Message from: Richard W. Symonds, Independent candidate for Ifield, Lavington Close, Ifield. March 23, 2007.
COMMENTS: Liberal Democrat leader, Dr David Holmes, makes the following statement (letters, March 16): “I do not think party politics have a place in the district council... It must be difficult to understand what independents stand for.’’
Dr Holmes, it’s not ‘difficult’ – you’ve explained it in the first part of your statement.


Message from: Dennis Sansom, Woodgates Close, Horsham. March 23, 2007.
COMMENTS: Senior citizens who have lost their partner are having to pay 75 per cent of the council tax.
Apart from the financial implications, they are usually unable to participate in local amenities due to health and other restrictions so why must they pay more per head than other households?
I feel so strongly about this that I have initiated a petition to the Prime Minister to increase the discount from 25 per cent to 50 per cent.
If any of your readers feel the same they can add their name to the petition at the No10 website address http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Discount/


Message from: Ivan Stevens, Southwater Street, Southwater. March 22, 2007.
COMMENTS: Like many others, I was sad to learn of the death of Tony Wales. Tony was of course known as an author of books on Sussex and someone steeped in Sussex folklore. He loved this county.
But I have special memories of working with him on a more local project. It was the early 1980s and in my new role as Horsham District Council’s information officer.
I wanted to produce an official guide which reflected the whole of the area. Previous guides had centred on Horsham town, which was nice for the town, but the parishes were often only given a cursory mention.
Horsham district had been formed in 1974 from Horsham urban, Horsham rural and Chanctonbury rural district councils. It had not always been an easy amalgamation, with the local communities and councils reluctant to lose their identities and influence in what they saw as their areas.
Even eight or so years later, this feeling often still prevailed. Later financial benefits which accrued from one area, especially the Tesco’s agreement at Broadbridge Heath, would be spread amongst other parts of Horsham district, to provide leisure centres and other facilities in Henfield, Steyning, Storrington and so on, but at that time such sharing of resources was still mostly in the future.
We thought the official guide would perhaps help to represent the district as a unity.
I was introduced to Tony and he wrote an excellent text for the new guide, drawing on the wealth of stories and anecdotes he had garnered. These did indeed relate to all the Horsham district.
Some I recall include ‘The Cat and the Canary’ (about Bob Ward, an eccentric who lived by Pinchnose Green in Henfield – formerly in Storrington rural district – and his cat); ‘Cocoa Drinkers and Holy Women’ (which described an unusual religious sect who built a chapel at Warnham – previously part of Horsham rural district – who were often known as ‘Cokelers’ because it was said they only drank cocoa and nothing stronger); and ‘The Fairies Hill’, about the legends associated with Chanctonbury Ring on the South Downs, one of the southernmost points and the highest place in Horsham district.
Of course Tony also wrote with feeling and enthusiasm about the historic Causeway, Horsham and its museum, about Park House, and other aspects of the town of which he was so fond, which was changing then and by the early 1990s had changed much more.
We added suitable photographs from across the area, its lovely towns, villages and landscapes, to the publication.
As time went on the format of the Horsham District's Official Guide would evolve with differing needs for information and the economics of production (it always paid for itself through advertising – Laurie Wright from Southwater sold advertising space for the early editions which covered all costs, later outside companies provided free copies in return for advertising revenue).
What Tony Wales did in the early 1980s was help to show that Horsham district was in reality one district, with one council providing district-level services, and he celebrated its diversity.
He recorded the traditions and folk-tales from all parts of our area and helped demonstrate that their individuality could be retained within the still-new local government area of the Horsham district.
Other actions by the district council followed during the 1980s and 1990s which reinforced the sense of ‘one-ness’ of the Horsham district.
But we are indebted to Tony – a most modest person – for setting out so clearly the parishes, towns and places of the Horsham district for the first time, in such an informative, appealing and entertaining way. His was a major contribution to the perception of the Horsham district as a single identity.
He showed through his clear, descriptive text and folk-tales that the diverse parts of the new district formed a most attractive whole, with their own communities and traditions intact, served by councillors and a council drawn from across that entire area.
It was a pleasure to have known Tony and I will always have fond memories of him and that time we worked together to help represent the ‘Horsham district’ through its official guide.


Message from: Gill Bridge, Lancing (formerly Horsham). March 22, 2007.
COMMENTS: I was so sorry to learn of the passing of Tony Wales. I remember him with such a fount of knowledge, caring and unassuming. He was truly a chip off the old block following his father’s footsteps in the folk world.
He will be so very much missed, but hopefully his work, legacy and spirit will live on through his devoted family and friends.
My heartfelt empathy goes out to all who miss the gentle giant.

 
Message from: Faith Fox-Holmes, Park Terrace West, Horsham. March 21, 2007.
COMMENTS: I was driving along the Pease Pottage Road (which as most people know is a road leading through the forest) on Friday March 9 when my car broke down.
It was 17.50 and still daylight. Not one car driver stopped to offer me assistance.
Fortunately, being a member of the AA, I was able to call them and they came to my rescue by 18.20hrs; by this time it was getting dark and I was cold and worried being on my own on that road. My plea to all those drivers who ignored my plight, please remember: single women on their own, standing by an obviously broken down vehicle, need assistance, even if it is to check that they had a mobile and could seek help from a rescue organisation.
I needed chivalry not equality!


Message from: Christopher Holland, Camber Close, Pound Hill, Crawley. March 21, 2007.
COMMENTS: I read the article in the County Times on March 9 and I must congratulate your publication for what to me is the first item I have seen concerning epilepsy in a local or national paper which has got its facts right.
Its positive approach to the condition ensured that all the way through the article it refers to ‘people with epilepsy’; this is so unusual as those who have this and other conditions are very often defined by their condition, ie epileptic, asthmatic, bulimic etc (as unfortunately seems to have been done in the headline) which dehumanises them and can cause those who think of themselves as ‘normal’ people to become dismissive of sufferers.
My wife developed epilepsy over 30 years ago and the struggle to counter many of the myths has been long and sometimes hard.
The search for successful treatment has also been difficult and involved visits to many different hospitals and specialised units before finding success at the National Hospital in London.
We have received information and advice from both NSE and Epilepsy Action without which we would have struggled to cope with the situation.
Thank you again for publishing the article – I urge all your readers to read and learn from it.


Message from: N.C. Friswell, Millais, Horsham. March 20, 2007.
COMMENTS: There is the possibility of a new threat to Horsham Park. The County Times reported recently on the new children’s nursery school in Harwood Road, replacing the old building in the park.
We need, now, a clear and public undertaking from Horsham District Council, the planning authority, that the old park nursery will be demolished and the land returned to public use as part of the park.
If this is not made crystal clear at an early stage some idiot will decide that it is ‘brownfield’ land and allow (or even encourage) a six storey block of flats to be built (or a hotel).
I suggest that all your readers should write now to their district councillor demanding that this land be restored to the park.


Message from: Lt Col Tex Pemberton OBE, cabinet member for highways and transport, West Sussex County Council, County Hall, Chichester. March 20, 2007.
COMMENTS: I have read, and taken note of, the ‘Mums demand for action’ over the hazardous walk to school (WSCT March 9).
You reported – correctly – that a county council school travel adviser is meeting with Tanbridge House School to form a Travel Plan working group to address the issues.
In order to ‘inform’ our evidence base, I have directed that my officers survey the speed and volume of traffic using the Guildford Road, Horsham, in the adjacent area of the school walk.
Please may I assure the mums that their message has not fallen on deaf ears!


Message from: Mike Bobker, Rowan Drive, Billingshurst. March 19, 2007.
COMMENTS: With local elections due in less than eight weeks, once again we have the usual hypocrisy from all of the political parties.
First of all there was the preposterous idea of selling of a small green field site used by children as a safe playing area so a few more houses could be built.
Then they all voted against it so they could be seen to have listened to the voting public. Shame they did not consult with and listen to the local residents in the first place.
They then have the cheek to say ‘we felt that other similar areas in Horsham could be put at risk if this was approved by setting a precedent’. They also say it is against policy.
It is a shame they were not as concerned when they sold to a developer the playing field in Forge Way, Billingshurst, against the wishes of a large number of Billingshurst residents.
After all this meant more money for the council to waste.
Nice to have a policy and use it as you wish when an election is not due.
At this time we also have the leader of the Conservative group again pretending to listen to residents and pledging to look urgently into slashing parking charges in the unwanted and very little used Hop Oast park and ride.
No doubt once the election is over this will also be forgotten.
It is not just the park and ride charges that traders and shoppers in Horsham wish reduced, it is all parking charges.


Message from: Christopher Darwin, Summers Place Cottage, Billingshurst. March 19, 2007.
COMMENTS: You report in the March 2 issue that Sun Alliance will be moving out of its Parkside office block in Horsham.
Berkeley Homes Southern has been given permission by Horsham District Council to construct a new office block behind Sotheby’s, Billingshurst – and starts work this month.
What was the planning committee thinking?
Would it not be sensible for those 55 office workers to be in Horsham instead of in the countryside?
Cheaper; less energy consumed than knocking down a warehouse and building an 11,000 sq ft office block; the staff in Horsham – and able to reach cafes and shops during the lunch hour; the countryside not burdened with another ‘business park’.
Can it all be because of HDC and its ridiculous parking policy and outrageous charges?
Parking at Summers Place (Sotheby’s) will be easy and free – no matter that the additional traffic will create its own hazards on the busy A29, particularly during ‘rush hours’.


