County officers have now analysed the speed monitoring results of traffic through the Street and confirmed that it does qualify for a 20mph speed limit.

The request for the introduction of a 20mph scheme has been assessed against the County Traffic Regulation criteria. The assessed score of 28 puts it 5th on the Chanctonbury County Local Committee priority list, and means that the request could be implemented in the next financial year. 2009 - 2010.

Congratulations must go the Bramber Parish Councillors who have worked hard to achieve this outcome, and I will be supporting an early introduction of the 20 MPH limit.

The County Road Safety Team have told me that this review will be carried out later this year to assess the impact of the speed management scheme introduced early last year on the A281 through Woodmancote.

It has been confirmed that once the review is carried out I will be given the details of the outcome.

I discovered recently that when the new national concessionary bus scheme was introduced from April this year, the concessionary bus pass for companions to help blind people use buses was made discretionary to district councils. And most councils in West Sussex have decided that with Government Grant insufficient to cover the cost of the concessionary bus scheme in their area they would stop providing the concessionary companion bus pass.

This is discrimination against blind people and indeed others with disabilities who need a companion to use the buses.

I have taken this up with Horsham District Council, and whilst they are willing to pay for a companion pass within the Horsham District they have been unable to persuade other West Sussex District Councils to do the same.

I therefore raised this matter at the West Sussex County Council meeting on Friday, 25 July, and suggested that the new Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning & Transport should fund the cost of providing such companion passes accross the County. (The take up of the 3-in-1 discount card has not been as much as expected so there should be a big saving on the budget of £2.9m for that scheme.)

I also suggested that part of the saving from the 3-in-1 discount card scheme should be used to fund an extension of the concessionary disbilities bus pass scheme so that it operates earlier than 9 am. This would encourage people with disabilites into work as they would then be able to start work before 9am as required by most employers.

Parking along this section of the Lane causes access problems for larger vehicles such as refuse lorries or emergency vehicles. I have requested on behalf of local residents that parking is removed from this area to allow larger vehicles unimpeded access and to remove congestion caused by parked vehicles.

The County Council proposal, which is designed to facilitate the passage on the road or any other road of any class of traffic (including pedestrians), is:-

*To extend the double yellow lines on the North East side of Castle Lane from the end of the existing double yellow lines to the driveway access of Edgehill, and

*To extend the double yellow lines on the South West side of Castle Lane from the end of the existing double yellow lines to rear access of Hillside Terrace.

Hopefully this will be approved by the Chanctonbury County Local Committee and the works carried out later this year.

To all visitors to my website.

Due to the failure of the computer support arrangements for all Liberal Democrat Councillors websites for a few days recently this site was not available.

Hopefully this has now been resolved and business will be as usual in future!

Information Shops are a partnership between West Sussex County Council Youth Service and local District Councils. They provide young people in West Sussex, aged 13-25, with information, advice and support on: -

• Counselling
• Help to write a CV
• Pregnancy Testing
• Help to fill out forms
• Access to a wide range of information
• Condoms
• Leaflets
• Housing Referral
• Sexual Health
• Advocacy i.e. speak on the young person’s behalf
• Drugs and Alcohol intervention
• Liaison with other helping organisations
• Internet use
• And…much much more. Information Shops aim to: -

• Offer young people social education - in other words, help them make informed decisions about all areas of life e.g. work, relationships, health, finances.
• Respect young people and their point of view.
• Treat all enquiries as confidential.
• Be on the young person’s side. They do not talk parents, teachers or anybody else in authority without their agreement to do so except in very special circumstances, which would be discussed with the young person.

The Staff

• Are friendly and welcoming & easy to talk to.
• Do not judge in any way or make people feel embarrassed when dealing with personal issues.
• Help young people make positive choices without telling them what to do.
• Are trained to a high standard
• Will try and find someone who can help if they are unable to or specialist help is needed.

The Adur Information shop is based in Shoreham for young people in the Adur District area. It also, however, able to help young people from the Bramber Castle area of Ashurst, Bramber, Small Dole, Steyning, Upper Beeding and Woodmancote. The Shop is advertised at Steyning Grammar School.

Information Shops are currently under threat as previously reported on this website, but the Adur Information Shop clearly fulfill a major role in helping young people from the Bramber Castle area and I will what I can to ensure it is maintained.

For more information go to the Adur Information Shop website link shown under the Young People category on this website.

Once again this County Council meeting is likely to be webcast.

To see your County Councillors in action take the link via the West Sussex County Council website. The meeting starts at 10.30am.

One of the major items to be discussed is the County Council response to the Boundary Committee for England proposals for the new electoral divisions from 2009. Of particular contention are the proposals for the County Councillor for Billingshurst to also cover  Ashington, and significant division changes in Crawley. No changes are proposed for Bramber Castle.

Sussex Police is very keen to promote the use of the Neighbourhood Policing Website and increase the readership of Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s) individual blogs. Did you know that there is a facility for individuals to ’sign up’ to automatically receive blogs when they are published?

