What a Day

Today is the first Sussex Day to coincide with our weekly posts. It is celebrated  on 16 June because it is St Richard's Day; he was the Bishop of Chichester from 1245 until his death in 1253.

This week includes another significant day: Thursday is the 75th anniversary of HMT Empire Windrush arriving in Britain. On board were more than 800 passengers from the Caribbean. The ship and its passengers have a symbolic status as the start of the Windrush Generation (the people who emigrated from the Caribbean until the Immigration Act 1971.) You can read more (from English Heritage) here. 

Another important anniversary is on July 5th when the NHS will be 75: you can join what is hoped will be millions of others and sign this ecard. 

Last Sunday saw Selsey Open Gardens. Later that day, Donna and I attended a Thanksgiving Service in the Cathedral to celebrate ten years of the Chichester District Foodbank. They also have outlets in Selsey, Midhurst and Petworth. On Wednesday, Val went with Donna to speak on a Sidlesham application in her capacity as their new District Councillor at CDC Planning. Much later, I collected Donna on my way home to before dropping her off for the first meeting of Sidlesham Parish Council since May’s elections, while I doubled back to join the rest of the team for a Selsey Town Council Business Planning meeting. 

This week there is a Full Selsey Town Council on Wednesday, If you don’t live in Selsey, it would be worth checking your parish website to see what meetings they have coming up. On Thursday Donna and I have our first meeting of CDC’s Routing Panel. We are on it because she Chairs the pivotal Overview & Scrutiny Committee and I lead the Opposition. The panel decides what route projects take and when, so we will, in keeping with your clear wishes in our recent surveys, argue for urgent investigation of other ways to deliver social housing, and for the findings to come to Donna and the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

The Ward work continues: Donna and I were called to support a young couple, with serious housing issues, yesterday evening,  Understandably it caused them great distress and it was a very difficult and emotionally challenging experience for all involved.

Mick, Ian and Andrew were hoping tobe busy putting up flags but hit sizing issues so will resume when they are sorted, and Steve has been looking into a Planning matter. I have a couple of cases I hope to conclude in the next few days, and Donna, as you may be aware, has several complex cases she is dealing with at the moment: for instance this week she posted: "Important morning supporting a resident at a meeting with the Education Dept up at West Sussex. One thing I've always been convinced of is that the 'one size fits all' approach we have to education isn't ideal for everyone, and for many children who don't quite fit the 'mould,' finding somewhere they can flourish and reach their potential is very hard. As Tim's a teacher, he and I often talk about this - it  will need massive investment, but it's an investment in future generations, so we should absolutely find a way of doing it."

A quick update on a couple of stories: 

• The dig in Priory Park uncovered remains of Chichester’s Norman castle for the first time since the Middle Ages.

• Sadly drugs, pesticides and E.Coli have been found in the Harbour.

We hope you have been managing in the recent heat. The Telegraph reported predictions the South East is heading towards a Northern Mediterranean climate within a decade seeing temperatures on a par with Spain, France and Italy. In light of this, you might like to read about the uncomfortable reality of life on Earth after we breach 1.5°C.

I saw the first Jaws movie when it was first released in the cinema. At the time, I was relieved there seemed no possibility we would ever have sharks in the waters off the UK; sadly, though we now do and toxic jellyfish. Incidentally, WSCC has published some useful information on keeping yourself and others safe this Summer.. 

Whatever your views on the privatisation of utilities, the soaring temperatures and prolonged dry weather has necessitated water companies pumping much more drinking water to customer taps than normal. This, coupled with not seeing any significant rainfall since the end of April, has put considerable pressure on their ability to treat, pump and supply water to us all. South East Water earlier this week was asking it's customers to only use water that’s needed for essentials – things like drinking, cooking and hygiene. Today they announced a hosepipe ban from June 26. You may have read some schools they supply have been forced to shut. Therefore, it might be wise to see what we can each do here, in the hope Portsmouth Water does not need to ask the same of us. 

When we make a will, we often arrange to leave physical assets and money to family members, friends, acquaintances or favourite charities. Nowadays, most people also leave behind various online assets, including profiles, email accounts, posts and other content in social media, content sharing accounts, and files stored in the cloud. If you want to protect the assets and your successors from the stress of losing this valuable information, you should leave a digital legacy. There are a number of ways to do this and Get Safe Online has an article that will tell you more so you can ensure your digital assets don't get lost after your death.

I came across an interesting read about faecal transplants this week. At first I was not sure I wanted to read it, but am glad I did because our microbiome is key to our health and research in this area could cure a range of diseases.

Finally: - 

• Suicide in Sussex

• Domestic Abuse

• Supporting You

• CDC Meetings

• WSCC

As always, from the whole Team, stay safe.

Tim