Parish Matters – September

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 the Whitehorse. In last month’s edition of the Village News it was announced when Nick was leaving, 18th September. Do go along and say goodbye to Nick, he has served the village well and we all wish him the best of luck for his future adventures.

The PC was invited to meet the new owners of the Whitehorse, John Connelly and Odile Griffith in the pub just before the Parish Council meeting on the 6th

September. This informal meeting allowed John and Odile to explain what their

vision and aspirations were for the pub, and likewise we were able to feed back ideas and thoughts we had received from residents. The bad news is that the Whitehorse will be closed from September to spring to allow for some major refurbishment to take place. The amount of time is contingent on planning approval and the extent of problems encountered. At our meeting the PC were told that this building work will be to update and refresh the structure and interior, but the pub will remain a pub and fundamentally it’s footprint and character will remain unchanged. The planning and listed building applications we are told will be submitted very soon.

We will also be making a link via the Village website to the Whitehorse website, so that residents can write in and make suggestions to the new owners. They are very keen to hear from the community, and indeed have already taken on-board

comments in their planning.

Whilst you are searching the village Website for the link to the Whitehorse you will also note that we have uploaded some images and notes in the archive section

relating to the 25th anniversary of Village Hall. Thanks to Brenda and Sue for

finding these photographs, and we will be asking them again to find other suitable images and stories to upload and expand the village archive on the website. Now that Cllr. Neave and Kevin Berry have been trained to upload stuff we look forward to much progress in this area and if you have any material that you think will be of interest do contact Sue Dudman and Brenda Phillips.

Finally, the Parish Council is looking for someone who would be willing to be the Parish tree warden. Such a role does not necessitate having to be on the PC, but the tree warden would need to liaise with the PC. If anyone is interested then please come and talk with me and I can explain further.

John Cross

Chair Sutton and Barlavington Parish Council

Next meeting in the Village Hall at 7.30pm on November 15th