Category Archives: Topography
Dog-leg closed-ish until Monday
Our most conscientious readers will recall that the same stretch of road was closed for much the same reason a couple of years ago: “dripping tap entails nine week road closure”.
Tiger Feet
It seems that UK Power have chewed up the footpath next to Lee Holden’s field (roughly by the 8-1F on the map above), while maintaining their installation. Walkers are warned to wear their boots or wellies for a while. Lee advises that while UK Power apologised, they also said that they wouldn’t be able to sort it out until the ground is a bit drier.
Miles Firth
The Beige Plague
In Horsham District, the infection persists. Their Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA), January 2019, reads as follows (page 52):
This site has evolved from an area initially identified as a broad location of search following the publication of the 2010 New Market Town Study, commissioned jointly by Crawley Borough Council (CBC), Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC) and Horsham District Council (HDC). The developer has previously expressed a preferred approach for a development of up to 10,000 dwellings on land in both Horsham and Mid Sussex administrative areas. However, within HDC a development of up to 6,120 dwellings together with associated infrastructure is currently being proposed for consideration. The site falls in Woodmancote, Shermanbury and Henfield parish areas.
The site is in multiple land ownership, which may affect deliverability. Landowner interest in developing the whole site would therefore need to be carefully tested. There would also be a need for cross boundary working, with MSDC and with West Sussex County Council.
The site has a range of environmental and infrastructure constraints including an area of flood risk which would require mitigation. If developed, the site would need to create its own social, economic, transport and utilities infrastructure. Improved connectivity to the trunk road and rail network (which is some distance away) would also need to be carefully considered. Any major development would also need to take account of the retail viability of existing settlements such as Henfield. Unless allocated for development through the review of the Horsham District Planning Framework (HDPF) it is considered development would be contrary to Policies 1 to 4 and 26 of the HDPF and potentially other policies relating to the constraints of the site. It is therefore assessed as ‘Not Currently Developable’.
The River Adur: from source to sea
A talk by Geoffrey Mead to Beeding & Bramber Local History Society at 7:45pm on Wednesday 6th February in the Village Hall, Upper Beeding. There is a hard-to-detect car park immediately opposite. Dr. Mead is a geographer at the University of Sussex and his local history talks are always interesting and well illustrated.
Jacob saves Adonis
Since mid-November, a team of Jacob sheep have been employed to provide butterfly support services at Mill Hill Nature Reserve which is on the far side of Truleigh Hill.
Repairs to the entrance to Preston Nomads
The entrance to Preston Nomads CC is scheduled to be repaired on 22nd and 23rd November. This means that the residents’ parking area and footpath/bridleway won’t be accessible on those days. PNCC and their contractors will try and get this essential work done with minimum inconvenience. If you have any further queries please contact Martin Glover at martinpncc@gmail.com
Hog News
Fulking does not score well on the UK recorded hog sightings map. Like Small Dole, Edburton, Poynings, Saddlescombe, Pyecombe, and Clayton, no hedgehogs are recorded, dead or alive. They are reputed to prefer suburban areas to the countryside and the map does indeed record their presence in Hassocks, Henfield, Upper Beeding, and areas immediately south of the A27.
If, on November 5th, you plan to celebrate the first attempt to shutter the House of Lords, make sure that you do not incinerate Fulking’s only hedgehog.
Greater Brighton
Mr. Grylls, our Religious Affairs correspondent, writes:
My fellow parishioners are surely proud to be living in Greater Brighton also known, since 2014, as the Brighton & Lewes Downs UNESCO World Biosphere Region. We are to be vigorously and thoughtfully reminded of this tomorrow, Sunday 1st July, by a vibrant mid-morning stream of pullulating urban visitors encased in a throbbing day-glo rainbow of hi-viz lycra. Their mission is “to connect people and nature and so inspire a positive future that benefits us all” by “combating homelessness, creating opportunities, promoting change”, “conserving and enhancing nature” and “promoting environmental knowledge, learning and awareness”. Faced with such overwhelming beneficence, our humble role, as rural laymen, is simply to smile, wave, throw rice, and accept complimentary copies of The Watchower.