October 4, 2024
Welcome to this week's blog. As always, thank you for sparing the time to have a read.
Steve had CDC’s Parking Forum on Monday. On Tuesday, Val, Donna and I had Full CDC which had the welcome return of our Green colleague, Sarah Sharp. Steve had staff absence to cover so could not join us. It was also Donna and my wedding anniversary so, as it was a packed agenda, we celebrated with a McDonald’s afterwards, but intend to do more this weekend!
On Tuesday we bade a sad farewell to Nicholas Bennett, Monitoring Officer, who has been very helpful to us and is leaving CDC. The main proposal at Council was giving the go ahead to formulate proposals to regenerate parts of the City, including the bus station area; Stagecoach want to move to a new facility elsewhere so they can electrify their fleet. I succeeded in getting an assurance that options to retain the unique architecture of the current depot would be considered and Donna was assured that Members like her who are regular bus users would be involved in the scoping process.
We also considered:
Changes to the A27 Mitigation Supplementary Planning Document which sets out where contributions to improvements come from. I gained confirmation that it was not certain they would lead to traffic lights on the roundabouts because I worry that slowing the A27 further will lead to more rat-running across the Peninsula.
Funding for a post to facilitate the Chichester Regeneration Strategy. I asked whether in the longer term there was the potential to look at what could be done elsewhere in the District. The Leader, Adrian Moss (Liberal Democrat), welcomed this and assured me it would.
A Conservative motion criticising changes to the Winter Fuel Allowance, Donna clarified that you could apply for Pension Credit using non-digital means and had recently helped a resident do so.
I also reminded Adrian Moss that when he was Leader of the Opposition he had been quite passionate about what he hoped to achieve if he ever became Leader. I asked him where he felt he was not ambitious enough, to which he answered that his administration was limited by anticipated future funding restrictions.
On Wednesday Val and Donna had CDC’s Planning, then later Ian, Andrew, Donna and I were joined by Ali and Mike for the Finance & Administration Group before Ali, Andrew, Gareth, Mick and Val had STC's Planning Committee. Watch CDC’s public meetings
Ground improvement work to Manor Green Park in Selsey will take place during the week of October 7th in the areas that were flooded last year. This will involve vertidraining, which is a process that relieves soil compaction and improves drainage by creating small holes in the ground. Levelling and re-seeding will also be done in the most affected areas. Additional vertidraining will be carried out in other parts of the park to improve overall drainage. Residents and visitors are being asked to keep away from the areas being worked on.
Last weekend we woke to our first condensated windows since the Summer, a sure sign winter is coming. You may be wondering whether heat pumps are really the future, in which case this is worth a read. If you are worried about your bills, CDC offers advice including a leaflet that summarises all of the different grant schemes that you may be able to access.
Please remember: -
The Novium Museum is asking for help to save a rare Anglo-Saxon gold and garnet pyramidal sword mount through a crowd funding campaign.
WSCC is inviting residents to share their views on proposals for future transport improvements along the A259 between Bognor Regis and Chichester.
This week’s interesting reads are an enzyme Key to Brain Function and Synapse Health has been discovered, which it is hoped will lead to new treatments for particular disabilities; a new study into Parkinsons has shifted from the brain to early gastrointestinal symptoms; and, if you ever feel stumped, this is how the late Steve Jobs (Mr Apple) solved problems, something I have always found helpful.
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.
Finally: -
As always, from the whole Team, stay safe.
Tim
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