Message from: Nick Griffin, chairman, British National Party, BNP South East Region, PO Box 7286, Hook, Hants RG27 8WY. March 16, 2007.
COMMENTS: Francis Maude, Member of Parliament and chairman of the Conservative Party, states that he will not debate with me because, he claims (in the arrogant manner we all expect of the Tories) that ‘the BNP has absolutely nothing to offer local or national politics’ (WSCT, March 2).
I am sorry to have to disabuse him of this notion, but there are a growing and substantial number of people in this country who believe that the British National Party is actually the ONLY hope for the preservation of our nation and our culture.
As is usual with our opponents, Mr Maude is unable to offer any meaningful argument against our common-sense policies and merely resorts to ad hominem attacks against us.
He employs the word ‘racist’, an Orwellian double-speak term invented by Leon Trotsky, which is designed to stifle any constructive debate on multiculturalism – a condition imposed upon an unwilling and unconsulted host indigenous population.
Mr Maude seems to take great pleasure in recalling my arraignment in 1998. His party supported the introduction of the Stalinist anti-free speech laws that instigated that prosecution, together with the subsequent indictments from which I was acquitted last year.
I am not ashamed to admit that I have twice been persecuted in court under a law that states that ‘the truth is no defence’. However, I would bury my head in everlasting shame had I been responsible, as is Mr Maude, for signing the treacherous Maastricht Treaty – an unforgivable assault on British Constitutional sovereignty and democracy, in defence of which millions shed their blood in two world wars.
My challenge stands. If Mr Maude is so spineless that he cannot debate the real issues that are raised on the doorsteps, then this reflects exactly the moral and political bankruptcy of the old money-grubbing Westminster parties and the corrupt and decaying Establishment, of which he is a microcosm.
Some of your readers have pledged a fund to local Horsham charities to promote a debate of the two most important issues of our time: the EU and multiculturalism. I gather that this now stands at more than £2,000.
Could it be that Mr Maude’s role in the balkanisation of Britain is too embarrassing to be heard in public? If so, I suggest that Mr Maude donates the total equivalent sum from his generous Parliamentary remuneration (garnered from the hard-working taxpayers of this country) and his numerous commercial directorships.
In the interests of accuracy, I should point out that Mr Maude’s statement that some of my ‘acolytes’ travelled to Horsham with me to deliver the invitation for him to take part in a public debate, is plainly wrong – they were all (except one person) local members.

Editor’s note: Unless Mr Maude requests one final letter of reply I am now bringing this specific discussion about a public debate to a conclusion as there are so many other letters on other subjects seeking space on our letters pages. I believe that in the past two months the County Times has accommodated a broad spectrum of views on this matter. 


Message from: Ghyll Morfey, chairman, Weald Vale Association, PO Box 205, Horsham. March 16, 2007.
COMMENTS: Councillor Christian Mitchell, Conservative deputy group leader, made a number of points on March 2 all of which I would like to take issue with.
May I start with the phrase Mr Mitchell used, which also featured in the title for his letter ‘Horsham has a superb district council – strong, prudent and courageous’.
I have always been a believer that the British way is not to declare oneself superb, for fear of being thought perhaps a bit immodest? Regarding ‘strong’, I would agree: the council has been extremely strong in facing down its electorate.
But prudent? Was it prudent to rush forward the developers’ plans for West Horsham, was it prudent to be one of the earliest councils in England to comply with John Prescott’s development demands?
I can’t really be picky regarding ‘courageous’ because that’s a characteristic they will need in the coming district election.
Mr Mitchell kindly suggested that the Weald Vale Association, which has fought this pathetic council every inch of the its developer-appeasing way, deserves a more meaningful platform ‘without having the need to field its own candidates’.
What a cheek! May I respond in kind by suggesting that the Conservatives also deserve a more meaningful platform (out of office), and that indeed there is no need for them to field their own council candidates? Incidentally, what we have called for are more independent candidates to try to inject some real local democracy into the situation.
Now, why is Mr Mitchell insisting he has not been wheeled out as a fresh face? Two weeks in a row, before a local election campaign, he has featured heavily in the paper.
No problem at all with that, however isn’t he trying to have his cake and eat it? On the one hand he says that his new ideas are his personal view (and therefore not formal policy), and on the other he details every ‘positive’ vote he has made, whilst hiding behind collective responsibility on all the topics that just might now appear a bit negative to the electorate.
Go on, be honest. Did you vote for the West Horsham option? Did you vote for park and ride? Did you vote against the folk club’s town hall proposal?
If there is more to the current HDC administration than Mr Mitchell I am sure the electorate would dearly like to hear their views on his ideas.
Will they commit in their manifesto to holding council tax at the present level for two to three years? Will they commit to leasing Park House out? Will they make amends with the folk club and bring them back in regarding their town hall proposal? If not, no-one should be taken in by pure hot air.
Finally, it is really terribly sad for Horsham, and Horsham district, that, having finally rammed home development plans for the district that will prove to be desperately bad, this administration would sink so low as to begin to distance themselves from their actions, and try to pretend that it’s been nothing to do with them.
Make no mistake, this current administration will be seen in the near future by everyone as a complete disaster.


Message from: John Gregory, secretary, Brighton Road Residents’ Association, Brighton Road, Horsham. March 16, 2007.
COMMENTS: Before members of the Brighton Road Baptist Church in Horsham get too carried away on a tide of euphoria, verging on hubris (reported in WSCT March 9, ‘Church looks ahead to a bright new future’) may I ask all concerned a few questions?
The residents of Brighton Road I represent and immediate neighbours of the Baptist Church wish to know precisely what are those benefits that are about to be so freely showered upon ‘the whole Horsham community’?
We would remind those concerned that it was not ‘the whole Horsham community’ that gave permission. It was the votes of only two local councillors that gave permission for this ostentatious and unnecessary public display of wealth to take place.
This would seem to suggest that there are considerable numbers of the whole community besides the ones closest to the Baptist Church who would like the question of what benefits those who were opposed to the design, and extent of the development, would still like to be told what the benefits that the church says they are to expect actually are.
The residents’ association I represent has tried (unsuccessfully) for five or six years to get an answer. We have had requests for minuted meetings refused; we have been patronisingly offered sympathy for the nuisance and disturbance of living next to a building site; and for five years we have been unable to sell our properties and still find difficulty in letting them. The statements made in your article therefore demand justification to your wider readership. Are the benefits to the ‘whole Horsham community’ to be in the growth of the local economy?
Are they to be in the spiritual or social development of the community as a whole, which would seem to be already very well catered for in Horsham? Are there to be new public facilities not already available in the area? Will the parking problems in Horsham be ameliorated in any way?
Of course we understand how exciting the raising of £2.8m by 290 people must have been and we appreciate that the church wishes to look after its own, but to claim that all of the Horsham community shares the excitement and benefits is quite beyond belief.
We tend to agree with your earlier correspondent who suggested that some of the money could have been of benefit to the whole community had it been used to endow buildings or facilities at our local hospital.
Would the church therefore care to specify the benefits that we all may expect to receive after January 2008? Hubris can cause delusions.


Message from: the Directors, Horsham Football Club, Queen Street, Horsham. March 15, 2007.
COMMENTS: As many of you are aware, Horsham FC has a proud tradition of local football, one which stretches back some 130 years. We, the directors, are committed to securing the future of the club, its three youth teams and the continuing work with local young people under our FA Charter.
As Horsham FC enter a new and exciting era, we recognise that it is crucial to keep you, the local supporters and residents, informed about the current plans for the club’s future. We will be holding public consultation meetings in due course, but wanted to take this early opportunity to inform you about the latest developments.
On March 2, 2007, contracts were exchanged for Horsham FC’s purchase of the Holbrook Sports Club, on North Heath Lane in Horsham. Following completion of the deal, the directors will seek planning permission for the essential additional facilities that are required to relocate the club to this new site.
At the heart of our planning proposal is the desire to provide Horsham FC with the quality of ground it deserves and one that meets the guidelines set out by the Football Conference.
Additionally, we are committed to securing the future of the Holbrook Club to ensure the retention of their sports facilities and we will be working closely with their members to achieve this.
As required by the Football Conference, the new facilities will have a maximum capacity for 4,000 supporters, incorporating 350 seats.
Local residents concerned that there will be a regular influx of 4,000 fans at home games should rest assured that this is improbable given the size of the current average gate at Queen Street, which is consistently under 500.
May we also reassure you that the new ground will be designed sympathetically to the local environment and will not be visible from North Heath Lane.
The directors recently requested a meeting with councillors for the relevant local wards to advise them of our preliminary plans for the Holbrook site and to underline our commitment to the future of the club, its youth programme and the supporters as well as the long term future of the Holbrook Club. Within the next few weeks, we will arrange a public forum where all interested parties can view the plans for Holbrook and learn more about the bright future we are planning for Horsham FC.
In the meantime, for the very latest information on the club, simply log onto www.horshamfc.co.uk.
May we finally take this opportunity to thank all of our loyal fans for their support and to reassure every local resident that it is our intention to serve the very best interests of the people of Horsham and Horsham FC and to deliver an outstanding new home for the Hornets.


Message from: Roy Worskett, Hampers Lane, Horsham. March 15, 2007.
COMMENTS: On March 9 you reported on the refusal of planning permission by the district council for the latest (and largest) development of the football ground in Queen Street, Horsham.
The proposals were widely criticised for poor design in both layout and appearance. The Horsham Society condemned the scheme along with neighbourhood councils.
Unbelievably, officers of the council supported the proposal.
They said: “The proposed architectural language and general built form are suggestive of domestic design to the human scale. [What on earth does that mean?]
“Well articulated and varied frontages contribute visual interest and texture to the new street scenes within the development.
“From a design perspective it is thought that the proposed scale of development, architectural treatment and indicative materials pallet would integrate successfully in the wider context of the surrounding area.’’
The councillors were right and the development control officers were hopelessly wrong.
We need much better than this. The design of most housing in Horsham is little short of appalling – at worst ordinary and sometime illiterate.
Many schemes clearly have no qualified architectural input at all and there appears to be no such guiding hand from the council either.
Interestingly the council itself has, in the recent past, produced some good buildings – the Capitol extension and thus bus station, for example – but it benefited by employing architects.
There are of course one or two recent housing schemes that were well designed and exhibited a high standard of simple modern design.
But as a general rule most schemes have been extremely dull or covered in so-called ‘historic’ features, skin deep and applied without proper awareness of detailing and proportion.
The problem lies squarely with development control standards and the willingness, from a position of knowledge and design ability, to intervene.
With 2,000 houses planned for West Horsham, getting this right is very important.
While the urban designers, EDAW, are experienced and well qualified in preparing the masterplan, detailed design remains of the utmost importance. So too landscaping.
High standards of design are not only essential to foster a good quality of life for residents but also in terms of how the town as a whole sees itself and its image.
Judging by today’s housing design standards, future generations will regard us as having made no contribution to the quality of our environment but simply left a cultural desert.


