Earnley Parish Council www.earnleypc.org Skype: earnley.pc email: clerk@earnleypc.org 01243 203040

1 Charlmead East Wittering Chichester West Sussex PO20 8DN

Chairman’s Report

The Parish Council has been busy again this

year. The Planning Committee has dealt with

30 planning applications including the appli-

cation for 160 dwellings on Clappers Lane.

This development, if built would have a sig-

nificant impact on the parish. The Parish

Council has held meetings with representa-

tives of West Sussex County Council and

adjoining parishes to discuss the traffic

consultants report. I would like to thank

Julia Bowering and Cllr. Robert Carey for all

their work investigating the data included in

the traffic consultant’s report. The Wates

application for 160 dwellings E/14/00457/

OUT has now gone to appeal which is due to

commence on 29th October. CDC will be

defending their decision to reject the appli-

cation on the issues of the density of the

development, traffic impact and sustainabil-

ity of the site. In the meantime Wates

have put in a further application 14/01806/

OUT for 140 dwellings. Your parish council

has resolved to object to this application on

similar grounds to those submitted on the

160 application. For further details go to

www.earnleypc.org and click on the planning

tab.

The Parish Council has supported the work

of the Flood Prevention Group and it is

splendid looking across at the work com-

pleted so far; it is a tremendous achieve-

ment for our small community. The Bookers

Lane culvert is well advanced the construc-

tion of the new ford will follow later on and

is due to be completed in July. Ken Daven-

port has provided excellent technical assis-

tance to Robert on this project. A big

thanks to Robert Carey for all his drive and

hard work on all the projects that the group

Newsletter Summer 2014

Earnley Community Led Plan

At the Annual Meeting of Parish Electors Cllrs

Chris Charter and Sandy Simpson gave a presenta-

tion on why the parish council would like to work

with residents in developing a ‘Plan for the Parish’.

This was well received and the parishioners pre-

sent voted unanimously to support it. In due

course we will be circulating a questionnaire to all

households for you to tell us what you want for

your parish and what your priorities are.

Following this meeting several people came for-

ward to volunteer to work towards producing the

plan, however, we still require further volun-

teers. You do not need to commit yourself to a

vast amount of hours. We are looking for some

specialised skills for example, data analysis.

However, equally important is the need for peo-

ple to help with questionnaires and to physically

canvas households . If you feel you are able to

help with the project in anyway please contact

Chris on 514096 or c.charter@earnleypc.org

Broadband Update

Network preparation and building is now underway at

exchanges in phase two. Work to extend the existing

underground spine and sub ducts has taken place at

Bracklesham Bay, and continues at Birdham.

New fibre-holding DSLAM cabinets have been built at

Birdham and Bracklesham Bay and the County Council

anticipate that all new broadband services delivered in

phase two will become available from this September.

Some properties in the parish are already able to ac-

cess supafast broadband so please take the time to

check with your supplier.

Schedule of Meetings .....

Planning Meeting & Full Council

24th July

No meeting in August

Planning Meeting & Full Council

25th September

Planning Meeting 23rd October

Planning Committee & Full Council

27th November

No meeting in December

Planning Meeting & Full Council

22nd January 2015

All meetings will commence at

7.00pm at

Bracklesham Barn unless adver-

tised to the contrary. Planning

papers will be available from

6.45pm

You are always welcome to attend

please. It’s your Parish Council

and we would welcome

guidance and involvement from

you.

Useful Contacts .... District Councillor Graeme Barrett

01243 512180 gbarrett@chichester.gov.uk

District Councillor Peter Clementson 01243 513512

pclementson@chichester.gov.uk

County Councillor Pieter Montyn

01243 511319 Pieter.montyn@westsussex.gov.uk

NHS Direct:

www.nhshirect.nhs.uk Call: 111

We would like your email address .......

The Parish Council occasionally receives information that it

would be good to pass on to as many residents as possible.

