Welcome to the Local Alliance Blog

  Do you like a walk in the woods? On a hot summer’s day, either a beach with a bit of breeze or sheltered woodland do the trick for me. I am Sussex born and Sussex bred so am drawn instinctively to both. However, I hadn't realised that we live near to Britain’s most ancient trees until this article about Kingley Vale popped up . You may also fancy a stroll in some enchanted bluebell walks and like to see for yourself this apparently haunted, hidden, abandoned school and church .  This week we caught up with my first two daughters; my second one is a paramedic and her other half works with her so opportunities when we are all available are increasingly rare. We met midway in Arundel again because we all had other things on. The castle prompted some discussion - I recalled my visits there in the past: if you've been there, or seen it from afar, I am sure you will agree it remains one of Sussex’s most charming . A pop-up local Crafts shop opens on the edge of Selsey’s holid...

  Are you worried about planning and the impact of over-development in your area? Many of us are and we are not alone. Other parts of West Sussex have concerns about their home areas too, as this article about one I spent part of my childhood in demonstrates. More locally, following a meeting which Donna attended, Selsey Town Council was able to ensure that   residents’ concerns about a planning application and other issues re the holiday park were addressed.  One of the local spots Donna and I like to frequent is Denmans Garden , so we were pleased to learn that the tale of its renaissance is going to be told online to raise money for the Sussex Snowdrop Trust. At this juncture, it seems appropriate to also share with you information about places opening in West Sussex as part of the National Garden Scheme 2021 . It has been another busy week in the WSCC campaign but the team has finished our first leaflet delivery. There has been some speculation about longer ter...

  Elections are not easy and neither should they be  -  if you don't have real passion for what you are doing or, indeed trying to do, it's hard to get through them. For those of us not affiliated to the main parties, we have to organise and fund everything ourselves. Absolutely nothing is done for us. As I say, without real passion, it would be hard to push through. Pushing through is what we've been doing this week; the task of delivering 5000 odd election leaflets in 5/6 days was intimidating to say the least but, we're about there. I really dislike negative campaigns and we will never start one, but I will certainly defend myself and our Alliance when necessary. Is it uncomfortable when people start being critical? Not really...as I say passion and commitment to our Community pushes me - and our incredible team of members and volunteers - through.  Personally, I'd have been very happy to have seen other individual Independents or Groups stand as well, but it is ...

Have you ventured out this week to enjoy the greater freedom arising from our moving to step two of the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown? Have you got plans to go places as the weather improves? We will not move to Step 3 until May 17 at the earliest , but I thought this might interest you and give you some ideas of nearby places and some further afield . In our time, our family has been to just about all of them.  With pubs partially reopening, this might also interest you . Beaches feature quite heavily in our thoughts - our’s our stunning; luckily we have not had to deal with this most recent problem Brighton has had, polystyrene balls . Last week I talked about gardens and birds quite a bit so I felt I should quickly share this before and after transformation of a front garden into something more mediterranean , as well as this advice on some easy April gardening tasks and less happily this article on the decline in 16 of our 20 top garden birds . There is a nationa...

  As I posted earlier when the news broke, like any other family that has suffered a bereavement, our thoughts are with the Royal family at this time. CDC have a Condolence book you can sign Do you like birds? A lot of people do, some not so. The recent roadmap easing allowed us to catch up with my first two daughters and meet my second one’s significant other, who works on the ambulances with her. It turns out that he likes birds, which may be a sensible choice because hearing birdsong might boost our mental health and wellbeing, and during lockdown we may have heard more of it. We met up in Arundel which has one of the castles in Sussex that could be straight out of a fairytale . Arundel is a good midway spot because they live in Shoreham, and is a lovely place for an inland walk. If you prefer a coastal walk there are some ideas here . If you have a dog, these beaches will interest you . If you like a historical aspect when you are out, Chichester has some new statues . Whe...

What do you think is the ugliest building in Sussex? If you can’t think of a particular building, is there somewhere you think has some ugly buildings or ones that are out of character with the rest of their area? Every building, and every development, has a story: this article might interest you because it tells us more about the stories behind SussexLive’s ugliest buildings in Sussex .  I suspect that now we can go out a bit more, you would rather visit more visually appealing places. I am pleased that Plum Guide’s favourite places to visit in West Sussex include several Donna, the family and I enjoy including the Witterings, Bosham and Arundel. Then there are these recommendations too . As well as going out with the family this holiday, West Sussex have produced some suggestions for holiday activities and food.   This summer we are all likely to be spending most or all of our leisure time in the UK. That being the case, here are eight beautiful Sussex beaches SussexLi...