Author: Andrew Taylor

CHEQUER Mead will be celebrating 15 years as one of the south east’s premier arts centres in November, and the whole town has been invited to join the fun.

There will be a week of special events to mark the theatre’s birthday, including backstage tours, competitions and demonstrations, and a celebratory show on 12 November.

For details see the posters below, or check with the box office on 01342 302000.

THE Farmers Market is to continue as a weekly event after crisis talks between the stall holders and the Town Council to save it.

The former market manager Tony Martin had announced he was pulling out after stall numbers fell dramatically over recent months. But the remaining traders were keen to continue, and with the help of the Town Council have now reached an agreement which will enable them to remain in the High Street for the foreseeable future.

Town Clerk Julie Holden called Mr Martin’s decision "a great shame" but said the Council was fully behind the remaining traders, and would hope to encourage more quality stalls in the coming months.

Chris Veasey, who runs the fish stand with his father, welcomed the decision to carry on.

"The amount of rent we were being charged put a lot of people off coming to East Grinstead, but we hope that the new arrangements will prove fruitful," he said.

FOOTLOOSE is one of these feel-good family musicals which arrive at their inevitably happy ending via a plot which combines foot-stomping dance routines with great songs, some of which have become much-loved stand-alone hits.

The eighties film version was instantly popular, and the subsequent stage adaptation earned four Tony Award nominations.

In choosing Footloose to showcase the considerable talents of its young performers, Act One Beginners did themselves – and their audiences – very proud indeed.

Tim Hewitt has a strong, warm voice and his essential decency as Ren McCormack, the troubled teen unjustly labelled a troublemaker in Dullsville Bomont, made him an immensely likeable lead.

Sophie Karaolis put in a sassy performance as the rebellious preacher’s daughter Ariel Moore, and her Holding Out for A Hero was one of the show’s many highlights.

The Hero in question’s six-pack was another, and Tom Rowlinson’s shirt-ripping reprise in the finale earned roars of appreciation for his finely-chiselled chest.

A great dancer, Sophie also brought a real sense of pathos to her role as a misunderstood daughter rebelling against a father too locked in his own misery to notice hers.

Ian McCheyne and Alexandra Constable both gave touchingly accomplished performances as her grieving parents, and the scene in which they realise how much they still love each other, was a real shiver-down-the-spine-moment. Sweet-faced Katherine Stevens was also well-cast as Ren’s mother, torn between defending her son and wanting to fit into her new life.

There were some lovely moments too from Ariel’s five-strong coterie of giggly girl chums, and Jose Napper as Rusty gave a scene-stealingly terrific rendition of Let’s Hear it for the Boy.

The boy in question was Matt Harris as Willard, always spoiling for a fight, but still too shy to ask a girl to dance, and his endearingly funny portrayal of teenage angst was a delight, as was his Mama Says.

The principals were wonderfully well-served by their ensemble, who were step-perfect in some very tricky dance routines, and some great lighting effects down by the rail road tracks.

And when the entire audience got to its feet for the rip-roaring finale, I think it is fair to say that everyone had had a very good time indeed.

IT may not have been quite as frantic as the search for Scarlett O’Hara, but finding the right actor to play opposite Snow White at Chequer Mead this Christmas has caused The Company of Friends some sleepless nights in recent weeks.

However their south-east wide search was richly rewarded when they spotted talented Nick Gibb at a recent drama workshop in Kenley which he has been attending for the past nine years.

Nick (who has yet to have a cast photo taken in costume) modestly declined to rate his good looks, but his mum says he is "very handsome" – which will please Abbie Lomax who will play his eponymous panto princess.

Nick, a former pupil of Caterham School, is in his second year at Reigate College. As well as drama, he loves sport and hopes to take a year out after college to qualify as a ski instructor in Quebec.

* SNOW White will be playing at Chequer Mead throughout the Christmas period. For full details of times and ticket prices, contact the theatre box office on 01342 302000.

TOWN Councillors will be on the streets of East Grinstead for the next three Saturdays in the first stages of developing an evidence-based Neighbourhood Plan. The Plan will provide the vital influence in the planning process to help ensure OUR VOICE and OUR NEEDS help shape the long-term future of OUR TOWN.

As part of the process of delivering the town’s Plan, the Council will start by surveying the views of residents with a questionnaire drawn up on a range of general topics including housing, highways, business development, health and leisure.

Town Councillors will be in and around the town from 10am to 12.30pm at Wickendens in the High Street, outside Sainsbury’s and in Queens Walk, to distribute questionnaires and invite views and comments from everyone who lives and works in the area.

The survey starts on Saturday 8 October and runs over the following two Saturdays, 15 and 22 October.

The questionnaires will also be available to download or complete on-line on the Neighbourhood Plan page. The closing date when questionnaires must be completed is 31 October 2011.

Chairman of the Town Council’s Neighbourhood Plan Working Group Cllr Heidi Brunsdon said:

“Our survey is a great opportunity to get involved in the early stages of the town’s Plan – a Plan which belongs to the community, is prepared by our community and delivered by the community.

