News
March 2024
19 March 2024
Planning
WSCC Highways
Communication from Michele Hulme Head of Local Highway Operations – Highways, Transport & Planning Directorate
Dear Parish & Town Councils,
As you will be aware, we have experienced unprecedented levels of rain and named storm events over this autumn/winter. To put this in context, over the past 5 months (October- Feb) we have had more rain than we would normally have in a year. February saw the highest level of rain since records began and in the first week of this month, we have already experienced a month’s worth of rain.
Unfortunately, with these conditions’ potholes can form as water seeps under the road surface and saturates the substrate, leading to a hydraulic effect as vehicles pass over. This is particularly the case where we have ‘evolved roads’ which don’t have formal construction layers or where we have existing damage to road surfaces. It is therefore unsurprising that we are now seeing a large number of issues on the network, and we are experiencing very high numbers of customer reports.
I wanted to assure you we are doing all we can to manage the volume of enquiries though extended working/over-time.
Our contractor’s safety repair gangs are working twilight shifts and Saturdays to manage the increased number of safety jobs. We have also increased the number of gangs and will continue to add to this resource but as I am sure you will appreciate, sourcing additional gangs at this time is very difficult and is a national issue.
In addition, we have find & fix gangs who are predominately operating in urban areas and, when weather permits, we continue to run a jet patcher in more rural areas (this resource will increase again from next month).
We continue with the ‘Right Time Approach’ we adopted last spring where the default is for potholes to be “Sides Sawn and Sealed”. Whilst these repairs take longer, we won’t carry out temporary repairs unless an emergency or where a large-scale patching/resurfacing is imminent.
In terms of drainage, in our normal cleansing programme we have cleansed 90,000 gullies this year. In addition, we have 4 gully suckers operating across the network carrying reactive work to alleviate flooding issues. They have tackled over 600 jobs on our highest priority sites.
To enable the Highway Teams to effectively deal with the volume of safety issues being reported, we will pause non-statutory activities for an initial period of 4 weeks, which we start from today and we will review on the 15/04/2024 .
Our response times to customers on general enquiries from 10-20 days. Please continue to report issues via our website. Of course, if you have urgent issues then please call 01243 642105. Between 8.00am and 6pm, Monday – Friday, our Customer Service Centre will deal with the immediate response or ensure the matter is escalated to a member of the highways team. Calls made out of hours are taken by our contractor’s contact centre.
A summary of the temporary measures are detailed below. We appreciate your support at this very busy and challenging time.
Temporary measures ( from 18th March 2024 to 15/04/2024)
- Extend Service Level Agreement for customer responses – up to 20 days.
- Pause non-essential licensing activities (e.g., Licences such as Vehicle Crossovers, Planting Licences and Access Protection Line requests).
- Pause responses to general enquiries, including Community Highway Schemes, Community Traffic Regulation Orders, Third Party Claims
- We will add pop ups to the webpages to advise members of the public of paused activities.
Recycling Centres extend opening hours from 1 April 24
Recycling Centres across West Sussex will switch to extended spring/summer opening hours from 1 April 2024, giving residents more opportunity to recycle their household waste.
Residents need to make an appointment before visiting all West Sussex Recycling Centres. Slots are easy to book and can be made up to 14 days in advance or on the same day where available.
The spring/summer opening hours will remain in place until 30 September 2024 and will not be affected by bank holidays, including Easter Monday which falls on 1 April.
Cllr Deborah Urquhart, West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: “Ensuring our residents can recycle as much as possible in a cost effective way is an important element of our Council Plan. As we approach springtime and warmer weather our Recycling Centres are usually at their busiest. To help accommodate this, we are providing longer opening hours to give residents more opportunity to visit the sites.
“An added benefit of our ‘Book to Recycle’ system means residents will be able to easily see when their local site is open when making an appointment.”
From 1 April 2024, Recycling Centres will be open as follows:
- Billingshurst open 9am to 6pm every day except Thursday and Friday.
- Bognor Regis open 9am to 6pm every day except Thursday and Friday.
- Burgess Hill open 9am to 6pm every day.
- Chichester open 9am to 6pm every day.
- Crawley open 9am to 6pm every day.
- East Grinstead open 9am to 6pm every day except Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Horsham open 9am to 6pm every day except Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Littlehampton open 9am to 6pm every day except Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Midhurst open 9am to 6pm every day except Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Shoreham-by-Sea open 9am to 6pm every day except Monday and Tuesday.
- Worthing open 9am to 6pm every day.
For a handy A-Z guide on what can and can’t be recycled go to: www.westsussex.gov.uk/recycling
Slots for all sites can be booked online by visiting: www.westsussex.gov.uk/BookToRecycle or over the phone by calling 01243 642106.
Event information from MSDC
- Training with Sussex Prisoners’’ Families on 24th April
Join us 24th April for this eye-opening look at the issues facing prisoners and their families.
Hidden Sentence Training increases awareness of issues facing prisoners’ families and identifies ways to support them.