Message from: Judith Jones, Old Guildford Road, Broadbridge Heath. March 14, 2007.
COMMENTS: I would like to say a huge thank you to all the revellers who came to support the party in aid of The Roald Dahl Foundation and Cancer Research UK on Saturday March 3 at Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre.
With all their generous support we raised over £500 to share between the charities.
It was a fantastic evening, full of fun and dancing, with a disco by Greg Teasdale. Mark Tolhurst agreed to the pain of having his chest waxed in public by Helen Jackson of Beauty Secrets, bravely submitting to the ordeal with barely a wince, from which we collected over £150.
I would like to particularly thank everyone who donated raffle prizes especially Nichola R. Lloyd, The Shelley Arms, Steve Fielder from Wurth, Suzi Case, Kerry Parsons, Beauty Secrets and The Beer Essentials. Thanks to everyone who then bought the tickets.
It was a great evening, fun to organise, fun to host, fun to see friends from near and far and make money for a good cause too.
See you all next year.

 
Message from: Cynthia Catchpole, The Big Toddle Team, Barnardo’s, Tanners Lane, Essex, IG6 1QG. March 14, 2007.
COMMENTS: We would like to thank all the West Sussex under-fives who took part in the Barnardo’s Big Toddle last summer joining youngsters from across the UK in a sponsored half-mile walk. These terrific toddlers helped change the lives of children and young people forever, by raising just under £25,000 towards Barnardo’s early-years work.
Barnardo’s Big Toddle 2007 will be supported by Lloyds TSB and will take place in June. Find out how to take part and the latest news on our 2006 fundraising total, by visiting our website www.bigtoddle.co.uk.


Message from: William Clarke, Comptons Lane, Horsham. March 13, 2007.
COMMENTS: As the Horsham District Council elections approach on May 3, your letters pages are going to be filled with even more letters from various local political activists slagging each other off.
Before people start complaining about the 3.5 per cent increase in Horsham District Council tax from April 2007, they should bear in mind that Liberal Democrat controlled Lewes District Council charges a massive 39 per cent more than our district council.
Friends who live in Lewes cannot believe how cheap Horsham District Council tax is – £125.10 for an ‘excellent’ council whilst they are having to pay an extra 4.3 per cent taking the charge to a massive £174.09 for a similar Band D property. Also, on top of that, they have to pay over £100 a year for a town council.
I know which party I will be hoping wins in May and it is not the Lib Dems!


Message from: G.M. Smith, Billingshurst. March 13, 2007.
COMMENTS: One is always quick to throw brickbats for poor service but slow to commend good service! On Friday night we had a power outage, not uncommon in this area.
Some time later we found it only affected my house and our immediate neighbour. I phoned Southern Electric who took details and said they would get someone to investigate, shortly after they phoned back and said it would be an hour plus before an engineer could attend, which in due course he did.
After checking the local sub-station he said it was probably a cable fault but the cable team were in Petworth working on a fault.
After a couple of hours they attended and carried out local checks but could find no fault; at this point the power came back on, apparently of its own accord. Being quite late we went to bed but the cable team called on my neighbour and said they could not find any fault.
Only two houses, on a terribly wet night, this excellent service from four, or more, service engineers. Well done Southern Electric!


Message from: D.S. Hodges, Staples Hill, Partridge Green. March 12, 2007.
COMMENTS: I wonder if there is anybody left in the NHS in management or positions of decision making, who has any common sense.
I heard on the local news that a new £800,000 scanner has been put into Worthing Hospital, and that the NHS decision makers are considering closing the hospital. A few months ago it was just the A&E that might close.
I am getting to the age where I shall probably need the services of the NHS hospital at Worthing and dread the possibility of having to go a lot further for treatment and probably not get a bed immediately.
What are they all doing? Trying to balance the books or give a service to the public? I know what it should be. Common sense should be their guide, NOT costs and accountants.
I would like them to comment please.


Message from: Malcolm Francis, Kilnfield Road, Rudgwick. March 12, 2007.
COMMENTS: Last year I was aware of notices that appeared in Cranleigh that warned of disruption for many weeks as work was to be carried out for the ‘Enhancement of the High Street’. I misread the notice as ‘Enchantment of the High Street’, that caused me to smile as one wondered what magical things were planned for Cranleigh.
I can only assume that Cranleigh must have had a novice carrying out the ‘Enchantment’ and the spell was out of code, an early model or was there just for a company that wanted to off-load lorry loads of bollards (shades of Horsham with the ridiculous giant cabbage that Cambridge didn’t want).
Why does Cranleigh need all the bollards installed along the pavement? If the reason was to curb illegal parking it appears to have failed.
The drivers that always did park on the double yellow lines, or abandon their vehicle within a few yards of a parking bay have not changed their habits.
The normal procedure, as observed, is to put on the vehicle’s hazard flashers, walk into the newsagents, go to cash machine,deposit clothing to the dry cleaners or other important task that usually gridlocks all the through traffic.
The extra traffic islands ensure that traffic flow is halted. Delivery vans, which have to go about their business, now add to the general chaos. The large butcher’s lorry off-loading on a Saturday morning must have first prize for traffic calming, well the traffic is stationary therefore it must be calmed.
The only thing that the bollards do is to impede pedestrians as they pick their way through all the puddles; I thought that the weeks of work to the pavements would have included a new surface to the whole of the pedestrian areas, the south side of the High Street still looks like the surface of the moon.
The north side of the High Street, with its very fancy stonework (I am not criticising the excellent quality of the work) does seem a little over the top for quite a small area, couldn’t the money have been more wisely spent by importing some medium size trees? TV ‘garden make-over’ programmes seem to manage.
I wonder if the real reason for all the bollards that have now mushroomed in Cranleigh is that the village is to star in some future episode of the BBC Top Gear show?
Jeremy Clarkson and his co-stars will be timed on progress through Cranleigh driving a bus, stretched limousine or some vehicle that needs a lot of manoeuvring on a Saturday morning.
Points will be deducted, for each bollard, traffic island or 4x4 vehicle hit.
It looks as though Cranleigh’s High Street Enhancement programme is not a lot more than a load of old bollards…

 
Message from: David Meikle, Hayes Wood Road, Five Oaks. March 12, 2007.
COMMENTS: You remember The Friday Night Rock Show, cut-off denims, Castle Donnington, studded belts, long hair and playing air guitar?
On July 7, 2007 Horsham will be holding ‘The Classic Rock Festival’ at Horsham Rugby Ground.
So for one day you can forget about the mortgage, the kids and the overdraft, and dig out your denims and come and party like it’s 1984!
Horsham Rock Festival has confirmed some of the greatest tribute bands in the country, to come together: Limehouse Lizzy, Rainbow Rising, WhitesnakeUK, Juicy Lucy and last but not at all least Deeply Purple.
What a magic day for the people of Horsham and Sussex with great music, various stall holders, barbecues, spit roasts, in fact food a plenty. And two bars.
We are very conscious of our duty to care for the environment. In order to address this issue we have limited the parking to a safe number to reduce vehicle emissions. In order to make this work we are seeking support to provide an alternative green park and ride system.
In addition we will donate 20 per cent of our parking charge to the purchase of trees and/or plants to readdress the balance.
For information go too www.daylightevents.co.uk or contact us on 01403 782470.


Message from: Brian Johnson, Horsham Anti-incineration Linked Taskforce (HALT), Langhurstwood Road, Horsham. March 9, 2007.
COMMENTS: An important element of HALT’s campaign has been to bring the West Sussex debate on waste to the Horsham residents. We have sought to encourage their involvement and interest so that they can form a view and lobby appropriately.
The residents who are the membership of HALT have come to their view and understandably promote this view as part of the process. We are against incineration, supportive of the waste hierarchy of reduction, recovery, reuse, recycle and of waste being dealt with close to where it arises (the proximity principal). We regard waste as a precious resource.
Clearly Dr Heatly takes a differing view on incineration and the ‘proximity principle’. He is entitled to, but in our view if he makes sweeping statements then he should expect some response.
HALT is fully aware of the reports to which Dr Heatly refers.
However, these do not answer the point that we have made about authentic longitudinal peer-reviewed research comparing the health effect of a population adjacent to an incinerator over one or two generations with the health of a population in a similar area without an incinerator.
The DEFRA report referred to by Dr Heatly does not include evidence from such a study and indeed draws attention to the problems of interpreting findings in existing research and establishing a cause and effect relationship between incineration and various medical conditions. HALT prefers to adopt the ‘precautionary principle’ – the essence of any good diagnosis.
To our knowledge, and we have pursued this issue many times, there have been no costings carried out on the cost of a single MRF facility compared with say one facility located in the north of the county and two near the south coast.
Therefore for Dr Heatly to quote ‘having lots of MRF facilities near each community increases the cost enormously and makes it economically unviable’ is not a position that HALT has proposed.
Any costing would need to be comprehensive and take account of not only ‘large v small’, but also the haulage costs and environmental impact on the already overloaded highways network.


