15th October

In last week’s Village News Jo Wellman highlighted the on-going problem of fly tipping in and around the vicinity. WSCC decision a few months ago to charge businesses and households for even the smallest amount of rubble at recycling centres will only make the situation worse. Despite many parishes warning of the consequences of introducing such a charge the short term necessity of saving and making money seems to have trumped logic. We can all expect the dumping of waste building materials to become a constant and regular feature of country life. Should you see or be suspicious of vans, or come across any material that has been dumped please let any of the Parish Councillors know so we can keep a record of the extent of this problem and in the future lobby for this ridiculous charging of building waste to be scrapped.At this time of the year the Parish Council start to gather evidence and compile a list of footpaths, hedges, fences and bridges that may need to be looked at in the early spring by the South Downs National Park ranger, Nick Scott. We have

already had a number of folk mentioning the footpath beyond School Lane, but if there are other stiles and gates, fingerpost that have become in a state of disrepair then could you let Cllr Wendy Brown known. Sutton and Bignor have both been proactive in using the services of the Ranger and in turn this positive engagement has been reciprocated by our Ranger and his volunteers. Since the SDNP was established there has been much improvement in the state of the footpaths and accessibility for walkers, let’s hope that continues.

Many of you will be aware that Southern Electricity have been doing a significant amount of tree pollarding, the footpath opposite the White Horse being the most visual example. The drastic pruning in this instance was necessary as the sub

station and the main electricity cables had become completely engulfed and entwined by the trees, the effect of this was brief intermittent interruption of power supply. Clearly this work was long overdue.

Finally, the Parish Council was informed that it’s New Homes Bonus Grant application was successful and that the new boiler for the Village Hall can now be acquired, so these funds will be passed to the Village Hall Committee when the boiler is purchased, hopefully the new boiler will be installed relatively soon. The Village Hall Committee and the Parish Council will be meeting jointly soon to discuss a range of issues, but fore most on our minds will be the idea of the Village Hall being equipped to be a refuge in case of emergency such as prolonged periods of electricity outage, floods etc…. This facility needs to be funded and maintained and the responsibility of who does what needs to be settled. The meeting will also examine other funding sources that could be called upon to further improved the Village Hall itself.

John Cross

Chair Sutton and Barlavington Parish Council

Next Parish Council Meeting in the Village Hall on November 9th, 7.30pm