A long section of lighting in Horsham Rd, Steyning is not working due to a cable fault.

Approximately 10 lights leading to the Grammar School and Steyning Leisure Centre are affected and I have been informed that the County Council is currently working with the street lighting contractors toward a temporary solution to bring them back into operation

I understand that I will be informed as soon as a plan of action is in place to carry out a permanent solution to the problem. These works would then be carried out in the New Year.

Following a query from a local Upper Beeding resident about the lack of facilities in the Upper Beeding playground, a senior Parish Councillor has confirmed to me that the Parish Council have a budget for new seats and tables, and a design was chosen in September. It should only be a matter of time before the contractor carries out the work, and there should be two new tables with seating installed soon.

There have been more ambitious plans for new playground equipment, but this has been delayed due to the change in parish clerks. Now that the new Clerk is well established the Parish Council is likely to tackle the problem of the swings in the near future.

I have reminded Parish Councillors that if finance is a problem, the Viridor Credits West Sussex Committee, which I chair, may be able to help. As an example the Committee recently approved a grant of £20,000 to Storrington & Sullington Parish Council towards new play equipment costing some £70,000.

Steyning Parish Council agreed at its November Highways and Lighting Committee to pursue a 20 mph zone through the town to include the High Street and Bramber Road and through Church Street past the Church and possibly other streets, still to be decided.

Parish Councillors consider that whilst a healthily number in the town observe existing speed limits, recent surveys show some motorists exceed 45 mph in the High Street. And the Local traffic Engineer has agreed to carry out traffic surveys to assess the situation in the area.

It is Liberal Democrat policy to support 20 mph limit proposals where they are supported by local people, and I agree that such a restriction in the High Street and Church Street would help make our roads safer for pedestrians, particularly mums with prams and elderly people who are nervous about crossing the road.

I am not convinced of the need for a 20 mph limit on Bramber Road, as with the Bramber Road pelican crossing now in the Draft Highway Works Programme for next year (2009/10), this will bring about a reduction anyway in the speed of approaching traffic from Clays Hill and the High Street. Also consideration of such a speed limit could cause the pelican crossing scheme to be delayed or even removed – disaster after such a long campaign to gain approval for the scheme!

The views of local people on these suggestions would be most appreciated, please let me know your comments. Many thanks.

Concern has been expressed about the dangers for pedestrians crossing the road at this junction.

The Local Highway Engineer agrees that there is a broad expanse of road at the junction, but considers that people are not necessarily obliged to cross at that point. He said that if people are concerned about crossing the road at this point they can always walk a few yards along each of the roads and cross with more confidence there. He feels that with the absence of any accident data that would indicate any dangers the local view is more of a perception than a reality and trying to improve the lot for pedestrians could make the situation worse and cause some degree of confusion.

Is he right? Do people consider that making a crossing point from the entrance to the Church at this junction would improve safety for pedestrians?

The next meeting of the County Council, which is open to the public to attend, takes place on Friday, starting at 10.30am at County Hall, Chichester.

As usual the Council meeting is expected to be webcast, so if you want to see the debates access is available via the County Council website.

One of the debates will be on whether the Council adopts the appointed Leader and Cabinet system or the Mayor and Cabinet system following the county elections on 4 June.

The former is being recommended to Councillors as it involves the least change from the current system. (The change being that the new Leader would be appointed by the whole Council for a period of four years, who then selects his/her own Cabinet, rather than as at present being appointed by the Council as a whole.)

The Mayor and Cabinet system would mean an all- county election of a Mayor who would then appoint his/her own Cabinet. This would be much more democratic as the Leader would be as powerful as the Mayor but without being elected by the electorate as a whole.

In addition there has been no consultation with the public about which option to chose.

What is your view? Please contact me by Thursday evening.

These resurfacing works between Coxham Lane and the entrance to the Grammar and Primary Schools in Steyning, originally planned for the end of November, are now expected to be carried out next week, starting on Monday (15th).

Highways have assured me that the contractor will not work during the peak going to/from school times each day so that the very many pupils and parents using the route should not be affected.