Message from: Clive Hills, Shinners Close, London SE25 5JP. March 9, 2007.
COMMENTS: I am a former resident of Ramsey Close and was born and grew up in Horsham.
I am greatly saddened and concerned that it was proposed to sell, for a paltry sum, public land, which I can confirm is greenfield NOT brownfield land.
The need for affordable housing is understandably important, but little will be achieved towards this goal by consuming small areas of green space (such as at Ramsey Close or any other small green spaces in residential areas).
Much, however, would be achieved in damaging the overall quality of Horsham. As a London resident for the last 20 years, I would say that an outsider’s perception is that Horsham is an attractive place to live.
But infilling of green spaces is not the way to preserve this image. Solid areas of housing estate will not be attractive. Existing road systems will be put under more pressure. The roads around Ramsey Close, I know, are already overloaded at peak times.
Since Horsham council is selling a public asset and doing so for an absurdly low price, the people of Horsham are entitled to full ‘transparency’ over the deal.
Especially as the plans for Ramsey Close were not made public with due degree of warning.
Indeed, residents of Ramsey Close only received a first letter in November 2006.
If the proposed ‘affordable’ homes are built, will they be occupied by people who part-purchase/part-rent?
If private ownership is involved, what will happen to the income generated?
Would it be recycled into social housing or recompense to the people of Horsham for selling their green land for £1? Or would it be just profit to the developers?
Transparency over the deal is essential to prove there is no element of misdealing here.
Near where I live in London, a large former office block is currently being renovated to provide affordable housing. Also nearby, former industrial property has been replaced by a very presentable development of flats for key-workers.
Royal and Sun Alliance has recently vacated large areas of office space in Horsham town centre which must leave a ‘vacuum’. Is there any potential at all, for redevelopment/renovation of some of this space, to meet affordable housing needs, on what would truly be a ‘brownfield’ site?
Any large-scale new developments on the outskirts of Horsham will take green-space, but must surely include some affordable housing as part of the overall plans.
In summary then, Horsham council, please provide transparency over the Ramsey Close deal (and any similiar in the pipeline). And sensitivity, please, to the longer-term future of Horsham.
The ecological value of small green spaces in residential areas cannot be ignored now we are being told to consider global warming and everyone is told to do what we can to avert the effects of global warming.


Message from: Trevor Dayneswood, The Street, Slinfold. March 8, 2007.
COMMENTS: First, may I make it clear that I am not, and never have been, a supporter of the British National Party (BNP).
Having said that, the vitriolic attack on the BNP by Horsham MP, Francis Maude, some weeks ago actually prompted me to wonder what Mr Maude is so afraid of, and to look at the BNP policies for the first time ever.
If, as he says, ‘the BNP has absolutely nothing to offer local or national politics’, then why is he afraid of debating with them?
Whatever one may think of them, the BNP is a legitimate British political party fielding candidates in local and national elections, and as such I would have expected our democratically elected politicians to be prepared to engage with them – and, if appropriate, show them up for what they are.
In the light of his comments that he ‘will not engage with them’, I presume that if there is a future local public meeting with all parties represented (as there was prior to the last general election), then our MP will decline to attend if the BNP is represented.
Clearly he doesn’t want our votes.
Mr Maude bases his refusal on events from some ten years ago. Should we judge the Conservative Party on its policies from ten years ago? Would Mr Maude now like to be judged on comments he may have made ten years ago?
Is he going to refuse to discuss matters with members of the current Government who were strongly pro-communist in their youth? He would like us to believe that the Conservative Party has changed in the last ten years: so can’t other parties have changed also?
He says: “Behind the grins and the sharp suits, the BNP remains racist. Its new-found respectability has been cleverly designed to lure decent people into believing it can represent their interests.”
That may well be true, Mr Maude; I don’t know. But if it is true, then surely it’s important for you to show them up. I’m waiting for you to persuade us with logic and evidence instead of mere rhetoric.
Otherwise, we may feel that ‘behind the grins, the try-to-be-casual look, and the absence of neck-ties, the Tory party remains run by toffs. Its new look has been cleverly designed to lure decent people into believing it can represent their interests’.
But how much does Mr Maude represent his constituents’ interests? He has not spoken in a debate in the Commons in the last year.
His attendance at votes in the Commons (since May 2005) places him 627th out of 636 members (excluding the Speaker and Deputy Speakers (who do not vote), and Sinn Fein members (who do not attend); for MPs from English constituencies, he is fourth from bottom, with only David Cameron, George Galloway and Tony Blair having worse voting records.
It would seem that perhaps his nine remunerated directorships and other offices, plus of course his chairmanship of the Tory Party, do not leave him much time for representing us, his constituents. (Data taken from www.publicwhip.org.uk and www.theyworkforyou.com.)
Finally, in his ‘Footnote’ in the County Times on March 2, Mr Maude talks specifically of the need for finance for charities and ‘individual good causes’.
Yet in refusing a debate with the BNP, he is depriving local charities of more than £1,000 pledged by supporters of a debate.
Will he make up the deficit himself?

 
Message from: Bob Lomas, Dragons Green, Horsham. March 8, 2007.
COMMENTS: Through the columns of the WSCT, Francis Maude MP has made some very condemning allegations against the BNP.
Mr Maude it seems compares its supporters to his own party, the Conservative and Unionist Party, which as we all know is neither conservative nor unionist, it conserves nothing and has done all in its power to destroy the United Kingdom and turn it into regions of the European Union.
Many years ago the Conservative and Unionist Party abandoned the concept that a political party is not its leaders but its membership and supporters, hence its present total loss of support.
The BNP on the other hand has turned back the clock, it listens to its members, it realises that a party amounts to the sum of its members and supporters.
I am one of those pensioners who knew this country in better days, one who still believes in this country and our right to self political determination, as upheld in our own constitution and laws, inalienable rights won by bloody conflict and suffering.
Is it any wonder Francis Maude will not face us in open and honest debate? His position and that of his party is indefensible. When Francis Maude came to Sussex he clearly did so in ignorance of our county motto – ‘We wunt be druv’. This historic truth he will learn to his cost.


Message from: Richard Dear, Strood Lane, Warnham. March 7, 2007.
COMMENTS: I have just read the article about Lower Lodge Shooting Ground at Five Oaks in the County Times on February 23 and find it unbelievable.
In times of great concern over the responsible use of guns, a most professional establishment, which teaches safety, respect and proper gun handling, is effectively shut.
As there has been shooting there for 20 years, how can a neighbour suddenly apply for and WIN a noise abatement order?
If I bought a house near a railway line could I stop the trains from running because one morning I woke up and didn’t like the noise of trains or because I’d stopped commuting?
People would think I was daft!
This is nanny-state rhubarb. I feel sorry for the owner and especially those staff who have lost their jobs.
As for HDC, I'm so glad it is spending its time and my money on something so anti-business and anti-community.
Presumably Elvis will only be allowed to sing unaccompanied lullabies for fear of disturbance?
Yours, checking into Heartbreak Hotel.


Message from: Rowena Tierney (Mrs), Southwater Street, Southwater. March 7, 2007.
COMMENTS: With reference to the article in the February 16 issue of the County Times, regarding admission to Southwater Infants School, we were also in the same position as Mrs French.
Our son is currently in year two of Southwater Infants and will be moving up to the junior school in September. Our daughter, aged four, will be starting school in September.
We also applied for a place at the infants school, although our catchment school is Castlewood. Our reasons being that our son will be at the junior school, which is situated on the same grounds. We live ten minutes walk from the school and walk 90 per cent of the time.
So you can imagine our astonishment when the letter arrived saying that our daughter had been allocated a place at Shelley Primary School in Broadbridge Heath.
After coming to terms with what we had been told, we filled out all the appeal paperwork etc and received a date for our hearing, being February 2. At the same time I placed our daughter’s name on the waiting lists for both the infants school and Castlewood.
We couldn’t understand that living in a village with two schools, that we were then expected to travel by car, that is after taking my son to the junior school, joining rush hour traffic out of the village on to the A24 and to have both children to school at 8.50am.
Fortunately two days prior to the appeal our daughter was offered a place at Castlewood which we accepted.
In an ideal world Southwater Infants would still be our first preference due to our son attending the school next door.
It makes me very angry that they have reduced a classroom at the infants school and are turning away local residents who have over the years supported the local school and the village.


Message from: Gordon Brown, Kerves Lane, Horsham. March 6, 2007.
COMMENTS: Since taking up my interest in the proposals to replace council tax banding by a property tax of one per cent of value, I have had a number of meetings with Francis Maude MP to express my concern over these proposals.
Following my ‘Wake up England’ call on January 12, 2007, Francis Maude wrote to Ruth Kelly, who is the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to clarify the Government’s position on council tax.
Mr Maude’s letter to Miss Kelly was sent on January 16, 2007 and he has now received a reply from her, dated February 14, 2007 [report on page 13].
I am very uneasy about Miss Kelly’s letter which is too placatory to be believed!
If, as she states, the Government has no plans to replace the existing council tax system in England during this Parliament, why on earth was it necessary to impose the system of a percentage value of the property in Northern Ireland?
The people of Northern Ireland were given no opportunity to have a debate on the new form of tax as it was imposed under Direct Rule from Westminster as the Northern Ireland Assembly is suspended.
I have no doubts its imposition in Northern Ireland was a precursor for its introduction into England and Wales.
The one per cent property tax has been recommended for implementation in Scotland by the LibDem-Labour coalition.
I am sure that the struggling discredited, Labour Government has awakened to the fact that the introduction of a property tax in England and Wales would sweep them from power at the next election as it would affect 21m house owners of all political persuasions, many on fixed incomes.
We must now await the outcome of the Lyons inquiry into local government finances to be published in March. His recommendations could very easily enable Miss Kelly to modify her assurances in her letter to Francis Maude.
Whilst Miss Kelly states that there are no plans to replace the present council tax system during this Parliament, I am sure that work will continue to set up a nationwide property valuation system to be ready for implementation if, God forbid, Labour is returned at the next election in May 2010.
It should be remembered that Gordon Brown has imposed so many stealth taxes during his time at the Treasury; the imposition of a property tax would be absolutely devastating.
Do not be lulled into a false sense of security by Miss Kelly’s reassurances. As she is a minister in a Government where the Prime Minister now denies responsibility for the debacle in Iraq, how can any member of his Government be believed?
My call was ‘Wake up England’, now, I say to you be vigilant, and voice your opinions. I am reassured that Caroline Spelman, the Shadow Secretary of State, Miss Kelly’s opposite number, is closely monitoring the situation.


