The Government is to give West Sussex County Council £1.2m during the period 2009/11 for new and improved playgrounds.

The Youth Service will administer the funding and the programme, and develop a Play Strategy. County Local Committees (CLC) are to be consulted, with the Chanctonbury CLC on 17 March to receive a report about the programme which is to delivered with District and Parish Councils in line with criteria agreed with’Play England‘.

The purpose of the programme is to deliver a minimum of 22 new or significantly refurbished open play sites for the benefit of children, young people and communities in West Sussex by 2011.

The national website about this is: - http://www.playbuilder.co.uk/playbuilder

A local resident in Small Dole has been asking for information as to when the Small Dole playground will be improved; but with the Upper Beeding Parish Council short of finance the current programme for the Parish stretches over a number of years. Hopefully the Parish Council will now soon be consulted on this new government funding and will be able to make a bid for some of the money which is available. 

Following the Steyning Chamber of Trade Annual General meeting on Monday evening I have written to the Steyning Parish Clerk about some concerns and suggestions arising out of the meeting.

It was mentioned at the Chamber of Trade AGM on Monday evening that the current sign in the High Street at the Tanyard Lane junction for this car park is rather confusing in that it says Short Term parking which visitors might think means about one/two hours and thus put them off from using it. Perhaps it should be changed to say Four Hour parking?

It was also suggested that in emerging from the Twitten in the High Street from the car park most visitors turn left to the majority of shops and are unaware of the shops to the right down to the Tanyard Lane junction. Could a sign be added to the nice new one opposite the Twitten to indicate those other shops? An alternative might be the following suggestion.

It might be useful if there was a notice board in the car park giving a map of the High Street and showing all the various shops and their location in the High Street, something like the maps in shopping malls. Clearly if thought a good idea the Chamber should be expected to contribute towards this notice board, and it would also need to be kept up-to-date.  

Despite the completion of the new Church Street car park some months a go, there are still no signs indicating when it is available for public use, nor any directions to the car park. The original intention was that it would be available for the local community outside the period between 8 am and 4 pm, Monday to Friday during which times it  was for school use only.

It is good to learn from a recent exchange between District Councillor George Cockman and the Grammar School that the school is currently in discussion with Steyning Parish Council regarding both the signs and the public use agreement, and progress is expected soon.

Following my jibe at the County Council Budget meeting earlier this month about the £174,000 being included in the County budget from April for ‘Members priorities’ Fund, the Tories have clearly had a re-think!

I have now learned that most of this Fund will be transferred, temporarily at least, to cover the cost of reversing the budgeted saving on reducing library opening hours. We have been told, however, that the underlying plan is to still keep looking for further efficiencies in library services that would still retain  the current framework of opening hours - for the coming year or so at least.

At the Multi-agency Flooding Working Group yesterday it was agreed that a joint officers team with staff from each of the agencies involved (County Highways, Horsham District, Environment Agency and Souther Water) should meet soon to discuss and recommend action back to the Working Group on  about five priority schemes within the Chanctonbury area.

My suggestion that full commitment should be given at senior level to this work by all of the agencies involved was agreed. Once again, however, both the Environment Agency and Southern Water were not represented by senior staff at yesterday’s meeting, and the representatives present will have to go back to their bosses to agree this commitment.

Hopefully one of the priority areas will be in the Bramber Castle Division and a number of possible sites (including Mouse Lane/Horsham Road) were identified at yesterday’s meeting. Action at another site in the Woodmancote area has already been agreed.

The next meeting of the full Multi-agency Flooding Working Group will take place on 19 March to consider the progress being made by the joint officers team.

I have been sent the design for this long and hard fought for crossing at this dangerous junction in Steyning. With so much support over the years, and more recent emails of support following the article in the Winter edition of Focus, I was able to welcome the detailed scheme on behalf of local people.   

The Traffic Signal Engineer at County Hall has now arranged for public notices to be erected at the junction to advertise the crossing as part of the public consultation process.  

