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This week's letters - June 25
THIS week's letters from our readers.
I AM writing to raise my concerns regarding the inclusion of land east of Billingshurst in Horsham District Council's Core Strategy Review and the impact that such large scale development would have on our community.
I grew up in Billingshurst and upon graduating from University have returned to the village to make my home and to raise my young family.
A large development of this size, potentially 1,750 homes would overwhelm the local community and change the nature of the village beyond recognition.
Furthermore, this whole site is greenfield land and this development would directly impact upon two Sites of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCIs): Rosier Wood (designated as Ancient Woodland) and also Wilden's Meadow, a rare grassland and wetland habitat.
As you may already be aware, species regularly (and easily) sighted in the woods and fields include breeding pairs of buzzards, sparrowhawks, red kites and kestrels, pipistrelle and long-eared bats, barn owls and dormice.
This open area is also widely used by many local people including the Scouts and schools and has been so for over 30 years.
Another very significant concern is education and school provision. Year on year the Weald school is oversubscribed and could not possibly meet the needs of a development of this size.
It would seem most likely that should this go ahead it would result in children from outlying villages who have always traditionally fed in to the Weald catchment having to be bussed significantly further to schools in other areas such as Midhurst.
This is not a sustainable approach. Furthermore, The Weald acts as a focal point that cements outlying communities together and this would be lost as it would end up almost solely educating the children from Billingshurst and not the wider community would be a great shame.
I understand that the proposal submitted by the developers does take into account additional primary provision and a new primary school is being proposed.
However, development of this scale would take Billingshurst from the large village that it is today and transform it into a medium sized town, the second largest in Horsham District, but with minimal facilities.
Much of the integration that has occurred between new and existing residents in the past has been as a direct result of the interface between children and parents due to the fact that the children have all attended the same school.
The provision of a new primary school which simply serves the residents of the new east of Billingshurst development would prevent a similar phenomenon occurring in future. The new residents would never be absorbed in to the existing community as they would be almost totally separate.
In my opinion Billingshurst does not have the amenities or infrastructure to support such a large scale development, and I feel that any small benefits offered by developers such as a new graveyard or bypass would not compensate for the total destruction of a beautiful greenfield land and the potential damage that it would do to the existing community.
When will we start to take responsibility for our environment and look at alternative strategies for meeting housing needs, for example concentrating development on brownfield sites?
I understand that in 2009 it was identified that there were 1,513 empty homes in Horsham District. Why can't these be filled before building further houses is even considered?
I am totally in support of appropriate small scale developments on brownfield sites within communities such as Billingshurst.
However, I am very concerned to hear that planning has been granted under the 'Facilitating Appropriate Development' (FAD) SPD on land at Hillands Farm and that an application is now pending for houses at the end of Daux Avenue, again being considered under FAD.
This latter parcel of land is included in the area East of Billingshurst site being considered as part of the Core Strategy Review and I just feel that until that is resolved no other land that breaks the village boundary or forms an inappropriate finger of development in to a rural area should be allowed.
If this is allowed to continue surely we will end up with numerous applications being facilitated under FAD with no strategic planning at all.
I am not totally opposed to development and I know homes must be provided, but surely this could be done by looking at options other than just wide scale development across beautiful countryside that destroys thriving communities, we cannot go back once this has happened.
LINDA TULLETT
Daux Avenue Billingshurst
I WAS disappointed to read Adam Coller's less than well balanced article about Horsham's bus services in the West Sussex County Times of June 11th.
On Adam's own admission he doesn't "use the buses much", but from his half-hearted research he has learned that if there are queries or complaints about services, it is very easy to get your voice heard, contrary to his reported conclusion!
Prior to the publication of his article, Adam sent us an email - without revealing that he was a reporter. This we responded to promptly as we do with all issues shared with us and we also invited him to come back to us with any further questions, an offer he chose not to accept.
If he is a member of the Facebook social networking community he could communicate with us through that, as do many other bus users and which have resulted in a number of improvements to Horsham's buses based on the comments made. Similarly communication by 'phone, post or email is always welcome and responded to in full.
Although he apparently "walks or drives to where he wants to be", Adam claims that he has "experienced buses being late", how has he managed that? Our recent timetable revision has brought about a reliable service with over 95% of buses in the town departing from every timed stop on time, which is way above the average elsewhere in the country.