Message from: Tony Millson (LDem) Horsham district councillor for Holbrook East, Park House, North Street, Horsham. March 6, 2007.
COMMENTS: I suspect your readers may get bored with a long chain of letters between councillor Gordon Lindsay (Conservative, Billingshurst and Shipley) – the HDC cabinet member for finance – and me.
However, his highly selective letter last week in response to mine is illuminating, demonstrating either ignorance or malevolence.
My own letter set out a detailed explanation as to the finances pertaining to the Liberal Democrats’ period of control (1995-99). Councillor Lindsay, as did many of his predecessors (now predominantly ex-councillors), highlighted the increase made by the Liberal Democrats in our budget of spring 1996.
This is factually correct, but deliberately masks the whole truth – as did the Conservative election literature in 1999.
In simple terms, central government grant was reduced in stages over our period of office by £1m. We became aware of the dramatic cut in grant during our first year of control and, accordingly, took prudent steps to rectify the position immediately.
The 1996 increase, which the Conservatives have always derided, amounted to an increase of all of  £14 per annum at Band D. Since the Conservatives regained control the Band D increase has been a further £40 (50 per cent).
As an aside, the loss of government grant occurred predominantly during the last days of the last Conservative Government (full details available if required).
Whichever way you look at it, it was the fault of the Conservatives and they continue to be less than candid about it.

 
Message from: David Thomas, Smithbarn, Horsham. March 6, 2007.
COMMENTS: How right councillor Lindsay was in reminding us about the 23 per cent increase in council tax imposed by the Liberal Democrats when they first came to power a few years ago (letters February 23), and how hypocritical of the Liberal Democrats in criticising a proposed council tax increase of under five per cent from April.
The current Conservative regime has many faults, not least their inability to listen to the wishes of the electorate, but I would trust them far more than the Liberal Democrats in managing the district's finances.
It is said that ‘a week is a long time in politics’ but I will never forget this greedy swingeing increase imposed on the people of Horsham.
For me, this single act will always serve to remind me never to vote Liberal Democrat in any election, local or national! 


Message from: M. Thomas (Mrs), St Leonards Road, Horsham. March 5, 2007.
COMMENTS: There are numerous blocks of flats springing up in Horsham, two of which are opposite each other on the busy Brighton Road.
These are no doubt being marketed as ‘within easy walking distance of town’.
I walk into town and back almost every day along Brighton Road and this is far from being a pleasant experience.
For a start, the pavements are uneven and very narrow in places, particularly on the south side of Queen Street where you are lucky not to be hit by the wing-mirror of passing lorries.
They are also very unsightly in places, for example opposite Bennetts Fields where residents without driveways park on what used to be grass verges but as a consequence have now turned into muddy swamps.
However my main concern is the speeding along this road. For some reason, the 30mph speed signs seem to be an indication for many motorists to accelerate to at least 50mph.
Added to this are the boy-racers who screech out of Elm Grove and tear up the road at whatever speed they like, safe in the knowledge that they won’t be caught.
On the morning of February 17 there was yet another crash, this time outside the Tanners pub at almost the same place where someone was knocked down a couple of years go.
Yet these incidents are apparently not classed as serious enough to warrant a speed camera.
No doubt that will only be considered once a certain number of deaths have been reached.
When the new flats are up and running, there will be even more cars turning out into the speeding traffic, at what is obviously a common stretch of road for accidents.
Would it not be possible to have a roundabout at the junction of Elm Grove and Brighton Road, to slow the vehicles down, or at least have a mobile speed camera set up occasionally, as other roads into town have?
If any of the authorities concerned would bother to do a survey of the average speed along this road they would see that the majority of vehicles do not adhere to the 30 mph limit. Perhaps the police or Sussex Speed Camera Association would like to respond through this page.


Message from: Julie Stewart, Warnham. March 5, 2007.
COMMENTS: I live in Warnham and have three children who attend Tanbridge House School in Horsham.
Now we all know the ongoing struggle we are having in trying to get the council to reassess the desperate need for the free bus passes and get them reinstated (special thanks to Mr Osbourne who I heard on Radio Mercury the other day tirelessly pushing the urgency for this matter).
We were told that the main road from Warnham to Tanbridge School has been found to be perfectly safe for our young children to walk to school on – well, Mr Man from the Council, I beg to differ.
We have already read about the terrible and very sad accident in which a wonderful and promising young man lost his life. Where? Oh yes, on the safe road through Warnham.
The following week I drove past an ambulance attending a car accident. Where? Oh yes, the same safe road.
A few weeks later I was travelling home with my son and we were unfortunate enough to witness the near tragic accident involving Kate Bruges and her horse.
This could have been a particularly nasty accident and she only avoided being hit by the petrified actions of the horse swerving out the way. Now which road was this on again mmm? Oh yes! That very safe road our children are expected to walk along, at peak times, with so much more traffic on the road rushing along to make it to work on time.
When these accidents occurred it wasn't raining, snowing or dark, so just how safe would the SAFE ROAD be then!?
I am just so glad none of our children were walking this road when these accidents happened or the death toll my be a lot higher, especially when we would want them to walk in groups for safety.
I turn up to work late every day just to ensure my children arrive safely to school. Firstly because there is no way I would walk that road, let alone my children, and secondly, it works out to be quite expensive every day for a return ticket for three children.
So I offer my 100 per cent support to Sally Pavey's life saving Warnham Safe Lanes Scheme and I really hope someone from the council sees sense and allows our children to travel to and from school safely.


Message from: Francis Maude, MP for Horsham, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. March 2, 2007.
COMMENTS: Last week BNP leader, Nick Griffin, and a number of his acolytes travelled to Horsham to deliver an invitation for me to take part in a public debate.
I can only reiterate my comments which appeared in the County Times on December 15, 2006 – the BNP has absolutely nothing to offer local or national politics. 
Behind the grins and the sharp suits, the BNP remains racist.
Its new-found respectability has been cleverly designed to lure decent people into believing that it can represent their interests. Nothing could be further from the truth.
On May 1, 1998, Mr Griffin was convicted at Harrow Crown Court of ‘publishing threatening, abusive or insulting written material with intent or likely to stir up racial hatred’. His nine month prison sentence was suspended for two years.
I passionately believe that people who want to stir up racial hatred have nothing to contribute to Horsham and I will not engage with them.
We have already entered the run-up to May’s local elections. I’m looking forward to uniting with all mainstream parties to expose the BNP for what it is.
Britain is a country with people of many different faiths and ethnicities and overwhelmingly we live together in harmony and mutual respect.
There is no place in today’s Britain for racist intolerance.

 
Message from: Christian Mitchell, district councillor for Holbrook West and Conservative deputy group leader, Horsham District Council, Park House, North Street, Horsham. March 2, 2007.
COMMENTS: Greenfield housing development and council tax rises were two important subjects raised by readers last week in response to my article ‘People want to be consulted’ (WSCT, February 16).
I know – from first hand experience! – how important it is to provide more low cost housing for local young people. Many youngsters in the town face the nightmare of clearing the debts accumulated just to educate themselves before they can even contemplate climbing the first rung of the property ladder. It’s daunting!
But the Government’s demand on councils to despoil thousands of acres of countryside without any thought to the infrastructure required is nothing short of wicked; which is why I applaud Horsham MP Francis Maude’s proposed legislation to tackle this.
Of course, even with the right infrastructure we do need to engage properly with the community over the best locations for development.
These choices are never easy – but there are strong arguments against building on ‘green lungs’ like the one at Ramsey Close or concreting over back gardens such as those at Springfield Park Road.
The Government itself is foolishly encouraging back garden development by classifying it as ‘brownfield’ in its planning guidance. This can make it difficult to resist – but, for the record, I voted against the Springfield Park Road proposals and I will fully represent my constituents’ views when Ramsey Close is debated by the planning committee on Tuesday March 6; to date, no decision has been made.
On the broader issues of location, I hope that in future we will find ways of better bringing informed groups like the Weald Vale Association into the debate.
This association, in particular, has enormous expertise and deserves a more meaningful platform without the necessity of having to field its own council candidates.
With regard to council tax, I remain committed to achieving the lowest possible increases. Given that Horsham District Council only received, in real terms, a two per cent rise in its government grant this year – despite a public promise of 2.7 per cent – it has done an excellent job in holding the overall proposed rise to 3.5 per cent.
But, in future, we need to explore other opportunities. Could we, for example, as the County Times itself has suggested, lease Park House possibly to create a desperately needed additional quality hotel for the town?
It would be a tremendous challenge to attempt to hold council taxes with barely any increase at all for two or three years without jeopardising core services.
Frankly, I don’t know if this is possible but for the sake of every pensioner who lives in fear of the council tax bill thudding on to the doormat it is something we should seriously probe.
I was asked, too, about parking. The council was right to take the bold decision to invest in a park and ride site four years ago – but given that it is still nearly three quarters empty I do believe that we need to address the issue of price and whether there are cost savings we can achieve by more closely aligning bus service schedules to usage times.
All this could actually reduce the subsidy and the burden on taxpayers while boosting usage and helping the town’s lowest paid workers.
I have no doubt that were we to take positive action in this way, the County Times – which has campaigned so vigorously on this subject – would support us with a widespread marketing campaign to motivate businesses and shoppers to come to Horsham.
Finally, in addressing questions about my voting record, I should make it clear that I am neither the leader of the Conservative group nor a member of its cabinet.
It is true that as a loyal Conservative I do believe I should support my colleagues – who put in so much hard work on everyone’s behalf – when it comes to voting in the chamber; but equally I have never been afraid to vote against proposals such as the town tax when I considered them to be contrary to the interests of my ward: imposing a tax on people for simply living in Horsham town was wrong and unjust.
In short, I put residents’ interests before those of party politics. And that is the way many residents’ want it to be – to have local councillors represent their views on the council, devoid of party politics and the associated bickering it so often brings.
As I said a fortnight ago, Horsham has a superb district council – strong, prudent and courageous.
But we do need to adapt to a changing world, and putting the aspirations of all our constituents at the heart of the process will give us the greatest chance of success.
Derek Poots (WSCT, February 23) feared I was a ‘new face wheeled out for the election’. I can assure him that I am neither new nor has anyone ‘wheeled me out’.
I have chosen to speak frankly through the pages of the County Times on my personal views for the future of Horsham.
I look forward to meeting constituents in the run-up to the election to discuss them further.


