October 6th, 2023
Thank you once again for your kind messages following the loss of my father. The last week or so have been difficult - Donna and I even managed to forget our wedding anniversary. Sometimes a bit of quiet and perspective is in order so we went to Down House last weekend, which was Charles Darwin's family home. We've been meaning to visit for a long time but never managed to get around to it. The gardens acted as a sort of 'living laboratory' which inspired him to question how and why species evolve over time. My dad was a great gardener, and he'd managed to keep plants which had belonged to his parents, by taking cuttings over the years, so I'm sure he'd approve. We even tried a sort of fruit cake made with orange juice, from a recipe by Charles Darwin's wife.
On Wednesday it was CDC's Planning which considered an application I red-carded on grounds of public interest. Steve and I have been working closely since he has joined me in representing Selsey South at CDC since May; we unsuccessfully tried to stop this application for the reasons below(Steve kindly reading my comments as I was at work before making his own) - you can watch all CDC Meetings live here including Cabinet on Tuesday morning:
Good morning, apologies for not being with you, but I teach in Hersham, Walton-on-Thames, and it has not been possible for me to take time away today.
I red-carded this application because of the level of public interest in it. In addition to the objection of Selsey Town Council, the parish, I have been approached by residents.
The parish objection is quite clear in terms of material grounds: they object on the grounds that it is an over development in size and mass, and is incongruent with the surrounding properties. The finishes on the proposed elevations are out of keeping with those on neighbouring buildings.
I understand that Officers consider that the proposal is not extending the dwelling apart from the rear balcony, so it would not be overdevelopment. They feel that as the pavilion is within the garden space to the south-east it would not result in cramped overdevelopment of the amenity space. They also feel the materials are in keeping with the surrounding area.
However, the parish is ‘on the ground’ and have more local knowledge, particularly of the wider area this is situated in. This is important because the property is on the sea front and therefore, I feel, needs to be considered as a part of this wider area. Whilst the appeal to passers-by may not be a material planning objection, as a ward member I am acutely aware of how dependent Selsey’s economy is on Leisure and Tourism and how important it is to protect the existing coastline. It is not in keeping with the street scene as it stands.
I am also uncomfortable with the retrospective part of this application, again because of the importance, to Selsey, of its coastline. I understand, and have seen first-hand, the construction of higher fencing which is incongruent with the street scene because neighbouring houses along the beach have fences or walls between them that step down in height towards the sea. They start at 1.8m, not the 2m being constructed on this property, then step down to around 80cm by the sea. This allows them to have a wide sea vista but also allows passers-by using the beach and coastal path to feel less screened off.
In closing, I recognise we all have a right to privacy, but we also have a responsibility to the community we choose to live within. This must surely include being mindful of our neighbours, the preservation of the wider whole and not intentionally doing something that could, to however small an extent, negatively impact its economic health. I do not feel this is the right spot for greater seclusion.
Thank you to Cllr Boulcott and Democratic Services for ensuring my comments have been heard and thank you Members for listening to them.
Later that afternoon, Donna had a casework meeting at WSCC with a resident, so I collected her as I came home. That evening, there was another Full Selsey Town Council meeting to conclude the Business Plan, consider a couple of grant applications, and debate a Notice of Motion submitted by Donna and me.
There is a new Covid variant of concern, Priola, because it is more transmissible than Omicron. On the subject of Covid, Ali did a shift as a marshal at the Vaccination session in Selsey's GP Surgery car park last Saturday.
Staying medical, I have had a partial response to the question I asked at Full CDC last week about the proportion of Category 1 999 calls locally answered by a fully qualified paramedic. I felt I should raise this issue after reading in The Guardian that in some parts of England up to a third of such calls are not answered by one. Thus far, I can tell you that in July around 88% of Category 1 calls in West Sussex were responded to within 15 minutes. June was only 84% while April & May were nudging 90%.
Next week amongst other things, Donna has CDC’s Grants & Concessions Panel. Advance warning that the Sloe Fair, one of the earliest recorded fairs in Chichester, is this month. The Sloe Fair was granted by King Henry I to Ralph de Luffa, Bishop of Chichester and is believed to be named after the Sloe tree which grew in fields by Northgate on the original site. Northgate Car Park will close at 6pm on Wednesday 18 October 2023 and reopen at 12.00pm Saturday 21 October 2023. During this time no vehicles will be able to use the car park.
This month is Black History Month (which is focussing this year on paying homage to black women whose contributions were ignored.) Annie Easley always comes to my mind. She helped get the first man on the moon but was made to work hidden away in a basement because of her ethnicity.
Stonepillow’s Big Sleep Out 2023 is on Saturday October 14. The next day is CDC”s Cross Market and More which includes a range of artisans including the Love From Selsey group. This month is also Stoptober: research shows if you stop smoking for 28 days then you're five times more likely to successfully stop smoking for good. WSCC’s Public Health team is urging smokers to seek free support from participating GP practices, pharmacies or via the West Sussex Wellbeing programme.
Barnardo’s quite rightly points out that children need a good night’s sleep. Their latest research shows families in crisis are having to prioritise essentials such as food, heating and electricity over replacing mouldy bedding or fixing broken beds. It has been a year since they published their first report on the impact of th cost of living crisis and sadly it seems it is exacerbating child poverty, particularly bed poverty which is not only seen in broken beds and mouldy bedding but also in sharing beds and rooms, and sleeping on the floor. I never cease to be amazed that what might be thought of as Victorian conditions are found in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
Our local Citizens Advice service is presently surveying to better understand what the impact of the cost of living crisis is having in our area so please click here and give them your feedback.
Some things that might help in a small way: first of all this is the “Bus it!” website where you can keep up with all the latest news, offers and improvements to our County’s bus services. Secondly there are some less obvious appliances you might have in your home that can use a lot of electricity so you should avoid leaving them on standby - as you can read here. One of them is a Sky satellite box. We had Sky until recently when we realised that we were no longer watching Sky’s content because we streamed things instead; however for over a year we did turn it off at night and it made a noticeable difference. One thing to watch, though, is that updates are pushed out overnight, but not every night, so you might want to leave it on occasionally. We now have a FreeSat box as a fallback which we only power up when needed. UK energy consumption is down, as you can read here, in no small part down to us all doing what we can to save at home.
The WSCC Digital Safety Team is currently looking for more volunteers from across our County to help educate and support residents to become safer online. You don’t have to be a digital expert, you just need a very basic understanding of the internet and a passion to help others work, learn, and connect with each other as safely as possible. Once trained by their Get Safe Online partners, you’ll join our existing group of ‘Digital Ambassadors’ and will be able to choose how you engage with your communities to get the online safety message out to residents. The deadline to register your interest is 12pm on Monday 9 October 2023.
Meanwhile, CDC’s successful Technology Doesn’t Byte course run by their Choose Work team has started again. It provides residents with the chance to improve their computer skills and help adjust to an increasingly digital world. The team helps residents across our District who are currently out of work, offering them individual support and advice to help their personal and professional development. They run mentoring and coaching through one-to-one sessions, as well as employability workshops and courses like this. By offering practical training, Technology Doesn’t Byte helps people progress in their lives and move into or towards employment by helping improve their IT skills. The Choose Work team are also able to link in with other teams and signpost to other avenues of support that are available.
A Chichester teen has done something quite clever and very useful if you ever travel by train, and it's free (I got it as soon as I read about the app!)
Finally: -
As always, from the whole Team, stay safe.
Tim
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