Tuesday, 1 July

Upper Beeding Parish Council meets at 7.30 pm at the Beeding & Bramber Village Hall, High Street, Upper Beeding.

Wednesday, 2 July

Bramber Parish Council meets at 7.30 pm at the Beeding & Bramber Village Hall, High Street, Upper Beeding.

Thursday, 3 July

Ashurst Parish Council meets at 8 pm at the Village Hall, Ashurst.

County and District Councillors will be present to answer questions from the public.

Upper Beeding Primary School, Upper Beeding Baptist Church and Beeding & Bramber Village Hall have joined forces for today’s Village Fete. The profits  from this event will be divided equally between all three charities.

Mrs Connell, Teachers, Teaching Assistants, parents, friends and School Governors (including me!) are giving up some or all of this Saturday to help make the Fete a success and are manning some of the stalls.

The Fete starts at 10am and finishes at 5pm.  The weather is supposed to be good, so come along to join in the fun.  See you there!

In the by-election in Henley yesterday the Liberal Democrats increased their share of the vote and held their own against the Conservatives, in spite of the Tories current very high opinion poll ratings.

Labour suffered the most humiliating result losing their deposit and coming fifth.

The result was: -

Tory 19796 56.7% (+3.2%)

Lib Dem 9680 27.7 % (+1.7%)

Green 1321

BNP 1243

Labour 1066

Ukip 843

Others 966

Turnout 34915

The key message for the next General Election from yesterdays result is that in contests with the Tories, the Lib Dems should hold their current seats, whilst in contests with Labour, the Lib Dems are likely to make gains.

Compass Travel have a bus available for an additional shopping service on a Wednesday, and I have been contacted about the need for such a service from Small Dole to Brighton.

Clearly such a service would not provide the daily regular hourly service to Shoreham and Worthing lost when the 2A service timetable was changed, removing the connection with the 100 service, but if the shopping service was to Worthing –would it meet a need? The service could include Edberton, Fulking and Poynings.

Compass Travel say they would need to carry at least 15-20 people each week to justify it without a subsidy. And with fuel prices soaring it is unlikely  such a subsidy would be available from the County Council, which will be under pressure to increase the subsidy for existing routes.

So, is there a demand for an additional shopping bus service to Worthing or Brighton? Please let me know.

Operation Crackdown, which has been a great success in removing abandoned vehicles from local neighbourhood, has been extended to try to tackle anti-social drivers.

A representative of Operation Crackdown was at the Chanctonbury County Local Committee on Tuesday to explain the new campaign which has been in operation for a few months.

You can tell Operation Crackdown about anti-social driving you have seen by using the new Sussex-wide Operation Crackdown website (using the link from this website).

Speeding, thoughtless driving or riding, under-age drivers or riders, drink or drug driving, tailgating, mobile phone use whilst driving, vehicles in an unsafe condition, abandoned cars, untaxed cars ans motorbikes……

If you see any of these things or any other unreasonable behaviour by drivers or riders: -

*if in another vehicle, pull over safely (or ask a passenger) and write down the details of the vehicle causing concern (make, model, colour, number plate), location (house number, shop name, road name etc), and what happened.

*when able to access a computer, visit www.operationcrackdown.org or call 01243 642222 with your information.

Remember, do not attempt do do any of this while driving!

Your information will be analysed and appropriate action taken by Sussex Police.

If you, like me, are tired of anti -social driving in our area, especially speeding on our residential roads, don’t tolerate it…. Report it!

The Priority List for the next few years for the Chanctonbury area was approved by the County Local Committee on Tuesday.

Apart from the waiting restriction scheme for the Charlton Street area already mentioned on this website and due to be carried out later this year, the schemes for the Bramber Castle area are: -

2008/09

Extension to the existing waiting restrictions at the Castle Lane/Jarvis Lane junction, Steyning

2009/10

Waiting restrictions in Hyde Lane/Pound Lane, Upper Beeding

2010/11

Waiting restrictions in Saltings Way, Upper Beeding

There will, of course, be full public consultation on the detailed proposals for the above schemes, before they are considered by the Chanctonbury County Local Committee for approval.