The design of the crossing means that an application has had to be made to move the bus stop outside Goring Court to a position slightly further north of the crossing.

Hopefully the new crossing will soon be in place.

Following concern about the present timetable of fortnightly visits to Steyning, I have been told that the current arrangements are being extended to July. This is pending the final decision on the date the new Horsham mixed recycling collection will be introduced in the Bramber Castle area. 

Liberal Democrats in Arundel & South Downs have welcomed plans to boost affordable housing and avoid home repossession.

The plans, launched by the Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable MP and Shadow Housing Minister Sarah Teather MP, include:

• providing refurbishment loans for owners of empty homes if the homes are leased to housing associations,
• boosting the amount of private housing for rent including using empty commercial property temporarily as housing,
• bringing in a new type of secure mortgage to help boost lending to house buyers,
• letting councils and housing associations buy up unsold private houses and allowing them access to funds to bring them homes up to social housing standards,
• making sure the courts allow repossession only as a last resort.

County Councillor Derek Deedman said, “Many people in Arundel & South Downs are struggling to get their own home or are facing repossession because of the recession. We must do all we can to help residents through these bad times.

“Many homes built just before the recession started lie empty, often because the banks are not lending to people wanting to buy, yet there are many people needing a place to live. We want to unblock the system and our plans will help to do that.

“Giving housing associations and councils the opportunity to buy up empty homes that builders cannot sell will mean hundreds of local families will be able to rent a place of their own.

“Many privately owned homes stand empty so leasing them to housing associations means people can move into homes that would otherwise remain unused.

“And making sure that the courts only allow homes to be repossessed as an absolute last resort will save many families in Arundel & South Downs from the terrible situation of having their home taken away from them.”

Derek wants to know people’s views on the plans. Contact him via the link on this website.

A proposal was made by Parish Councilllor Bob Harber at the recent meeting of the Parish Council on 3 February that the 20mph speed limit suggested for the vicinity of the primary school be extended to the entire village (apart from the A2037 Henfield Road). This was generally regarded with approval by the meeting and I suggested that the Clerk contact the Local Traffic Engineer requesting a meeting to discuss this. 

I understand from Bob that a survey some time ago found that the average speed in Upper Beeding High Street was 21-22mph. With only 3 entrances to the central residential area (The Rising Sun mini-roundabout, the Manor Road junction with Henfield Road, and the Beeding/Bramber Bridge), it seems eminently suitable for a complete 20mph zone.

Bob has contacted the Clerks to both Bramber Parish Council and Steyning Parish Council to suggest that co-ordination at the village boundaries would reduce the signage and the costs, whilst simultaneously raising the profile of the initiative. Both Bramber and Steyning are bidding for 20 mph zones in their areas and it has been suggested that a joint meeting be held to discuss how the proposals can be progressed.

I hope to attend such a meeting as I  fully support the principle of a 20 mph speed limit in residential areas, and would have to promote any scheme for Bramber/Steyning/Upper Beeding at the Chanctonbury County Local Committee if it was to be considered for approval.   

For more information about the national campaign group 20’s Plenty For Us go to  http://www.20splentyforus.org.uk/ 

Following reports from users of the Downs Link near Steyning of the appalling state of the surface I have raised the situation with the County Council officers responsible for the maintenance of the route. They have informed me that: -    

1.       The rutting on the new section of the South Downs Way (SDW) near the A283 lay-by; the Public Rights of Way team leader is meeting the contractor who carried out the work on site next week.
   

2.       Top of the flood defence from SDW bridge towards Annington Road - this section is not surfaced at all and has subsequently deteriorated resulting in deep puddles. Several organisations have a responsibility for it as well as the County Council through it’s management of the Downs Link. It is part of the SDW and therefore a South Downs Joint Committee (SDJC) responsibility. It is also on a flood defence and therefore the Environment Agency (EA) has an interest. Whilst this may explain why nothing has been done it is not acceptable and the County Council will speak to the others involved to improve it and try to access some funding to surface it.
   