Message from: Steve Waight (Con) county councillor for Goring and Northbrook and cabinet member for finance and resources, County Hall, Chichester. March 2, 2007.
COMMENTS: I do need to set the record straight about the report headed ‘Meeting in the lap of luxury’ in the County Times on February 16 which referred to Edes House on the county council site at Chichester.
First and foremost, Edes House is a valuable and historic public asset – as thousands of people will confirm. They are the ones who have over the years attended a wide variety of cultural events there, including art exhibitions, recitals and classical music concerts.
It is also regularly used for citizenship ceremonies, which are attended by people from throughout West Sussex, and is one of the county’s approved venues for civil weddings and partnership ceremonies.
As a Grade I listed building, Edes House is an important and prominent feature of our county’s heritage. As such, West Sussex County Council has a responsibility to maintain and preserve Edes House so it can continue to be enjoyed and appreciated by the whole community.
Edes House is much more than the administrative building that your report suggested.
Yes, it is used for meetings and does contain office accommodation, but it also serves an important dual function with its community use – during evenings and weekends as well as during the working week.
I should also point out that it was actually 18 years ago that Edes House was renovated after its former use as the County Record Office came to an end when purpose built new accommodation was provided for the thousands of documents about the history of West Sussex.
The sheer weight of those archives had led to the house falling into a poor state, and, as custodians of a Grade I building, the then county council was quite right to embark not only on a careful restoration but an ‘open doors’ community approach.
Selling Edes House, as your report suggests, is not the answer. What is the answer is for the Government to give our county adequate funding, something it hasn’t done since council tax was introduced in 1993.
We do have an active sales programme. The county council will be selling surplus land worth about £33m this year to help underpin our capital programme for new schools, libraries, fire stations etc.
Edes House cannot be classified as surplus to requirements because of its importance, and role as a public building.
I have already made it clear that West Sussex receives £110 per head of population less than the county average. If we were to receive the average county grant, it would equate to approximately £85m extra.
As I said at the recent county council meeting, just think what we could achieve if we were fairly funded?
Faced with this unfair treatment from the Government, we as a county council have to make tough decisions, as Horsham MP Francis Maude confirmed in your columns.


Message from: Tracey Bishop (Mrs), headteacher, Lower Beeding CEP School
Church Close, Lower Beeding. March 2, 2007.
COMMENTS: I am writing in response to the article that appeared in last week’s County Times regarding land offered by Bernard Slade to rebuild a new school in Lower Beeding.
I would like to make the following clear.
Mr Slade’s kind offer of land on which to rebuild the school was received in 2002.
As a West Sussex primary school, the offer was passed on to West Sussex County Council for consideration.
It is not the remit of the governing body of a school to negotiate in such cases.
West Sussex carefully considered the proposal, but for the reasons mentioned in your article, it was not in a position to accept the offer.
The chair of governors at the time wrote to Mr Slade to decline his offer, and to explain the reasons why West Sussex was unable to pursue his proposals.
Both I and the governors of Holy Trinity remain committed to finding a way to improve facilities at the school.
If Mr Slade has further ideas that would benefit the school and the community of Lower Beeding, we would be very happy to work with him.

 
Message from: The Governors, Holy Trinity CEP School, Church Close, Lower Beeding. March 2, 2007.
COMMENTS: We are writing with reference to the coverage in your last two editions of the cancellation by West Sussex County Council (WSCC) of its project to rebuild Holy Trinity CEP School at Lower Beeding.
We would like to thank you for the support of your newspaper. We are also very grateful for the advice and support we have received from Francis Maude, MP; Nicholas Soames, MP; John Cox, Horsham District Council member for Nuthurst and Lower Beeding; and also all the help and support we have received from parents and residents of Lower Beeding.
Considerable protest has been raised with WSCC and with the Government.
We would also like to set out the background to the situation that our excellent school faces, together with the way forward that we are seeking for our school. For some years we have been negotiating with WSCC for the school to be rebuilt. It is a 1960s construction, including three ‘temporary’ mobile classrooms. The school’s academic achievements under both the previous head, Mrs Sillett, and the current head, Mrs Bishop, have been exceptional.
The ethos of the school has always been to focus on the quality of the teaching, customised for each child’s needs. However, the deteriorating quality of our buildings is becoming an increasing hindrance to our teaching staff in their endeavours to help children of West Sussex to continue to achieve excellent academic results.
As the governing body of the school, we are charged with raising the educational standards of the school and, as controllers of the premises, ensuring there are systems in place to safeguard the health and safety of children, staff and visitors on the school site.
Following the 2003 OFSTED inspection that criticised the school premises, in February 2006 WSCC approved the rebuild of Holy Trinity as a project to start construction in the financial year 2006-07 at an estimated total cost of £3m over three years.
It was in fact the only primary school replacement project approved to start in 2006, although other primary school rebuild projects were identified in ‘design pools’ (ie with lower priorities).
The draft capital programme was supported by WSCC’s Asset Management Planning data, the school’s Premises Development Plan and the recommendations of the Asset Management Planning Advisory Panel, comprising headteachers and WSCC officers.
During the remainder of 2006, staff and governors of our school worked with the WSCC officials to progress the project. In December 2006 the project was taken forward for planning permission in March 2007, with work to commence on site in the 2007.
During 2006, we limited investment in the condition of our existing premises to only that necessary to maintain the safety of the children, staff and visitors and also the overall integrity of the structures.
At the same time money from the capital programme was spent on architects and on the extensive surveys (boreholes for water sampling, tree surveys, detailed land surveys, archaeological surveys, etc).
In December 2006, contractors were interviewed to build the new school. However, the Government’s funding model for strategic renewal projects forced WSCC to make cutbacks of £5m per annum in this part of their capital programme.
The 2007-08 capital programme no longer contained the previously approved project at Holy Trinity school.
We were surprised and disappointed that the process by which Holy Trinity School was removed from the programme appears to contain the following features.
l Projects previously assessed as lower priority, ‘design pool’ candidates, have been privileged over Holy Trinity, which no longer appeared on the plan to 2010.
l  We were not consulted or advised of the proposed removal of Holy Trinity school from the programme.
l  The criteria for placing a school on the capital programme appears to be the condition of an individual school.
l  In amending the 2007-08 capital programme, officials do not appear to have used WSCC’s Asset Management Planning policy or process and, despite our efforts to find out, they have not been at all clear on what process they did follow or why we were not consulted or informed.
The school’s surveyor visited the school and provided an up to date report of the conditions at the site. His report gives us further cause for concern. Recently two large diseased oak trees in close proximity to two of our mobile classrooms have had to be felled for safety reasons.
The report suggested that this will have an effect on the foundations of the two mobile classrooms. The school is therefore facing the real prospect of losing both of these two rooms. There appears to be no back-up plan from WSCC of how it will deal with this loss of accommodation. Surely the up to date information contained in this report should have been taken into account before the decision was taken to terminate the rebuild.It seems, from the surveyor’s report, that the school will need to find considerable funds to address various defects that have been found.
We are well aware of other issues with the current school building. The cost of simply maintaining the buildings will be considerable, and will distract attention and funds that could be better used on maintaining and even improving on the outstanding academic achievements of our pupils. We will need to spend considerable funds on a building which can only have a very limited future. It would, in the long run, be a far more efficient use of public money to rebuild the school in 2007 or 2008.
The school is vital for the sustainability of the community of Lower Beeding at a time when the village is set to grow significantly with a new housing development.
Both Francis Maude and ourselves are investigating alternatives in order to develop constructive and cost effective ideas that we can take to WSCC for its consideration.
We, the governors of Holy Trinity CEP School of Lower Beeding, are committed to maintaining the very high standards and future success of this excellent school.
WSCC has assured us that it has no plans to close the school. We will continue to work with both WSCC and with Francis Maude to achieve the investment that this excellent school both needs and deserves.
There will be a meeting at Lower Beeding Village Hall on Saturday March 10 at 3.30pm to inform the local community of the status of Holy Trinity school campaign.


