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With Remembrance commemorations curtailed or reduced locally and nationally this year due to Covid 19, this is a call to the community and school of Bolney to remember in a creative way. Like the ‘teddies in the windows’ during lock down, we want to produce a visual reminder all over the village, which will be brought together to the memorial (corner of Rycroft/The Street) for Remembrance Sunday 8^th November.

Find a pebble or pebbles (do as many as you like!) and paint a poppy on it. Acrylic paints work best. You can get/use acrylic pen sets if that is easier. Place it/them somewhere in the village where people walking past will see it. (Don’t forget to look out for them as you walk)Then on Sat 7^th, bring the pebbles to the memorial for a lasting visual display. You might want to paint the name of someone you knew who died in a war, or look up the names of the men of Bolney who fought in World War 1 or 2.  (Their names are on the memorial in the village, and on the wall in St Mary’s church)

This isn’t an art competition, and every pebble will be unique. No experience necessary – just a little time and enthusiasm!  People of all ages encouraged to take part in this way of remembering as a community.

For practical help google ‘painting on pebbles’ . The BBC has some practical creative tips, among other sites.

If you want to keep your pebble/s after Remembrance Sunday, feel free to do so, or simply leave them at the memorial.  Thank you! 

Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust have proposed merging.

The new, single Trust will operate five hospitals and care for 1.8 million people in Sussex.

The Trusts are seeking the views of staff, patients and partners and have created a survey to collect feedback on the vision, values and name of the future organisation as well as the hopes and concerns people might have. Please respond to the survey and share the link with your networks.

The survey is available at www.westernsussexhospitals.nhs.uk/merger and www.bsuh.nhs.uk/merger  and closes on Monday (26 October).

The Parish Council was presented with a county Covid update from WSCC at our meeting last night. The full report is now available to view in the minutes section of the Parish Council pages on the bolney.com website (20.10.10 County Councillor Report).

As of yesterday it was reported that there are currently 20 people in hospital in West Sussex with Covid -19, four of which are in intensive care.

Other data concerning numbers of cases are in the full report along with updates on additional topics including Public Health and Education, footpaths, climate change and the financial pressures and service delivery at WSCC.

The Bolney Volunteers spent several hours on an autumn clear-up of the war memorial garden ready for Remembrance Sunday. Shrubs were clipped, dead branches removed and two new plants were dug in, kindly donated by Vicky Hawken.

Anyone who is still thinking about registering their interest in getting ultra-fast broadband to their property please do so as soon as possible. Further information on the scheme and details on how to register are given in the link below.

 The deadline given in the leaflets and on the Bolney website has been extended.  The Parish Council working group is currently waiting for a cost estimate from Openreach.  This milestone has been put off twice now and we are hoping it will be reached next week, third time lucky!

We need as many properties as possible, so please talk to your neighbours and friends about it. A recent article in the Sunday Times reported research carried out this year which said that 64% of people would be put off buying a property with slow broadband and research in 2019 showed that slow broadband could reduce the value of the property by up to 24%.  (Sep 27).

Faster Broadband for All

Please be advised that due recent inclement weather and further forecast this week, our works to complete the A23 Bolney Flyover Deck Refurbishment have been postponed and will commence on Tuesday 13 October 2020, overnight between 8pm and 6am, weather permitting.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.

Series of full closures/lane closures on main carriageway	Dates and timings
Lane 2 & 3 closures on the A23 southbound carriageway, Bolney Lane 3 closure A23 northbound carriageway, Bolney Flyover	Tuesday 13 October 2020 and Wednesday 14 October Thursday 15 October 2020 (contingency) Overnight between 8pm to 6am

If you have any questions or if you’d like to know about the work taking place, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Phone: 01732 446800

Email: area4enquiries@aone.uk.com

info@highwaysengland.co.uk

Web: www.highwaysengland.co.uk

Although these works have been carefully programmed, they are subject to change. If you would like to be kept up to date with any changes to the programme please send your email address to area4enquiries@aone.uk.com

Every effort has been made to ensure disruption to nearby residents is kept to a minimum, but there will inevitably be some noise and disruption generated by these works and for that we apologise in advance.

