May 24, 2024
Welcome to this week's blog. As always, thank you for sparing the time to have a read. Elections are in the news, so in case you missed last week’s blog, the cost of the by-election, for Selsey Town Council, caused by Patrick’s unexpected passing, to Selsey’s Council Tax payers is around £4500 - considerably reduced because it was held with the Police and Crime Commissioner election.
To cast your vote in the General Election, you must be registered by midnight on Tuesday 18 June 2024. Registering only takes five minutes and can be done online. If you encounter difficulties, contact CDC’s Elections team to request a form or for other support, by calling 01243 521010 or email them.
Meetings are affected by purdah during the General Election campaign so check the calendar links at the end of this post regularly. (Watch CDC’s public meetings here, and Full WSCC here.) This coming Wednesday is the next STC Planning Committee at 7,30pm in Selsey Town Hall, which will be Gareth’s first one. Last Tuesday was Full CDC’s Annual Council Meeting. We made Committee and Outside Body appointments. With Sarah Sharp’s absence, Val has joined Donna on Planning, as well as the Housing Panel, and the Development and Infrastructure Panel, while Steve joins Donna on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. We also: -
Adopted the Chichester Harbour Management Plan: I asked whether, as the Conservancy values them, our parishes in the National Landscape have up to date neighbourhood plans: Officers will come back to me.
We agreed funding of 180,000 for the Arun and Rother Rivers Trust Chalk Stream Resilience Project to help fund two project Officer posts. I asked what would happen if ARRT did not secure the rest of the funding and was told they were confident they would. Donna agreed that the award could be monitored by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to ensure it continued to represent good value for our investment.
We also approved a policy determining applications to Homes England (applicable to Current Shared Ownership Units) seeking a waiver in designated protected areas which is welcome as our District faces significant challenges regarding affordable housing and the Peninsula has many Current Shared Development Units.
Foster Care Fortnight finishes on Sunday: this year’s theme is #FosteringMoments, celebrating the incredible difference that foster carers make every day. I fostered before meeting Donna and becoming a teacher. There are many types of care, from respite (usually one weekend a month) to Supported Lodgings, where you can help a young person aged 16 to 24 learn the skills needed to live independently. While the children that are cared for are all in safe accommodation, a number are living a significant distance from their school and friends. A total of 65% of these young people are aged 11 to 17 and need to find someone like you to guide them through this important time in their lives. Foster carers receive comprehensive training, ongoing professional support and a competitive financial package of up to £30,393 per year, per child.
Sunday also sees the flotilla of lifeboats in the Solent celebrating the 200th anniversary of the RNLI. They will travel between Portsmouth, Hayling Island and Selsey, and across to the Isle of Wight. Hayling Lifeboats will be joined by Selsey’s Shannon, Portsmouth’s Atlantic 85 and D Class (for some of the trip), as well as the Tamar from Bembridge. The boats leave Fishery Creek, near Hayling Island Sailing Club, at 11.00 and head East. After passing Selsey Lifeboat Station, the fleet will turn at Bognor Rocks and head for the Isle of Wight. After passing Bembridge they will then head towards Portsmouth and then back to Hayling. The RNLI’s volunteers have saved 144,277 lives at sea during the last 200 years.
Until June 3, a team of archaeologists are looking to further our knowledge about a Norman structure in Priory Park, Chichester. Their dig is a collaboration between Chichester and District Archaeology Society and CDC. The public are welcome to come along and watch, particularly on Saturday 1 June when there will be the opportunity to hear about the team’s discoveries at 10am, 12 noon and 3pm. Last year, the team uncovered the foundations of the walls associated with a building which was part of a medieval Franciscan Friary that stood on the site, including a buttress on the south-east corner of the building. They also found the remains of a ditch that surrounded the central mound of Chichester’s Norman castle, together with a masonry structure associated with it.
You may have heard of the concern in places like Devon and Surrey about Cryptosporidium, places residents regularly travel to so you may want to read the UKHSA’s information on and how you can avoid it in the water or on the farm.
Unsurprisingly, part of the Chichester bypass is number 12 on the list of the roads where drivers spend the most time in traffic but in happier news our trains are about to have more seats.
This an interesting read about Sussex's lost villages that were victims of erosion, plague or war. A reminder that things are in hand for Selsey’s civic commemoration of D-day 80 when, as requested by the Pageant Master, Bruno Peek CVO OBE OPR, a beacon will be lit at 9.15pm on June 6. You can learn more about these historic times via one of West Sussex Library Service’s online resources. West Sussex Record Office in Chichester has already launched its free D-Day display in its reception and search room, which will be available throughout May and June. This is WSCC’s information about celebrations across our County.
You may not realise but during the Second World War, Selsey endured more air raids than any other place in Sussex. It was one of two crucial assembly points for the Mulberry Harbours, Phoenix Caissons, and other components essential for the D-Day invasion. Constructed in strict secrecy over seven months, the town was subjected to rigorous security measures. Visitors were barred unless on vital national business, and local fishermen were prohibited from accessing nearby waters. The mysterious arrival of massive concrete blocks off the coast fuelled speculation among residents, who were kept in the dark about their purpose.
In late May 1944, Prime Minister Winston Churchill inspected the Phoenix Caisson works in Selsey, where he famously emphasized the importance of overcoming logistical challenges with his directives. These innovative Mulberry Harbours, credited with significantly enhancing the Allied supply chain, played a pivotal role in the success of the Normandy invasion. Concurrent with the harbour preparations, work on the Advanced Landing Ground near Church Norton commenced in February 1943. By April 1944, the upgraded airfield hosted several RAF squadrons, including 135 Squadron of Spitfires, which provided critical air cover during D-Day.
The day after the D-Day beach landings, the Mulberry Harbour components were towed from Selsey across the Channel. After these giant structures mysteriously departed, local people were still unaware that they had been living next to one of the important assembly points for the artificial harbours, in preparation for the Normandy invasion. Just off the coast of Selsey, in ten metres of water, is one of those Phoenix caissons that broke its back and sank in the storm on the night before D-Day, joining many wrecks off Selsey from both World Wars, this craft is known locally as the Outer Mulberry. 80 years on, the Outer Mulberry rests with the wrecks of a WW2 Infantry Landing craft and a Cuckoo Rescue Float, in a triangular configuration. This is a nationally important archaeological site that was given Scheduled Monument Status in commemoration of 75th anniversary of D-Day and to preserve them for future generations.
In June, you can explore the vibrant colours of our District with a series of free open-air painting sessions. Delivered as part of the Culture Spark programme, led by CDC, these ‘En Plein Air’ — or open-air — sessions will be delivered by professional artists and are inspired by The Festival of Flowers at Chichester Cathedral (5–8 June) and the Still Life exhibition at Pallant House Gallery (11 May-20 October). The workshops are open to people aged 16 and over. The first event takes place in the CIty’s Bishop’s Palace Gardens on Saturday 8 June from 10am to 4pm. Midhurst will host a second session at Woolbeding Gardens on Friday 21 June from 11am to 4pm before a final workshop is run at Petworth House in Petworth on Saturday 29 June from 11am to 4pm.
The workshops will be led by artist Sue England, a finalist in Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2019, accompanied by two local professional artists, each specialising in different art forms and styles. Participants are asked to bring the materials and equipment that they would like to use on the day, such as canvases, paints, crayons, pencils, and easel. To find out more and register to attend one of the workshops, please email.
Finally: -
As always, from the whole Team, stay safe.
Tim
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