Parish Clerk

Please come along to meet our local PCSO Sophie Mamoany at the Rawson Hall, this Friday 27th January from 10:30am-12:30pm.

You’ll be able to discuss any concerns you have on police matters.

The Parish Council has received queries about the new fencing that is being installed along footpath 18Bo that runs from Bolney School, north across the field to Ryecroft Road.

The site manager at Riverdale has confirmed that they are moving the security fencing that was erected prior to starting work on the site. Having built the foundations of the houses there it has become apparent that the fence has not been erected to allow room to form the final contours of the ground in that location, or erect scaffolding. The boundary line is in the centre line of the hedge shown in the photo below rather than the security fence line, and the minimum Public Right of Way width on the field edge is 1.5 m. They are setting up the new security fence line at 2.0 m from the face of the hedge to still maintain the Public Right of Way.  The fence currently being erected is still only a temporary security fence, but will be closer to the finished line of the permanent fence that will be erected once the houses in that area have been completed.

Please note below the Executive Summary only from the Bolney Parish Council submission to the Consultation. The full response is 15 pages long with 11 appendices attached and will be published online by MSDC in due course.

Executive Summary

Bolney is an ancient linear settlement dating back over 1000 years located within the High Weald. The vision for Bolney in the Bolney Neighbourhood Plan (made in September 2016) ‘is to deliver the sustainable development of Bolney at a scale and form that preserves its distinctive rural village character, landscape and community ethos’.

The Mid Sussex District Council Draft District Plan 2021 – 2039, currently the subject of a Regulation 18 Public Consultation (‘the Draft Plan’) proposes the allocation of DPH18 Land at Foxhole Farm for a development of 200 houses. The site is formed of agricultural fields located outside of the existing built-up area boundary of the village and adjacent to an ancient routeway which runs from the High Weald to the north to the Low Weald to the south. The existing open and rural character of the site forms an important rural setting of the village of Bolney.

For the reasons set out in this Response, Bolney Parish Council is of the strong view that major development of this scale is not sustainable in Bolney and that the infrastructure proposed by the promoter of Site DPH18 is not enough to make the village more sustainable. In summary, the Parish Council is extremely concerned about:

• the harmful impact of a major development on the High Weald;
• road safety, particularly on the A272 at the site of the proposed access into the development which is already a known accident black spot;
• the safety of additional pedestrians and cyclists on The Street, a narrow street where there is already insufficient width for a raised pedestrian pavement and no space for a dedicated cycle way;
• the stress on existing infrastructure in the village – frequent power outages, water supplies that run out in hot or cold weather and the limited public sewerage system;
• the lack of any medical practice or pharmacy in the village;
• the poor provision of Public Transport in the village and the reliance on private vehicles;
• adverse and unacceptable impact on heritage assets in the village including the 900 year old Grade 1 Parish Church, 14 Listed Buildings, the Historic Core of the village and the two Conservation Areas;
• adverse and unacceptable damage to the rural setting, ancient landscape and character of the settlement area due to the size, location and scale of the proposed development;
• development of the site will not reflect the historic settlement pattern of Bolney and will create coalescence with the hamlet of Crosspost; and
• the loss of short and long views to the Low Weald and the South Downs from the Site, and from the Public Right of Way 44Bo that runs along the northern boundary of the site.

The Draft Plan acknowledges that Bolney has housing commitments of 63 new houses to April 2022. For a village core of approximately 275 houses, this represents an increase in recent years of just under 23%. The Parish Council feels this is a proportionate increase in housing when balanced against existing infrastructure, whilst maintaining the strong community spirit of the village and is in keeping with the vision for the organic growth of the village set out in the Bolney Neighbourhood Plan.

It is the opinion of Bolney Parish Council that Site DPH18 should not be allocated for development.

West Sussex County Council is continuing to improve its’ online reporting process for problems with roads and pavements. They have new online forms available via the following link:

https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/make-an-enquiry-or-report-a-problem-with-a-road-or-pavement/
These new forms have enhanced mapping capabilities and are mobile friendly for reporting defects when out and about. They have classified and grouped the types of defect reports previously reported via ‘Love West Sussex’ and created separate landing pages on the website for the following: Flooding, blocked rains and gullies; Road and cycle path faults (including potholes); Pavement and verges; Trees, hedges, weeds and grass and Obstructions on the road, pavement or cycle path. Reports are automatically loaded into the Highways Case Management System (known as ‘Confirm’) and then assigned to the right
team. Customers who historically reported via Love West Sussex are being advised of change in process and redirected to the correct e-form for the issue being reported.
The two reporting systems will be run in parallel for a few months through to Spring 2023 to support transition. Then at a date to be confirmed in the New Year, they will cease to subscribe and will end the
contract with ‘Love West Sussex’.

Reminder: WSCC is not responsible for the management of the following issues which need to be reported to Mid Sussex District Council: parking, fly tipping, litter or street cleaning, non-highway related graffiti and bus shelters.

Mid Sussex District Council understands the pressures that residents are facing during this cost of living crisis and are introducing a number of tools to help provide support this Winter:

•  Winter Support guide  – Support items include Affordable Warmth, Financial Support and Food Provision.

• The warmer Homes campaign encourages eligible residents to apply for available funding to improve the energy efficiency of their homes thus reducing their energy use and helping to lower bills.

• The dedicated Cost of Living Support webpage (www.midsussex.gov.uk/cols) will hold all the support available in one place to make it simpler to access support.

• Community Connections Update 2022/23 – Community Connections Directory of Services for Older People in Mid Sussex provides easily accessible information about services for older people.

We understand that the roadworks for the Openreach broadband project in the centre of the village have been delayed.   We don’t yet know why. We will let you know when we get a clearer picture. In the meantime keep watching out! for news.

Openreach is due to start work on Monday in the centre of the village on enabling works for the installation of the fibre broadband.  This will involve some lane closures with traffic lights starting near the Bolney Exchange in the central part of The Street and Paynesfield.  Work is also due to start in Ryecroft Road in the next fortnight.

There will need to be some road closures where the roads are too narrow to safely pass the works.  We will pass on any information about this as soon as we receive it.

This is obviously going to cause some disruption for us all but we will all benefit from the ability to have access to ultrafast broadband even if some don’t need or want it now.

Please contact fttp@bolney.com if you have any queries

Please come and join our small community choir who sing a variety of musical styles. Everyone welcome, no auditions, no prior experience needed and no need to read music. It’s about fun and community.

Starting Thursday 8th September 2022, 6.30pm—7.30pm and every week in term time at Bolney Village Chapel, RH17 5PP. Email bolneyvoices@gmail.com if you require more information.

Huge thanks to UK Power Networks who did a great job restoring the power after it went off in the early hours of this morning.

It was a mammoth task to replace the poles and high voltage cables brought down by a huge tree, made even harder due to difficult access to the site.

The power was restored at 14.45 and in the circumstances it was surprising that they managed to get it done so quickly on the same day.

In addition the notification system worked really well with regular updates on progress.

Congratulations on a great job.

Did you get a voucher from DCMS that has lapsed/been cancelled and not had a new one? Feeling left out? Some people have said they did not receive an email with a new voucher to validate (if yours is less than a year old, you’re OK). Is this you? Our nice contact at Openreach has offered to try to fix this for you. Please email the info below to fttp@bolney.com and we’ll pass on your details. Thank you lovely Bolney people!

*         Name

*         Full Property address

*         Email address

*         Phone number

*         Residential or business voucher

*         Sole Trader or Limited Company name (if it’s a business voucher)

*         Company number if you have a limited company (if it’s a business)