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.

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.

Liberal Democrats in Arundel & South Downs have described a call by a Conservative-leaning think tank for people from towns and cities of the North to pack their bags and move to the South as appalling.

Policy Exchange, described as David Cameron’s favourite think tank in the media, claimed many towns and cities in the North were failing and regeneration would not save them. They suggested people should move to the South East instead. Policy Exchange was set up by Michael Gove, now a senior Conservative MP.

“The idea that people should abandon the North and move to the already crowded South East, where house prices and living costs are sky high, is an insult to people living here,” said Derek Deedman, Chairman of Arundel & South Downs Liberal Democrats.

“I am staggered that a think tank so close to the Conservatives is making such a call. I am appalled that they are saying that large swathes of the North can simply be abandoned and yet more pressure be put on the South East to accommodate even more houses we have no room for. This proposal is at considerable odds with the local Conservatives attacking the Labour Government for wanting more houses built in West Sussex. Once again the Conservatives don’t seem to know what they want!

“Here in Arundel & South Downs the battle is between Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives at the next general election. People should make it quite clear to the Conservatives that we don’t want any more houses in our areas unless they are affordable houses for people who already live here (but do not have their own housing).

“What the Policy Exchange has done is to highlight the lack of understanding many Conservatives have of the North and to show that they have no consistent policy on housing in West Sussex.”

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.

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.

A number of people have complained about the burger van in the High Trees Car Park at the Upper Beeding roundabout on the A283.

County Officers have advised that there are no highway grounds on which the burger van can be removed, but there are South Downs Joint Committee and County land ownership issues. The present management arrangements in respect of the car park need to be confirmed before recovery of the land presently occupied by the burger van could be considered.

In any event there is a view that the burger van is not really causing a problem. Also it is claimed that users of the South Downs Way seem to be enjoying the convenience of the van at the end of a long day walking, cycling and riding.

One of the problems is, however, that the burger van attracts heavy vehicles to the site which sometimes blocks the car park for other users, and can cause a dangerous traffic situation at the entrance from the roundabout. Since the car park is also used by equestrians to unload/load horse boxes, the provision of a height barrier to prevent use by heavy vehicles would be difficult, but this is being investigated. Clearly if this can be resolved then the presence of the burger van might be acceptable in providing a valued facility for users of the South Downs Way.

Any comments from local people would be welcome.

Woodmancote Parish Council and several local residents, supported by local County Councillor, Derek Deedman, have objected to this application on planning and highway safety grounds. 

Bramlands Lane is an unclassified rural road, with no footways or street lighting, with a single vehicle width, damaged grass verges and subject to a derestricted speed limit. 

Traffic flows along Bramlands Lane are light given that it primarily serves a small number of dwellings/small holdings. 

It has been estimated that the maximum traffic generated by the proposal for 50 tents would be 45 trips per day based on occupancy of 30 tents with 1.5 movements each tent. This would lead to 100 vehicle movements along Bramlands Lane. 

This would be a significant number over and above the existing traffic flows on Bramlands Lane and given the single vehicle width would lead to further damage of the verges and greater risk of accidents to road users. 

Highways accept that some campers would explore the countryside by sustainable modes of travel as recommended in the proposed Green Travel Plan but this would be a small percentage of all movements. 

In the circumstances the highway authority is recommending that the planning application be refused on road safety grounds in that Bramlands Lane is insufficient in width to accommodate safely the additional vehicular movements that the proposed tented campsite would generate, resulting in an increased risk of accidents to road users.

Hopefully the District Council Planning Committee will accept this recommendation and refuse planning permission for this scheme.

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.

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).