Going for a spin

 

Last week Donna chaired her first meeting of CDC’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee which included debates on social prescribing, Coastal Partners and the Committee’s upcoming work programme (which is key because this is the only CDC committee with Executive powers!) Don’t forget CDC now stream their meetings, which you can watch live here: it's Planning next week, and Corporate Governance & Audit plus Full Council the week after. Donna had the AGM of the Harbour Conservancy this week as well, which she attended as an appointee from West Sussex. She always enjoys these meetings as the environmental emphasis is very relevant to us on the Peninsula.

Nearer to home, parishes are meeting, including Selsey Town Council’s Assets & Amenities Committee (chaired by Ian and Mick) on Wednesday and Personnel the week after. 

Last Wednesday, I met with Adrian Moss, the new Leader of CDC, while last weekend Donna welcomed Tracie Bangert, the Cabinet Member for Communities, to Selsey. Amongst other things, she showed her the seal sculptures, including the recently installed sixth one in East Beach car park (thanks to a project led by Selsey Town Council, with funding from CDC.) It was proposed as a way to create better navigation between East Beach and the town centre in a way that is visually distinctive. Average walking and cycling times between points along the routes are displayed on the sculpture, allowing people to gauge how long their journeys will take, as well as providing a creative point of reference for directions. The artistic representation of the seal also honours Selsey’s cultural heritage. 

We mentioned last week that WSCC adopted its Chichester City Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) in 2021, which includes an evidenced network of walking and cycling schemes to be brought forward by WSCC Highways. WSCC has prioritised Route K of our LCWIP, which is for the section of highway from the eastern most extent of Westgate in Chichester to the A27 underpass on Fishbourne Road East, as the highest priority for delivery. As such, they have worked up some early concepts as to what this might look like and are carrying out a comsultation until 7 August.

In welcome news, twelve Independent Retailers Grant applications have been approved to be allocated funding by CDC. The total the grant amount allocated is £35,166. Two of these businesses are based in Selsey, six in Chichester, one in East Wittering, one in Midhurst and two in Petworth. Three businesses have completed their projects and were awarded £6,012 from this fund and their own investment in their projects totals £2,124.

If you go to the Chichester Summer Street Party on Sunday, please keep an eye out for some of the #LovefromSelsey Artisans who are exhibiting at the event! This is a great opportunity for them to showcase their products to a district wide audience and to signpost visitors to the pop up shop in Selsey! Selsey Town Council negotiated with CDC for them to have the stands at a greatly discounted rate. The event is full of family-friendly activities and entertainment, an array of local food vendors, and competitions and giveaways from city centre businesses, and will be held in conjunction with the Cross Market & More.  It is run in collaboration with Chichester BID.  

You may recall we fought proposals to split the Peninsula across two Parliamentary constituencies. Donna spoke at the public consultation, on behalf of CDC and STC, and attended with Andrew Brown, STC's Chair who rather dramatically tore a map of the peninsula in two!  We are pleased their final recommendations reflect our concerns.

A couple of quick updates: Ofwat are worried about Southern Water's £5.2 billion debt and Aspartame sweetener commonly used in Diet Coke and other products is to be listed as a cancer risk..

You may be interested to learn that water cremations are going to be offered in the UK to reduce the funeral sector's environmental impact. Meanwhile, you may have missed the revelation that human society is shifting the tilt of the Earth  because we have  pumped so much groundwater the planet is beginning to wobble.

CDC has reinstated face-to-face workshops for residents who are being supported by Choose Work - their inhouse employability programme - supporting them to take their next steps towards work or training. Ten clients attended the first session, with ages ranging from 30 to 74. In the last year, Choose Work engaged with 97 new clients, with a total of 602 client interventions – which included CV writing, mock interviews, job application support, further training, and emotional support. In the year, 31 clients found paid work and 22 clients are engaged in work experience. However, Choose Work ethos is not all about supporting clients who are ready for work – they engage with clients who may need time and space to build their confidence before finding paid work. 

Post Offices provide a valuable service to rural areas like ours. Selsey is fortunate to have two, while East Wittering and Bracklesham have one each. You may recall Sub-postmasters were wrongly probed for ‘fraud’ based on faulty information from the Horizon computer system. Eastern Eye have been continuing to follow this and recently reported that the Post Office is ready to revisit their compensation scheme if it is found unfair

Something else many of us value is our local Chippie. You can vote for yours here!

Potholes are a subject many of us feel strongly about - I recently had to get my tracking reset after encountering a particularly savage one coming over the Oving crossroads. WSCC is investing a further £4.5 million into maintaining the county’s highways and roads following a sharp increase in the number of safety defects and issues being reported by residents. This gives a total boost of £14.5 million to funding for highways operations when you include a £7 million increase in funds for road maintenance from the Council’s capital budget, and £3 million allocated to the county by central government for pothole repairs. 

Extreme fluctuations in the weather cause repeated expansion and contraction of the road surfaces, and more potholes! WSCC receives nearly 16,000 reports about potholes a year, so they are trying to be more proactive with our approximately 4,000km of road network. Report potholes here

Harassment is a complex and multifaceted issue, and there have been several studies conducted in the UK to better understand its prevalence and impact. There are many different types of harassment, which are detailed further in this article. To give you just one example, according to a 2018 survey by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), 52% of women have experienced some form of sexual harassment at work, ranging from unwanted touching to sexual assault. 80% of these women did not report it to their employer.

I suspect, like me, you try to avoid TV adverts. This week we watched a programme live, something we have not done for longer than I can remember. An advert struck a chord, from the Dove Self-Esteem Project, which is working to counter low body esteem in young people. 

Finally: - 

• CDC’s Housing Health & Safety

• Warmer Homes UK

• Suicide in Sussex

• Domestic Abuse

• Supporting You

• CDC Meetings

• WSCC

As always, from the whole Team, stay safe.

Tim