The course will explore the ways in which families are affected by imprisonment
Understand the impact of imprisonment on prisoners’ families
Improve your understanding of the prison system
Understand the support needs of prisoners’ families
Understand the needs and wishes of prisoners’ families
Understand how to improve the coordination of services to provide more effective support for those affected by the imprisonment of a family member
Understand how to improve your own practice in supporting prisoners’ families
BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hidden-sentence-training-tickets-860716384877?aff=oddtdtcreator
* We can also offer shorter, workshop-style events and online training.
Pippa O’Connor Marketing and Communications Officer Sussex Prisoners’ Families
- Easter Playdates – April 2024
NALC News
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Gatcom
Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner News
Sussex Police and Crime Panel agenda posted
The agenda for the meeting of the Sussex Police and Crime Panel to be held on 22 March 2024 has been published and is available on our website. The meeting will be available to watch live via the Internet at this address: https://eastsussex.public-i.tv/core/portal/home. |
12 March 2024
Planning
Network Rail Southern Region Newsletter
MSDC Town & Parish Meeting
NALC News
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NALC EVENTS
If any Councillors or Staff wish to attend any of these events, please do go through Kirstie to book so that the clerk can check on training budgets. Thank you.
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CAGNE – Gatwick Airport New Runway Update
CAGNE Town and Parish Council forum
Gatcom News
Citizens Advice – Monthly Bulletin
Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner
Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner News
NHS Sussex Survey
We are in the final week of hearing from local people about their confidence and satisfaction in the NHS and where we can improve. As well as going out to local communities, we have designed a survey to ensure that you can have your say.
Click on the following link: Let’s Talk About Your Experiences of Health and Care in Sussex 2024 | Sussex Health and Care Your Say (engagementhq.com)
The survey will take 20-25 minutes to complete, and the closing date will be Sunday 10th March. You can also find out more about how previous feedback has led to change.
We want you to feel confident sharing honest and authentic feedback so our survey will be completely anonymous. It is available in easy read and alternative languages by contacting sxicb.involvement@nhs.net
Thank you in advance for your time in supporting your local NHS.
West Sussex County Council seeks help from local residents to combat flooding
West Sussex County Council is encouraging all householders and landowners, particularly those in more rural areas, to check if they have a responsibility to keep local watercourses free flowing and to help prevent vulnerable areas of the county from flooding.
If a watercourse, ditch, stream, river or culvert runs adjacent to, through or under your land or property (even if it does not fall within your property boundary as set out by your Title Deeds) then you are likely to be what is known as a “riparian owner”. In short, you are responsible for the maintenance of the watercourse to ensure that water is able to flow freely into and along it, so that it doesn’t pose a flood risk. The legal responsibilities of a riparian owner are to:
You are more likely to have a responsibility if you live in a rural area due to there not being as widespread a drainage system as in urban areas, particularly alongside roads. Rural roads are especially affected when groundwater levels are high and surface water runs off neighbouring land and property onto them. It is essential that roadside ditches in these areas are kept clear for the water to flow into before it reaches the road and causes surface flooding or even damages the road surface. Cllr Joy Dennis, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport at West Sussex County Council, said: “Over the last five months we have seen a year’s worth of rainfall. You will have noticed that this has resulted in sustained high levels of groundwater, increased debris in the drainage systems causing blockages, and large amounts of surface water runoff, causing flooding across the county. “Our Highways team has been busy responding to numerous incidents of flooding. We continue to manage over 140,000 gullies and routinely clear other drainage assets, including our ditches. However, whilst we are working as hard as we can to keep the water network free flowing to reduce flooding, we do not have responsibility for all of the drains and watercourses within West Sussex. For example, we’re only responsible for around 10% of the county’s ditches. “Residents can play such an important role in combatting flooding by maintaining the drainage assets they’re responsible for, but we’re not expecting them to spend a lot of time or money; simply spending half an hour each month clearing debris and removing any blockages to allow water to flow freely is usually more than sufficient and will really make a difference. “Well maintained watercourses can significantly benefit our communities by not only reducing flood risk but by also creating great habitats for our wildlife.” To further help reduce flooding incidents across the network, we plan to deliver £1.9m of drainage works this year. We have also doubled our number of jetting vehicles in response to extreme weather and have four vehicles available to attend affected sites to clear flooding or investigate issues. Our drainage gangs continue to work proactively to clear gullies and a ditch clearance programme is operating at sites identified as having an impact on the highway. We also have approximately £500,000 of small-scale drainage schemes on schedule to be delivered by the end of this month. To find out more about the responsibilities of a riparian owner and our flood prevention works take a look at our FAQ document: Riparian Ownership: Frequently Asked Questions . |
Road Closure- Carriageway Patching – A264 Holtye Road, East Grinstead – 21 March 2024
Please be advised that A264 Holtye Road, East Grinstead is due to be closed for Carriageway patching works from 21/03/2024 to 23/03/2024 between 20:00 – 06:00.
Please note that these works are weather dependant and may be cancelled at short notice, but we will endeavour to inform you should there be significant changes to the programme. This road closure is covered by the 14.1 order made on 11th January 2022.
Road Name | Location | Date (from and to) | Time of works |
A264 Holtye Road |
East Grinstead |
21/03/2024 – 23/03/2024
|
20:00 – 06:00 |
Further information can also be found via one.network