Simon Hicks

Liberal Democrats in Mid Sussex have consistently pushed for a green agenda, successfully proposing that Mid Sussex District Council sign up to the Nottingham Declaration in 2006 which committed the council to action on climate change.   However since then the Conservative run council has done little to put these principles into effect, although finally with the appointment of a new chief officer with responsibilities for sustainability there is a draft Climate Change Action Plan due to go to a Cabinet Meeting on 5^th November which can be viewed at:

The Council has failed to make use of planning regulations that could have ensured major new developments incorporate sustainable environmental conditions and to implement the Merton Rule pioneered by other local authorities which would have required developers to implement on site renewable energy generation such as the use of solar panels.

However the new draft proposals are to be supported, although the council needs to go further, ensuring all major new developments have environmental considerations built in from the beginning and to promote energy conservation measures throughout the district, as well as encouraging the development of micro-generation of electricity by incorporating these into the design of its own new building developments.

Energy conservation and action to help prevent climate change not only helps to safeguard our future, but can lead to real cost savings for local residents in terms of savings from energy efficiency, and by reducing fuel poverty. 

As a town council Burgess Hill also needs to take these principles on board, the council’s annual report for 2007/08 saw a welcome commitment from the Conservative controlled council to tackle climate change, although it has yet to agree to specific targets – Liberal Democrats will be pressing for action rather than just words.  See also my previous proposals on sustainability and an environmental purchasing policy, as well as information on a possible “greening” campaign for Burgess Hill.

It seems our local Conservative M.P.’s response to the news that complaints against the police in Sussex rose by 91% in 2007/08 was to say “I would hazard a guess that people are much ruder to the police” - as if that has anything to do with it!  Instead of kneejerk support, the police need constructive criticism when things go wrong. Over 20% of complaints against the police nationally relate to impoliteness, so rudeness works both ways.

Rather than hazarding a guess it would have been better if the number of complaints had been put in context – 1,073 complaints were made, out of hundreds of thousands of incidents. Of these, there were 415 complaints investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, and just 10% were upheld – slightly below the national average. Things go wrong in any organisation, complaints should be welcomed as they are a chance for organisations to recognise mistakes and put things right, even more important for an organisation that relies on public support like the police force.

See the full statistics at  http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/

Another casualty of the credit crunch seems to be the “temporary” closure of Rocky Lane for sixteen months whilst a new rail crossing and roundabout are constructed. West Sussex County Council do not have a start date for the Rocky Lane diversion as this is on hold due to the slow down in construction on site due to the present financial situation. This was first planned for 1^st September 2007, then this summer, and now its seems they don’t know when!

Household battery recycling has been negligible to date in the UK, just 4% of the non-lead acid batteries are recycled (as opposed to 90% of lead acid batteries used in vehicles). Batteries are tiny packages of toxic chemicals and metals which when disposed in refuse can end up polluting ground water or being incinerated and releasing toxins into the atmosphere.

In Burgess Hill batteries can be recycled at the Fairbridge Way Household Waste Recycling Site, and at Curry’s in Church Road. However for many people this will be impractical given the small number of batteries they use, unless they happen to be visiting these locations anyway.

Much more sensible would be if all retailers who sold batteries also collected used batteries to be recycled. A European Community Directive issued last week is finally forcing the Government to tackle this issue by requiring the companies who make and sell batteries responsible for collecting and recycling them. However this still requires Government action to regulate this process and provide an enforcement mechanism.

Some councils also provide a door to door collection service with other recyclables (but not Mid Sussex), and council’s have a role in developing and promoting more collection sites. In the meantime there are also free post addresses where some items can be returned to the manufacturer – including fire alarms which can contain radioactive material – for example see a website at http://www.battery.ukf.net/address.htm for a contact list.

Whitbread Group have submitted a new planning application for a 60 bedroom Premier Inn and Beefeater restaurant in Charles Avenue. Like all planning applications this can be viewed on Mid Sussex Planning Application Search Site - application reference BH/0244/FUL.   See previous entry on this subject dated 21st July.

