A step in the right direction

 

I am happy to report we were successful in persuading the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to recommend to CDC’s Cabinet that they look at our revised proposal for a Towns and Villages Recovery Group next week. 

Donna takes the lead now because the Cabinet meets on Tuesday at 9.30am whilst I am teaching and, to be fair, even though the end result was positive, she had to sit on the sidelines as she is not on O&S and was becoming increasingly frustrated at not being able to participate. If you are able, please be supportive and watch it live here, possibly posting your perspective as you do so.

To contextualise matters, CDC has several themed District recovery teams plus a City High Street group. We are grateful for everything they are doing but there is a need for additional support outside of the City to complement the longer term projects of the respective Vision groups.

We understand why the City is a significant concern, but feel the interdependence of the District economy is not being given sufficient consideration. For example, tourism is one of our two biggest employers, but over 70 percent of tourists come to the Peninsula and then, as part of their stay, might visit Chichester. It is also true that three times more potential local customers live outside of the City, a lot of whom are self-employed or work for someone who is, e.g. builders and their mates.

We will let you know the outcome next week. 

In other news, over 30 projects in 22 parishes have received a share of CDC’s New Homes Bonus (Parish Allocations) Scheme, including Birdham (£6,327 for a new bus shelter at Bell Lane), East Wittering & Bracklesham (£1,500 towards tree planting on roadside verges), Selsey (£18,805 towards an inclusive recreation ground for all ages, including a wheelchair swing and a wheelchair accessible roundabout) and Tangmere (£3,807 to provide a water supply to Youth Hall.

Finally: -

• You can look at and give your views on CDC’s climate action plan here;  
• A contractor has been appointed to redevelop CDC’s existing temporary accommodation to provide an additional 17 flats for homeless people;
• WSCC's winter readiness includes 19 gritters ready to grit 1,690km of road, 8,200 tonnes of rock salt and 800 readied community salt bins.

As always, from the whole Team, stay safe.

Tim