Parish Clerk

The ‘planning and survey’ stage of the project started last November.  This is very good news as the clock started then for the 12 months that Openreach are allowed in which to complete the entire installation.

Many people in Bolney were sent an email by Openreach early today which appeared to suggest that they should pledge their voucher.  Openreach have now admitted this was a miscommunication.  There is no need for any further action at this time for anyone who has validated their voucher.  If you are not sure about this please look towards the bottom of this update for advice.

For anyone who would like to get the benefit of ultrafast broadband speeds it is still possible for residents whose addresses are on the project address list to get ultrafast broadband under this scheme.  The steps required are:

1        Pledge your voucher by going to the Openreach portal:

https://www.openreach.com/connectmycommunity

and follow the instructions.  It is beneficial to the project as a whole if you are able to pledge as a business, even a one man self-employed person, because the business voucher is worth £2000 more than a residential one.

2        look out for an email from:

 gigabit.vouchers@notifications.service.gov.uk

3        and validate your voucher by responding to this email within 28 days.

4        Then look out for an email from

  gigabit-voucher@dcms.gov.uk   

which confirms that your voucher has been issued and you are included in the project.

Please let the Project Team know that you have pledged on the Openreach portal by emailing fttp@bolney.com .  Some people have had problems with receiving the email from notifications.service.gov.uk  and we do not know why.  We are hoping that our contact at Openreach will be able to tell us when the DCMS have sent out these emails so that we can prompt you to look for yours.  Then if there are any problems they should get resolved more easily.

If you are unsure whether you have validated your voucher and are definitely in the project, the best thing to do is to try pledging on the Openreach portal as given above.  If you have already got a voucher for your premises, you will be told that a voucher has been issued already.  Only one voucher is allowed for each address.

If you have any further queries or problems please contact the Broadband Project Team on fttp@bolney.com and we will do our best to help you.  There are some FAQ’s following these updates.

For people who don’t have friends or relations who can take care of their dog after their lifetime, Dogs Trust can help. In the event of the owner’s death, we promise to look after their dog indefinitely, providing them with all the care they need until we can find a responsible, loving new home for them. This is often of great concern to the elderly as their dog may be their only friend and companion – Dogs Trust can now give them peace of mind, knowing that their canine companion’s future is safe, should the worst happen to them. Please see the poster for more information.

With climate change and the environment topping the news agenda, households wanting to do their bit can do so by carrying out one simple task – lagging water pipes and outdoor taps.

As colder winter weather approaches, people looking for ways to be more energy efficient can cut down on the amount to heat water by insulating hot water pipes and protecting cold water pipes and taps from freezing and bursting.

This home improvement job need not be a costly operation as South East Water is giving pipe lagging away free to its customers on its website along with outdoor tap protectors. Industry approved lagging can also be bought from DIY stores.

The company, which serves 2.2 million customers across parts of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire, says pipes burst when exposed to extreme cold such as in attics and outside buildings. Garden taps also need protecting against the cold.

Steve Andrews, Head of Central Operations, said: “A very well-insulated pipework system will help cut down on running costs and save on maintenance. 

“Burst pipes are a very unpleasant and inconvenient problem and when they occur inside the home or in the boundary of a property they are usually the responsibility of the householder to repair.” 

For the winter kit, additional advice and a video on how to protect water pipes go to southeastwater.co.uk/winter The name of a qualified plumber can be found at watersafe.org.uk or by calling call 0333 207 9030

Top winter tips:

• Insulate pipes, cisterns and tanks. Look for the Water Regulations Advisory Scheme (WRAS) approved insulation or get it free from South East Water
• Repair dripping taps
• Inspect loft insulation
• Make sure the internal stop tap works
• Check on any elderly neighbours to make sure they are winter ready.
• When away leave heating low or drain down systems

The company’s Priority Services Register is available for customers with medical conditions, restricted mobility, additional needs, sight and hearing issues who may need some extra support during a water supply emergency. One of the benefits is the delivery of bottled water during a supply issue.

To sign-up for the Priority Services Register contact the Customer Care team on Freephone 0800 952 4000 or go to southeastwater.co.uk/priority 

The number of Covid-19 cases in West Sussex remains higher than the national average and the latest data, as of Saturday November 20, further reinforces that the pandemic is far from over.

Some areas within West Sussex are currently experiencing some of the highest Covid-19 rates in the country amongst young people.

To help tackle high case rates, a Mobile Testing Unit (MTU) has been deployed in Mid-Sussex located at Haywards Heath until Thursday December 9. 

This is to give easier access to those that need a Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

If you need a PCR test, please book your test in the usual way through the NHS Test and Trace site (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing/get-tested-for-coronavirus/) or by calling 119.

We are also encouraging people to regularly test with the rapid lateral flow device (LFD) even if they don’t have symptoms.