This is done by visiting the Sussex Police Website at www.sussex.police.uk selecting the individual PCSO for Steyning (Andy Reed) or Bramber/Upper Beeding/Small Dole (Carol Boniface), and click on the box ‘Get your Updates by Email’. You then simply complete your email details in order to receive regular blogs. This facility can be stopped at any time. (There is a link to the Sussex Police website from this website under ‘Neighbourhood Policing’)

This seems a great way of increasing PCSO contact with local people and I hope many people will take up the offer.

Liberal Democrats in Arundel & South Downs have welcomed the launch of the Liberal Democrats’ vision for Britain by Party Leader Nick Clegg MP. Called ‘Make it Happen’, the paper will be debated at the party’s conference in Bournemouth in September.

In ‘Make it Happen’ the Liberal Democrats say:

·         They will cut taxes for ordinary families

• If your local hospital can’t see you on time, they will pay for treatment elsewhere
• They will switch taxes from people to pollution - so it pays to go green
• To improve standards in education, they will fund extra help for those who need it most
• They will put Britain at the heart of Europe to make us a force for good in the world
• They will stop ID cards so we can keep control of our privacy
• They will change the voting system so everyone’s voice counts
• They will bring communities together with local people in charge

·         They will give communities a say in how offenders pay for their crimes

Derek Deedman, Chairman of Arundel & South Downs Liberal Democrats said, “I am delighted to be able to back ‘Make it Happen’. It sets out how the Liberal Democrats will run Britain.

“No resident of Arundel & South Downs has escaped the rising cost of food and fuel. The credit crunch is biting hard and local people are feeling the pinch.

“Nick Clegg has set out how we can help ordinary people through cutting taxes on those on low and middle incomes. Thousands of people in my area will benefit from this.

“In September, members from the Arundel & South Downs Executive Committee will be heading to the Liberal Democrats’ conference where we are looking forward to taking part in the debate on ‘Make it Happen’.”

I have recently been approached about the possible closure of the Shoreham based Adur Information Shop.

I have asked how many young people from Ashurst, Bramber, Small Dole, Steyning, Upper Beeding & Woodmancote use the services available at the Shoreham based shop. Apart from the Worthing Information Shop it is clearly the most accessible from a public transport point-of-view, and far closer than the one in Horsham. Hopefully statistics of such use are available.

I do not recall seeing any publicity in the Chanctonbury area about the Adur Information Shop, and yet the services available could be a useful facility in helping the Bramber, Beeding & Steyning Local Action Team interact with young people in the area.

Comments about the use of the Adur Information Shop by young people from this area would be very useful.  

The Liberal Democrats have today outlined radical plans to tackle youth crime.

The dual approach aims to stop young people committing crimes in the first place by enabling them to play a full role in society through increased training and volunteering, as well as stopping criminal behaviour early by making young offenders face up to their crimes.

The main proposals contained in the paper A Life Away From Crime (copy from me via my email address) include:

· The creation of a Youth Volunteer Force, to engage with young people, involve them in community projects and give them skills to benefit them in later life
· Establish Community Justice Panels across the country, where offenders admit their guilt to the community and agree on a Positive Behaviour Order as a course of action
· Create a dedicated PCSO youth officer within every Safer Neighbourhood Team to identify and work with teenagers most at risk of offending
· 10,000 more police on the streets by scrapping the ID cards scheme
· Intelligence-led stop and search and ‘hot spot policing’ targeted at gun and knife crime
· Restorative justice programs to be run in every community, specifically targeted at early intervention with widespread use in schools and care homes

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Affairs Secretary, Chris Huhne said:

“This Government has spent 10 years trying to sound tough while failing to cut youth crime.

“In fact, ministers have embarked on the mass criminalisation of a generation of young people. By dragging more and more young people through the criminal justice system, they have reduced the fear of a criminal record and contributed to the problem.

“Instead of shock tactics to grab headlines, we need practical measures that are proven to work.

“Only the Liberal Democrats propose a dual approach to stop kids from getting involved in crime in the first place, and measures to make them face up to the consequences of their actions if they do.”

The next meeting of the Parish Council takes place this evening at the Steyning Centre, Fletchers Croft, Steyning.

The meeting starts at 7.30pm. The Neighbourhood Wardens will be reporting on recent activities, and District and County Councillors will also be present to report and answer questions from Parish Councillors and public.

Many congratulations to the Neighbourhood Wardens for the success of the Mobile Skate Park held at Upper Beeding Primary School on 10 July.

Clearly the kids had a great time and also enjoyed seeing some demonstrations from Peter Short (who runs the Mobile Site and has roller-skated for England).

Hopefully the Mobile Skate Park events next month in Steyning will be as successful.

Click on to the Neighbourhood Wardens website (on useful links) for more information about last week’s event.

The weed growth in this footpath has now been treated and the evidence of this should shortly become visible. The Local Highway Manager has assured me that Highways staff will keep an eye on it in future and if it needs more than one spray a year it will be organised.

Concern has also been expressed about the overhang growth problems, but these are totally the responsibility of the landowners. Woodmancote Parish Council will be writing to all the relevant landowners asking them to deal with the problem, as such personal letters have been shown to be far more effective ( 95% success rate ) than the County Council sending impersonal letters which tend to be ignored. If no action results from the Parish Council letters within a reasonable timescale, then the County Council will be willing to follow-up more formally in due course.

