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The parish council is still running short handed. The full complement is 7 councillors and we have only 5. This puts a strain on the others and it means that meetings are sometimes down to the minimum of 3 which is a quorum. The time demand is not great (minimum of one evening meeting every 2 months) and the duties are not onerous and you can make very much what you want of the role in terms of engagement. Some councillors do a tour of duty for a few years only and that’s fine. So please think about it and if it is not for you then you might know of someone for whom it would be a good fit. Contact any councillor or rhe parish clerk to find out more.

The parish council will make up the shortfall if the income does not cover the costs. The fireworks are a huge outlay and a big risk for any organiser if the weather is just good enough for the event to go ahead but bad enough to deter visitors. At its meeting on 24th September the Council decided that it is an important village event and the organisers need to have confidence that they won’t lose money.. This year the organisers are the Village Hall Revival Group and any proceeds will go towards the village hall extension project.

Over the next few weeks until the end of September you may well get a knock at the door from a member of the Village Hall Revival Group who are going house to house delivering the briefest of questionnaires asking for views on the proposed extension to the village hall. It is important to know the level of support and essential that we take steps to find out before we can approach potential funders for grants.

If you are not at home when someone calls they will leave the questionnaire which also tells of the many ways to give your feedback.

In his resignation statement Chris said, “I have completed 5 years as a Councillor which I have very much enjoyed. However, I am now ready to move on to different interests.” The council wishes him well and thanks him for his service in which he had oversight of events and monitored the status and serviceability of our public access defibrillators at The Ash Tree Inn and the cricket pavilion. The council now has two vacancies so please contact the parish clerk for more information or to express an interest in joining the council.

Village Hall charity AGM at noon on Saturday 12th April in the village hall after the library and cafe.
Annual Village meeting from 7pm on Thursday 24th April in the village hall.  Light refreshments from 7pm, meeting starts soon after 7.30 pm.

The works have been postponed due to a concern raised by a local farmer about the impact of the work on their operation.  A new date has yet to be set.

Kitchenham Road is due to be closed 24 x 7 for three days next week, Tues 18th to Thurs 20th for major reconstruction of the road.  The section closed is between the Hammer Hill junction and the Catsfield turn near Littlewood Fencing.

A couple of nights ago Oak Bank Farm was raided.  A brazen raid with tools stolen before the dog was let loose at which point they quit with their haul.  CCTV footage showed the reg no of the vehicle which was stolen in Brighton 24 hours earlier.  They raided three other farms locally (Brightling) the same night.  We must do what we can to secure property but no-one is recommended to confront thieves unless they outnumber them.

The Deputy Prime Minister has announced that Sussex will be one of the places on the Devolution Priority Programme and that the Government will be moving to consult on the formation of a strategic combined authority and elected mayor combining East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove City Council. Also included in the announcement is that the three authorities will not be holding elections this year.

Would you like to join the new team organising this year’s event? Come along to our first meeting Friday 7th February at The Pavilion.