Latest News of Local Interest
South Downs Society walk
Thursday June 12th, 2014, led by Brenda Mann and Shirley Murrell. Six miles, some steep hills but taken at an easy pace. Meet at 10:30am at Newtimber Church, for coffee or tea. Walk up Wolstonbury Hill and then on to The Plough at Pyecombe for lunch, or bring a picnic lunch. Afterwards walk to Saddlescombe and return to Newtimber by 3:00pm.
The Queen’s Speech
Governance of National Parks Draft Bill
The purpose of the Bill is to enable the composition of National Parks’ authorities to be broadened in the future. The main purpose of the draft Bill would be to provide for the holding of local elections to the authorities.
1 Direct elections
Enable eligible residents of the National Parks to directly elect some of the Authority members responsible for running their Park and taking planning decisions.
2 Amending the political balance requirement on local authority appointees
Allow local authorities to depart from the political balance rule if they appoint three or more members to the Park Authority where doing so would allow them to appoint a representative of a ward within the Park.
3 Allowing a wider range of parish representation
Allow parish councils to select their representatives to a Park Authority more widely. Currently they must select a parish councillor or chairman. They would be enabled to include anyone eligible to stand as a parish councillor.
Identifying Grasses, Sedges & Rushes
Two day course taught by Graeme Lyons at Woods Mill, 4th & 5th July. The first day looks at grasses and the second day at sedges and rushes. Attendees should gain a greater understanding of this difficult but ecologically important group of vascular plants. Specimens will be brought in from other habitats. This course often has a waiting list so book early to avoid disappointment.
The cattle upon a thousand hills
In view of a recent serious incident at the Dyke, local walkers may wish to bear the following NFU-approved Rambler guidelines in mind:
Do
- Try to avoid getting between cows and their calves.
- Be prepared for cattle to react to your presence, especially if you have a dog with you.
- Move quickly and quietly, and if possible walk around the herd.
- Keep your dog close and under effective control on a lead around cows and sheep.
- Remember to close gates behind you when walking through fields containing livestock.
Don’t
- Don’t hang onto your dog – if you are threatened by cattle, let it go as the cattle will chase the dog.
- Don’t put yourself at risk – find another way round the cattle and rejoin the footpath as soon as possible.
- Don’t panic or run – most cattle will stop before they reach you, if they follow just walk on quietly.
Unwanted greenhouse or cold frame?
If you want to be rid of an old greenhouse or large cold frame that is no longer in use, contact Helen Wilson at 23 Clappers Lane.
The History of a Downland Farm (Saddlescombe)
A talk by Nick Steer to the Henfield History Group on Tuesday 10th June at 8:00pm in the Free Church Hall, Henfield.
One in twelve
According to their own figures, police in West Sussex are only managing to solve one burglary in twelve. The West Sussex Gazette quotes the temporary chief constable as follows:
“We are taking this very seriously. I think there are two very clear reasons why this number has fallen. The first and most important is we just need to get better at investigating.”
He went on to blame a new computer system used to store data recently rolled out across the force.
The Sussex Police news isn’t all grim though: burglary victims will be pleased to learn that the force performs above average on a fifteen metre shuttle run; that a Chief Inspector has just set off for a ten day ‘fact-finding’ tour of Canadian universities; and that the Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner has been busy loading unwanted bedroom furniture into the back of a van.
Botany surveys
Please contact Petra Billings via petra.billings@btopenworld.com for further details.