Upper Beeding Primary School, Upper Beeding Baptist Church and Beeding & Bramber Village Hall have joined forces to have one Village Fete for the first time, and the Chanctonbury County Local Committee on Tuesday agreed to making a grant of £1000 towards the setting up costs and equipment.

The Fete is taking place on Saturday, 28 June.

I was pleased to recommend to my councillor colleages on the Chanctonbury County Local Committee that they should approve this grant, which will help towards this first joint event being a success and reduce the cost of future Village Fetes.

West Sussex County Council are to impose a 40 mph temporary speed limit on the A283 from the Upper Beeding roundabout to the Bramber Castle roundabout.

The new speed limit is due to operate from 14 July 2008 to enable maintenance works on the bridge over the river Adur to be carried out safely.

The works will last for approximately 11 weeks or until the proposed works are completed, whichever is earlier.

Any queries about the effect of the Order on traffic using the highway should be directed to the West Sussex County Council Contact Centre, telephone number 01243 642105.

I have informed the officers that it is a pity that the limit will not be permanent, especially if there are no problems whilst it is in operation. It will make the Downs Link crossing of the A283, which is between those two roundabouts, much safer.

The Local Highway Manager has just updated me on the grass cutting situation.

He confirmed that the reason why the grass cutting had fallen behind by early June was because of the bad weather earlier in the season which delayed the operatives, and the slow growth in the early months for the same reason when normally vigorous growth is expected. The weather has turned warmer of course which combined with the wet conditions has led to the grass being very difficult to cut.

The delay in cutting was two weeks at the most, but this has been pulled back to just one week now, so the situation is improving. The cut which should have taken place in Steyning on 2nd June actually took place on the 10th which was one week and a day late. The next cut in this area is due to commence 26th June and will begin in Upper Beeding to make sure it is completed before Beeding in Bloom.

He regrets that the schedule did fall behind but every effort is being made to catch up and hopefully the County should be back on programme very soon.

He stated that it is unfortunate that the County was not in a position to collect the cut grass, even under these circumstances, as the expense in doing so would be prohibitive.

The Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport confirmed to me at the County Council meeting on 6 June that the full eleven cuts planned for the year would take place.

Hopefully the programme of cuts will now proceed according to the published schedule and the area will look attractive once again.

The Government’s ‘one size fits all’ approach to schools was accused on Monday of failing thousands of pupils by not providing a personalised education by Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg.

In a speech on 16 June, Nick Clegg set out plans to give schools greater freedoms, allowing them to tailor education to the needs of their pupils. He proposed:

· Scrapping mandatory national tests for seven and 14 year olds, with the money saved put into early assessment at age five and a huge expansion of one-to-one reading and numeracy tuition.
· Abolishing the overly prescriptive national curriculum and replacing it with a shorter document, and allowing all schools the curriculum freedoms currently enjoyed by Academies.
· Taking the politics out of the day-to-day management of schools by establishing an independent Education Standards Authority and slashing the size of the central government department by half.
· Changing targets so that schools are incentivised to address the needs of all pupils, not just those ‘borderline’ pupils.

Contact me for a full copy of the speech.

The next meeting will be tomorrow on 17 June at Henfield Leisure Centre.

Starting at 3.30pm with a Speed Watch & Road Safety ‘talk to us’ Event and followed by a full CLC meeting starting at 6pm. The meeting will establish priorities for Traffic Regulation Orders and feature a West Sussex Fire & rescue Presentation.

All are invited to both events with free tea and cake.

Derek Deedman will be present for both events.

For more details go to the link on this website to the Chanctonbury CLC.

There will be a Forum meeting to update local community groups, Parish Councils and Residents Associations about the West Sussex Minerals and Waste Development Framework (MWDF) on Wednesday, 9 July from 7 to 9.30pm at the Steyning Centre, Fletchers Croft Steyning.

Invitations have been issued to those who may have been involved with the work that the County Council Minerals and Waste Policy Team (the Team) undertook during 2005 and 2006. The Government announced further changes to the planning system since then and the decision was taken to wait until the outcome of these changes was known until proceeding further with the MWDF. Rather than producing three separate documents, it is likely that there will be a single Core Strategy document including strategic minerals and waste sites. Comments received from the previous consultation will inform this work.