3. Top of the flood defence from SDW bridge towards Annington Road - this section is not surfaced at all and has subsequently deteriorated resulting in deep puddles. Several organisations have a responsibility for it as well as the County Council through it’s management of the Downs Link. It is part of the SDW and therefore a South Downs Joint Committee (SDJC) responsibility. It is also on a flood defence and therefore the Environment Agency (EA) has an interest. Whilst this may explain why nothing has been done it is not acceptable and the |County Council will speak to the others involved to improve it and try to access some funding to surface it.
4. Annington Road junction towards A283 – it is agreed that this is an absolute mess! It appears that the EA have caused most of the damage by their contractors using some heavy machinery earlier last week to bring on a new pump. This is being followed up with the EA and their contractor, for them to make good the surface.

One further piece of information is that the section to the north of the A283 crossing is flooded and impassable without wellingtons. This has been caused by the ditch in the adjacent field overflowing.

The EA have now acknowledged that they caused the damage to the section of the route north of Annington Road. The reason being that their pump by the river had broken down, and they have removed it for repair, requiring heavy machinery to move it. They are due to return it this week and have said they will regrade the path after that. They have agreed to meet with County Officers to look into funding resurfacing that section to a specification suitable to both parties.

As a side note the failure of the pump has also caused the flooding of the wooded section on the other side of the A283 due to water backing up in the adjacent ditch.

Following a request from a local resident about the steps up to the By pass on Footpath 2585 from Abbey Road, I have been informed that: -

The handrail has been replaced pending the bridge contraption at the bottom of the steps being replaced with a much safer structure. The steps will be replaced when the bridge is replaced.

The problem has been added to the annual minor works project list and it is hoped that it will be sorted out in the next financial year, i.e. this calendar year, 2009.

More information will be published when it is confirmed that the works have been included in the Budget. 

On Friday 13 February, (definitely unlucky for all council tax payers!), the County Council agreed a 3.25% rise in Council Tax from 1 April. Whilst this was lower than originally proposed by the Tories, their amendment was still above current inflation and will be well above the anticipated level of inflation for the rest of this year, which is expected to be not much higher than zero.

The Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition on the County Council pointed out that the increase ought to be much lower to help residents during the recession. And since Council Tax will now have risen more than three times the rate of increase in inflation since the Tories regained control of the County Council in 1997, there was really no excuse for yet another inflation busting rise.

Speaking later in the debate I highlighted a number of areas where budget items could have been cut to considerably reduce the demand on taxpayers next year – and this did not include any cuts from the list of highly emotive front line service referred to by the Tory Cabinet Member for Finance, which she claimed would have to be cut to reduce the Budget!

My suggested reductions were: -

        *   to further reduce the provision for inflation increases during the year; at 2.25% the Tory                 provision was still likely to be considerably higher that actual inflation,

• to allow for a reasonable saving in expenditure during the year from the £millions invested in consultants and staff time carrying out the fundamental review of services. The target in the 2009/10 Corporate Plan was £20m, yet a saving of only £300,000 is provided for in the 2009/10 Budget.
• to defer providing £2.5m for the increase in revenue costs which will take place in the future from the operation of the new Materials Resource Management Contract to dispose of all the County’s household waste at Warnham near Horsham. The provision of £2.5m in the 2009/10 Budget is merely taking money from council taxpayers to put in the Bank – it will not be spent in 2009/10. I am sure that taxpayers would much prefer to keep that cash in their own banks.
• to delete the first time provision of £174,000 for a Members Priority Fund (or ‘slush fund’ to you and me) to enable Councillors to bid to Cabinet Members for money to fund their own pet projects. Very nice perhaps if it could be met from existing funds – but not yet another demand on hard pressed taxpayers during a credit crunch! 

Allowing for any combination of these reductions would have reduced the County Council Tax rise – perhaps by a third to about 2%. None of these reductions would have come from front line services – unlike the reduction in library opening hours the Tories will be making in 2009/10 to save £150,000 in the Budget.