I have asked the Parish Council to obtain more statistics of use of the footpath so that a case may be made to complete the final part into Henfield. Clearly such a scheme will have a higher priority in the Highway Works Programme if an increasing number of people are using the footpath.

At the special meeting held yesterday morning at my suggestion, with Parish and District Councillors, the local Highway Manager revealed the results of the traffic survey carried out north and south of Blackstone during a week last month.

It was found that at the checkpoint south of the Village that 266 vehicles per day passed at an average of 33/34 mph, with between 86 and 91% travelling at less than 41 mph. At the northern checkpoint, near Rose Cottage, the daily figure was 247 vehicles at an average speed of 39mph with some 66% travelling at less than 41 mph.

In view of the low traffic speeds, the meeting agreed that the introduction of a 40 mph limit, although justified by the existing speeds, would probably, based on experience elsewhere, lead to an increase in average speed up to near the 40 mph. In addition it was noted that the daily traffic numbers were much lower than on other ‘c’ classed roads.

The provision of road humps was suggested to reduce current speeds, but since this would require street lights and road markings and signs this was ruled out on environmental grounds.

Concern was expressed that the County Council was not doing enough to implement the County Highway Plan with regard to reducing lorry traffic along Blackstone Lane, and the Local Highway Manager agreed to discuss this with the officers at County Hall responsible for the implementation of the Plan.

It was suggested that individual action to report speeding lorries to their owners or to the Police via the Operation Crackdown number/website (see the link on this website) would help tackle the problem of lorry and speeding traffic.

Overall the meeting had to agree that in view of the low number of vehicles using the Lane and the low speed of that traffic, there was little that could be done to address local concerns about the use of the road. Woodmancote Parish Council will be reporting back to local residents in more detail about the meeting.

I have agreed to investigate further the possibility of advisory traffic signs re-directing lorry traffic from Blackstone Lane to other routes. In addition, at my request, the District Councillor present at the meeting agreed to investigate whether Horsham District Council could implement improvements to the centre of Blackstone since it is an official Conservation Area. Such works would enhance the local environment and might also deter through traffic using the Lane.

The next Parish Council meeting takes place tomorrow evening at the Parish Hall, Brighton Road, Woodmancote.

The meeting starts at 8pm, and County & District Councillors will be present to report on current activities as they concern the Parish and to answer questions from parish councillors and the public.

The Forum (CAFWS) aims to improve countryside access for all across the county. It is an independent, advisory body operating on a statutory basis.CAFWS was established in 2003 as required by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act), which placed a duty on each County Council, Unitary Authority and National Park to set up a Local Access Forum (in West Sussex this is CAFWS).

There was an excellent Forum Workshop at Haywards Heath on 2 July about the West Sussex Rights of Way Improvement Plan. The Plan was prepared last year but, although required by Government, no extra government funding has been provided to enable the Plan to be implemented.

The Workshop discussed ways in which CAFWS members could influence various bodies such as County, District and Parish Councils to assist in implementing the priority parts of the Plan. I made a strong plea to give the improvement of the Downs Link a priority, with more links to local communities such as Small Dole for cyclists. Ways to achieve this were discussed, including greater involvement of Parish Councils along the Downs Link route.

I have added a website link to the CAFWS website for people to keep up to date with it’s activities and progress on the Rights of Way Improvement Plan.

This footpath is currently being temporarily closed for emergency electrical work.

It has been agreed, however, that once the work is finished, the contractors will re-instate the path to the full width available. This would make it possible to consider making the route from Breach Close to the Grammar and Primary Schools entrance usable for cycling as well as the very many pedestrians who use it every day.

I will ask for this to be taken into account in the the school travel plans currently being revised.

A small number of residents have expressed support for a route alongside the Henfield Road, suggested in the Spring edition of the Bramber Castle Focus. This would enable people to walk/cycle between the villages in safety. Some said that it would also encourage them to cycle rather than use their cars.

One respondent suggested that rather than build such a new roadside footpath/cycleway, a cheaper solution would be to use the existing Right of Way (FP 2775) along New Hall Lane, and then go west to connect to the Downs Link. This would then provide a direct access from Small Dole by foot and bike safely to Henfield and Steyning in a much nicer environment.

Does this latest idea have local support? Please let me know.

Following the outcry against the proposed closure of this Service and the consequent setting up of a joint County, District & Parish Councillors Task Force to review the proposal, it has been agreed to continue the Service, with some minor changes, until March 2009.

The main changes are: - all metal items will now go into the caged unit for recycling, and hazardous waste such as TVs and computers will no longer be accepted.

From April 2009, a revised fortnightly mobile service will  concentrate on green waste for recycling,  co-ordinated with the roll out of the District Council’s new improved kerb-side collection  arrangements.  The mobile service for non-recyclable waste will also continue, but on a less frequent basis – possibly monthly.

This joint working by the local community  has achieved success, and the County Council has pledged to keep us  informed on the service in future.