December 19, 2025

 

Welcome to this week’s blog - as always, thanks for having a read. 

Over the festive fortnight: - 

• Chichester District Council’s emergency number is 01243 785339

• West Sussex County Council’s emergency number is 01243 777100. 

As we pointed out last week, in the UK we create an extra 3 million tonnes of waste and recycling during the festive season, from wrapping paper and cards to food and packaging: 

• Write a list of meaningful gifts before you shop.

• Think about the gifts you give – give experiences, shop second hand or opt for secret Santa.

• Recycle everything you can - Christmas cards, wrapping paper (that passes the scrunch test), paper bags, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles (plastic milk bottle lids are collected by Selsey Town Council to donate to a charity), plastic pots, tubs (including sweet/chocolate tubs), trays (including black plastic), toothpaste tubes, tins, cans, foil, and even Pringles tubes.

Food waste increases significantly over the festive period. The most wasted Christmas foods in the UK are potatoes (710,000 tonnes), poultry (100,000 tonnes), carrots (96,000 tonnes), and enough gravy to accompany Christmas dinner for the whole country! When food is wasted, all the resources (water, energy, etc.) used to produce it are wasted too:

• Buy loose fruit and veg - Research shows that if all apples, bananas and potatoes were sold loose, 8.2 million shopping baskets' worth of food waste could be prevented every year because people buy only what they need.

• Love your leftovers – planning ahead for how you'll use them up can help reduce food waste and save money. Will it be turkey sandwiches on Boxing Day or a turkey curry next week? Pick up any extra ingredients you’ll need to make those meals happen.

• Freeze with ease and keep food fresher for longer.

On Monday I went without Donna to Chichester District Council’s Budget Review Group because she is still recovering from our recent illness. On Wednesday we were joined by the team for Selsey Town Council’s Full Council meeting after Donna had WSCC’s Appeals Panel and I had an update on Local Government Reorganisation from CDC’s CEO, Diane Shepherd. The main business was next year's budget. Having built up Selsey Town Council’s reserves so we have something to draw upon now, when things like Selsey’s Christmas lights and play equipment need replacing, we hope residents will be pleased with what we have agreed in terms of STC’s part of next year’s council tax. We will share this with you once it has been officially announced.

On Wednesday, we also approved another community grant which will enable the group concerned to deliver a project, and we hope, attract significantly more funding to help them support carers, children, young people and adults with SEND, complex needs and dementia. It was also nice this week to receive a ‘Thank You’ from the Selsey Foodbank for a recent grant which has paid for 96 meals.

You can watch meetings live: CDC and WSCC.

Finally:  -

• Selsey Sea Defences

• Report potholes

• Supporting You

• WSCC Meetings

• CDC Meetings

• STC Meetings

• 
  

As always, from the whole Team, stay safe.

Tim