Please email the clerk@earnleypc.org your email address to

receive this information. Your contact details will not be

passed on to any other party and we will not bombard you

with emails.

has been working on

A housing needs survey was completed in December last

year. Unfortunately the distribution of the survey coin-

cided with the proposed development in Clappers Lane

and possibly as a result of this there was insufficient

support for the provision of affordable housing in the

parish at this time. The Parish Council will review this

once the Clappers Lane application had been decided.

The parish is very lucky to have two conservation areas

within the parish. The District Council recently carried

out a review of the conservations areas and made recom-

mendations for both areas. The Parish Council has

worked in conjunction with the Environment Agency to

have the rusty directional signs replaced as part of pro-

viding new signage to the RSPB visitor’s car park in Drove

Lane. One sign at the top of Drove Lane by the Church

and one at the junction of Bookers Lane and Clappers

Lane will be replaced with traditional Sussex Style black

and white finger posts. These should be installed late

summer this year. The second project the council has

been working on with West Sussex County Council is to

get the road to the north of the church included in the

“Better Roads” scheme and have it resurfaced.

We are very fortunate to have the Medmerry Realign-

ment Scheme right on our doorstep. The Parish Council

continues to work closely with the Environment Agency

on this project. The Royal Society for the Protection of

Birds had reported that some very rare birds were al-

ready nesting on the site. As you are probably aware the

contractors continue to work on the access paths and it

is expected that this work will be completed by the end

of the summer. The Environment Agency will continue to

be responsible for the water courses and the outfalls

and the RSPB would take over the responsibility of all

other areas.

The Parish Council’s accounts received a clean bill of

health following the annual audit. Thanks to Louise our

parish clerk for this and her work generally .

Community Warden Report 2013-2014.

Every job that I do, and every incident that I deal with, is recorded on the Chichester District Council Com-

munity Wardens database. This database is full of all sorts of confidential information, recording every-

thing that I do, whether it be reporting a pothole to West Sussex County Council, dealing with a lost dog, finding evidence of drug misuse, or helping to run a Youth club session.

Between April 2013 and March 2014, I recorded 1453 jobs/ incidents, so it is fair to say that it has been a busy year for me. I will pick out a few bullet points that will, hopefully, give you an idea of what I have

been up to.

Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB): Generally speaking, ASB is well down on previous years. Teenagers are

often the biggest cause of ASB but my relationship with the local teens allows me to really influence a lot of their behaviour. As a result, there have been far fewer incidents involving children and teenagers. Of

course, there have been, and always will be, incidents, but I am pleased with the progress made. There will always be ASB “hotspots”, and last year they were at Bracklesham Barn, Hale Close in Bracklesham,

West Wittering beach, and Northern Crescent car park in East Wittering.

Youth Work. During the year, I attended 55 youth club sessions at East Wittering Youth Centre. Atten-

dance at both the Junior and Senior clubs has risen dramatically, with around 50 children now attending the 2 sessions. The success of the Senior club is particularly pleasing for me, as the teenagers who were

causing problems down at Bracklesham Barn, are now club regulars, and as a result, their behaviour is

much, much better.

Criminal. Nearly all of the work that I do in this category is drugs related. It is either finding and report-ing evidence of drug taking, or digging for intelligence relating to the drug dealers. As a result, I have re-

corded 176 incidents over the year. Other regular jobs involve criminal damage, where West Wittering has been affected quite badly, and Cold Callers who target the vulnerable right across my patch.

Environmental Issues. Just like previous years, the amount of fly tipping continues to cause problems. I have dealt with 152 cases of fly tipping throughout the year. Regular hotspots are Clappers Lane in

Earnley, Elms Lane in West Wittering, the Marine Drive car park in West Wittering and Northern Crescent car park in East Wittering. Luckily, most of the fly tipping is domestic waste, furniture and garden waste.

We thankfully get very little “commercial” fly tipping, i.e. builders waste, rubble, etc down here.

