Bracklesham Bay

Held on Thursday 24th April at East Wittering Village Hall, Church Road, East Wittering

- Please note this document is a summary of the meeting and not a version of the official minutes. Official minutes should be available from the Parish Council’s offices or possibly on their new website http://www.ewbpc.org.uk/

The Parish Meeting was led by the Parish Council Chairman, Mr Joseph O’Sullivan. The Chief Executive Officer, Joyce Griffith and her new Assistant, Lucy Wright and several other Parish Councillors were there, as well as a District Councillor and a Police Officer, PC Trevor Burton, who is a Neighbourhood Specialist Constable. Also present was our Community Warden, Declan Moody. The meeting was well attended by local residents.

Three reports were given at the meeting as follows:

1.       Parish Council Report

2.       Parish Planning Committee Report

3.       Youth Centre Report

After the above reports, PC Burton gave a talk and this was followed by a short production from the local junior amateur dramatic group, ‘It’s Drama Time!’

Parish Council Report:

Bracklesham Park

This exciting new development opened in July 2007 where already they have held some successful sporting events including a visit from a well known football team for a training session for local youngsters. A further stage to the development of Bracklesham Park, we understand, would be the construction of a Community Centre, which is still undergoing the planning process. This centre would include recreational facilities, including some for children. There is a Bracklesham Community Centre Association and we must apologise that we did not manage to speak to the Association’s representative at the Parish Meeting. But we understand that some decisions about this exciting new Centre are to be taken in May 2008, so watch this space for further news! Click on the following link Community Centre Association’s latest Business Plan to see the plan.

Parish Council Property

Did you know that your local Parish Council owns some properties in the area? They are as follows: (1) Downsview Open Space and the playground beside it - a lovely open area and a nice playground that we have made use of frequently. It is located just off Stocks Lane, take the turning opposite the speed camera. (2) Booker Green at the end of Shore Road – the Council reported that the many stones here are a problem. (3) The Council owns 59 streetlights and also the Christmas lights – money raised by charitable events pays for the Christmas lights and we understand there is to be a horse racing fundraising event on 21 June, more details to follow. There will probably be another Christmas best shop window competition again this year.

Community Warden

The Chairman welcomed and introduced our Community Warden Declan Moody (contact phone number 07825681547. There is also a website www.brackleshamwardens.org.uk where you can sign up to a newsletter and there is other information on wardens in other areas). The Chairman explained that Mr Moody has no enforcement role and he is restricted to the East Wittering and Bracklesham parish. Part of his role is to check out parish property and any other items that might be subject to vandalism. However he is also described as ‘the eyes and ears of the parish’ and we can give an example of this when we ourselves had reason to contact Mr Moody because we found a used syringe near our property! Mr Moody came round very soon and removed the syringe and reassured us that the matter would be dealt with. It was great to have someone with responsibility to talk to about such a problem. We really hope that the District Council in their wisdom choose to continue the funding of Mr Moody’s position next year; it is a vital service that Community Wardens provide.

Finally, the Chairman also reported that the Parish Council is responsible for some parking in the parish, although we are not sure yet where this parking is. The Parish Council also looks at sea defences on behalf of the parish, however actual responsibility for sea defences lies with the Environment Agency.

Parish Planning Report:

Mr Geoff Breeze from the Parish Planning Committee reported that there ave been 16 planning meetings in the year and he described the planning process at this level. Basically if you have any objections to a development, you should write to the District Council Planning Officer.  He reported that in the parish, there are now no further large developments possible because there are no further areas of land available for such developments. This could change of course in the future if an area of land became available. But anyway, as a consequence, the Parish Planning Committee is now concerned about the high number of retrospective planning permissions being sought. Some residents raised concerns over particular developments. The District Councillor Mr Clementson explained the planning process and tried to reassure residents that enforcement orders to pull down any developments that flout the law will take place.

Youth Centre Report:

Mr Stuart Becker gave this report. There is now a full time worker and some part time workers at the Youth Centre in Church Road, East Wittering (telephone: 01243 672446). There is a Youth Club Committee which is trying to encourage more girls to join the centre and even a girls’ area has been developed in the centre. The centre is a “lively, active, thriving club and a good place to be!” said Mr Becker. It is open Tuesday and Thursday evenings and they are hoping to open more at other times but of course this is dependent on staff and funding.