The Chanctonbury County Local Committee (CLC) last week noted the Draft Highway Works Programme which is to be circulated to District and Parish Councils for their comments during January/February 2009.

The schemes in the Bramber Castle include: -

Steyning

Bramber Road pelican crossing facilities (funded from planning development contributions), and

Charlton Street lighting columns.

Upper Beeding

School safety zone outside Upper Beeding Primary School (including advisory 20mph limit signs), and

Henfield Road, Edburton Lane to Tottington Drive Small Dole carriageway surface dressing.

Having worked hard for the provision of the Bramber Road crossing  and to improve safety for children going to school throughout the Bramber Castle Division, it is great news about the first schemes planned for 2009 in Steyning and Upper Beeding.

The proposed provision of the Bramber Road pelican crossing next year will be greeted with relief by all those who have campaigned over many years for a safe crossing at the dangerous Bostal Road/Bramber Road/Goring Road junction.

The planned school safety zone outside Upper Beeding Primary School (with work likely during next April) will be the latest stage in improving safety for the children going to School. Renewing the red road surfacing, with ’slow’ signs painted on the road, together with flashing 20 mph signs (during school dropping off and collecting times), should make the school entrance very much safer in future.

The Mobile Waste Service Task Force today agreed to issue a final reminder about the free home composting bin which is available to residents of the Chanctonbury area of Horsham.

The County Council will be sending a leaflet about this to all Parish Councils in the area for them to include in Parish Magazines and other mazagines circulating within each area as appropriate. The offer ends on 31  March 2009 - so if you have not ordered your free bin yet contact County Waste Management soon!

The Task Force also learned that Horsham District Council will soon be considering the introduction of a second green bin service to be rolled out across the District. The cost, for those who need a second bin for their green waste (unless they are happy to take this waste to the local Mobile Waste Centre), is likely to be £20 for the purchase of the bin with a collection charge of £79 per annum. The  existing green bins will continue to be collected free of charge (part of your Council Tax bill) - Horsham is one of the few Districts in West Sussex not to charge for the collection of the first green waste bin. So if you can compost your green waste it is cheaper to claim your free composting bin than to pay for the extra weekly green waste collection!

Finally, the start date for commencing the roll-out of the new kerbside mixed dry recycling collection service remains as July next year. The Chanctonbury area will be first on the list for the new service, but only part of the area will receive the new service from July, the rest will follow in turn over the rest of the year and into 2010. It is expected that it will be two years before the whole of the District is covered.

I have just visited the Acting Head Teacher at Upper Beeding Primary School to discuss the School Travel Plan, and was delighted to learn that the School had taken first place in the County Council’s Extra Mile Award, which had been run during the InternationalWalk To School week in October.

And Steyning Grammar School came joint second!

The winners of the Award was decided by the percentage of pupils within each school who travelled by a sustainable mode transport. Upper Beeding won with 95% and Steyning Grammar were joint second with 94%.

This is great news and shows that campaigning for School Travel Plans and the use of sustainable modes of transport does bring results. Well done everyone involved.

There was positive support at the Chanctonbury County Local Committee (CLC) meeting to this proposed new bus service.

I raised the need for early confirmation of a subsidy at the meeting in Partridge Green last Tuesday evening. I am pleased that the County Councillor for Henfield was very supportive to the Henfield Parish Council’s wish to see the use planning developer contributions for highways & transport in Henfield to help fund the first year operation of the new bus service. 

I stressed at the CLC meeting how essential it is for the County Officers to resolve any Horsham District Council and all the parish council support, so that, if confirmed, the new bus service could be operating by Easter next year. Hopefully such a new bus service would be successful and so able to continue after the first year on a commercial basis without subsidy.

In addition to those wishing to shop, attend leisure facilities or go to/visit relatives/friends at Worthing Hospital, the new bus service could be well used by people who work in Worthing and students going to college.

Should sufficient financial support be agreed, I consider that it would be useful for a joint committee to be formed to ensure that the operation of the new Compass Travel bus service is regularly reviewed. Every opportunity must also be taken to market the new service to holiday visitors to Worthing, as well as Worthing residents, to use it to visit our attractive small towns and villages north of the Downs.