As a bus user of "last resort" he also claims that he has seen "fights and drunkenness" on the buses, something which is seldom seen in Horsham at all, let alone on our buses. Dates and times please.
He criticises that "no bus service operates from Horsham directly to Cineworld" in Crawley. An unarguable fact yet our route 23 stops less than five minutes' walk from Cineworld, or alternatively one change of bus will give passengers access to services that run to Cineworld more than 11 times an hour.
Adam's critique makes little mention of the improvements that have recently been made to Horsham's buses, such as the 15 minute frequency to North Heath, the doubling in frequency of the service to Oakhill - which has seen passenger numbers increase by 30%, the earlier and later buses to The Common, earlier and later buses on route 93, the new Sunday service on route 98, the doubling of the service to Gatwick and the introduction of real time information including access via mobile 'phone.
A poorly researched article in which Adam seeks to blame the County Council for failing in responsibilities that it doesn't have and for trying to illustrate passengers' desperation that generally doesn't exist.
Please convey to him an open invitation to spend half a day with us at Metrobus, after which he might have a better understanding of his subject. Negative and biased press reporting doesn't encourage people to try public transport.
ALAN EATWELL Managing Director Metrobus Ltd
Replies Adam Coller: "I am sorry you are disappointed by my article; I can assure you that my research wasn't half hearted and my conclusion was based on the comments of a wide range of people, I might add mostly negative.
The issue of 'hiding my identity' is incorrect. I said I was a reporter and asked permission to use the statement. Despite the offer of asking your company more questions being so enticing, you are correct I did refuse as I had received an extra e-mail which disclosed more required information.
Making friends with your bus company on Facebook I feel would have been pointless as I had already contacted you via e-mail and my questions had been answered.
I do regret that I don't have any times and dates of the instances regarding 'fights and drunkenness', but I'm sure many of your customers who use this 98 service have seen one or the other at least once whilst using your five per cent of late buses.
The County Times would welcome the views of passengers and will, of course publish a representative selection of all letters received.
THE GOVERNMENT has made clear the need to reduce the budget deficit and has encouraged us to get involved in thinking about how best to do it. So here is a contribution to the debate.
If the government reduces the funding of an organisation, such as the police service, or of an institution, such as a school, by say five per cent, the chief constable or the head teacher will soon realise that the savings can only be made by making people redundant. But if all police pay and pensions and all teachers' pay and pensions had just been reduced nationally by five per cent, the savings could be made without further pain.
The government has already made a gesture towards this approach by reducing ministerial pay by five per cent. Members of Parliament could take the next step by voting to cut their own pay. Then the government could go on to cut the pay and pensions of all civil servants, all teachers and eventually all public service employees by the same five per cent.
It is an approach which is demonstrably fair and easily understood. Someone earning 100,000 loses 5,000. Someone with a small pension of 1,000 loses 50.
It would eat into the deficit and would protect front line services. Of course there would be protests. But those protesting need to understand that they are effectively demanding that the whole pain of public sector savings should be suffered by those of their colleagues who are made redundant.
Of course the government also needs to decide what to do in relation to the private sector and how to deal with the grosser self-indulgences of senior bankers. But meanwhile it needs public encouragement to cut the costs of the public sector in a manner which saves jobs, protects public services and spreads the pain fairly.
I write as someone who is living comfortably and happily in retirement on a teacher's pension.
DAVID ARNOLD, Springfield Park
North Parade
Horsham
I WOULD like to thank everybody who attended my open garden and afternoon tea event, held in aid of the British heart foundation.
We raised a total of 630, I would also like to thank all the ladies who helped on the day.
LIBBY TAYLOR
Vale Drive, Horsham
I AM DELIGHTED to read that the dog ban has been lifted on the old Station Road cricket ground.
For six months of the winter I saw no-one use this marvellous green space except fellow dog walkers because it was too cold. Now that it is nice weather we dog owners have even more "picking up" to do.
Not just our own dog's deposit, but also that of our fellow humans. One morning I picked up ten beer cans, three vodka bottles and four pizza cartons from just one small area, and my dog is teetotal.
All we need is a bit of toleration and common sense, please!
ANDREW PEARSON, Little East Street, Billingshurst
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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