Other regular environmental issues for me are animal welfare incidents, of which I have dealt with 36 cases over the year.

One of the biggest jobs I had was a case of littering on a huge scale in East and West Wittering. It was happening pretty much every night, and was causing much distress locally. With help from locals, we

eventually traced the culprits and the littering ceased.

Highways. We had a very soggy winter this year, and every day I would go out and do road inspections

to check for potholes and other problems. I reported 126 potholes this winter, building up an excellent working relationship with West Sussex Highways. In many cases, potholes were repaired within 48 hours.

Being based in East Wittering Fire Station, I have very strong ties with West Sussex Fire and Rescue, and

road safety is a key part to a fire-fighters job nowadays. As a result, I have reported 91 drivers to Sussex

Police for either using their mobile phone whilst driving, or failing to wear a seatbelt. I have also reported over 20 untaxed vehicles to the DVLA.

Public Safety. As part of my job, I build up many relationships with members of the public, and I receive

lots of information/ intelligence regarding crimes that have been committed. Naturally, I pass on the infor-

mation to Sussex Police, and I have recorded 224 of these incidents during the last year. The Police are always grateful for the info, and it has led to quite a few arrests.

During the winter, when we seemed to have one storm after another, I made a point of driving my patch to check for any hazards that may have happened. By ensuring that I was out and about during the worst

weather, I recorded 36 instances where I came across obstructions or hazards in the road, ranging from fallen trees to a garden shed roof.

Your Parish Council Chris Charter: c.charter@earnleypc.org Colin Field: colfield@hotmail.co.uk 01243 514096 01243 641493 Keith Martin: k.martin@earnleypc.org Sandy Simpson: s.simpson@earnleypc.org 01243 670712 01243 513903 Robert Carey: r.carey@earnleypc.org Louise Chater: clerk@earnleypc.org 01243 670679 01243 203040

Flood Relief Work in the Parish

Members of the Birdham & Earnley

Flood Prevention Group (FPG) are busy

working on a number of projects in the

parish.

Work is proceeding on the final stages of

the Bookers Lane project, with the cross-

ing of the lane almost complete. There

are six large pipes being installed under

the road, which in a flood situation will

take water from the Earnley Rife across

the road to the new large flood relief

channel.

Members of the FPG in Almodington are

working in partnership with the Environ-

ment Agency to plan major improvements

to the Grange Rife, which runs through

the village. This work will involve de-

silting stretches of the Rife, replacing

blocked or inadequately sized culverts

and jetting and re-lining the larger cul-

verts. There is a total budget of £152,500

(excluding Environment Agency design

and management), part of which came

from the County Council’s Operation

Watershed fund.

Following a full survey, the FPG are

working with the County Council and

their water management consultants to

look at ways to improve the drainage in

the northern section of Bookers Lane and

the southern section of Bell Lane in

Somerley Village.

All of the above areas have suffered from

flooding in the past, particularly during

the severe flood event in June 2012.

The FPG are also working on resolving

smaller ditch and culvert blockages in a

number of locations, such as Holden's

Farm, Drove Road and Marsh Farm.

Medmerry Realignment Scheme Tree Planting

Programme

The managed realignment scheme is now

reaching it final stage and we need

volunteers to help with planting trees on the

site to

improve the visual impact of the work as well

as providing valuable habitat for all the

visiting wildlife.

If you would be interested in

helping with this project please contact Keith on

670712 or k.martin@earnleypc.org

Finally….I could not do half of the jobs without the support

I get from local residents, councillors and partner agencies. We live and work in a relatively crime-free area, and between

us we are making sure that it stays that way.

Thank you all for support this year.

Drew Allardice

01243 681547 or 07825681547

dallardice@chichester.gov.uk

Parish Council Elections

Parish Council Elections will be

held in May 2015. Two of your

current Parish Councillors have

indicated that they will not be

standing. Please take this time to think about if

you would like to consider standing for election.

Give one or your councillors or the Clerk a call

and have a chat about what is involved.