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Your letters May 14
THIS week's letters from readers.
THIS letter is intended to register my deep concern at the present proposals of Horsham District Council's strategic policy.
The Core Strategy Review highlighted two development regions within Horsham district. The first, known as 'Gatwick Sub-Region' intended to accommodate 9,200 new houses to the period 2026. The second, 'Rest of the District', area includes Billingshurst and 3,800 houses planned over the same period.
It transpires that of the three potential sites within the 'Rest of the District' area, Billingshurst alone remains under consideration – Adversane/North Heath and Pulborough having been dropped. Does this mean I wonder, that the entire 3,800 homes will now be rescheduled for Billingshurst?
Few would deny the need for 'affordable housing' but the imposition of huge developments in smaller rural communities is a prime example of poor planning, showing no consideration to the interests of the existing local community and bulldozed through official channels by those motivated by political and or profit incentives. It is without doubt an unreasonable proposition.
The present facilities for Billingshurst might handle a very modest population increase. Existing service facilities of water, roads, education, drainage, etc, have already been stretched following recent housing developments which added 600 properties on the south-west side of the village.
Provisions for Christian worship in the very old Grade I listed parish church of St Mary's, originally built for a small rural village community, are only just coping with the needs of the existing community in worship. Local village burial facilities are full and no provision has been offered within the plan to provide an additional parish church or cemetery.
Large scale housing developments imposed on an existing rural community are potentially very damaging to a locality. A far better way to meet the national housing shortages would be to provide for the additional numbers of people equally throughout the UK.
Small housing developments spread across the entire country could provide all the needed additional houses without creating stress on existing local people, service facilities and employment.
Small developments could be limited by a percentage formula related to decade population planning factors determined within county planning policies.
From another viewpoint, the UK can ill afford to surrender best agricultural land needed for food production. Land for the proposed Billingshurst development has produced food for centuries with a mixture of dairy, sheep and arable farming.
With fast emerging demands for locally produced foodstuffs coupled with our need to reduce 'food miles', use of this land and its preservation for food production in the future has to be ensured!
P.B. WESTON
Birch Drive, Billingshurst
UNDER the headline 'The boom towns transformed into benefit blackspots', the national newspapers identified Crawley as one of the towns where dependency on welfare benefits has increased fivefold over recent years.
In case the councillors at Horsham District Council had not realised, Crawley is the major employment area in their district yet is haemorrhaging jobs at a rate of knots.
In our particular village, Billingshurst, there is very little local employment and yet HDC wants to build 2,000 more houses.
Quite frankly the whole proposal is too ridiculous for words and instead of arguing about the numbers of affordable homes, HDC should be considering whether any housing development is required at all.
It is only necessary to look at two sections of the County Times to see where the priority is. The Property section on Friday was 30 pages long with a wide variety of properties for both sale and rent. The Jobs section was not even two pages and most of the positions advertised are carers.
The first priority for HDC has to be to get new businesses into the area.
The youngsters, who we are told need the affordable housing, will not stay anyway if there are no jobs.
Perhaps we should not be so opposed to a second runway at Gatwick.
BOB BISHOP
Broomfield Drive, Billingshurst
I MUST congratulate all those who stood as candidates in the general election, particularly those in the Horsham constituency.
They have played a fundamental part in our democratic process, although some of us may wish that it was even more democratic, through a fundamental change to our voting system.
I do not however share your apparent enthusiasm and awe for the results on Thursday which have yielded a Tsunami of Blue across West Sussex. It has left me with a concern that, in the light of the events of the previous parliament, there will be no check on the behaviour of those that have been elected to serve this region for another four to five years.
As the largest local paper, I believe you have a unique opportunity to hold our newly elected MPs to account. Not politically, that is for others, but to ensure that they perform the job that they have been elected to undertake and for which they are handsomely rewarded.
For a start I recommend that you track the following measures for each of those MPs who have been elected to represent those in Horsham and adjacent constituencies:
l Attendance record.
l Voting record.
l Speaking record (in the Chamber).
l Work on Committees in the House of Commons.
l Amount claimed on expenses.
l Register of outside interests.
l Number of surgeries held.
l Number of local events attended.
This should, as far as possible, be benchmarked against the average of all MPs in the Commons. It should be produced monthly and provide cumulative data on key performance measures.
