Still 5 weeks

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How did you manage in this week’s heatwave? We were comparatively fortunate down here; I felt for my school colleagues with daytime temperatures nearing 40C and nighttime ones averaging 20C or more. This is problematic because the level of humidity can be higher in the UK, making it harder to keep cool; if overnight temperatures don't go below 20C our bodies get no time to recover. I caught reports that the Chief of the Met Office cautioned that human-induced climate change has boosted temperatures 1C above pre-industrial levels and that consequently the unprecedented heat could become a more regular occurrence.


The six weeks of Summer are in full flow, and will be gone in a comparative blink. Of all the holidays, partly because of their length and partly because of the clement weather, quite often people wonder what they can do. Our District and our County have a lot to offer, and there is a useful website, Experience West Sussex, that will tell you about a range of possibilities including the new West Sussex food trail, Gourmet Garden trails and some of our many historical sites.


WSCC have several free things you can do this Summer. 


Bosham has been named by a travel site as the third best place in Britain to escape the crowds. 


Nearer to home, the Peninsula has more than West Wittering beach to offer, as this article about East Wittering demonstrates. Selsey, of course, we are keeping quiet about!!


Staying with things to do, and the Peninsula, here are TripAdvisors top recommendations in Selsey.


If you want a  picturesque day out, or are fascinated by large scale rewilding, you could visit the village I grew up in when my father was headteacher of its school. 


Before we move on, UK Harvest are bringing their Summer Holiday Cookery Club to Chichester and Selsey, for children aged 8 – 14 receiving benefit-related Free School Meals. 


This week there was another Member briefing on the Local Plan from CDC. It was a priority topic when we were elected in 2019, over 3 years ago! Donna sits on the Planning Committee and the Development Planning and Infrastructure Panel; she thinks there has been a 'shift' though, we are much more aware of climate issues and their impact on flood risk, and that's not just sea levels - it's surface water too, which is in fact, our main issue at the moment in several parts of the Peninsula including Selsey. On which subject, Donna spotted this: if you type in your postcode, the results are very interesting.


At the Corporate Governance and Audit Committee this week, the Annual Health & Safety Report was received. I proposed commending the reduction, over the last three years, in incidents of verbal abuse & threats and violence & aggression to staff. 


On Tuesday at Full CDC, I asked what proportion of the CDC’s budget was spent within the City when requests for further funding for another year from Chichester Festival Theatre and for Pallant House Gallery were agreed; this is not as easy to calculate as it might seem, but Officers will look into what can be done.


There was also an unsuccessful proposal for a more strategic approach to development in Southbourne which is content to have about a third of the planned District development, because it wants to use its compensation to construct a road bridge.  This is going to be more difficult to achieve if it’s developed in a piecemeal fashion, and there are potential implications regarding the infrastructure requirements. Donna had prepared a detailed speech in support, but was 'timed out' in an increasingly heightened debate in which Members of the Ruling Group spoke at length (one even was allowed to do so twice.) At the end, I successfully raised a point of order to allow a Member a right of reply to an alleged conversation cited in the closing statements. The following evening, Selsey Town Council decided to write a letter of commiseration and support to Southbourne Parish Council. 


The other items of note at the meeting were our agreeing to passport Government funding to help the voluntary sector help Ukrainian Refugees and also agreed to invest £300,000 to trial a new holistic support service for residents, “Supporting You" that will run for up to 2 years. 


If you are interested in making energy efficiency improvements or are struggling with your energy bills, don't forget you can contact Arun and Chichester Citizens Advice. 


Welcome local news is that East Beach, Selsey has been chosen to be part of the Connected Spaces Wi-fi Project along with the Walled Garden at Tilgate Park, Crawley, a Farmer’s Market in the car park off High Street, Steyning, and Arundel High Street, the kiosk on Cuckfield Recreation Ground, and Steyne Gardens, Worthing.


In recent weeks, we have shared a potentially worthwhile petition for you to consider signing; consequently more are coming our way so this week you might want to consider supporting: - 



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