You can collect your test kits by visiting Asymptomatic testing – West Sussex County Council (www.westsussex.gov.uk/communitytesting )

Please remember to register your result.

If you receive a positive result, from an LFD test, it’s important that you follow this up with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

For more information about getting tested please visit our website  www.westsussex.gov.uk/communitytesting.

Please continue to follow the hands, face, space and fresh air guidance, which was crucial to bringing us out of previous restrictions, to help reduce the numbers of positive cases.

Please visit www.westsussex.gov.uk/coronavirus to find the local Covid-19 cases summary data.

Please be aware that a funeral will be taking place at the church at 12.00pm next Wednesday 1st December. It is expected that there will be an extremely large attendance at the funeral, anything between 500-1000 people so there is likely to be a significant amount of road obstruction in The Street and surrounding roads during this time.

The West Sussex Police Traffic Officer has been notified and so it is hoped that there will be a police presence to help manage the flow of traffic.

We will be undertaking tree works on the A23 Southbound Verge on the approach to Black Rabbit roundabout for 5 nights.  Two mature elm trees and two elm tree groups are to be removed due to the onset of Dutch elm disease which makes them a potential risk to the carriageway. 

The works will be taking place between the hours of 8pm to 11pm, to limit disruption to the high traffic volumes during the day.  We are also mindful of the disturbance to local residents and will be finishing noisy works at the scheduled cut-off time each night – clear-up duties may continue after 11pm.      

Kier Highways is a sustainable business and, in collaboration with Brighton & Hove City Council, two trees and two shrubs are being replanted to maintain the local ecosystem.     

A23 Southbound Verge on Approach to Black Rabbit Roundabout – Tree Works:

• Monday 29^th November 2021 – Friday 3^rd December 2021 (5 nights)

Time of Closure each night:

8pm – 11pm

Location

• A23 Black Rabbit Roundabout

Lane 1 of the A23 Southbound will be closed during the works along with the Fastlink onto the A27.  However, access will remain open via the roundabout.

Please note that these works are subject to change due to weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances. 

We would like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience or disruption you may experience during this work. 

If you have any questions, or if you would like to know about our work, please contact us on 0300 123 5000 or email info@highwaysengland.co.uk. Or you can visit our website at https://highwaysengland.co.uk/travel-updates/daily-closure-report/ where you can find a weekly report of all full closures across the network.

Yours faithfully

Area 4 Communications Team

PCSO Will Butler and PCSO Nathanial Wales will be holding a Beat Surgery at the Rawson Hall on Wednesday 24th November 2021 from 2pm until 4pm.

Please do come along and meet them and discuss any concerns you may have such as parking issues, anti-social behaviour etc.

Hot news was received from Openreach on Friday 12 November: we are on to the next stage and the project is going ahead! Our best guess is that we are perhaps a year away from the completion of connection, but this is really good news for Bolney.
Thank you to all who have pledged and validated their FREE vouchers. However, it is still not too late to join – just go to http://www.openreach.com/connectmycommunity

If you have pledged your voucher for the Ultrafast Broadband project for Bolney, THANK YOU!
The Parish Council team needs your help. 273 properties have yet to sign up for the £4,000 free voucher. We need at least some of them to take part if we are to get the project over the final hurdle with Openreach. If all of you who have signed up were to find one buddy to explain/persuade/cajole/encourage about the scheme, we’ll get our community the best infrastructure for now and for the future. So go on, think who you can help to join in.

To pledge your grant go to:  www.openreach.com/connectmycommunity and follow the instructions. It’s that easy!

We are writing to inform you that, regrettably, due to unforeseen circumstances, Bolney Outreach Post office service closed temporarily on Monday 6 September 2021. Please accept my apologies for the late notification on this occasion.

The provision of a Post Office service to our customers in the local community is important to us, and we are working hard to reinstate a service in Bolney as soon as possible.

We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this temporary closure may cause in the local area. In the interim, we hope our customers will continue to use Post Office services.

Due to the effects of Covid 19 branch opening hours may vary. The latest available branch information can be found on our website, https://www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-finder

We will keep you informed of any changes and updated information will be provided on our Post Office Consultation Hub.

We will display posters at the Rawson Hall and in the local area to inform customers. If you have any questions you would like to raise about this matter, please write to me via the National Consultation Team at the address shown at the end of the letter. Please note that your comments will not be kept confidential unless you expressly ask us to do so by clearly marking them “In Confidence”.

Any future changes to service provision would be handled in line with our Principles of Community Engagement.

Yours faithfully

Emily Dobson

Network Provision Lead

How to contact us: comments@postoffice.co.uk postofficeviews.co.uk

ease let us know. If you are a local representative, we will write to you again once we have any news about the developments of the Post Office service provision in Bolney.Yours faithfullyEmily DobsonEmily DobsonNetwork Provision LeadHow to contact us:comments@postoffice.co.ukpostofficeviews.co.ukFREEPOST Your