Message from: Lawrie Ellis, Lyntons, Pulborough. March 1, 2007.
COMMENTS: Are you a volunteer? Do you watch over the security of surrounding properties as a Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator in place of regular uniformed police patrols?
Do you pick up litter and sweep paths and pavements as many residents have to because council road sweepers are not employed?
Do you drive people to the doctor or hospital? Or help to look after handicapped children or adults? Do you support a hospice?
Are you a member of one of the many other groups and associations without whose assistance disadvantaged and elderly people would find life even harder?
Do you work for a charity organisation? Perhaps you belong to a search and rescue group or a first responders organisation?
More and more good citizens are giving their time freely in order to plug the gaps left by national or local services.
What is the reward for this voluntary, unpaid and so vital work? We are subject to more ‘stealth taxes’ by the Government and have to pay council tax increases above the rate of inflation each year.
Meanwhile, local hospitals are threatened with closure because of lack of funding, police stations are shuttered against public access; many services are reduced and facilities closed because it is alleged that money is not available to operate them.
So, where does our money go? There seems to be no shortage of bureaucrats sitting in air-conditioned offices stating that there is no funding for this project; or money is not available for that vital maintenance; or that services cannot be included in the budget.
I would suggest that these desk-bound administrators and officials spend one day every month working in the community actually doing some of the real jobs that need to be done – under the strict supervision of the volunteers who have to do it, week in and week out, for free.


Message from: K. Gregory (Mrs), Billingshurst Road, Broadbridge Heath. March 1, 2007.
COMMENTS: I write with reference to the letter published in the WSCT on February 16 under the heading ‘Public views misinformed’.
I mean no disrespect whatsoever to the writer of the letter personally but I must take issue with and correct his own misinformed beliefs as stated within his letter.
I’m afraid the writer is quite mistaken and more than a little sanctimonious in stating that members of the public are unable to fully understand and appreciate the issues and implications surrounding matters that are the subject of consultation exercises and particularly, since he mentioned it specifically, consultations on the planning system.
I’m sure he didn’t mean to imply that only he and people of his calibre (?) have the ability and knowledge to usefully take part in consultation exercises and that no-one else should bother!
Is he implying though when he says things about other people’s ability and right to take part like, ‘do they know what possible consequences would follow defying national planning policies’, that no-one else but him is able to read up on ‘national planning policy’ and/or that no-one else has a right to their opinion unless they have spent weeks researching and have qualifications as long as their arms?
I’m sure the writer also never meant to imply that he alone has the monopoly on the ability to research and become well-informed on such matters, but it might actually surprise him to know that many ordinary members of the public can and do take considerable time and trouble to research and learn all they can about a matter before they comment or take part in consultations.
In this day and age when almost everyone has access to the internet and library resources there just isn’t the superiority gap where only some people have access to knowledge and learning.
Besides, it just wouldn’t do not to research and read all you can about a subject – unless one likes looking foolish, as there are so many well informed people out there who would happily put you right!
The very many intelligent and articulate letters that frequently appear on these letters pages are witness to the very deep level of understanding many individuals, and local voluntary groups DO have regarding Horsham District Council and, may I say, particularly regarding the planning system and how well, or more relevantly, how poorly HDC adheres to the guidance laid down regarding planning and LDFs.
I’m afraid, much as some would like to, you simply cannot dismiss the overwhelming majority who have questioned HDC’s interest and ability to ‘consult’ its populace by dismissing the public ability to take part in consultations with, ‘Oh members of the public don’t know what they are on about!’.
In actual fact it is the council which often gets it wrong as regards planning guidance and its obligations and responsibilities! It plays fast and loose with the planning regulations, albeit that HDC so far has managed to get away with it!
I’m not really sure where the writer of the letter was coming from, metaphysically speaking, but it would be very naïve for people of this district to just assume that the council is always right and knows what it’s doing, and so shouldn’t be questioned and/or criticised. That is very far from the case.
Mr Circus is right though in saying consultations are a waste of time. Indeed – HDC should quit holding these expensive, time wasting exercises, laughably called consultations.
The council should do so not for the reasons he cites though, but because HDC never takes any notice anyway of the input people give so it may as well stop wasting OUR money and time.
It most definitely too might as well quit making any pretence that it is in any way, shape or form interested in what the public thinks/wants!


Message from: Robert Mayfield, Martin Jeremiah, Blue Flash Music Trust, PO Box 616, Horsham RH12 1YW. March 1, 2007.
COMMENTS: We followed the debate on the council tax rise in last week’s West Sussex County Times with considerable interest.
It appears to have been forgotten by some councillors that if the advisory group’s recommendation on Horsham Town Hall had been followed it would have saved the council tax payer £300,000.
If the plan for the Community and Folk Arts Centre had been endorsed a year ago as intended it would have been unnecessary for the town hall refurbishments to be funded by the council.
The money reserved by the council for this work could then have been released for other purposes. It would not have been necessary to deny the museums and leisure centres £50,000, or cut the work of the scrutiny committee by £5,000.
There would have been £245,000 left over to spend on other projects or, alternatively, a lower council tax rise would have been possible.
That said it is still not too late for our organisation to resume the Community Buildings lottery grant application and save the council £300,000 this year, as long as we are given the green light by the council’s latest town hall committee.
The final deadline for the fund is April 1 this year, however, so time is short.
Regrettably, we so far agree with councillor Chowen’s comments in last week’s newspaper when he said: “It’s so easy to spend other people’s money, and the trouble is that, when you’ve been a district councillor for some time, you lose sight of that.”
When the council decided to unnecessarily spend £300,000 on an illogical ‘status quo’ option for the town hall last September, it did so with no financial scrutiny whatsoever.
The lack of financial projections in the leader’s paper was not in keeping with the previous council resolution.
Neither was our professional fundraisers report featured, yet this report had been specifically requested by Leisure Services in order to back a recommendation that we should manage the town hall at no cost to the taxpayer.
By not endorsing the recommended Community and Folk Arts Centre plan the council still continues to lose over £1,000 per month on the town hall.
However, these losses could have been halted immediately by outsourcing to the successful bidders from the advisory group process, ie the Blue Flash Music Trust charity.
In our view, it is time for the council to take this immediate, pragmatic and financially prudent decision on the town hall. Otherwise councillors’ talk of financial prudence is not worth a hill of beans.


Message from: Gordon Lindsay (Con) Horsham district councillor for Billingshurst and Shipley, Park House, North Street, Horsham. February 28, 2007.
COMMENTS: In his letter of February 16, councillor Millson forgot to tell us is that the first thing that his party did when they came to power was to raise council tax by 23 per cent.
I guess this is what he means by Liberal Democrat financial prudence and genius.


Message from: Dr Jonathan Austin, chair, Horsham Labour Party, Bennetts Road, Horsham. February 27, 2007.
COMMENTS: I was pleased to note the positive response from Horsham MP Francis Maude to the plight of Holy Trinity School at Lower Beeding in last week’s County Times.
It is encouraging that he feels that something can be done for the school with the support of the council. As such, I offer him our support and we will work actively in partnership with him to obtain the best result for the children.
We can certainly help him by using our links with other Labour councils to see how they finance their renovations and to discover the best practice nationally. We are also willing to advise him on how to approach Labour ministers productively.
As an important first step, it would be good to share the work that has been done to date. It would also be a shrewd move to set a deadline for the revised renovation plan to be published.
May I suggest an initial deadline of one month from today for an initial proposal to be published in the County Times? We will then be able to keep up the momentum and restart work on the school as soon as possible.
I do not underestimate the difficulties associated with such a project, but having seen the conditions at the school something has to be done.
I would like to ensure all those who have got in contact with me that we will continue do our best to get a fair deal for the school.


Message from: Geoffrey Wilson, Baldhorns Park, Rusper. February 27, 2007.
COMMENTS: I read your leader article on February 16 with a sense of bemusement.
Your assault on the council’s parking strategy strikes many chords with Horsham residents (although you are going over the top in asserting that park and ride charges are far too expensive for lower-paid employees – are you advocating free parking for poor people, which would be nice and charitable but sadly is economic and social nonsense?).
But what on earth has this to do with an immediate change of council leadership, which you want to be ‘town centre focused’?
Most of what our council does is forced on it by Whitehall and Brussels. Complaints at the vast number of economic policies which hurt small businesses and hurt businesses in South East England and are behind the losses of jobs which you rightly highlight every week, should be directed at the ‘Scotland focused’ Government in London.
Good leadership in local government can indeed make a difference at the margins. We should not judge our council against what we would ideally like it to do, but against what other councils have been able to achieve under the same constraints.
From what I have seen of other towns around the country, Horsham is a great place to live and work.
Our locally-elected leaders will be able to do even better if released from Whitehall and Brussels straightjackets, which I suggest will only come with a change to ‘Notting Hill focused’ Conservative Government.

Editor’s note: With park and ride nearly three quarters empty, I am advocating reducing prices to increase usage. There is an optimum price which would achieve this and actually improve overall revenues. This would not only help the town’s lowest paid employees but in consequence the business community – and be of both economic and social benefit.

 
Message from: Angus Irvine, Rudgwick. February 27, 2007.
COMMENTS: Further to Paul Mumford’s letter, Horsham council clearly needs to rethink its policy. The Blue Badge is for a person not a vehicle. Yes, we have a VAT exempt car, but I cannot park the car where I like unless my daughter is with me.
Furthermore, should any friends or relatives care to take our daughter out they cannot use Horsham’s disabled parking. They can use double yellow lines however!
The point is that disabled parking should be to give a disabled individual easy access. And to deny them that access because they have travelled in a different car is, I would have thought, an infringement of their human rights.
Why should Horsham council decide that it is the car, when the EU has decided it is the individual?