Conservative controlled Mid Sussex Council is again in the news for the wrong reasons, paying £42,000 in extra responsibility payments to senior council staff, a decision made unilaterally in secret, but revealed by Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Brian Hall.  The reason is supposedly due to a reduction in other senior staff over the last four years which has according to a spokesman “saved £257,000″, however it appears this statement is incorrect as if the former is the result of the latter, then the net savings are only £215,000.  Why, if this extra responsibility was a result of the reduction in other senior staff, weren’t these payments introduced when the the changes were made - so a real calculation of the cost savings could have been made when the original decisions occurred? 

A talk by Terena Plowright last night at the Environmental Issues Forum outlined the work of the Greening Campaign to combat climate change and provide an impetus for people to make small changes in their life style that in the cumulative can have a much greater impact. Much of what she was talking about - the benefits of reducing our reliance on expensive fossil fuels, the need to reduce waste, the benefits of public transport, and working together as a community to solve local problems - are the sort of outcomes we would want irrespective of global warming as part of the drive to “sustainability” in its widest sense.

A key part of the first phase of the campaign is an eight point pledge card that people can display in their window to help establish an impetus to environmental awareness and a programme of community action to provide initiatives that people can relate to. Climate change can seem remote to peoples lives and part of the campaign should be to outline what it means for Burgess Hill, for example what climate change is forecast to mean for weather patterns in Sussex. Global warming as a problem can been seen as too abstract for individuals to make a difference but as one participant remarked “if you do nothing it will make no difference”.

A steering group was appointed to look at the initiative in more detail and bring back concrete proposals to the next meeting of the Environmental Issues Forum.

Signposts:

See www.greening-campaign.co.uk/About.html

UKCIP Tools www.ukcip.org.uk/ – for details of what global warming could mean for the climate in Sussex

See the on line poll (in the lefthand column) – would you support a “greening” campaign for Burgess Hill?

Many users of Wivelsfield Station will know the perils of walking along the pavement next to the traffic lights on Leylands Road, where a particularly tenacious pothole has led to many a drenching for passers by in wet weather.  Glad to see the pothole filled in again today by the Burgess Hill  Town Council Maintenance Team but  they only have the funding to do “cold macadam” repairs that provide just temporary respite in many cases as the bonding is not of sufficient strength to resist heavy road use (which requires more expensive “hot sealed” equipment).  I have been promised that a “permanent” repair will be effected next Tuesday by the County Council’s Highways contractor.

Local residents are invited by West Sussex County Council to a meeting on Thursday 16th October at the Sidney West Centre, Leylands Road.

From 2-4.30pm there is a chance to meet representatives of the local health, fire and police and to see the work of the new children and family centre. Also free fire safety checks will be available.

From 5.30-7.30pm the formal South Mid Sussex County Council Area Committee meeting takes place, this is a chance to question local county councillors and officers about council matters, particularly as highway and transport matters are on the agenda. At the last meeting the committee discussed the problems with road and pathway maintenance in Burgess Hill, since then it has been revealed that there is £17 million in outstanding footpath maintenance expenditure alone. Some of the problem is blamed on the nature of the road surface being tarmac underlaid by cement – but this has been known for decades so why has the council not done anything about it before – maybe we might get some answers at this meeting?

 For further information and an agenda

http://talkwithus.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/south-mid-sussex/meetings—agendas/

For road maintenance problems see also my posting on 8^th June at http://simonhicks.mycouncillor.org.uk/2008/06/08/pothole-peril/

The new doctors surgery at the Sidney West Centre – the Park View Surgery (244294) is now operational and has its official opening day on Saturday 20 September between 10.30 and 12 noon. The ceremony will be performed by a Caroline Atkins a leading member of the England women’s cricket team, who is also a Burgess Hill local. Opening hours are Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 1 pm, and 3 pm to 6 pm with extended opening hours Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6.30 pm

Glad to hear that Friends of Bedelands Farm Nature Reserve have gone town wide with the formation of Friends of the Green Circle Network with an involvement in all of Burgess Hill’s green spaces including Bedelands Farm,  Batchelors Farm and the many other patches of countryside located within the town.  They have a display in Burgess Hill Library for 10 days from the 27th August outlining their work.