I have been asked why the County Council no longer directs Horsham District Council household waste collection to go to Small Dole.

This is because when the landfill capacity in the County started to run out the County had to make interim arrangements for disposal of the waste prior to the new Materials Resource Management Contract (which will deal with all waste not re-used or recycled) coming into operation in 2009/10. Since at the time (last year) the Small Dole site was due to close in April 2008, and any extension was subject to planning approval, that site could not be considered and so an interim contract was agreed for all Horsham household waste to go to Warnham from this year.

This interim contract is now in operation. As all the recycling and waste minimisation targets have been achieved, along with a lower growth in waste than had been anticipated, the waste going to Warnham is only just meeting the minimum tonnage agreed in the contract.

Whether this lack of municipal waste going to the Small Dole site will have an impact on the current estimated life of the site will be raised at the next meeting of the Horton (Small Dole) Landfill Liaison Group.

Concerns have been expressed about the letter to all residents from the County Council regarding the future operation of the Horsham Mobile Waste Service in the Chanctonbury area.

I can confirm that the proposals listed in the letter for the period from July 08 to March 09 are taking place. This includes the provision of the appropriate containers in the car parks used for the Mobile Service such as Fletchers Croft, Steyning as stated in the letter.Where this has not yet happened WSCC and HDC are sorting this out and will be reminded about the matter if it does not happen!

The proposals from March 09 are still subject to discussion with the Parish Councils and further meetings of the Task Force are being provisionally arranged for October and December this year. I am sure concerns about the bulky non-hazardous waste collection after next March will be shared by others and debated at those meetings.

For those who feel that the changes do not reflect an improvement in services, the letter does not represent the final word on the situation. I have no doubt that all parish, district and county cllrs will still be working to get the best possible service for local people from March 09.

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.

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 consultation period will be from May to July 2008.

The County Policy & Resources Select Committee on Wednesday (7th) at County Hall will be considering the methods used in preparing the draft Strategy, whether additional groups might be engaged in the preparation of the Strategy work and how to promote the consultation in local communities.

The Strategy will be for all the population, not just those who have been traditionally been supported because they have been seen to have the highest needs. It should: -

aim to build strong and cohesive communities where individuals feel included and recognise their responsibilities;

assist individuals and communities to access services and opportunities with minimal intervention; and

encourage service providers to work as partners in focusing needs and aspirations of people, ensuring that there are high quality affordable services, and improving information provision from a variety of sources including through the web, so people can identify, and take, opportunities and choices.

I will be suggesting that Parish Councils should be included in the consultation, and will be reporting on this the Upper Beeding and Bramber Parish Council meetings this week.

A summary of the Framework document is available from the County Council at:

www.westsussex.gov.uk/scs

Please read the Framework, consider the information it presents, and then respond to the questions at the end of the document.

In view of the representations made by the Task Force reviewing the Service, the County Cabinet Member has deferred the current closure of the present Service from 30 June, 2008 to 30 September, 2008.

Derek Deedman has welcomed the news as it will give the task Force longer to consider the possible options for the way forward, and allow a sub-group of the Task Force to consider the technical options being drawn up by the County & District officers.

The sub-group will consist of just Parish Councillors and the technical officers involved with the Service. Jackie Campbell, the Chairman of Steyning Parish Council, together with other Parish Councillors from Thakeham, Pulborough, Washington, Storrington and Henfield. The first meeting of the sub-group will be on Monday, 28 April.

The second Task Force meeting took place yesterday and progress is being made towards consideration of possible options for the way forward.

Following the discussions which have taken place to date, to address the main problems of health & safety and lack of recycling from the present facilities the options include: -

Replacing the existing service, with an ongoing, but restricted recycling service, possibly on a less frequent basis (green waste only and/or monthly/summer only),

Offering all householders an additional green collection bin (at a cost – approx £50 for the bin plus £50/£75pa for collection),

Provision of a free home compostor to all households who wish to have one,

Subsidising a bulky refuse collection for large items,

In addition a restricted general waste service for waste going to landfill might continue.

The next meeting is planned for Monday, 28 April to hopefully agree the final recommendation to be made to the County Cabinet Member who will make the final decision.

