Parish Clerk

Use of Colwood Lane, from the junction with Cross Colwood Lane to Jeremys Lane, is temporarily prohibited from 20/06/19 at 09.00 until 24/06/19 at 15.00. The restriction will be in place 24hrs.

This closure is necessary to allow BT to build a new joint box and lay connecting duct. Emergency vehicle, Residential and Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times.

The alternative route for traffic will be signed via Jeremys Lane, London Road, Broxmead Lane, Top Street, Cherry Lane, Lodge Lane, Cross Colwood Lane, The Street and vice versa. This restriction will be effective for a maximum of 5 days from the start date given above.

Any queries about the effect of the closure on traffic using the highway please contact West Sussex County Council on 01243 642105. Any queries about the works please contact Centrex Maintenance on behalf of BT on 07969 969657.

Further site investigation works required to support the design for the A2300 improvement scheme are scheduled to commence today. The works are expected to take six to eight weeks to complete.

The investigations are to support proposals to upgrade the A2300 corridor and are being undertaken on behalf of the County Council by the contractor Jackson Civil Engineering Limited.

The work will involve various investigations, for instance to identify the pavement and drainage network conditions. There will also be some vegetation and tree clearance to expose the extent of the highway boundaries. Most of this work is within the area scheduled for works and none of the trees are subject to tree preservation orders. An ecologist will be supervising the clearance work.

To minimise disruption to road users, the works will take place during off-peak hours from 9:30am to 3:30pm and will require the use of temporary traffic lights, junction closure and lane closure where necessary. To ensure the safety of the workforce, the speed limit for the A2300 will also be reduced to 40mph for the duration of the works. There will be some night works at the western end of the A2300 (drainage CCTV investigation and gully clearance) to enable works where day time traffic management is not feasible i.e. due to the proximity of the Hickstead Services roundabout.

The off road work will take place during daytime and this will not require the use of temporary traffic management measures.

The contractor has advised that any noise generated by the work should not be an issue, and the Environmental Health of Mid Sussex District Council have been made aware.

Many thanks to all those who came along and used the mobile waste facility at the Rawson Hall on Sunday. It was a very successful event and will ensure that the Parish Council can continue to fund it in future years.

A community initiative is currently under way to obtain fast broadband for Bolney, Hickstead and the surrounding areas. Such efforts are supported and subsidised by the government, with the aim of providing unlimited broadband for speeds up to 100 MBPS. The scheme is only possible if there is sufficient interest; the more users who become involved, the cheaper it will become. The community group is currently in discussion with YONET Telecom which offers access to the scheme. Any residents and businesses interested in higher speeds can register their interest on the YONET website, via the following link:https://www.yonet-telecom.com/ultrafast-community-broadband
The Parish Council supports this initiative, while awaiting the outcome of the project led by Mid Sussex District Council to install a fast broadband “spine”.

There is currently some work being done on the land north of Ryecroft Road which has caused some concern to residents. This was originally due to be done in January but the contractor KPS couldn’t accommodate the dates required so are carrying out some of the work this week and will then do a couple more days in January. They won’t be working beyond tomorrow and won’t return until after the new year.

They are retaining the boundary trees along London Road and Ryecroft Road as well as the footpath. They are seeking to cut back the self-seeded whips, the self-seeded silver birch, scrub and growth. They are not looking to remove any trees of merit which form part of the boundary to the footpath Ryecroft Road, or London Road, or substantial specimens.

This land was not allocated in the Neighbourhood Plan but was also not available at the time so couldn’t be allocated. Further sites in Mid Sussex are required to meet housing numbers in the Mid Sussex District Plan so various additional sites will need to be considered across the district. The developer Devine Homes is looking at this site and is in consultation with the Parish Council at the moment. It is still at an early stage and there is no planning application.

Daniel Corcoran is the Planning Manager at Devine Homes. He has been in Bolney this morning and spoken to a few walkers about the work there and he will also be at the site some time tomorrow morning. He is very happy to speak to any residents who have questions and can be contacted on 01737 274834 or 07957 760737.

Residents are welcome to attend parish council and planning meetings and can ask a question prior to the start of the meeting in the public session. Our next meeting is this evening at 8pm at The Rawson Hall

If you have a watercourse, ditch, stream, river or culvert on or next to your land you are known as a ‘riparian owner’. Riparian owners are responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of watercourses on their land to ensure that they are not a flood risk to other people or property.
Well maintained watercourses can significantly benefit the local community by reducing flood risk and creating habitats for wildlife.
The riparian responsibilities for landowners under law are to:
* Ensure the flow of water is not obstructed or polluted
* Maintain the bottom and sides of the watercourse (including managing any trees and vegetation growing on the banks)
* Remove any obstructions, such as rubbish, fallen branches or garden waste
* Maintain any structures (such as trash screens, culverts, weirs and mill gates) on it.

WSCC has updated some helpful information to guide landowners and community groups around this subject.  Keeping our watercourses well maintained benefits the community as a whole. If an area experiences constant flooding, this becomes a nuisance to the community, can restrict access to property, makes everyday living difficult and results in considerable expense and inconvenience for those that have been flooded.

You can find more information here: Ditch the problem