All in all a bad day for local council tax payers – unlucky Friday 13^th it certainly was, but perhaps when the tax payers become voters on 4 June, County Council election day, they will have their revenge on the Tories. They definitely need another period in opposition to improve their financial skills!

Go to the County Council’s webcast of the Budget debate via the link on my website to see the whole debate and the rest of the County Council meeting.

PROPOSALS from the Liberal Democrats for big improvements to schools and teaching will see around £16 million of extra cash for schools in West Sussex to boost the education and life chances of thousands of children, says Lib Dem spokesman for Children and Young People on West Sussex County Council, Dr Colin Wilsdon.

The plans were launched by Party Leader Nick Clegg and Shadow Secretary of State for Schools, David Laws MP.  They call for the raising of standards in all local schools, closing the gap between children from rich and poor families and ending the era of Government meddling in education.

Commenting on the proposals, Colin said:

“There are a number of radical ideas to ensure all young people get the best start in life.  The extra cash will make a real difference in our local schools.

“I am particularly pleased that funding is proposed to cut infant class sizes to private school levels of 15.

“We will also introduce a £2.5bn Pupil Premium, to ensure that extra funding goes to the pupils with the highest needs, and whichever school they are in. And some of that extra money will pay for after school and Saturday classes, and extended school days.

“We will also get central government off the back of schools, teachers and pupils. The days of ministers in Whitehall stifling schools and interfering with everything that happens in the classroom must end.

Morwen Millson, Lib Dem Leader of the Opposition on West Sussex County Council added:

 “Schools here in West Sussex need to be freed to teach children rather than spend their time obeying ministerial orders and trying to achieve government targets.

“West Sussex has a reputation for being an affluent county and this is far from the case. In many parts of the county families struggle with hardship, and it is their children who need the extra help.

“The schools proposals put forward by the Liberal Democrats will go a long way to ensuring that the many thousands of local children who go to local schools have at least as good a start in life as the small number who are educated privately.”

The proposals will be debated at the party’s spring conference in Harrogate in March.

ENDS

Contact:

Morwen Millson, Lib Dem Group Leader

07860 117426 Morwen.millson@westsussex.gov.uk

Dr Colin Wilsdon, Lib Dem spokesman for Children’s and Young People’s Services

01273 842489     07918 08 1444     colin.wilsdon@westsussex.gov.uk

Many people in Ashurst & Steyning will now have read the latest edition of ‘Focus’, with an article on the back page about Steyning Parish Council’s bid for the introduction of a 20 mph speed limit zone in the High Street and neighbouring roads.

Former Parish Council Chairman, Mike Reed has another view: -

“On the 20 mph speed limit proposal I would be very surprised if the County Council support it for
the following reasons.

- I am not aware of any accidents in the area concerned.

- There are already two well placed pedestrian crossings for people to use. Maybe they will be removed if a 20MPH limit is introduced?

- The suggestion that the shopping experience will improve is a jokesince with the parking on Truffles side of the street, much of which is disabled blue badge holders, the speed of traffic during the day is unlikely to change.

- The speed in the evening is also restricted by parking except by those who ignore the dangers and who will also ignore the 20MPH.

- I would not expect the police to be supportive of this restriction and if it is applied maybe we will see and hear an increase in the use of their blue lights and accompanying siren?

In conclusion the 20MPH will not be enforced, it will add numerous 20MPH signs to the street scene in contradiction to all the efforts put in by the Steyning & District Community Partnership and Steyning Parish Council to de-clutter the town centre.”

Clearly Mike makes some valid points about the possible consequences of the proposed 20 mph zone which will have to be addressed if they turn out to be correct. For example, whilst, as I say in ‘Focus’ I am in favour of a 20 mph limit in all residential and town centre areas where supported by local people, I would be against the removal of the pedestrian crossings in the High Street if that was required as part of a 20 mph zone.

I met with County School Travel Advisors, the Local Traffic Engineer and the Steyning Grammar School Director of Support Services on Thursday morning at the Grammar School, following the traffic survey they had carried out earlier in the day.