The aim of the Forum is to provide a chance to catch up with where the Team is with the work and to check, challenge and seek clarification of information and thinking so far, and local input is important to the early evidence gathering stage. The evening will be run by County Council officers and facilitated by an independent team from Inside Outreach who are working with the Team enhance their community engagement.

Hopefully people will leave the meeting clear about what is going on; what the changes are to the planning system and how it applies in West Sussex. Feedback will also be sought on some of the evidence the Team has gathered so far. This will be in preparation for a more formal consultation in 2009.

Attendance is by specific invitation only. If you represent a community group in the Bramber Castle area, have previously contributed to the work of the Team or consider you have an input to make on behalf of a community group not originally involved, and have not been invited, please contact me by 23 June. Spaces are limited and so it may not be possible for you now to be invited, but I will see if a place can be found.

The Steyning, Bramber & Upper Beeding Wardens now have their own website and a link to this has been added to this website under their name.

Go to http:/sbubwardens.squarespace.com for news, information and how to contact them.

I have complained about the dangers of the Horsham Road/Steyning Bypass junction for a number of years. It is particularly bad at night; but the County Council does not support improved street lighting because such a ‘pool’ of light, with darkness either side on a fast road, is considered to be even more dangerous. 

Earlier this year I suggested to the Local Highway Manager that consideration be given to the provision of reflective road studs on the A283 westbound approach to the Horsham Road junction. The exit is a sharp bend off the Bypass which is not really clear in the dark and such indicative studs would improve the situation.

A new Traffic Officer is now in post and will be investigating such a safety improvement.

The Order for this temporary closure, to carry out electrical works, will come into effect on 30 June and will last for 6 months or until the proposed works are completed. It is anticipated however that the works will start on or soon after that date and will take 2 weeks to complete.

The published alternative route available for pedestrians will be via the footpath that runs behind 22 Breach Close and the exit adjacent to 14 Coxham Lane. Another option is the footpath from Tanyard Lane to Thornscroft and then the footpath from Thornscroft to Coxham Lane.

Any queries about the works to take place should be directed to Emma Osbourne, Amber Langis, telephone number (01474) 573831. Any queries about the effect of the closure on pedestrians using the footpath should be directed to Emily Delicata, WSCC, telephone number (01243) 753599.

Concern has been expressed to me about the present state of the footpath and so this is a good opportunity for a full width reinstatement of path to be carried out. I am informed that the County Council is in discussions with EDF at the moment to achieve this on completion of their work.

Following the reinstatement work hopefully more parents will use the Newmans Gardens Car Park to drop off their children to walk to school or to then walk with them to school. This would then reduce the traffic congestion at the Shooting Field entrance to the Grammar and Primary Schools.

As the local County Councillor, I have agreed that the proposed Traffic Regulation Order containing additional yellow lines for White Horse Square, Charlton Street and at the junction of Sir Georges Place and the High Street, can be published for public consultation.

The parking of cars in the very narrow White Horse Square has been a contentious issue for many years. Damage has been caused to front walls by vehicles trying to pass the cars parked opposite the houses concerned. The small proposed extension of the yellow lines, although not welcomed by all local residents, is a compromise to protect property whilst not making a significant reduction in the limited number of parking spaces in the area.

As the local County Councillor, I have agreed that the County Council can approve the introduction of ‘clock cards’ by Horsham District Council in this car park, to improve the enforcement of the one hour parking limit.

In giving my support I have made it clear that this approval does not extend to any other changes that the District Council might wish to introduce in the future. (e g charges, to which I am completely opposed.)

Following my recent meeting with the Local Highways Manager he has agreed to take the following action: -

*will investigate the provision of another ‘unsuitable for heavy vehicles’ sign, this time at the Cripps Lane end of Jarvis Lane. Hopefully this will considerably reduce the damage to parked cars and the traffic congestion caused by of such vehicles using this very narrow Lane.

*will pursue the provision of ‘gateways’ at either end of Small Dole and in Bramlands Lane in Woodmancote. The Small Dole ‘gateways’ are included in the Highway Works programme for 2008/09 to be funded by planning contributions fron developers. The Bramlands Lane ‘gateways’ were agreed when it was decided not to continue with an official 30 mph limit.

*chase the removal of the trees growing in the ditch at the Canons Way junction with the A283 Steyning Bypass. The trees considerably reduce the visibility for traffic wishing to turn right from Canons Way of fast approaching traffic along the A283 from the west.

