t it be better to have just one? The answer is that historically, residents prefer to volunteer for one or two causes and not the totality. So, here’s a guide to them:
The Parish Council consists of five councillors, elected for four years and who are in charge of the statutory and financial requirements of Fulking. There’s also a paid Parish Clerk. Funding is from the precept which is included in the Council Tax.
The North Town Field Trust exists to own and protect the North Town Field. Trustees are elected at a Parish Council meeting. The 4 or 5 trustees are appointed for life (or until they resign). They’re governed by the Trust Deed. In principle it has no income.
The Social Committee runs social events such as the Fulking Fair and the Christmas Party with a view to creating a happy and inclusive village atmosphere and raising money for village needs; perhaps tree work in the North Town Field or repairs to the village hall. Constitution on fulking.net.
The Village Hall Action Group was formed by concerned villagers to protect and maintain the Village Hall. Any villager can join. The principal source of income is donations from supporters.
The Book Nook raises funds for St Andrew’s church in Edburton and is held in the chapel attached to the village hall. It is run by church members and villagers.
There are of course various other happenings, run privately. These include Preston Nomads Cricket Club, foot beagles, games evenings, toddlers /coffee morning, craft and chat, mums’ night-out, book club, yoga classes etc. Most of the support for these is voluntary and unpaid.
March 2016 Pigeon Post Published
Bobservation No. 16
Social Matters
There was a response from four of you about what we can do to improve the attendance at the annual village Christmas party. The consensus, with which I agree, was to hold it a week earlier, which would be Friday 9th December. A suggestion was made to have music, but I am of the opinion that the hall is too small to accommodate talking, drinking and music at the same time.
Does anyone have any further thoughts on this?
The Annual General Meeting of the Social Committee will be in the hall at 7.30pm on Thursday 4 February. We will be discussing, inter alia, the ongoing talks with the Shepherd & Dog to hold a Call my Bluff in a marquee at the pub on the evening of Friday 29 July and a smaller fair at the pub and the North Town Field on Saturday 30th July.
If you would like to be involved in this and willing to help, then please come along to the AGM.
February 2016 Pigeon Post Published