Parish Clerk

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

The PCSO for Bolney, Will Butler, will be attending the next Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, 19
October 2021, at 8.00 pm in the Rawson Hall.

After a short presentation, he will be pleased to answer questions and discuss local issues such as
fly-tipping, speeding or patrols.

Bolney residents are welcome to come along and meet Will on Tuesday.

Please see the latest Sussex Police Rural Crime Update by following this link:

https://www.sussex.police.uk/police-forces/sussex-police/areas/campaigns/campaigns/.divisional-campaigns/rural-crime-team-monthly-update/

We’ll shortly be carrying out work to resurface two sections of the A23 southbound carriageway between the Aldbourne and Patcham. This work will improve journeys for our customers and ensure the network remains in a safe condition.

This work is currently scheduled to take place over five weeks starting on Monday 2 August 2021. Work will take place overnight (8pm to 6am), when there are fewer vehicles on the road, causing less disruption.

For the safety of our workforce and customers, we will be closing the A23 southbound carriageway from the A272 Bolney junction down to the A27 Patcham roundabout.

During the closures the following signed diversions will be in place:

• Traffic heading east of Brighton – follow the A272 east to North Chailey, then south on the A275 towards Lewes and Ashcombe roundabout.

• Traffic heading west of Brighton – follow the A272 west, then south on the A24 Worthing Road. At Washington head east along the A283 to join the A27 at Shoreham.

Access will be maintained for emergency service vehicles on blue light calls only.

Please note that these works are subject to change due to weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances. We’ll advertise the closures on yellow signs placed in advance alongside the A23, and on our South-East Twitter page (@HighwaysSEAST)

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

Keeping Up-to-date

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. Alternatively, please visit our webpage https://highwaysengland.co.uk/our-work/south-east/south-east-maintenance-schemes/

You can also 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

The team has been working hard to curate more than 30 FREE guided walks across the High Weald Area of Outstanding Beauty, as well as a range of self-guided walks allowing you to explore this precious landscape at your own pace. This year’s event runs from Saturday 11 – Sunday 19 September 2021.

Things are running a bit differently this year, with a simple booking system to help manage numbers. From Monday 9 August, you will be able to view the walking programme on the Festival website. Each walk has its own Eventbrite booking page, and you can join as many as you like. The process is quick, easy and – most importantly – every walk is free!

Here are a few highlights of the Festival programme to whet your appetite:

• High Weald Dark Skies Walk: This will be a leisurely walk to enjoy the stars across the High Weald with a Dark Skies story.
• WealdWay 40th Anniversary Walk: A circular walk using the WealdWay and Tunbridge Wells Circular, visiting the village of Spelhurst for lunch.
• Full Steam Ahead at Horsted Keynes: Recapture the golden age of steam on this walk beside the Bluebell Railway and through fields and woods.

Please share these details with any friends, family or colleagues who might have discovered a love of walking over the last year, and encourage them to join in.

There will be an email reminder when booking goes live, so join the mailing list to make sure you don’t miss out!

Responding to requests made at Village Day, the steps on footpath 19Bo from the top of Magdalene Rise down to the roundabout are now clear. Many thanks to the Bolney Volunteers for sorting this out so quickly!

Following the Improvements to the play area already this year and the installation of the Mega Swing next to the picnic area, Mid Sussex District Council have now confirmed that work will take place over the summer to install a simple tarmac pump track between the picnic area and hardcourt. Here is a picture of what it will look like!

With more people using the local Public Footpaths around the parish, some farmers and residents have been suffering from inconsiderate walkers who don’t stay on the Public Footpaths or keep their dogs under control. The Countryside Code has recently been updated and a copy is provided here. If you run a local business in Bolney where walkers may stop for refreshments, could you consider printing a copy of the leaflet for prominent display to remind people of their responsibilities when walking in the countryside. Many thanks.

Bolney Parish Council has been fighting very hard to try and get a roundabout agreed for the junction between the A23 London Road and A272, due to the many problems that high volumes of traffic cause to our residents in terms of rat-running through the parish and long queues at peak times.

This junction has been an ongoing issue for many years but with the proposed employment development on the Marylands Nursery site, it was felt that this was our final chance to push for a roundabout before the development takes place and insufficient land would be left to create one.  In past discussions with MSDC Planning the Parish Council had argued for land to be safeguarded at the junction but this was not taken into account.

This junction is due to have traffic lights as part of the Burgess Hill Northern Arc development, to help with further growth and reduce predicted queuing. However this will not happen until the 400th dwelling of the Northern Arc is occupied, which could be many years away.  The Parish Council still felt that a roundabout was a better option and recently attended meetings with Highways England and the Marylands developers to try and progress this. We have also written to both WSCC and MSDC having reviewed all the transport data on this junction. 

Sadly for us, the final outcome is that under the proposed development, a scheme will widen the approach from the London Road down to the A272 to allow for separate lanes for traffic turning left and right.  WSCC is happy that this will be sufficient and Highways England has not raised any objections. As a result, MSDC planners have accepted that this is the best option, although they have confirmed they will approach Homes England to see if the traffic lights can be installed earlier than planned.

We have made every effort to ensure that local voices were heard concerning this issue, but have come up against “received wisdom” at every turn.