February 23, 2024

 

Welcome once again to this week's blog and, as always, thank you for sparing the time to have a read. 

Yesterday was Patrick's funeral. Donna, Mick Val, Ian, AIi and Andrew were there - unfortunately I had a parents' evening at school. Donna posted on our official account: - 

“The funeral of Cllr Patrick Rowe, Selsey Town Councillor for Selsey North, took place today. Local Alliance Town Councillors attended, to pay our respects to a valued member of our Group. Patrick was very much a 'get things done' person with a lot of common sense and he disliked injustice of any kind.  Our thoughts remain with his family - he will be missed by us all.” Patrick was incredibly proud to have been elected as a Town Councillor and took his responsibilities very seriously. His untimely death came as a shock to us all.

The week had slightly fewer meetings ahead of several at CDC next week, including the Full CDC budget meeting. There was, however, the CDC All Parishes meeting on Monday (which included updates from Hyde and Sussex Police) and the scheduled STC Assets & Amenities Committee on Wednesday evening at 7.30pm in Selsey Town Hall. You can watch all public CDC meetings here and, if you are also interested in WSCC, can watch theirs here.

Remember CDC is placing shingle around the beach from Marine Car Park, for up to 4 weeks. There will be around 7,500t of shingle deposited on the upper foreshore and spread over adjacent groyne bays so access to the deposition area will be restricted during the works, but a pedestrian route will be maintained - deliveries will be made by road so please keep a safe distance from the site, and be aware that there could be obstructions in the vicinity of the beach.

As we mentioned last week, Donna (and I) since before Christmas have been helping the Manhood Classics who, without it being realised by CDC were using East Beach car park for publicly advertised gatherings, at which they proudly showed off their cars. This coming to light raised issues, so Officers are working on a policy to address them. We are hoping for a public consultation or at least involvement of the impacted parishes so the geographical differences across our District are reflected in the final policy; however, we only have a seventh of the votes on the final text. This week we have continued to extend our contacts amongst leading members of the Ruling Group and had an in-depth conversation with the Leader. 

WSCC is encouraging people to take part in their survey about health and wellbeing in West Sussex. The results of the survey, carried out in partnership with Qa Research, will help them plan services and take action to support the health and wellbeing of residents. The survey is open to all West Sussex residents until 8 March. It is voluntary and anonymous and should only take about 15 minutes to complete. Everyone who completes the survey will be eligible to enter a free prize draw, with the chance to win one of three cash prizes (£750, £150 and £100). 

A way in which Donna and I try to maintain better health is walking. As this article reminds us, it not only burns calories but also strengthens, helps appetite management and is good for mental well-being. It also includes advice on how far to walk each day to lose weight.

Staying with health, a study has linked 20 cups of tea a week to a lower risk of heart attack and diabetes. My parents mainly drank tea, but I find it can make me feel a little nauseous so stick with coffee; however, Donna loves tea in its many forms and could happily drink twice that!

Worryingly, February is on course to break unprecedented number of heat records because of warmer than expected sea temperatures. It is still important to remember creatures living in the wild including our feathered friends, as this year’s National Nest Box Week has just reminded us. 

We recently mentioned a joint initiative by CDC’s Rough Sleeper team and Everyone Active, which has been helping rough sleepers and those who are at risk of homelessness to access support. The scheme, which is delivered from a variety of locations, has been using physical exercise to help clients boost their wellbeing, confidence and self-esteem. These sessions have also provided clients with the opportunity to have conversations about other parts of their lives where they may want support. CDC were able to pay for this through funding from the Department of Levelling Up, and in just over the past year over 50 people have benefitted from this. CDC currently has funding to deliver this until April 2025. It’ has also helped people to better integrate into the community, meet new people and feel more empowered to engage with other services — not just from CDC, but also from a variety of other agencies and organisations.

Due to the success of the scheme, CDC has also been able to extend it to those who may be at risk of homelessness or who are struggling with the current cost of living crisis. We know how challenging the current climate is for many people and so supporting people in this way is a key priority for us. This can also be seen through theirSupporting You team — www.chichester.gov.uk/supportingyouteam — who are there to help people identify and access the range of support that is available to them, and their Social Prescribing team — www.chichester.gov.uk/socialprescribing — who help people access a range of local non-clinical services to help meet their social and emotional needs. You can find out more about CDC’s housing services at: www.chichester.gov.uk/housing

Finally: - 

• Report potholes to WSCC

• Housing Health & Safety

• Warmer Homes UK

• Suicide in Sussex

• Domestic Abuse

• Supporting You

• WSCC Meetings

• CDC Meetings

As always, from the whole Team, stay safe.

Tim