Please let me know any comments you may have on the above options.

Despite excellent speeches from seven local residents explaining why the planning application to extend the life of the Horton Landfill Site at Small Dole should be refused, including health fears, the majority of the County Planning Committee voted to approve the application.

Local County Councillor, Derek Deedman, in his presentation to the Committee, highlighted the continuing growth in heavy traffic throughout the area, the fact that the Head of Waste Management Services (the Waste Disposal arm of the County Council) had told him that the Site did not feature in the Interim Contract for Waste Disposal (thus shooting down the claims that there was a need for the extra waste facility at Small Dole), and that the draft County Minerals & Waste Planning Framework policy on land raising (which this scheme was) stated that it did not form part of the preferred waste strategy and was unlikely to be acceptable. He then read out an example email from two local residents showing what a very bad impact the operation of the Site had on their daily life. Derek also referred to the litter from vehicles going into and out of the Site and wanted an extra planning condition to require vehicle containers to be covered to prevent spillage or loss of material onto the public highways. He finally asked for the application to fill the present void to be approved by extending planning permission to 1 June 2009, (with a further 18 months for restoration only), but called for the bid for extra waste to be tipped at the Site to be refused.During the Planning Committee discussion some of the Committee members were concerned at the health fears which had been raised by the Henfield Medical Centre, outlined by some of the residents speaking against the scheme, but wanted this addressed by stronger planning conditions rather than to refuse the application. One Member took the view that his area had suffered from planning decisions in the past - so why shouldn’t Small Dole receive the same treatment! Another Member felt that although the Committee had refused a similar land-raising waste application in the recent past, because this had then been allowed on appeal by the planning inspector, the Committee could not refuse this application.

Two Members did, however, speak out against the application. One agreed that the present void should be filled, but that any further tipping went against what could be regarded under the Human Rights Act as proportionate in terms of its continuing effects upon the private lives and homes of Small Dole residents. They had had their ’share’ of waste disposal. The other Member felt that the quality of life of local people was important and the County Council should base its actions on improving and enhancing the quality of life of all its residents.

Following a discussion as to how the planning conditions could be improved to better control the toxic and other gases and smells from the Site, the Committee decided, despite the objections, to approve the planning application. The use of the Site for disposal of waste is now to cease on or before 1 October, 2010, with restoration to be completed by 1 April 2012.

Derek said, “I hate to lose any debate, and although the odds were stacked against the application being refused I really thought there might have been a chance this time. For the people of Small Dole it is an extremely disappointing decision.”

The County Planning Committee meets at 10.30am tomorrow (Tuesday, 8 April) to decide the planning application to extend the life of the Site to 2010 (from 1 April 2008).

The meeting takes place at County Hall and is open to the public. The Small Dole Action Group and Derek Deedman (local County Councillor) will be calling on the Committee to refuse the application.

County planning officers are making this recommendation in the teeth of the protests and objections from the Small Dole Action Group (representing the vast majority of the some 700 Small Dole residents on this matter), over 250 individual local objections on an e-petition and by letter, and official objections from Upper Beeding and Henfield Parish Councils, Horsham District Council and from the South Downs  Joint Committee (the committee representing all the local authorities within the proposed South Downs National Park).

The only supporters of the planning application appear to be officers who work for unelected bodies such as the Environment Agency, the Health & Safety Executive and the West Sussex Primary Care Trust, all of whom probably live nowhere near Small Dole! Many of their comments are on the lines of the phrase: - “Should the County Council be minded to grant planning permission imposition of appropriate conditions to control noise and odour is essential.” (Horsham planning officers.)  But this is already being done at Small Dole, and life remains intolerable from smells alone for the well over 700 people who live in the Village. It has to be accepted that no conditions or controls will ever stop this situation near any waste landfill site and so such comments from officers are meaningless.

Whilst it is accepted that the present unfinished part of the site has to be filled, capped and the the necessary restoration and aftercare carried out (and even the Small Dole Action Group accept this), there is no case to raise the final restored levels as proposed to allow more waste to be tipped than currently approved.  Planning approval for this would be at the continued detriment to the health and life of Small Dole villagers as well as to the environment of those who live on the routes for heavy lorry traffic to the Site through Upper Beeding, Steyning, Woodmancote and Henfield.

