Latest News of Local Interest

West Sussex Better Connected Website Now Live

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better_connetctedGulu Sibanda, Principal Community Officer, West Sussex County Council writes :-

Please be advised that there is now a new website to help promote the benefits of better, faster broadband and therefore giving people information about what is happening and where.

A key feature is the interactive map which details activity by exchange area. As the network is being developed, we will update the map to show where work is being carried out and when new broadband services will become available. Initially the information that we can share on the map will be minimal but once we announce the roll out (before Easter) then it should become a useful visual tool for people to see progress in their area.

The website also has a short animation explaining the technology we will use as well as information about the benefits of better, faster broadband. Users can check the availability of broadband to their home or business and get in touch with suppliers to contract to buy services, in the usual way.

Please visit www.westsussex-betterconnected.org.uk for more information.

Fulking Parish Council – Planning Meeting Wednesday 5th March 2014

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Fulking Parish Council will hold a Planning Meeting on Wednesday 5th March 2014 at 6.30pm in the Village Hall

TO CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING PLANNING APPLICATIONS:-

SDNP/14/00675/FUL
Perching Sands Farm Edburton Road Fulking Henfield BN5 9LS

Agricultural building to serve the needs of the farm with two internal stables for private use.

Perching Sands Farm stables
Full information available on the South Downs National Park Website – here.

Members of the Public and Press are invited to attend.

Members of the public are entitled to speak at the meeting for two minutes, by prior arrangement with the Clerk Mrs. Andrea Dickson , tel 01444 451060 at least 1 hour before the meeting. No more than two speakers for each application and two against.

Andrea Dickson
Clerk to Fulking Parish Council
12 Turners Mill Road
Haywards Heath

Mayfield runoff

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The LAMBS flood gallery
The LAMBS website has another interesting article, this one on the implications of the Mayfield development for the regional hydrology:

“Every time it rains there would be massive floods which could wipe out Shoreham,” says Frank Preston who worked on the river for 30 years, as a Flood Defence Agent for Southern Water Authority. “The extra impervious run-off from houses and roads, that sort of thing, would just overpower the river.”
..
John Donaldson, former Operations Manager for the Environment Agency, with 35 years of experience in the water industry, says he was “horrified” when he heard of the plan. “The impact of the drainage system and surface water run-off will be a nightmare,” he says. “We can hardly manage the run-off that we’ve got at the present time. There’d be even greater flooding without doubt – to land, to property, to road systems and transport – everything. The upland catchment already has enough water in the meadows and fields – we cannot take any more water.”
..
[Peter Haworth Booth:] “The implications of Mayfield are enormous. I think a lot of houses just won’t be habitable. I don’t know what the quantities of water are but the speed of the run-off is going to cause mega problems from here down to Bramber.”

Read the rest at the LAMBS website.

Follow that cuckoo ..

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Cuckoo trackingDr. Phil Atkinson of the British Trust for Ornithology is giving a talk entitled “Follow that cuckoo and other stories” in the Garden Room at The Henfield Hall at 7:30pm on Friday 28th February. The talk will cover the use of such things as geolocators and satellite tracking which have enabled us to learn much more about the movements of certain species of migrating bird once they have left our shores.

[Free for members of Henfield Birdwatch, £3.00 on the door for nonmembers.]

Residents to solve monkey puzzle

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Protest march at Shamrock Farms
The West Sussex County Times reports:

Councillors were urged by planning officers at this week’s planning committee meeting to make a decision on the future of an old ‘monkey farm’ .. the two commercial buildings located on a brown field site in Small Dole have been proposed to be demolished and replaced by two detached houses with garages .. the application has been refused on previous occasions, reducing the number of dwellings from four, to three, and finally to two .. the industrial buildings were marketed for commercial use over a specified period, but did not generate any interest. .. It was finally agreed that the application be refused and the decision to be placed in the hands of residents as part of the local parish council’s Neighbourhood Plan.

Removal of overhead power lines

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Eyesore on the ridge above Fulking
The South Downs National Park Authority has a relevant press release:

Local residents and walkers using footpaths around the South Downs village of Cocking now have a clearer view, thanks to a £25,500 scheme by Southern Electric Power Distribution (SEPD) to remove nearby overhead power lines. .. SEPD engineers have recently completed a three month project to replace overhead electricity lines from land near the church with replacement underground cables. Three spans of power lines have been taken down and four wooden poles. .. The project was funded by a special allowance, granted to SEPD by industry regulator Ofgem, to invest in projects to underground power lines in AONBs and National Parks in central southern England.

Bramber unbumped

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St Mary's House, Bramber
The West Sussex County Times (print edition, February 13th) is reporting that West Sussex County Council has finally agreed to remove all of the speed bumps that have been causing damage to three of Bramber’s oldest houses: Yew Tree Cottage, The Gables and St. Mary’s House (shown above). The campaign by residents against the bumps has lasted for over twenty years.