*arrange for permanent traffic signing for the new Health Centre in Newmans Gardens, Steyning, in time for it’s opening in late August/early September.

*chase work on footway defects in Shooting Field and potholes at junction of Tanyard Lane and Beach Close (both in Steyning) I had previously reported to him.

*arrange for traffic/speed counting in Blackstone Lane , Woodmancote, to obtain data on which to base proposals to improve the traffic situation along the Lane.

*take action to require the restoration of the grass verges along the Steyning Bypass damaged by contractors vehicles attending to utility work. (The obstruction caused by one of these vehicles parking on the Castle Lane bypass foot/cycleway are being addressed by the Police.)

The next meeting takes place tomorrow, starting at 7.30pm at the Steyning Centre, Fletchers Croft, Steyning.

The meeting is open to the public, and Police, Neighbourhood Wardens, District Councillors and the County Councillor will also be present to make reports and answer questions.

The Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning & Transport confirmed to Derek Deedman at the County Council meeting on 6 June that the full programme of grass verge cuts would take place this year.

Derek asked the question in view of the number of planned earlier grass cuts which do not appear to have taken place, leaving the grass sky high in many areas.

The Cabinet Member admitted that the bad weather had delayed some of the grass cutting, but that the full number of eleven cuts programmed for the year would take place by the Autumn.

In a historic vote the County Council at it’s meeting on 6^th June voted by an overwhelming majority to bid to the Government to take over the functions of the West Sussex Primary Care Trust (PCT).

The Council was encouraged to take this action by the Government’s recently announced proposals to give people the chance to have a greater say in the way local health services are delivered, to help improve services to patients, and to make the local NHS more accountable to the people they serve.

Liberal Democrat County Councillor, Derek Deedman (Bramber Castle), proposed to the meeting that the functions of the PCT be brought under democratic control. The Leader of the Conservative Group congratulated Derek on bringing the proposal to the Council, which he said was one of the most important that had come before the Council in recent years. With some agreed amendments the proposal was accepted by the majority  Conservative Group and passed overwhelmingly, with the only opposition coming from the three members of the Labour Group present.

Mr Deedman said, “Local Government Association, Conservative and Liberal Democrat policies support greater local democratic control of local health services, and we should take up that challenge as to how that can be achieved, now.

“Direct County Council responsibility for local health services would enable the democratic deficit to be addressed, and would lead to improved working between health and social care. If it had already been in place this would have enabled the appalling original ‘Fit for the Future’ proposal, which, even now, has only been partially addressed at a high cost to the County Council budget, MPs’ and stress to the public, to have been avoided.

“Furthermore such a responsibility would give democratic control over the need for a new hospital in the Crawley and Horsham area which is currently of great to local residents. In addition the County Local Committee network would be an ideal forum for local monitoring and public consultation on local area health provision.

“Finally such an organisation would lead to considerable cost savings. For example it would need one Chief Executive and one set of support services for finance, legal, IT and personnel.

“This is a ‘win win’ situation - better, more effective and efficient local health and social care services, under local democratic control, and at a lower cost. I am delighted that the Council supported my proposal.”

Note - a full webcast of the debate can be seen via the West Sussex County Council  website link  from this website.

A number of residents have contacted me about the lack of grass cutting of highway verges leading to ever taller grass - and just when the judges will soon be around for the annual ‘In Bloom’ contest.

It appears that it was all that rain last month which caused the May grass cut to be cancelled, but the Local Highway Manager has responded to the concerns by organising an earlier cut this month than planned.  The verges should now be cut in Upper Beeding, and hopefully Steyning as well, on 23 June. This should enable the cuttings to be dispersed before the ‘In Bloom’ judging takes place.

The meeting, open to the public, will be at County Hall, Chichester, starting at 10.30am.

The meeting may be filmed for live or subsequent broadcast via the County Council website on the internet. Log on to the West Sussex website (link from this site) at 10.30am on Friday!

Apart from questions to the Leader and Cabinet Members, one major debate will be on whether to approve more paid jobs for the Tories with an additional Cabinet post (for Education & Skills) and up to four more deputy cabinet posts.