Only by increasing the level of scrutiny and oversight will the electorate be able to judge whether the promises made are being kept and the level of accountability ensured. It may also help them come to a view when deciding where to put their X at the next election!
L.N. PRICE
Smithbarn, Horsham
CAN I take this opportunity, through the pages of your newspaper, to congratulate Francis Maude on his re-election, and thank those people in the Horsham constituency who resisted the very strong, but ultimately futile, temptation to vote tactically and voted for me?
During the couple of years I have been Horsham Labour Party's candidate, and especially during the recent few weeks, I have met many people at meetings, street stalls and on the doorstep who have been pleased to see that, even in such a Conservative stronghold, there is a Labour candidate to vote for and I am proud to have have been that candidate.
I thoroughly enjoyed the campaign even when, after three hustings in two days, I realised I had spent more time in the company of Francis Maude and Godfrey Newman than with my wife over those two days!
Over the course of the campaign I also made new friends, some of them in unexpected places, and I hope to keep in touch with many of them.
In common with my colleagues in Horsham Labour Party I am obviously disappointed at the results, but not surprised.
It is no secret that we did not expect to win in Horsham, but we do think that we have acheived our objectives of raising the profile of the party in the constituency, increasing membership, improving team spirit within the party and getting more publicity for our ongoing campaigns relating to affordable housing and the removal of council playschemes.
Above all we intended to show that the Labour Party is the only real alternative to the Tories, and the discussions between Cameron and Clegg (unresolved at the time of writing) only serve to further convince us that votes for the Liberal Democrats might as well be votes for the Conservatives.
ANDREW SKUDDER
Labour Party parliamentary candidate for Horsham
Farnham Close, Crawley
I DO WONDER where your reporters had their education both in English and mathematics. The report on page two of your edition of May 7 states, 'Francis Maude was returned as the MP for Horsham with a greater majority than ever before'.
Page one gave the figures which showed a majority of 11,460 whilst page two showed the 2005 majority as 12,627. This is hardly 'a greater majority than ever before' for the 2010 result and hardly 'Maude storms to victory'. To mislead the public in this way is hardly the way of of a responsible newspaper which is what you claim to be.
PETER BEESTON
Oakhurst Mews, Roffey, Horsham
Editor's note: the writer is correct to point out that the report should have explained that Francis Maude received a greater number of votes and a higher percentage of the overall votes than in the three previous general elections at which he stood in the Horsham constituency.
ONCE again I have received a leaflet from West Sussex County Council regarding its Walking to School initiative.
This is a commendable notion but not incredibly practical.
Many parents have valid reasons for driving their children to school and are unable to find an alternative option.
For my part I find the leaflet incredibly insulting. If the county council really is committed to its environmental policies may I be the first to suggest it ensures that children are able to attend their local schools.
Due to over-subscription my son now has to be driven past our local school, a mere ten minute walk from our home, to a school which is almost a one hour walk away.
I personally do not have four hours in the day to trek to and fro and, as no-one else in our area attends the same school, am unable to car share.
As someone who is deeply concerned about the environmental damage we inflict on our county and as someone who is committed to a healthier lifestyle I am irked every day by the journey and take great umbrage at being criticised for doing something by the very people who have forced me to do it.
THERESA SMITH (Mrs)
Shottermill
Horsham
WE WOULD like to thank the West Sussex County Times and the co-sponsors of the WSCT Business Awards for their generosity and hospitality at the awards ceremony at Christ's Hospital last Friday evening.
It is, of course, very pleasing to have won an award (or two!) but it is perhaps worth noting that during the preceding weeks it was also immensely gratifying to receive messages and promises of support from our customers and clients.
The WSCT's campaign provided a focus for their support and in doing so gave us a huge boost of confidence.
We are very proud to be named as winners by the West Sussex County Times; we are very, very, grateful to all our supporters.
I am sure that all the entrants and finalists felt that this was an important occasion: business is hard; success is a challenge.
When peers and press assist then the path is a little easier!
Many thanks to all who were involved in this splendid initiative and impressive event.
ANDREW HEPWORTH
Hepworth and Co Brewers Ltd
The Beer Station
The Railway Yard Horsham
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Weather for Horsham
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Thunderstorm
Temperature: 14 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