Questions from the floor were then taken:-

Traffic Speeding - One resident was very concerned over the speed of traffic along Northern Crescent in East Wittering. She would like to see another pedestrian crossing put in as she felt the speed limit of 30 mph was not kept to by some traffic. The Chairman said that the Parish Council have in the past tried to get a 20 mph limit throughout the village but they were told that the average speed of the traffic must already be 20 mph before a speed limit of 20 mph would be set. A resident from East Bracklesham Drive, which is a private road, said they have erected 20 mph signs along the road but although this has reduced the speed of some traffic to about 30mph, there are still some people driving faster than that. So he felt that such signs have limited effect. Another resident said he had been informed by the District Council that ‘sleeping policemen’ have to be paid for privately by residents, at a cost of £3000 each! PC Burton then said that he w ould speak to individuals about their concerns. But he also said that his Inspector had just purchased two new speed guns and, having heard residents’ concerns now, PC Burton said he would be getting hold of one of these guns to catch and prosecute the perpetrators! Unfortunately he has no jurisdiction over private roads.

Local Skip – There had been a report in the Chichester Observer that local skips may be going to disappear due to cost cutting by the District Council. There is currently a local skip in the public car park behind Shore Road in East Wittering on Thursdays. The Chairman said the Parish Council knew no more than anyone else about this. Then the District Councillor said that he is on the Waste and Recycling Committee of the District Council and that the District Council is opposed to any change on local skips so he felt it very unlikely that these skips would be stopped. However he added that of course he could not guarantee this.

Pot Holes – a resident from West Bracklesham Drive complained of pot holes in other nearby roads. One councillor responded that if you ring the County Council Highways Department they will come out to fix these pot holes very quickly. Of course, private roads will not be attended to by the Council. Alternatively, you can tell the Parish Council, because they need residents to inform them of such matters since Parish Councillors cannot always observe everything happening in the parish – ring Joyce Griffith at the office.

Roadworks on the corner of Bracklesham Lane/Stocks Lane – One resident asked what is happening with this, as there is a 4-way traffic light system in place at the moment. An answer came from the floor that services are being put in for the new housing development in the old pony field there, so hopefully at some point soon these traffic lights will disappear! – 6 May 2008: these traffic lights have now gone.

Neighbourhood Specialist Constable PC Trevor Burton:

PC Burton started by explaining his background – he joined the police in November 2003 and was an Emergency Officer (dealing with 999 calls) for 44 months before deciding the wanted to move into Neighbourhood Policing, so that he could get more involved with the community. He covers the following areas: Earnley, Bracklesham, East and West Witterings, Birdham and Itchenor.

He explained that as a Neighbourhood Specialist Constable his role is not for when you need an immediate police presence (you should dial 999 in that case), although obviously if he is present at the scene of a crime he will assist. His is a neighbourhood role. For example, he oversees Neighbourhood Watch – so contact him if you want to help with that. He can always put you in touch with someone else if he cannot help in a given situation.

He also talked about the new Community Panels, which will soon come into existence and will involve members of the public who will meet every 10-12 weeks to discuss local issues. The most important 3 issues will then be decided at each meeting and these issues will then be dealt by the council and the police.

PC Burton’s Inspector has just purchased 2 new hand held speed guns which PC Burton will be using to catch and prosecute local offenders. There is an initiative called Operation Crackdown to reduce speeding offences. The public can take a note of any vehicle number plate that they feel is speeding and inform the police at Operation Crackdown of the details. If the police continue to receive that vehicle’s details, then they will investigate and they have the power to seize vehicles if proven to be necessary.

PC Burton would also deal with any drugs related issues, so please contact him if you have any concerns or queries. He has in fact been involved in one drug raid locally since that start of 2008.

In his neighbourhood role, PC Burton works with the Police Community Support Officers and the Community Warden. The 2 current local PCSOs are going to be separated, in order to provide more cover for the local area.

Finally PC Burton explained that if you see an incident happening and are going to report it whilst you see it, then call 999. If however you report an incident after it has happened, then dial the non-emergency number 0845 60 70 999.

To contact PC Burton, dial 0845 60 70 999 extension 35419. To email PC Burton,  click on the following link: email PC Burton which will take you to PC Burton’s page  on the Sussex Police website, where you will find a ‘Send me an email’ button in his ‘My Contact Details’ box.

It’s Drama Time!

Finally, the meeting ended with a lovely performance by the local junior amateur dramatic group, “It’s Drama Time!” who gave us their rendition of 3 songs from The Sound of Music. The group meets every Wednesday at the village hall in Church Road, East Wittering (next to the church). At the end of the summer term, the group will be performing Cinderella and another play in the village hall. At present, we do not have a contact number for the group but shall update this website as soon as we have one, for those who are interested.