“Friends are flowers in life’s garden”

Jack Dunckley's Birchfield Nursery
The West Sussex County Times reports:

Henfield residents were stunned to see hedgerows ripped up and trees cut down screening a nursery from a main road .. planning permission for a new structure was only granted by Horsham District Council (HDC) because of the screening provided by the thick tree belt and the bluebell wood .. Permission was granted in 2011 by HDC for a new building for the nursery, subject to conditions around landscaping screening the new structure. However according to the council because the development never commenced conditions did not ‘kick-in’ meaning any site clearance was not seen as development and does not require planning permission.

£2 towards cycle path

Henfield Business Park

Henfield Business Park

The West Sussex County Times reports:

Councillors have granted a business developer approval to reduce its transport contributions from thousands of pounds to just £2. .. Brian O’Connell (Con: Henfield) said the county council’s transport contribution demand was ‘ridiculous’. .. One of the county council’s requests was to create a cycle path from Woodmancote to Henfield, which Mr O’Connell laughed at the prospect of. .. Brian Donnelly (Con Pulborough and Coldwaltham) said: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this, we could get it wrong. Cycle paths are a total waste of money, but this site will be adding to cars on the road, so there should be a transport charge. I don’t understand why the mechanics went so wrong.”

Road & rail flooded

Road closed
As of 5:16am, the Highways Agency is reporting that the A23 is closed in both directions between the M23 (Pease Pottage) and the A272 (Bolney) due to flooding. Diversions are posted. The Argus is reporting (7:42am) that tailbacks coming out of Brighton are stretching back about five miles with delays of at least an hour and a half. In addition, ” rail services between Haywards Heath and Three Bridges are cancelled in both directions due to flooding in the Balcombe tunnel” and “replacement buses are being affected by flooding on local roads”. More here.

Also the West Sussex County Times is reporting that “the A281 Crouch Hill in Henfield is closed between the B2116 Albourne Road junction and the Deer Park junction”.

Update 11:50am: the A23 has reopened (WSCT). More road news here.

Have you lost a bird?

Mike Russell Sussex Wildlife Trust

Mike Russell

Finding Birds in West Sussex

Sussex Wildlife Trust is offering a package of five field trips, from February to November 2014, led by Mike Russell, and including the Henfield Levels (February); The Burgh, Burpham (April); Stedham and Iping Commons (June); Chidham and Cobnor (September); and Amberley Wildbrooks (November). The subjects covered will include bird identification techniques; migration and seasonal factors in bird distribution; and habitats. This is a multi-session package: individual trips cannot be booked.

** Booking and detailed course information sheet **