The County Planning Committee members will visit the Small Dole site on Thursday 3 April, and then will meet again to discuss and decide on the officers recommendations on Tuesday, 8 April. The committee meeting is open to the public and will start at 10.30 am at County Hall. This planning application is the only major item on the agenda. Representatives of the Small Dole Action Group are expected to present their reasoned objections to the Committee, and Derek Deedman, as the local County Councillor, will also ask permission from the Committee Chairman to address the meeting.

People in this area have had more than enough of this landfill site; hopefully democracy will prevail and the Committee will listen to their views and reject the officers recommendations on 8 April.

At a well attended Chanctonbury County Local Committee (CLC) meeting in Pulborough last night, Horsham District Councillors attacked County Council representatives over the proposed closure of the Mobile Waste Service at the end of June.

Yet, as became quite clear, it is Horsham District Council, who operate the Service on the County Council’s behalf, who are refusing to operate the Service after that date on health and safety grounds! And other potential operators have told County Officers that they would not take on the task. So, even if the other concerns County has about the Service can be addressed, it looks impossible to continue after the end of June unless the Horsham District Councillors turn their fire on their own leaders to get them to change their minds about operating the Service.

Despite a presentation by the County Officers explaining the reasons for the proposed closure of the Service, both District and Parish Councillors and the public present were against the proposal. Many good points were made (including those made by Bramber, Steyning and Upper Beeding residents to local Councillors), refuting some of the closure reasons, highlighting the consequences in increased environmental costs from the extra driving to distant Household Waste Sites, and suggesting some constructive ideas on the way forward.

One of the main themes was the view that at the very least the Service must continue until suitable and acceptable alternatives were in operation. But, as Derek Deedman pointed out, this is dependent on Horsham District Councillors agreeing to continue to operate the Service on the County’s behalf.

It was announced that CLC Chairman, Pat Arculus, will be chairing the Task Force which the County Cabinet Member has set up to carry out an urgent review of the situation, and that locally Derek Deedman, District Cllr George Cockman and Steyning Parish Chairman Jackie Campbell will also be members of the Task Force.

The Task Force is planned to meet a number of times over the next few weeks and will make recommendations to the Cabinet Member by the end of April. He committed himself last night that he would to do everything in his power to implement the recommendations from the Task Force.

At the end of the day, although the Horsham District Councillors need to sort out their own Council’s role in this matter, a number of valid points were made at the meeting and these will be considered by the Task Force in its deliberations over the next month. All is not yet lost, the Cabinet Member is now fully aware of the wishes of local people to keep this Service, and hopefully the Task Force will be able to recommend a way forward which will be acceptable to all concerned.

This debate will be taking place at Pulborough Village Hall tomorrow night.

The debate will start about 7.25pm at the Chanctonbury County Local Committee meeting. The four county councillors for the area (Henfield, Bramber Castle, Storrington and Pulborough) want to hear your views and suggestions on saving this service.

The Head of Wastes Management will also be at the meeting to explain the background to the proposed closure.

If you want to comment on the possible closure of this Service please come along tomorrow evening!

Apart from this meeting, County Councillors Derek Deedman and Frank Wilkinson (Storrington) hope to be members of a Task Force being set up by the County Cabinet Member responsible for the Mobile Waste Service (together with representative District  and Parish Councillors) to advise him on what should now happen. Whether you can attend the meeting in Pulborough or not, please send us your views so that they may be taken into account in the Task Force deliberations.

The County Cabinet Member for Waste Services has decided to establish a Task Force to review the County and District Councils decision to discontinue the existing mobile household waste service. This is a direct result of the concerns and opposition to this expressed by the communities and their County and District Councillors in the Chanctonbury area.

Although some parishes have responded to the proposed closure to say that they foresee no issues for their communities, others, including Steyning and Storrington, see major problems which the Cabinet Member has recognised.

The proposed Task Force Group will advise the Cabinet Member on future service provision for the affected communities. The Group is expected to comprise two County Councillors, two Horsham District Councillors and four parish council representatives, all from the Chanctonbury area. All parishes will be invited to comment on the Task Force Group findings.