The School Travel Advisors admitted that the situation from cars driving into and out of the schools site was worse than they had seen at any other school in the County. But then this is what local people and I have been telling them for a very long time! It would appear that one of the reasons Steyning has not had any priority is due to the lack of an approved Travel Plan from St Andrew’s Primary School.

The outcome of the meeting was that a number of options will now be investigated. These include: -

• A scheme to reduce the number of cars going on to the Primary and Grammar Schools site.
• An investigation into proposing restricted parking in the Shooting Field spur road during peak hours – but this will only proceed if it is not possible to restrict the number of cars going onto the schools site.
• Much more effort will go into working with the School on producing a Travel Plan (the School is now waiting on return of a questionnaire from parents). The Plan could well include use of Newman’s Gardens and the Leisure Centre car parks to park and walk.
• The footpath from Newman’s Gardens to the Schools will be examined to see if it can be widened sufficiently so that it can be used by cyclists to encourage more children to cycle to school. (This might be included in a revised Grammar School Travel Plan.)

This all looks hopeful, but it should be borne in  mind that the funding for school safety zones, which would cover some of these works, is already committed for 2009/10, so we may well be looking at 2010/11 before any work takes place. In any event the Grammar School would be expected to pay for some of the work, which they might not be willing to do. And part of the footpath land from Breach Close may not be wide enough to be used by cycles as well as pedestrians.

It is intended to hold another meeting once the investigations above have been completed. In the meatime I will continue to press for early action to resolve the dangerous situation in this access road.

Have you ever listened to a politician on the radio and thought “That sounds good, but what’s the full story?”

Want to shout at the TV with facts and figures instead of incoherent rage?

Liberal Democrats tend to be people who ask for that little bit more in-depth knowledge.

Now the Party has brought together party news, media coverage, policy announcements and party blogs on one website for the first time: http://blogs.libdems.org.uk

Whether you’re a party supporter or just curious, you can get yourself informed:

• click through to the details behind the press releases and read our policies for yourself
• click through to find out the latest events and meet-ups in your area on FlockTogether
• watch YouTube films from Lib Dem MPs (and why not respond by posting a video response of your own?)
• talk it all over with fellow liberals on the unofficial blogs at Lib Dem Voice and Lib Dem Blogs - it’s all here, the bad news stories as well as the good!
• get freshly-baked daily liberal news by signing up to our (RSS) news feed or Twitter updates

You’ll stay ahead of the media schedule, read newspapers with a more critical eye and debate with like-minded people. Next time you hear a politician on the radio, the chances are you’ll already know the ins and outs of what they’re talking about.

So now you can shout at the TV like the knowledgeable, media-savvy liberal you are. Don’t get angry - get informed!

Chris Rennard
Chief Executive, Liberal Democrats

Visitors to this website will recall that a Lib Dem MP, David Heath, is to promote a Private Members Fuel Poverty Bill in Parliament.

This Bill is necessary because, according to its own estimates, the Government is not on course to meet its statutory targets, set pursuant to the Warm Homes & Energy Conservation Act 2000, to end fuel poverty in vulnerable households by 2010 and the rest of the sector by 2016.

The Warm Homes Act was supported by 418 MPs’ during its passage through Parliament, but a recent High Court judgment ruled that the targets in the Warm Homes Act 2000 were not targets but merely “aspirations”. David Heath MP’s Fuel Poverty Bill (introduced into Parliament with cross-party support on 21 January) seeks to reinstate the statutory duty to end fuel poverty and focuses on increasing the energy efficiency of the housing stock of the fuel poor. It also requires energy suppliers to provide social tariffs to vulnerable customers in the short-term.

Urgent action is needed to help the 4 million people living in fuel poverty in the UK, some of whom live in my Bramber Castle Division and the Arundel & South Downs Constituency.
 
David has chosen Friday 20 March for the Fuel Poverty Bill’s debate in Parliament.

