As we begin the descent into winter the Parish Council is mindful that our winter maintenance preparations are all in good order, so grit bins topped up, contractor employed and Councillor Parkes is ready to authorise the gritting of key areas of road that are particularly susceptible to hazardous conditions, for example outside the White Horse and Sutton Hollow. There are other areas too that are gritted, but the point I wish to make is that more of the parish roads are not gritted than are. So do be careful when driving about in the coming months. Whist I am on the subject of road maintenance, you will have noticed…

Holiday season is over, as is the sunny weather, and the Parish Council is already getting our Winter Maintenance Plan submitted and put into action. So shortly salt bins will be topped up, the contractor who salts the roads will be engaged, and drains and ditches made ready for any deluge that lies ahead. You too can help by keeping leaves clear from any drain culvert near your property. Cllr. Parker is in charge of Winter Maintenance Plan process so if you do have anything you are concerned about or feel needs addressing do contract Yvette. Something else the village needs to prepare for is the change of Landlord at…

As many of you know Nick at The White Horse will be leaving Sutton in theAutumn. We wish him well in the future. As soon as the Parish Council became aware that there would be a change oflandlord or owner, we applied to have the pub to become a village asset, the Purpose of this was purely precautionary. It was a concern that should Enterprise Inns the owners of The White Horse not find a suitable purchaser and try to sell the pub for anything other than a pub, then the listing as a village asset would have given the residents of the village time to acquire the property and run…

On Saturday morning of the 13th July I sat in the village hall with a cup of coffee and a very nice piece of lemon drizzle cake, very well done whoever made it. The purpose of my ‘sit in’ was not to judge cakes but rather to allow the good folks of the parish to see the proposed development of Barlavington farmyard. If you are not sure where that is, it is where the great old barn is behind the church in Barlavington. Many people took the opportunity to view the drawings and express their thoughts and opinions. I am most grateful as there were some useful comments and observations.…

Last month’s annual parish meeting was attended by 20 or so residents, who came along for drinks and sandwiches, thanks Nick, and primarily to listen to our guest speaker. Dr Ian Wightman, senior advisor for historic buildings for WSCC, gave an interesting and thought-provoking talk on the issues and problems that confront him and his colleagues. It was an enlightening presentation that illustrated the complexity and often seemingly contradictory approval or refusal of planning applications. I think all of us laymen went away with a greater understanding of his team’s role and purpose. Reports were also received from the Village Hall Committee, the Horticultural Society and from me regarding the…

Beating the Bounds, Gangdays prior to the Norman conquest, I don’t think is part of our local churches calendar, do correct me if I am wrong. Should this ancient ritual still be undertaken then Ascension day, May 25th this year, will be the day to gather with our clergyman and beat the boundary stones of the parish with sticks of birch and willow and pray for good fortune of the parish. Now we have our two boundary stones restored between Sutton and Bignor once again we can follow the parish boundaries in order to avoid disputes over ownership and maintenance. Apparently such disputes were regular occurrences in times gone by,…

As of the first of April the parish council has a new Clerk, Louise O’Callaghan, Rachel will hand over the finances at the end of the May and Louise we then be in charge. The parish council thank Rachel Orr for all her stirling work over nearly two years. Communication by email with Louise is exactly the same, so anything that arises that you feel should be bought to the parish council’s attention do please contact any of the parish councillors or Louise on the same email address. Something that the parish council, in particular Cllr Wendy Brown, has been focusing on recently is clearing drains and ditches. This spring…

In last month’s parish matters I had a short rant about the parish council being asked its opinion on everything and generally being ignored on the important things that concern us.  One of my more attentive readers wrote to say I was factually incorrect.  Wishing to be a paragon of virtue and model of the free press we all love and respect, I am happy to self regulate and correct my error.  Planning, which is what I was complaining about, does not fall to WSCC but rather is controlled by SDNP and is run locally by its agent CDC.  As I am discussing local authority powers, the parish council has received no volunteers…

A couple of months ago in this column I mentioned and illustrated the Bignor and Sutton boundary stone.  This stone had been upturned, and now we hope will be corrected and made stable.  The stone is marked on the ordinance survey maps that layout Lords Piece, so this was easy to identify and locate correctly.  However, someone mentioned there was another boundary stone!  This has confounded everyone, even those who have lived in and around the parish for many years had no knowledge of this other stone.  Well I am pleased to say this isn’t a figment of some persons imagination, it is true.  There is another boundary stone.  This new information is thanks to Brenda Phillips,…

Should you decide to meander down the hill from the White Horse you will be amazed at the state of our ditches, culverts and drains.  Not for a long-time has the excess rain water flowed so freely into these. For a number of years this, and the previous Parish Council, have been trying to reverse the neglect of these hidden and forgotten features of our village.  Finally, after a large grant from ‘operation watershed’ and some determination, from first myself, and then with much greater success Cllr Wendy Brown we have stopped the water flowing down the road rather than into the drains, culverts and ditches.  We are aware of one last culvert…