October 11, 2024

Welcome to this week's blog. As always, thank you for sparing the time to have a read.

On Wednesday, Andrew, Ian, Donna and I had an STC Personnel Committee meeting which considered the next steps for our Liaison Meetings with Senior Officers following the recent mandate from Full Council. Immediately afterwards, Donna and Andrew were joined by Mick, Val and Gareth for STC’s Assets and Amenities Committee. This coming Wednesday we all have an Extraordinary Full STC, then on Friday Donna has Full WSCC. Watch CDC’s public meetings 

Last week I mentioned we had woken to our first condensated windows since the Summer, a sure sign winter is coming. This winter may well be colder than last year due to particular meteorological conditions coming into play, as you can read here.

We also mentioned last week that the Sloe Fair is one of the earliest recorded fairs in Chichester. It was granted by King Henry I to Ralph de Luffa, Bishop of Chichester and is believed to be named after the Sloe tree which grew in fields by Northgate on the original site. Northgate car park will close at 6am on Saturday 19 October 2024 and reopen at 12 Noon Tuesday 22 October 2024. During this time no vehicles will be able to use it.

Steve Jobs was mentioned last week too because, like me, when he hit a problem-solving wall he left it for a while and came back to it. It seems appropriate, therefore, this week to share Jeff Bezos’ early morning routine because it is screen free and is something neurologists think has benefits.

It is nearly a year since my father passed away. He lived in Littlehampton and was very positive about the Lyminster bypass, saying for years that something had to be done about the A284 because of the bottlenecks and effect on people living by them. It is being reported that it will open soon so I intend to try it out in his memory.

The bird populations of Chichester Harbour are under significant pressure. Disturbance from people and dogs impacts a bird’s ability to survive the winter, migrate and breed in the summer. Due to this, CDC is encouraging dog owners to keep their dogs close to them because research indicates that during the winter period, when dogs are off the lead and enjoying themselves, they can unintentionally disturb the winter migrating birds that feed on the mudflats in the harbour. Unfortunately, these disturbances harm the birds because they use all their energy flying away when they need to be on the ground feeding and conserving energy. It can take a bird a whole day to refuel the energy lost. This means that they are not gaining enough weight to survive the summer migration or successfully breed. Short daylight hours in winter, plus the fact that many of these birds feed at low tide, mean that feeding time is limited, so it’s vital that disturbances are minimised.

Bird Aware has developed a Coastal Code to help people. They ask people to look out for birds feeding or resting on the coast; to take care not to scare or disturb them; to move further away if birds become alert and stop feeding; to stay on paths where they exist; and always follow requests on signs. The Chichester Harbour Conservancy also have information about this.

CDC has launched a new initiative to offer free, tailored support and coaching to independent retail and high street businesses across our District. It will be delivered by retail and high streets expert, Clare Bailey, and her team at The Retail Champion. The scheme will offer a mentoring package for businesses, working with them to develop a tailored action plan that will focus on improving each organisation’s efficiency, resilience, and commercial growth. The scheme has been developed as part of the council’s ongoing work to support local businesses. To be eligible for the scheme, businesses must be independent in retail, hospitality or hair and beauty and operating in a business premises in one of the district’s high streets in Chichester, East Wittering, Petworth, Midhurst or Selsey.

A couple of legal stories now: Ali recently made us aware of a drugs haul on Medmerry beach and a judge has issued a large fine in a planning enforcement case brought by CDC. Miley Connors, 38, of Scant Road East, Hambrook, was fined £28,000 last month and ordered to pay £4,000 towards the Prosecuting Council’s costs following a sentencing hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court for breaching a planning Enforcement Notice. The notice required him to remove two chalet cabins from a permitted gypsy and traveller caravan site on land south of Scant Road East, Funtington. There was planning permission for a total of 10 mobile homes on the site but Mr Connors replaced two of them with wooden chalets.

In an Enforcement Notice issued in September 2019, CDC said the chalets contravened the original permission as they were considered ‘built form’ and were built on raised breeze block foundations. They were described as ‘urban in appearance’ and were not considered to be sustainable development in a rural location. After an unsuccessful appeal was lodged in January 2021 the chalets and their foundations were ordered to br demolished within three months and for Mr Connors to remove any associated debris. A site visit in February 2022 found that the chalets had not been demolished so CDC decided to take legal action.

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