Message from: Derek Poots, Emms Lane, Brooks Green. February 26, 2007.
COMMENTS: I read article on February 16 by Horsham district councillor Christian Mitchell, Conservative deputy group leader, with great interest.
Mr Mitchell is clearly engaging openly in the debate over local democracy which the WSCT is so admirably hosting, and I found his points were well made and amiably put across.
It is also highly commendable that he has been prepared to put time into public service, despite what is obviously a busy professional career.
However, before rushing to sign up to another four years of a Conservative HDC administration on the basis of these qualities I would like to know a bit more about Mr Mitchell’s track record, and just what his views are on the major issues facing the district.
Regarding Mr Mitchell’s track record: did he vote against the folk club proposals for Horsham Town Hall? Did he vote for park and ride? Did he vote, on September 27, 2005, to push ahead with the West Horsham Option in the Local Development Framework and not allow time for proper consultation?
Did he vote to adopt the LDF in the face of huge public opposition? Did he support the use of barristers to take on the electorate at last year’s housing Public Examination?
Perhaps he will be kind enough to confirm if the answer to any of the above questions is no.
Looking ahead to future glories seems to be another thrust of Mr Mitchell’s article (and indeed trying to airbrush the past is a very wise tactic for the Conservatives to adopt in the run up to the district elections).
Just how are we to look ahead with any confidence when HDC, under his party, has committed us to the absolute ruination of Horsham through the pursuit of John Prescott and the developers’ agenda, particularly concerning the West of Horsham?
How does he propose to undo the wonderful works wrought by councillor Jenkins?
What are his proposals for halting the destruction of the Denne area and Broadbridge Heath?
How will he magic up a satisfactory road solution to stop the A24 becoming a notable UK traffic black spot, with cars from 2,000 new houses only able to exit via a roundabout on to it?
I do fear that Mr Mitchell’s article is simply an attempt to wheel out a new face for the election, with the more usual culprits in HDC having spent all their trust with the electorate.
Perhaps this is an attempt to distance the Conservatives from their shoddy record (indeed Mr Mitchell made no mention whatsoever of the LDF).
I really don’t think we should be fooled for a second. Just as we should express amusement when Gordon Brown is presented as a fresh new Prime Minister, we should also laugh at the thought that, if voted in again, the Conservatives will do anything other than maintain their ‘the electorate can’t be trusted to tie their shoelaces’ arrogance.
I agree entirely with Mr Mitchell when he says ‘Residents do want to be consulted properly, and feel that their views count’. I’m afraid this is precisely what his party has singularly failed to deliver.

 

Message from: Dr Geoffrey Richardson, Tennyson Close, Horsham. February 26, 2007.
COMMENTS: It is with interest that I have read the various articles and letters in recent editions of WSCT about the sale of the Holbrook Club to Horsham Football Club.
John Lines’ piece ‘Residents should be proud of Horsham Football Club’, seeks to reassure local residents about the impact a new football stadium will have on Holbrook.
I am sure many residents do follow the fortunes of the club with interest but didn’t move into Holbrook with the expectation of living next to a football stadium.
You included a picture of the Holbrook Club and members – looking extremely pleased with things. Are they representative of the 2,800 members of the club and especially the two thirds (approximately) who live in Holbrook?
When it comes to the use of the facilities in future, would it not be inevitable that the football club’s needs will take priority over community needs despite assurances from Mr Lines?
Having paid over £2m for Holbrook Club, I am sure readers will be interested to know what the football club intends to do if planning permission is refused? Could WSCT ask the chairman of the football club?
Because of procedures around planning applications, district councillors wishing to take part in the discussion about a particular planning application cannot state their views publicly as this would be considered prejudicial in advance of the hearing.
But presumably other councillors (including the North Horsham parish councillors) that will not take part in the planning hearings from the two main parties contesting the May elections could express their views.
Voters have every right to know what position the two main parties will take before the election and with such an evenly balanced council, the way the electorate vote in North Horsham could tip the balance of power in the district one way or the other.
It was helpful to read the statement by WSCT that even though the company is a shareholder in the Horsham Football Club, this would ‘never influence the way in which we cover controversial issues facing the club’.
In this spirit, it would be helpful if the paper could produce an objective analysis of all the sites in the district that have been considered for a football stadium, whether planning applications were ever made to the council and reasons for decisions reached.


Message from: C.V. Seeley, Crossways, West Chiltington. February 26, 2007.
COMMENTS: Two examples of local politicians’ doublespeak appeared in the County Times on February 16.
Page six: county council cabinet member for resources is reported as admitting that the 4.9 per cent increase ‘was higher than he would have wished’.
Of course he goes on to lay the responsibilty for this futher excessive increase as ‘a direct result of the Government’s failure to pay its fair share’. Not me guv!
 Now I was under the impression the council was an independent body elected by the local populace, and was solely responsible for deciding the level of increase.
Silly me.
Page seven: in his reply to previous criticism by your paper, Mr Mitchell states, inter alia, ‘Residents do want to be consulted properly and genuinely feel their views count...’
When did the council last ‘consult properly’ as to whether local council tax payers support the inexorable increase in council tax imposed by the council?
Again, silly me – political talk. This is not a criticism solely made in relation to the present adminstration either for West Sussex or Horsham district.
It is reasonable to assume that a Labour administration would be quite relaxed about excessive rate increases.
It is a plea for politicians to be honest and open with the electorate.
Judging by the present behaviour of politicians both national and local there is little sign of such conduct.


Message from: Sara Weech, director of strategy, West Sussex Primary Care Trust
The Causeway, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing BN12 6BT. February 23, 2007.
COMMENTS: In response to the article ‘Fears that health cuts are already sorted out’ in the County Times on February 16, I would like to correct the reference to plans for healthcare in West Sussex already being cut and dried.
On the contrary, West Sussex Primary Care Trust has been involved in a discussion and engagement process which began in the summer of 2006.
We have met with many members of the public, MPs, councillors, local voluntary groups, our staff, held stakeholder events, and accepted invitations to a number of meetings where we have sought the views of local people on our proposals for future health services.
Of course some things are fixed. The NHS in West Sussex needs to keep moving forward with best clinical practice and with the national strategy for care closer to home. Equally no NHS organisation can ignore its statutory duty to live within its funding allocation.
We now are in the process of developing detailed proposals for changes to services in West Sussex.
These proposals have been informed by the views expressed by the people we have met, and those who responded during the initial discussion phase held from May to July 2006.
Copies of two independent reports reflecting feedback from local stakeholders and residents on the ‘Fit for the Future’ discussion document can be found on the Fit for the Future pages of the PCT’s website: www.westsussexpct.nhs.uk/fitforthefuture.htm
The PCT expects shortly to announce the start of the Fit for the Future formal consultation phase which will last for about four months. During this time we will hold a number of public meetings, which will be advertised in a number of ways, including the local media.
Therefore, to say that plans for healthcare in West Sussex are already cut and dried is very misleading to the public and has the potential to prevent open, honest and sensible debate during the consultation period.

Editor’s note: our article was an accurate report of comments made by the leader of West Sussex County Council Henry Smith at a council meeting.

 
Message from: Tim Cross, Loxwood Road, Tismans Common, Rudgwick February 23, 2007.
COMMENTS: Another three letters in the County Times of  February 16 [calling for Horsham MP Francis Maude to take part in a public debate with BNP leader Nick Griffin], but the deafening silence from the Rt Hon Francis Maude is despicable, but completely typical of our modern day politicians. These people are meant to serve their constituents, because they are the servants of the people who elected them.
When will the Rt Hon Francis Maude engage in a proper debate with Nick Griffin?
Finally I will raise my donation from £200 to £250 to add to all the other pledges now pouring in. That means we have well over £2,000, yes over £2,000 pledged to go to a local charity, of your choice. I believe we can get to at least £10,000, that’s only 13 pence per constituent, and so let’s try!


Message from: George W. Tribe, The Coopers, Itchingfield. February 23, 2007.
COMMENTS: The state of the roadside verges in Horsham district is a matter for regret. There is muck and filth everywhere and many of our roads resemble part of a local refuse tip.
Were it not for certain public-spirited individuals who go out to collect this rubbish the situation would be much worse and we would be in danger of being submerged under a tide of our own waste.
A cursory examination of some of this rubbish in West Chiltington Lane and New Road in Billingshurst parish reveals something of the nature of the roadside contaminator.
He (it is inevitably he) eats Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald’s take-aways, smokes Marlboro cigarettes, drinks Coca Cola and reads The Mirror and The Sun newspapers.
Evidently he does not read the West Sussex County Times but in his leisure activities he avails himself of the products of Durex and some of his number appear to need the help provided by Methadone.
The picture that emerges is of a sick, drug-ridden, uncaring and irresponsible society, hellbent on the destruction of our planet and its own habitat, destined to live in an environment which resembles the shanty towns of south-east Asia.
Soon, well-meaning worthies will be offering themselves for election to the district council, promising a range of incentives to vote for them that will never materialise.
However, if anyone determines to do something about this affront to our countryside taking place before our eyes on a daily basis, that person will get my vote whatever his political colour.


Message from: Nick O'Connor, director, Interactive Media, Cityspace Ltd, Notting Hill Gate, London. February 23, 2007.
COMMENTS: In response to your article on February 16 entitled ‘Explicit porn at Carfax kiosk’ we write to provide clarification and information to offer peace of mind to users of this Horsham kiosk – one of nine on-street terminals in West Sussex.
All Cityspace iPlus and iTravel Points, of which there are more than 400 serving the communities of around 50 local authority areas, are equipped with Surf Control filter systems which protect users from unwarranted spam or undesirable content.
We have researched this incident in detail and found that a user has accessed an ‘innocuous’ site through our Web Search facility which appears not to have undesirable content and was therefore undetected by the security system. This is an extremely rare occurrence – the first in fact, since we introduced the Web Search service last year.
However, Cityspace takes this incident extremely seriously and has moved to remove the Web Search service from the West Sussex iTravel network whilst a full and thorough investigation is undertaken.
Cityspace apologises for any distress experienced by iTravel users and provides assurance that this will not reoccur in the future.