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  Last week we recalled the blackouts of the 1970s because of their possible return this winter, and the steps we may have to take to avoid them like cooking after 8pm, delaying clothes washes and turning the lights off. Sadly there have been further warnings suggesting each one could last longer than first thought . Anything we can do to help reduce our country’s energy consumption is therefore worth considering. Water is a good example: reducing usage saves the energy needed to pump it to our homes. The Water's Worth Saving website has some useful tips.  Increasing numbers of families are looking to save energy because they continue to have to choose between heating or eating; this article about the growing number of children going hungry in schools, and doing things like eating rubbers, pretending to eat out of an empty lunch box or hiding to avoid being seen without anything to eat is deeply moving. Food prices in the UK have soared by a record 10.6% during September, up ...

We begin, like you, in this period of national mourning, with our continuing thoughts and best wishes for his Majesty the King and his family, and again expressing our gratitude for the service of his late Mother, Queen Elizabeth II.  We trust you will understand why it has been a fortnight since our last post: councils postponed what they could out of respect, particularly public meetings, but the less visible case work has obviously continued. Donna and I also went to the County Accession Proclamation before racing back to Selsey's,     Do you remember the blackouts of the 1970s? Did you always keep a supply of candles and matches ready? Those days may return because increasingly there is talk of blackouts this winter, and the steps we may have to take to avoid them like cooking after 8pm, delaying clothes washes and turning the lights off. "How can we save more money?" is increasingly becoming a growing concern for many people this winter, despite the Government’s 2-y...

  Donna and I wish to start this week by lamenting the early passing of Kevin Hughes who was elected to CDC like us in 2019, but whose health necessitated his stepping down last year, although he stayed as a councillor on Chichester City. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. Kevin was a tireless campaigner and advocate for his residents - he will be greatly missed.  Last week we related our experience of the Shoreham Airshow. Details of the inquest have been published by West Sussex Coroner Penelope Schofield. The full inquest will run over three weeks and is planned to start on Wednesday 30 November and finish on Monday 19 December. Additional days may be added at a later date if the inquest overruns. The dates were announced at the pre-inquest review (Thursday 1 September) held at County Hall North (Parkside), Horsham, which is also the location where the inquest will take place.  As regular readers will know, because we are Independent localists, we try to avo...

  It was the seventh anniversary of the last Shoreham Air Show on August 22. We were there and it had been a lovely day; I went to get a drink and left Donna and our daughter standing a couple of hundred yards away from the trees which stood alongside the A27. They watched a plane dip behind the trees, then saw a ball of fire and smoke rise high into the sky. For a few moments everyone just seemed to assume that it was some sort of pyrotechnic...then the entire crowd went silent, and everyone realised what they'd just witnessed. My stepson and I briefly panicked, because from where we were it looked like the plane had crashed on our side of the A27. A little while later, watching a convoy of ambulances slowly cross the airport, the reality of what had happened really dawned on all of us; it was probably the most poignant thing we have ever seen.  Eleven people died. May they all rest in peace. September 1 marks the start of meteorological Autumn. The Met Office believes that i...