It is thought that there will be three meetings of the Group, probably as follows:

• An initial meeting to be held before Easter to look at the requirements for an alternative service. Much of the feedback so far centres on green waste with some comments about bulky household items. Are those the key issues or are there others? What priorities should shape the future service?

• Two further meetings during April. The first will look at the broad range of options, assessing the pros and cons and narrowing down to a shortlist that can then be worked up for the second meeting that will form some recommendations to the Cabinet Member.

Hopefully the Task Force working in this way will ensure that the issues of key local concern are tackled and the eventual solution is acceptable to the community.

County Councillors Derek Deedman (Bramber Castle) and Frank Wilkinson (Storrington) have put their names forward to be on the Task Force Group. The names of all the finally agreed Group members will be posted on this website in due course.

Finally the Chanctonbury County Local Committee will be discussing the Mobile Waste Service at it’s meeting on 18 March, starting at 7pm in Pulborough Village Hall. Hopefully a large number of local people will be there to make their views known.

Independent inspectors have put West Sussex County Council in the top five of all English county local authorities.

Earlier this year, West Sussex was told by the Audit Commission that it had retained its top four-star status for the quality of key services.

Now the Commission has published the second element of the annual Comprehensive Performance Assessment, which all councils face.

This is known as ‘the direction of travel’ and West Sussex has been ranked as ‘performing strongly’ – the highest possible rating.

Only Kent, Leicestershire, Shropshire and Somerset County Councils have been awarded the same top-notch status.

Last year, West Sussex had four stars but was classified as ‘performing well’.

“This is very good news, but are local residents as impressed with County Council services?” Derek Deedman said.

“Although the fact that West Sussex is now independently rated as a cutting edge authority is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of all county staff, but it is the views of residents who pay the council tax bills that are more important.”

It is claimed, for instance, that the 2008/09 county budget provides for much needed growth in some services and that there are no cuts in other services. But the Lib Dem opposition on the County Council know that there will be cuts in highway services because an inadequate provision has been made for the high level of inflation that impacts on those services, so reducing the amount of highway work which can be carried out during the year. In addition some services for the elderly will be cut because the County Council will not replace the previous funding from Government, and, of course Chanctonbury residents face a cut in the Mobile Waste Service. There are probably many other smaller service cuts which have not been identified – but the people relying on those services will find out soon enough!  

Finally, whilst West Sussex may be performing strongly, is it doing so on the services people actually want?  What do local people think? Let us know.

Derek Deedman reported:-

1. Horton Landfill Site - the planning application is due to be heard by the County Planning Committee on 8 April, there will be a site visit by Committee members on 3 April. The current planning permission expires on 31 March, but no enforcement action will be taken to stop tipping whilst the current planning application remains to be determined. If it is refused, no enforcement action will be taken if there is an appeal until that is determined, which could be another 15 months.

2. The next Chanctonbury County Local Committee (CLC) meeting is on 18 March at Pulborough Village Hall, starting at 7pm. The main item on the agenda will be a discussion on the proposed closure of the Mobile Waste Service. Under the bids for a CLC grants, a decision will be made on the Upper Beeding Parish Council bid for a grant towards a new bus shelter outside the Kings Head and a Beeding & Bramber Village Hall bid for a grant towards the replacement of radiators at the Hall.

3. A response is still awaited from the Safe Routes to School Team regarding improvements to the Pound Lane/Monks Walk twitten where it goes through the Monks Walk garage compound.

4. The repair to the interactive speed limit sign opposite the Village Hall in Small Dole is awaiting a spare part. Also in Small Dole, County Officers have been requested to consult with the Parish Council on the design of the Village ‘Gateway’, planned for construction during 2008/09.

5. The reasons behind the latest electoral review of the County Council divisions, and the possible impact on the Bramber Castle Division if the Horsham District were to have an additional County Councillor.

6. The new Health Centre was due to open in Autumn 2008. A newsletter was being produced to give more details of the building and the services which might be available.

7. The interviews for the new Head of Upper Beeding Primary School, to replace the existing Head who was retiring in the Summer, would take place on 8 & 9 May.

