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You may have read about the refusal of an application for a Gypsy Traveller site in Selsey . The applicant wanted to change the permitted use of some unused commercial land. After Selsey Town Council and over 200 residents objected to the loss of potential employment space, a report confirmed that there had been no such interest. Subsequently, a potential developer contacted us. Donna, as a member of CDC’s Planning Committee, has to stay neutral; I secured a short delay for Officers to ascertain if this was a genuine commercial interest. As you can see the loss of employment land formed part of their decision to refuse . Obviously, the applicant can appeal.  Also in the news is the defeat of our proposal for a Peninsula Recovery Group. Donna and I want to thank those of you who continue to share your disappointment with us. Last weekend we were photographed for the Chichester Observer who featured the story online and in print. You may have seen Spirit FM also ran it .  We we...

The most important thing Donna and I want to do in this post is to say thank you for all the supportive messages since our Tuesday post, which shared the unfortunate news that our proposal for a separate recovery group for the four Peninsula wards, open to every village who wanted to participate, was defeated; sadly, and ironically, although 7 of the 8 City Councillors present agreed with us (their Mayor was particularly eloquent in our favour) their votes were cancelled out by others outside of the City. The expectation is that our post COVID recovery will be facilitated through our Visions which, of course, are longer term and aspirational and which do not give our High Streets and businesses the support they need now. One resident told us that they felt that these Councillors should be called to ‘give an account’ of why they voted against the motion for a designated Recovery Team. A positive outcome from the Full Council meeting on Tuesday was agreement to increase short stay homele...

Did CDC give us the “Thumbs Up” today for a local economic Recovery Group? If you read our post on Friday - thanks to all those of you who did and expressed their support - you will be aware that today was Full Council and we asked for our area to have its own Recovery Group like Chichester because our population is as big and the knock-on effects from the ‘hit’ on leisure & tourism will affect us all to a lesser or greater extent.  The other Opposition Councillors were very supportive, arguing this would provide a clear Manhood focus and give us a stronger voice. The press quoted my pointing out that rightly or wrongly local people feel they are forgotten. Sadly the Ruling Group en masse disagreed so when it came to the vote we were defeated. Today we felt it appropriate to only update you on the outcome of our proposal; on Friday, as usual, we will update you on the other developments this week.  As always, stay safe Tim P.S. This is our press release. At Chichester Dist...

If you were asked to recommend somewhere for a walk or bike ride where would you choose? I mention this because, as part of Sussex Safer Roads , CDC are reminding us to wear appropriate clothing and a helmet, and make sure your bike is safe to ride before you go. Meanwhile Chichester Harbour, are reminding us of the “Itchenor Circular” four mile stroll around Chichester Harbour . A lot of locals keep dogs and enjoy walking them along the beach or in the countryside. CDC have just begun a consultation about dogs in public spaces, so please spare the time to share your thoughts .  These are tough times for us all. One of my Facebook friends recently posted a reminder that “the mental health issues related to lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression.” JK, as I will call them, went on to mention that MIND, the mental health charity , have a 24-hour helpline 0300 123 3393. Times are particularly tough for businesses, as we all know. I was really pleased t...

Can you beat this background for virtual meetings? I have used blurring, a fake classroom and tried the bookcase look, but I don’t think anyone could find anything much better than this. Colleagues from my school, and students, seem to agree. As “the six weeks of summer” are nearly with us, a couple of local stories you might have missed concerned a weed problem Covid-19 is causing along the length of the cana l because there have been fewer boat movements and a receptionist at Birdham Primary School, who lives in East Wittering, was honoured by the Royal Humane Society for assisting a 92-year-old driver who suffered a heart attack . Like me, I suspect you may find it interesting to learn that two thirds of new cases in West Sussex recently seem to have been at the opposite end of the county from us, namely in Crawley . Our District seems to be second only to Adur in having the lowest figures. We all value our local businesses, so if you run one of them as well as being assured of our ...

Thank you to everyone who has been emailing  Donna and  I recently, in particular the local businesses we all value so much, and those of you expressing their support for them: one current example is a prospective new restaurant.  Whether you are eating in a restaurant, or munching fish and chips on the beach, a decent glass of wine adds to the experience. Did you know Sussex is the UK's premier wine-making region and boasts over 50 vineyards?  If you like an occasional tipple, but are slightly hesitant about visiting your local, there is the  Chichester (driving) wine route and, to celebrate Sussex Day last month, Sussex Modern put together three bespoke wine cases .  One local business that has been in touch is  Witterings Fitness . They have been awarded some financial support from CDC's discretionary fund and are using it to support 16 - 18 year-olds adversely affected by lockdown interested in Strength and Conditioning training.  C...

Yesterday, I received some welcome news about a litter issue I have been pursuing: CDC have agreed to deploy a temporary 240 wheelie bin in West Street, Selsey for the summer. The email telling me the good news arrived just as I got back from a local beach filming my contribution to an end of year staff video my school are sending students and parents. Over the weekend, Donna and I got to work doing some garden clearance for her cared-for: thank you to the kind neighbours who offered space in their green bin to help us get rid of some of it. If you ventured out as well, you may have noticed that play areas have reopened - this is the advice from CDC about how to use them more safely: - If you have any symptoms related  to coronavirus, such as a persistent  cough or high temperature, return home and follow government advice; Try to play games, like football or throwing a Frisbee, that don't involve touching fixed play equipment - if you do, use hand sanitiser before and afterwa...

Last week we wrote about our area's part in the early 1940s and World War Two. In 1948 the National Assistance Act marked the beginning of social care by setting out the responsibilities of local authorities; in truth, though, the origins of welfare support go back further to the mutual and friendly societies of the nineteenth century and, prior to that, to the Elizabethan Poor Law. Donna has been an informal carer for many years, and as her cared for has declined - he has been bedridden for a couple of years - I have increasingly become her 'muscle'. We are pleased to tell you, therefore, that the Proud to Care Team are running an online recruitment campaign across West Sussex in July and August. It is focused on Summer Resilience, helping the Care sector to build up the workforce to cover holidays and staff shortages over the summer months. As well as this they are promoting the use of bank/temp staff to providers to help Care services build a resilient workforce. Th...