Another debate will be on my Motion to welcome the Government’s proposals in the draft Queen’s Speech to improve local control over the National Health Service, by asking the Leader of the Council to call on the Government to approve a merger of the West Sussex PCT and the County Council.

In starting the debate, I will highlight the Conservative Chairman of the Local Government Association press release supporting giving people the chance to have a greater say in how their local health services are delivered. I will refer to the existing close working between the County Council and the PCT in a number of areas (£100m budget) and how this is proposed to be extended in the next Local Agree Agreement to work jointly on a number of targeted improvements to services.

I will stress how such a merger would address the democratic deficit in the current situation, which led to the appalling proposal as the original ‘Fit for the Future’ which has only been more-or-less corrected at a high cost to the County Council budget, MPs and stress to the public. Furthermore such a merger would give democratic control over the need for a new hospital in the Crawley and Horsham area. In addition the County Local Committee network would be an ideal forum for local monitoring and public consultation on local area health provision.

Finally such a merger should lead to considerable cost savings. Starting at the top, one organisation would only need one Chief Executive and one set of support services for finance, legal, IT and personnel.

This is a ‘win win win’ situation - better, more effective and efficient local health and social care services, under local democratic control, and at a lower cost. I hope the Council will support my proposal.

The fuel protests hammer home a clear message. After the 10p tax rebellion, the local elections, and the Crewe by-election, no one can doubt the mood of the country any more. There is insurrection in the air. The British people are ready for change and they don’t believe Labour can deliver it.

So the next big question is: what kind of change do people want? And which opposition party can make it happen?

The Conservatives have painted an image of a brave new world, where the sun shines and David Cameron charms the birds out of the trees. The Cameroons have started to believe their own hype: insisting on their right to enter Number 10 without working out what they’d do once the door closed behind them.

Their strategy is simple enough: why bother choosing policies when the Government is shooting itself in the foot? Cameron’s speech on tax last week was a case in point: he made a virtue of the fact that he will make no further specific commitments on public spending or tax. They are elevating policy evasion to an art form. 

Cameron cries crocodile tears for the poor families affected by the doubling of the 10p tax rate, but his one and only tax policy is to cut inheritance tax for the richest six per cent of people. He has supported calls for “food security” - code for protectionism - but also lectured the World Trade Organisation on the importance of free trade. 

He tells us to “go green”, but won’t commit to specific policies to help us. He has preached about personal privacy, but wants to abolish Data Protection laws. Like Labour, he promises to decentralise, but steers clear of explaining how or when.Tory policy makes about as much sense as a Turner prize entry.

Currently, this incoherence is the Tory party’s greatest strength: they can’t be pinned to anything people don’t like. But it’s no serious programme for government. It offers nothing to people concerned about knife crime, or worried about higher fuel bills. The public has been promised the moon on a stick by Mr Cameron. Soon they will start to ask how he’ll get it for them - and a gleaming smile won’t be enough. 

Politics is about choices between competing ideas, not just agreeing with everyone. It’s because we understand this that the Liberal Democrats speak in detail about how we would deliver a more liberal Britain. We are the only party committed to cutting taxes for low and middle income families at the next election. We’re committed to fair pensions for women, and the immediate restoration of the earnings link - while the other parties just talk about doing something for pensioners, possibly, some day. 

We’ll change the school funding system so children who need the most help, get the most help, and we’ll put together a financial plan to pay for every penny. Everyone, no matter their background, will have a patient guarantee, so if the NHS can’t treat them in time, the government will pay for them to be treated elsewhere. 

We don’t just talk about protecting the environment. We’ll make polluters pay, so we can cut taxes for ordinary families, charge a toll for lorry road journeys so we can invest in a high-speed rail network, put fair charges on air travel, and support local recycling and green energy. 

Policy details are seldom much interest to voters. But people deserve to know what a party will do if it wins. Without detail the public has no sense of the values of a politician, still less any evidence that they’ll stand by them. 

The Conservative Party has convinced itself that it deserves power but that it’s safer not to tell us what it would do with it. But as the election closes in, people will see that they have been promised nothing dressed up as everything. 

With the Brown Government circling the drain there is the chance for a genuine new direction for the country. Not just a change of prime minister, but a real change of direction. That calls for a party that doesn’t just talk about the idea of change: it makes change happen.