8. Recent publicity about new incinerators in West Sussex was based on very old news regarding possible sites for waste management facilities. Nothing had changed in the past few months and arrangements to decide on the successful bid for the Materials Resource Management Contract dealing with the waste left after recycling etc were still in progress. The new contract would not be signed until 2009, and so it would not be known until later this year whether the old cement works site would be proposed to be used as part of that contract.

At long last the County Planning Committee is expected to consider this planning application at its meeting on 8 April 2008.

The committee papers should be sent out by first class post on Friday, 28 March 2008, copies going to everyone who has made representations (believed to be around 150). Registration of requests by the public to speak will close at 09.30am on 4 April 2008.

As in the case of other previous controversial applications, the Chairman of the Planning Committee has exercised his discretion to allow more than three objectors to speak. He has indicated that on this occasion he is likely to allow extra speakers to enable the Committee to hear all the arguments, provided there is no repetition of points.

In view of public concern about the possible closure of this Service, the Chanctonbury County Local Committee  will now be discussing  the matter at its meeting on Tuesday, 18 March.

The meeting will take place in Pulborough Village Hall, Swan View, Lower Street, Pulborough, and will start at 7pm. Everybody is welcome to attend to hear the reasons behind the proposed closure of the Mobile Waste Service, to make their views known, and to consider the possible alternative options, should the Service close.

Derek Deedman and County/District Officers will be attending the next Horsham Mobile Waste Service visit to Steyning on Saturday, 23 February (from about 10am), to listen to local concerns and hand out posters about the Chanctonbury meeting.

It has been agreed that the Chanctonbury County Local Committee (CLC) will hold an extra meeting on 22nd April, starting at 7pm at a venue to be confirmed, to enable the public to hear the reasons behind the proposed closure of the Mobile Waste service, the possible alternative options and for the public to make their views known.

CLC members will be visiting the Mobile Waste sites in the period before the Committee meeting to hand out flyers to users of the facilities to encourage them to attend the CLC meeting.

With the February meeting of the County Planning Committee cancelled the next meeting the Horton Landfill Site, Small Dole, planning application could be considered is Tuesday, 11 March. The following meeting is on  Tuesday, 8 April (which is after the current planning permission expires).

The proposed withdrawal of this service at the end of June 2008 was discussed at the special meeting of  Chanctonbury County Councillors yesterday (29th).

The County and Horsham District officers put forward strong arguments to support the proposed action, ranging from health and safety to operators and public at the sites, lack of security, lack of customer care/advice, the difficulty of stopping trade and hazardous waste being deposited and the need to recycle more as most waste from these sites went to landfill.

Councillors were very concerned at the lack of discussion with users of the service. In addition with charges proposed for the alternatives or higher travel costs to go to permanent household waste sites at Billingshurst, Hop Oast or Shoreham compared with the free service available to Horsham Town residents, the south of the District was to lose out again.

It was agreed that officers should visit the mobile sites over the coming weeks to meet with users and explain and discuss the reasons for the proposed closure of the service. Furthermore a special meeting(s?) of the Chanctonbury County Local Committee would be arranged to discuss the views made at the mobile site visits, hear more from local people on the matter and give the opportunity for the detailed explanation of the reasons behind the proposal. Letters would be sent to all Parish Councils in the area updating the details already sent out with the above information.

Parish Councils in the Chanctonbury area of the Horsham District are outraged at County Council and Horsham District plans to withdraw the mobile waste recycling service at the end of June 2008.

It is claimed that the service has to close because of health & safety concerns and that  operational difficulties at the existing sites used by the mobile service mean that most of the waste ends up at landfill sites rather than being recycled. In addition there is a view that traders are using the sites for free, rather than paying for disposal , costing the council tax payers large sums of money.

The two Councils consider that with most of the waste being brought to the mobile sites by car, those cars could be driven to permanent household waste sites at Hop Oast near Horsham or at Billingshurst. Other options suggested are residents buying a second green collection bin or using an improved bulky waste service (which currently has to be paid for), for the collection of furniture. None of these options are likely to satisfy local residents especially because they will cost them more whilst the mobile service is free to the user.

