This open meeting is scheduled to go ahead on Friday 28 November from 1.00 to 2.30 at the Steyning Centre (Committee Rooms 1-2).

The panel will be:

Jackie Campbell, Chairman of Steyning Parish Council  – chairing the meeting
George Cockman & Len Warner, Horsham District Councillors
Derek Deedman, West Sussex County Councillor
Nick Herbert MP for Arundel & South Downs

It will be a non party political meeting and local residents will be invited to raise any issues that may be concerning them. Please encourage anyone who may be interested to come along.

Despite the continuing campaign by the Small Dole Action Group against the way the County Planning Committee considered the objections to this planning application in April, I was informed on 13 November that planning permission has now officially been granted.

This means that the operators will now be able to raise the final restored levels at the site and to continue disposing waste there until 1 October 2010. They will then have another year to restore the site.

As people will know, there is no West Sussex household waste going into the Site as this now all goes to Warnham, north of Horsham Town. The Small Dole Site now caters solely for commercial and industrial waste.

Following rumors about the possible resumption of cement production at the Site, the County Council Planning Compliance Section has informed me that the current planning permission situation is : -

‘Shoreham Cement works has an established use as a cement production facility since, as the original planning permission had no cessation and restoration condition, there is no loss of use through abandonment.

The only issue that may come up if production is to be resumed is if the buildings and machinery need replacing before actual production re commences.

It is understand that this will probably be the case, as the technology has moved on and the buildings are in poor condition due to neglect. In order to re use the buildings under the same permission, they would have to be restored materially as they were built. This might constrain up-to-date operations and procedures.

In effect, if the machinery or buildings need to be substantially altered, whilst the use is retained, a new planning unit is created by the physical changes, as established by case law (Jennings Motors v S.O.S. (1982).’

In summary, the Site has existing planning permission for cement production, but since it is likely that new up-to-date buildings would have to be constructed, with modern machinery installed, a new planning application would have to be made and approved before cement production could be re-started.

Upper Beeding Parish Council having agreed last week to recommend the Chanctonbury County Local Committee to use of some of the planning development contributions related to transport towards the cost of upgrading the existing Footpath Right of Way to a bridleway for the above cycleway, I learned today (11th) that the landowner of the Footpath route from its junction with the Downs Link to its junction with New Hall Lane would object to such a proposal.

Since it would appear that there is no alternative route which meets the health, safety and security concerns of landowners, it looks as though, unless local people have any other ideas, the scheme is dead. Although there is the fallback of an on-road footway this would be much less safe and considerably more expensive, which would probably defer any such scheme for very many years.

I am very sorry about this as many people have taken the trouble to express their support for such a cycle route which would enable the development of bridleways either side of the Downs Link, towards building a network of cycle and equestrian routes between the small towns and villages of the Adur Valley.

I thank all those local people for their support for this idea.

Concern quite rightly continues to be raised about the anti-social driving activities of the few who drive along the pavement with no regard for the safety of pedestrians, children in particular, walking along the Shooting Field spur road entrance to Steyning Primary and Grammar Schools.

These drivers can be reported to Operation Crackdown (anti-social driving). This can be done on their website (or via the link on this site). If people report the anti-social drivers action every time, after 3 complaints about the same driver the Police will issue a warning and if such behaviour continues the vehicle can be seized.

It is possible that local people will raise their concerns with the Press, although both the Parish Council and I are urging action by the County Council to prevent this anti-social driving. The County is currently insisting on action by both the Grammar School and Primary School on Travel Plans and on reduced parking permits for the Grammar School before installing bollards or taking other preventative measures.

I am continuing to put pressure on the Travel Plan/Safe routes to school team to resolve this dangerous situation, whilst the Primary School has set up a Travel Plan Group of Governors to prepare a Travel Plan, and the Grammar School is reviewing the layout of their car park to enable more people to park on site.

A local Steyning resident has called for Church Street to be included with the Parish Council campaign for a 20 mph speed limit for the High Street.

Although they had a mixed response to the ‘Steyning News’ article, the Parish Council is pressing ahead to discuss the 20 mph proposal with the Traffic Engineers.

I certainly support a 20 mph limit throughout all residential areas where people want them, and agree there would be a very good case for Church Street to be added to the High Street scheme. I have passed the resident’s request to the Parish Clerk for the Council to consider his suggestion.

At the Steyning Parish Council meeting on Monday, 10 November it was reported that this suggestion will be considered by the Parish Highways & Lighting Committee.

The Parish Council at last night’s meeting agreed to my suggestion that the Chanctonbury County local Committee should be recommended to use some planning development contributions related to transport schemes for the possible cycle route from Small Dole to Henfield.

Although the possible route is entirely in Henfield Parish the cycle route would be of particular benefit to Small Dole residents who live in Upper Beeding Parish.

It was also good news in this regard to learn at the Countryside Access Forum for West Sussex last week that the County Council’s Corporate Plan for 2009/10 provides for an increase in the number of Rights of Way for walkers and cyclists.

I will be supporting the Parish Council’s recommendation at the next meeting of the Chanctonbury County Local Committee on 2 December in Partridge Green.

It is being reported at the Countryside Access Forum for West Sussex meering tomorrow that the Inspector’s report on the re-opened South Downs Inquiry, which formally closed on Friday 4 July 2008, is expected to be submitted to Defra at the end of November 2008. It is, however, unlikely that the report will be available to the public until a decision is reached.

It is expected that an announcement on the decision will be made in Spring/Summer 2009.

Hopefully the decision will be to proceed with the establishment of a national park for the South Downs which will be formally approved by Parliament before the next General Election, which must take place by June 2010.

I have recently referred an example of poor grass cutting of a verge in Upper Beeding and the continued lack of grass cutting of a verge in Steyning, to the County Council’s Grass Cutting Contract Manager.

I am awaiting his response on the situation but in the meantime I raised the problem of general poor grass cutting standards throughout the County at the Policy & Resources Select Committee meeting yesterday at County Hall.

A report proposing improved customer service on dealing with complaints was being discussed at the time, and the officer was reporting, as an example, how a grass cutting problem in the west of the County was being resolved. I and a number of other County Councillors brought the officer’s attention to the fact that the grass cutting contract standards and conditions are not, in our view, being fully enforced.

I said that it would be better if the number of contracted cuts in a year (eleven) was reduced to say, ten, with the money saved to be used for a higher standard of enforcing contract compliance.

The Forum meeting last night at the Steyning Centre discussed three background Papers covering Strategic Mineral Sites, Strategic Waste Sites and Development Management.

No specific waste sites were discussed, just the criteria and constraints that should apply in deciding on which sites to include in the final proposals. The Group I was in certainly seemed against including any sites in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the reasons for this were noted.

There is another Forum meeting due to take place in Lower Beeding later this month.

The further key stages in the development include discussions with stakeholders, the search and initial assessment of possible sites and then the preparation of revised Background papers to enable the various County Committees to be advised on progress by June/July 2009.

There will be further community Forums between June and August 2009 before recommendations to approve the draft Core Strategy go to the various committees and full Council by December 2009. The approved draft document will go out to an informal six week consultation between January and February 2010.

Further stages will follow, including an examination in public by a Government Inspector, before the publication of the Adopted Core Strategy (including the identified sites) in November 2011.