”East Grinstead Town Council is looking for a Plan which reflects the views of all sections of our community, identifies which features and local characteristics we value, highlights our local problems and opportunities, and sets out what we want for the future.Once the results of the survey are analysed, the Council hopes to provide a survey feedback event, which will be an opportunity to discuss the results, the issues they raise and to influence the next stage of the Plan. Ultimately the Neighbourhood Plan will form part of the Mid Sussex District Plan for development in the District.

CLLR Danny Favor and his wife Maribel joined 50 participants in a sponsored Walk for Life and litter pick along the Worth Way in September.

The event, which was organised by parishioners of Our Lady and St Peter’s school, was supported by various community groups and town councillors and ended at Worth Abbey.

Money raised from the walk will be used to support vulnerable young mothers and their babies at homes run by the Life Charity in West Sussex.

EAST Grinstead Farmers Market organiser Tony Martin informed the Town Council on Thursday 22 September that he was stopping the weekly markets held in the High Street. Mr Martin feels the markets are no longer viable in their present format, despite the Town Council’s continuous support in promoting the weekly markets with large display banners.

The market began13 years ago as a monthly event held at Chequer Mead car park, which subsequently increased to twice monthly and then weekly, in its new venue in the High Street.

Previously the markets have attracted a strong footfall, particularly in the summer months, and numbers of stalls varied from around 10 to 12 during the high season to rather fewer in the colder months. For the past few months however the number of stalls has rarely risen to 6 and at times has been as few as 3. It should be borne in mind that East Grinstead was a rare example of a weekly farmers market, and hence more difficult to fill with stalls, which by their nature are often one person operations with other markets in the area to service.

The Town Council is now considering other options including the possibility of running an indoor winter market which would include farmers produce and local crafts which could be run on a Saturday. The Council is also in discussion with the remaining stall holders should they wish to find a new manager to continue with the market.

Councillor Frank Osborne, chairman of the Amenities and Tourism committee, said: “If we can possibly help to keep a market going in the town we are keen to do so. However we clearly cannot incur costs, and will be carefully monitoring arrangements over the coming months.”

Anyone wanting to express an interest in taking a stall in an indoor market should contact Simon Kerr, the Town Councils Tourism and Business Development Officer, at the East Grinstead Library or by emailing tourism@eastgrinstead.gov.uk

THE opening of the state-of-the-art recycling centre in Imberhorne Lane will be delayed until January, after the discovery of unforeseen problems including soil contamination.

East Grinstead’s Household Waste Recycling Site, which was closed for a £1.6million refurbishment last March, was due to reopen this autumn.

But a spokeswoman for contractors Viridor said the work will not now be completed until Christmas Eve, after delays caused by the results of soil analysis tests.

Meanwhile East Grinstead residents can still use the site at weekends, and by arrangement with East Sussex District Council they are also being allowed to use the dump at Forest Row.

Mid Sussex District Council has reduced the cost of arranging the pick-up of bulky goods from homes while the Imberhorne Lane site is out of action.

Tips are also available at Crawley, Horsham and Burgess Hill.

In our regular feature introducing councillors elected to the Town Council last May, the spotlight turns on Peter Wyan who represents Imberhorne Ward.

PETER was born in September 1939, 10 days after the declaration of WWII, and grew up in Hull, East Yorkshire, where he was educated at the all-male Grammar school.

“I got good ‘O’ and ‘A’ level results,” Peter laughed, “but my school reports were always to the effect that if I had applied the same interest to my studies as I did to sport, I would have been an outstanding scholar.”

But his prowess on the sports field earned him a place in the 1st XV rugby squad and the title of Victor Ludorum (Champion Athlete).

After leaving school at 17, Peter worked in a shipping company, quit to do his National Service and returned two years later.

He married his wife Diane in 1971 and the couple moved to Cherry Burton, where they raised the first of their children, Donna and Mark.

“My main hobbies at the time were fishing and rugby, which I played until I was 40,” said Peter.

“Then I broke two ribs, and my wife told me I was getting too old to carry on.”

So at 40 Peter changed his life completely.

He moved his family to Otley, and took a new job as a supervisor with the Leeds Marine Centre of the Commercial Union Group.

His youngest daughter Natalie was born in 1984, and the same year Peter was promoted to Marine Centre manager in Manchester.

Four years later he was given “the opportunity of a lifetime” when he was offered a new job as regional manager of the Far East Regional Office in Singapore.

“I travelled to all of our offices throughout south east Asia, my wife and chilldren were with me and it was a wonderful experience for all of us.”

Further promotion brought Peter back to London and the family moved to East Grinstead almost 20 years ago.

Since retiring as manager of the UK Marine Department in 1999, Peter has enjoyed fishing, attending the gym and taking on the role of Vice President at the East Grinstead Rugby Club.

“We’ve lived in the town for almost 20 years, and all three of our children have attended local schools so I decided it was time I gave something back to the community which is why I decided to stand as a town councillor.“I have been appointed chairman of the Planning committee and also vice chairman of the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group whose challenge is to help the community create the East Grinstead it wants over the next 20 years.”