In the longer term the District Council should be providing a new kerbside service for dry recyclables, but this will not cover everything which is currently going to the mobile waste service, and in any event is unlikely to be available throughout the Horsham District until 2009.

Councillors on the Chanctonbury County Local Committee  have demanded a meeting to see whether the mobile service can be saved, and are due to meeting the County Cabinet member responsible on Tuesday afternoon (29th January).

All-in-all not a good start to the County Council’s proposed change in culture to become customer focussed, providing services people really want!

As people will be aware Viridor Waste Management has applied for planning consent to provide an additional 400,000 cubic metres of essential landfill disposal capacity within the existing footprint of the current Horton Landfill Site at Small Dole. This application also seeks to extend the operation of the site until late 2010.

Viridor have now decided to hold another public exhibition from 4.30 pm to 7 pm on Wednesday 23 January at Small Dole Village Hall, (in the Village on the A2037 Henfield Road).

The purpose of this public exhibition is to enable local people to view the latest details the Company have submitted to the County Council to clarify a number of matters raised by the County Planners and others consulted such as the Small Dole Action Group.

In particular these matters cover the question of settlement and site contours. Senior technical staff from Viridor will also be on-hand to explain the proposals, to answer any queries and to record comments and concerns.

Derek Deedman, as Chairman of the Horton Landfill Site Liaison Group, has welcomed the decision by the Company to hold this latest public exhibition in Small Dole to explain the current position on the planning application. He hopes that many local people will visit the exhibition to learn more about the latest planning proposal details and to speak to the Viridor representatives.

Although the planning application to extend the life of this Landfill Site to 2010 may be considered by the County Planning Committee on 12 February, the following meeting on 11 March is more likely. (Meetings are open to the public and start at 10.30am.)

The reason for the delay has been the need for more information from the Landfill Site operators, Viridor. This has now been received by the County Council, and, subject to checking, copies will be sent out to all relevant parties (such as the Small Dole Action Group) for comment.

Derek has asked for information on what would happen if the planning application was not determined by the Planning Committee before 1 April 2008, when the current permission for receiving waste material expires. He has been told that the restoration works are permitted to continue until 1 November 2009 when they must be completed. However the County Council could not take enforcement action, if any became necessary, to stop Viridor receiving waste material at the Site after after 1 April 2008, whilst the current planning application for an extension of life of tipping operations at the Site is being considered. If Viridor were to appeal against non-determination of the current application by the County Council before consideration by the Planning Committee (or refusal of the application by the Planning Committee), the appeal process will take precedence, and the County Council could not take enforcement action whilst the appeal was continuing.

Derek Deedman reported the following to the Parish Council meeting on 4 December: -
1. The next Chanctonbury County Local Committee meeting on 22 January 2008 will be at the Penfold Hall, Steyning, starting at 2pm to include a presentation/consultation by the Health Centre Development Group on the proposals for the services etc to be based/available at the new Steyning Health Centre.
2. The County Members seminar on 28 November on the next stage of the Fundamental Service Review (FSR3) of County Council services had highlighted the significant reduction in chief officer posts from April 08, with further reductions in April 09, and the major change in culture for the County to become completely customer focussed. It is anticipated that this will lead to very large cost savings in County Council expenditure.
3. The planning application to extend the life of the Horton Landfill Site at Small Dole had not been considered by the County Planning Committee on 4 December. The next meeting is on 15 January 2008, by which time all the queries from both county officers and the Small Dole Action Group should have been answered so that a decision could be made to either approve or refuse the application. With the current planning permission running out on 31 March 2008 a decision must be made soon.
4. Viridor Credits, West Sussex will be meeting on 6 December when the Committee will be considering a grant application for a Skateboard site at Small Dole.
5. The new material recycling facility (MRF) being constructed at Ford will not now be operational until October 2008. When completed this will enable waste collection authorities such as Horsham District Council to introduce mixed kerbside collections rather than the current separate bins and also enable other material such as glass to be collected in this way rather than having to be taken to a household waste recycling site. This should improve recycling rates.
6. The next full County Council meeting on 14 December will be considering it’s response to the post office closure proposals.
7. As part of the safe routes to school improvements being introduced for the Upper Beeding Primary School, the County School Crossing Patrol Officer will be carrying out a survey just before or after Christmas to enable consideration to be given to the provision of a School Crossing Patrol at the Pound Lane/Hyde Square junction. If the results do not meet the national criteria then a voluntary patrol could be considered with the County Council meeting the cost of training, uniform and equipment. If such a volunteer was unpaid the School would need to carry out the CRB checks, if paid for from sponsorship (School, local companies, parish council etc) then the County would carry out the CRB checks.
8. The new yellow lines painted along School Road related to the safe route to school work, but unfortunately had been painted before the required Traffic Regulation Order had been published, let alone approved. They would therefore have to be removed as they cannot legally be enforced and so were causing confusion.