Our road workers frequently work in situations which are both unpleasant and dangerous and we would kindly ask that you treat them with the respect you would wish to be treated with while they are working in your area. If you do have any issues with the work taking place, our road workers will always try to help you if they can.

The application process for children due to start school in September 2021 will begin on Monday 5 October 2020.

• Apply online at www.westsussex.gov.uk/admissions
• Applications can be made and will be considered as on time, between 5 October 2020 and 15 January 2021
• Special rules apply for house movers until 12 February 2021
• Further information for parents is available on our website now
• Staff are available to support on 03330 142 903

Applications made after the closing date cannot be considered until all on time applications have been processed. This may mean it is not possible to offer a child a place at a local school.

There have been many incidences of speeding in Bolney in recent months and one of the ways to help tackle this problem is using Community Speedwatch which is run with the support of the police. There is not currently a group operating in the village itself and there may be a benefit to the community by having one.

These groups are mostly resident led and so it needs to have a passionate person to run it as the co-ordinator, with the help of recruited volunteers.
More information on the scheme can be found via this link: https://www.communityspeedwatch.org/

If you would be interested in a becoming a co-ordinator to set up this group please contact the Parish Clerk, Debbie Thomas at clerk@bolney.com or 01444 230711.

Mid Sussex District council will shortly be making improvements following the public consultation held at the end of last year. Lots of people mentioned that they’d like a facility for bikes, scooters or skateboards. They said they currently use the MUGA but that is only possible until someone wants to use the area for ball games.

We have committed to providing a separate scooter / bike area

• To provide somewhere for children to ride their bikes, scooters and skateboards away from traffic.
• To free up the MUGA to be used for ball sports rather than wheeled sports.
• Surface to be suitable for use all year round.

Now we want to understand, exactly what people want.

Let us know if you’d prefer a large flat surfaced area specifically for wheeled sports or a simple pump track style facility by completing the survey that can be found on the website via this link;

https://www.midsussex.gov.uk/leisure-sport/playgrounds/

Deadline for responses 30th October 2020

Improvements to the play area will include:

• Improve the surfacing so trip hazards are removed, and all people can move freely around the space.
• Provide a modern climbing unit which offers similar play experiences as the existing unit ie. Opportunity for role play, big slide; but with climbing challenge to cater for older children.
• Separate equipment for toddlers.
• Tree planting for summer shade.

A plan showing the new play equipment for Bolney can be seen here (425kB PDF) . The improved play area should be open by Spring 2021.

Mid Sussex District Council has reviewed the provision of the Mobile Waste Collections. This review, coupled with the guidance from Government on social distancing as the coronavirus pandemic continues, has led to the recommendation that they cease provision of Mobile Civic Amenity Sites with immediate effect. This recommendation was accepted by the elected members. 

The decision to cease provision of this service is supported by the following information:

• Mobile Civic Amenity collections do not allow for waste to be kept separate and recycled or reused; therefore, not meeting the objectives of the waste hierarchy which was incorporated into UK law via the Waste Regulations (England and Wales) 2012. 

• The waste collected at the Mobile Civic Amenity Site can be removed from households using other services; including our bulky waste service and our garden waste collection service. 

• There are two Household Waste Recycling Sites (HWRS) within Mid Sussex, where residents can also dispose of any additional waste items. Enforcing social distancing measures at temporary sites is difficult and we need to ensure the services we provide can be controlled to support Government guidance. This is not possible with the Mobile Civic Amenity Sites. 

The Parish Council is very disappointed with this news having funded the cost of this ourselves and seen the benefit it has been to local residents but unfortunately the decision has been made and our collection due on 4th October will not now be going ahead.

The links below provide more information on the additional services available for residents to dispose of their waste:

Bulky waste service: https://www.midsussex.gov.uk/waste-recycling/bulky-electrical-household-waste/

Garden waste service: https://www.midsussex.gov.uk/waste-recycling/garden-waste/

Household Waste Recycling Sites: https://www.midsussex.gov.uk/waste-recycling/household-waste-recycling-sites/