It is vital that at least 100 MPs attend so that it can be assured the Bill obtains a Second Reading.  I therefore urge everyone to email/write to Nick Herbert, MP for Arundel & South Downs, and ask for his commitment to attend on 20^th March, and to vote for the Fuel Poverty Bill at its Second Reading debate that day.

Those who live in other Constituencies should write to their MP.

Many thanks

A constituent contacted me yesterday about the dangerous state of the footpath to the Steyning Health Centre from the ice and snow on the pavement. Clearly this is very dangerous, especially for the elderly visiting the Health Centre, and this pavement should have a high priority for gritting as soon as there is a heavy frost and/or snowfall.

The Highways Office had been contacted by my constituent and had been assured that arrangements would be made to clear the pavement.

For the future there appears to be two options. One, to provide a grit bin so that Health Centre staff could spread some on the pavement up the hill from Tanyard Lane when they clear the paths in the front of the Health Centre building, or two, to agree delegated powers to the Parish Council, now the Clerk has passed her exams so enabling the Council to become a Quality Council (similar to Burgess Hill) able to take on such minor powers from the County (and District re the car park for instance). I have asked the Local Highway Manager to consider these options, and also informed the local District Councillors and the Parish Council of my suggestion regarding a Quality Council.

Following my initiative on this, local Independent District Councillor, George Cockman, has also taken this up with Horsham District Council.

Hopefully, with WSCC, HDC and Parish working together on developing the Quality Council role, the Parish will be able to deal with all minor highway (County & District) works in future.

Many people will have read the article in last week’s County Times about the lack of progress on improving safety for pedestrians using this spur road access to/from the Schools. I am particularly concerned that action agreed early last year (with an item included in the then 08/09 minor works programme) is now deemed to be unsuitable, and that apparently the only way forward is through better organisation of the school on-site parking provision.

Whilst the parking provision at the Grammar School clearly needs to be re-organised, with fewer cars going onto the site in the first place, this will not resolve the safety problem on the spur road. There is no doubt that some driving parents, most of whom are leaving the Primary School after dropping/picking up their children, will continue to mount the pavement to avoid giving way to drivers going into the Schools site.

The Primary School has recently asked all parents attending a parents evening to complete a travel to school survey. Hopefully quicker progress will now be made therefore on the Primary School Travel Plan which will help decide what safety action needs to be taken on this spur road.

In considering what other options there are for improving safety for pedestrians on the spur road access, I am aware that part of the safety zone plans for Upper Beeding Primary School is banning parking on both sides of the road outside the School from 8am to 10am from 2pm to 4pm. I have asked the County School Safety Advisor whether this be a possibility for both sides of the spur road.

There would be a need for road humps to ensure that the road then being free of parked cars did not encourage faster driving, and of course regular enforcement of the no parking at those times would be required, but it would overcome County concerns about providing bollards/guardrails down the side of one pavement.

Such an option would also have to be fully discussed with the residents concerned before any works were actually proposed. Comments on this idea would be appreciated.

Younger readers of this website will know that, compared with the 70 candidates in 2007 and 118 last year, over 200 young people have come forward to stand in the West Sussex Youth Cabinet and UK Youth Parliament Elections 2009.

So whilst it is often thought that apathy rules when it comes to politics it shows that young people are keen to have a voice and get involved in decision making:

You can view all the manifestos for each of the 24 locality areas, to find out the issues that concern young people on the yourspacewestsussex.co.uk website:

http://www.yourspacewestsussex.co.uk/ccm/navigation/your-voice/youth-cabinet/elections-2009/manifestos/

I hope that there will now be a record vote for these candidates: -

• Votes 2007 - 2076

• Votes 2008 - 8478
• Votes 2009 - ? a target of 20,000!

The elections run from 1 February - 15 February 2009, and I urge all those able to vote to do so by 15 February to give the new Youth Cabinet a strong mandate to speak for the youth of West Sussex.

I have emailed all seven candidates for the Steyning/Storrington area offering to work with those elected to help them achieve their aims for the young people in this area.