The Chanctonbury County Local Committee meeting on 30 October, starting at 7pm at Storrington Village Hall, will receive an update on the latest position on the  possible changes to waste disposal in the County.

A senior county officer will lead the debate on the new arrangements which are being considered to replace the majority of the landfill operations by which  the County’s waste is currently disposed.

Firstly the County Council wants to reduce the amount of waste being disposed of, with ideas to reduce the materials (such as packaging) which then have to be disposed of, by increasing the re-use of no longer used items and by  increasing recycling.

Secondly, where there remains waste to be dealt with, this is to be managed as a resource, rather than to be landfilled as in the past.  There are many types of built waste management facilities which are available for this, and the final decision on the type  to be adopted in West Sussex will not be made until early 2009.

It is hoped that the debate at the Committee meeting, which will be open to members of the public, parish and district councillors present, as well as the County Councillors for the area, will improve local knowledge of what is planned and inform the County Council on the local views on the proposals being considered.

Derek Deedman is a member of the County Waste Task Force established by the Cabinet Member for Waste to consider the various options available, and hopes there will be a large audience at the meeting to contribute to the debate.

Email to Cllr Derek Deedman from Michael Elkington, Group Manager (Local Policy) for West Sussex County Council (3/10/07)

“I am writing to update you about the current situation regarding the preparation of new planning policy documents for minerals and waste.

Following further discussions with officers from the Government Office for the South East (GOSE), the publication in August of the Panel’s Report on the draft South East Plan, and an analysis of the national and regional situation, it is considered that there are a number of problems and uncertainties that inhibit the preparation of the Minerals and Waste Core Strategy and other documents as originally intended.

Since the decision was made in March 2006 to prepare joint minerals and waste documents, the advice from Government Office for the South Easte about their preparation has changed on a regular basis. Initially, the advice was that the Core Strategy and Strategic Waste Site Allocations should be prepared in parallel. Earlier this year they advised that the work on the waste allocations should be put back until the Core Strategy was found to be ’sound’. The advice now is that ’strategic sites’ (both minerals and waste) should be brought into the Core Strategy thereby potentially negating the need for separate waste and mineral site allocation documents.

Given the current level of uncertainty, a formal decision about the preparation of the Core Strategy and other documents will be made next year through the roll-forward of the statutory management plan, the Minerals and Waste Development Scheme. This will allow us to continue to progress technical work, building upon the work already undertaken and the results of previous consultations. It will also enable us to consider the implications of draft revised Government guidance that should provide clarity about the changes to the planning system outlined in the Planning White Paper this Spring.

I would like to emphasise that the County Council is extremely frustrated by the delay which is due to the evolving ‘interpretation’, by the Government and the Planning Inspectorate, of the implementation of the new planning system. I appreciate that the delay in preparing the new documents will not be welcome news but hope that you understand the reasons behind the decision.

For information, a report about the problems and uncertainties that we face will be taken to the County Council’s Strategic Environmental Services Select Committee on 17 October 2007. The report will be available, including on the County Council’s website, one week before the meeting.

When I wrote to you in July, I outlined our intention to consult this Autumn about broad locations/areas of search for new built waste management facilities. Given the issues outlined above, the informal consultation will not take place and the work will be taken forward next year as part of wider technical working and stakeholder engagement.

I will write to you again next year when the revised programme has been established.”