Fewer complaints

Shortlisted for planning excellence in 2014
The Midhurst and Petworth Observer notes a report to the SDNPA from its director of planning, Tim Slaney:

[The] report showed that a total of 19 complaints were received in the year to March 31, 2014 compared with 32 the previous year when the new planning administration system was introduced and “numbers are considered to be relatively low”. .. A total of 2,366 planning applications were decided 
across the park last year by the authority’s own planning committee and all the planning authorities inside its boundaries. .. Almost 80 per cent of the total were decided in the allotted timescale of eight, 13 or 16 weeks and, said Mr Slaney: “This is considered to be a generally good overall level of performance.”

New bus service

A section of the Southern Transit bus route
Southern Transit, a company based at the Upper Beeding butterfly sanctuary, is introducing a new bus service between Shoreham and Horsham that will run every weekend over the period 26th July to 7th September this year. There’s a stop in Small Dole, buses run every couple of hours, and the usual fare concessions apply. Click the map above to download a timetable [PDF].

Update: The Argus reports here.

WSCC dating website

WSCC dating website

West Sussex County Council runs a dating website, love.westsussex.gov.uk which enables members of the public to meet, and perhaps even marry, council employees. Council employees have secure employment, reasonable salaries, comfortable pensions and better than average looks which makes them a sensible choice in the mating market.

Er, no, not exactly. At least one of those claims is as misleading as the name of the website. The purpose of the latter is altogether more prosaic. But useful, nonetheless. Check our new reference page, ‘Potholes, etc.‘, under the ‘The Environment’ menu near the bottom of the left sidebar.

Removal of overhead power lines [2]

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

UK Power Networks, which delivers electricity supplies in the South East, has just completed a project to remove 1.4 miles of power lines, poles and equipment at the Rathfinny Wine Estate. .. The £426,513 improvements were funded by the electricity distributor’s £6.6 million initiative to enhance nationally-protected landscapes. New underground cables have been laid to replace the power lines on the wine estate and National Trust’s Frog Firle Estate.

Pete Currell, from the South Downs National Park Authority, said: “This underground cabling is just one of three schemes happening in the National Park over the next two years and we hope that we’ll be able to announce two more in the very near future.”

The projects are chosen by a regional steering group of environment experts, including the South Downs National Park, and chaired by Natural England. UK Power Networks provides technical support and guidance and carries out the projects. Between 2010 and 2015 UK Power Networks has £6.6million to invest in projects to replace overhead lines with underground cables in AONBs and National Parks in the South East. Since 2005 the company has removed 86km of power lines to enhance some of Britain’s most important landscapes.

Earlier post here.