Author: Andrew Taylor

TOWN Mayor John Saull raised £1500 for St Catherine’s Hospice at an evening devoted to Concorde.

John, a former member of the Civil Aviation Authority, was closely involved in certifying the iconic aircraft and its maintenance programmes.

He was joined in addressing a packed Meridian Hall, which included several local mayors and artist David Shepherd, by Concorde pilot Captain John Hutchinson sharing some anecdotes about his time on the flight deck.

 

* The mayor’s wife Silvina, who catered the buffet, was presented with flowers by Council Leader Norman Webster.

In the second of our biographies this month, we turn the spotlight on Cllr Dick Sweatman who represents Herontye Ward.

DICK Sweatman was born and bred in Edenbridge, but was a regular visitor to East Grinstead as a teenager, when he would cycle over to see pop heroes including The Rolling Stones and Dusty Springfield perform at the Whitehall theatre.

Newly-married in 1980, Dick finally arrived here to live, and has run his own business in and around the area ever since.

His two daughters, now 24 and 26, both attended Sackville school, and Dick himself is a member of the Holtye Golf Club.

Like many of his fellow councillors, Dick was elected to public office for the first time last May, and is still learning the ropes, both on the Town Council and on Mid Sussex District Council where he also won a seat.

“It’s still all pretty new to me,” he admitted, “but I decided to stand because I am interested in people and I thought it was time I gave something back to the community.”

As a local businessman himself, Dick is all too aware of the challenges facing the town’s traders, and is keen both to support those already working in East Grinstead, and encourage anyone considering starting up here.

“East Grinstead is a fantastic place to live and work," he said.

“I also want to promote the work of Herontye Ward’s Neighbourhood Panel, and to make myself and the Council more visible and more available to the town’s residents.”

WEST Sussex County Council is seeking the public’s view about possible changes to parking arrangements in East Grinstead following a consultation about the issue which took place last January.

Some residents and businesses indicated that they did not currently suffer from parking problems and that the introduction of a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) was not needed.

However a number living closest to the town centre, were in favour of a CPZ to deal with problems caused by non-resident parking.

As a result, the County Council is proposing to introduce parking controls, as an extension of Zone A, into:

• Brooklands Way (between the current boundary of Zone A and West Hill)
• Copyhold Road (between Brooklands Way and the green area)
• Garden Wood Road (between Brooklands Way and the railway viaduct), and
• West Hill (between the current boundary of Zone A and Brooklands Way).

Details of scheme

The proposed CPZ would operate from Monday to Saturday between 9am and 5pm, excluding Bank Holidays. During these controlled hours, parking would only be permitted in designated parking bays marked by white lines on the road. Outside of these hours, parking would not be restricted in bays or on single yellow lines, unless indicated otherwise by a statutory yellow time plate.

Resident permits would be available to residents who own a vehicle and who do not have adequate off-street parking facilities at a cost of £40 p.a. for the first and £80 p.a. for a second permit. Motorcycles and scooters would not require a permit.

Disabled drivers who live within the zone, and do not have a parking bay marked out for their use, could apply for a ‘free’ first residents’ permit. Disabled and/or elderly residents living within the zone, who rely on regular visits from care organisations, relatives, friends etc. in order to maintain an independent lifestyle living at home, and do not own a car, could also be eligible for a Residents Carer Permit.

Visitor parking would be accommodated through the purchase of scratch-off resident visitors’ permits, available in books of ten, which allow parking in permit holder bays at a cost of 30p for two hours. For contractors or trades people working at properties, dispensation notices could also be issued.

WSCC will be contacting affected residents and urging them to complete a comments card and return it in a pre-paid envelope by Monday 3 October 2011.

The County Council is keen to stress that no final decisions have yet been made and also that no changes to parking will be made without further consultation.

Should the study progress it will include a further statutory consultation later this year, and no immediate changes will be introduced on-street as a result of replies to this consultation.

Staff from Mid Sussex District Council will be available for questioning at East Grinstead Library in West Street on Saturday, 24 September, from 10am and 1pm, and on Thursday, 29 September, between 10am and 3pm.

A further drop-in session will be held at Halsford Park Primary School in Manor Road, East Grinstead, on Thursday, 29 September, between 6pm and 8pm.

Read EGTC’s response to consultation on draft statement of community involvement

THE Town Council has asked residents to consider signing an online petition asking the Home Office to introduce legislation which will make it illegal to offer cash for scrap metal.

Metal which is stolen from churches, homes and war memorials often causes thousands of pounds in damages, but thieves who receive cash for it usually remain untraceable.

So a new online petition is asking the public to back a move to make the Scrap Metal trade make its payments into bank accounts or by cheque.

“Thieves who damage public buildings cost everyone money. East Court mansion has already been targeted for the lead on its roof, so I would urge people to support this petition, which should reduce similar incidents of theft from public and private property,” said Town Clerk Julie Holden.

Cashless Scrap Metal Trade – Amendment to Scrap Metal Merchants Act 1964

Due to a significant rise in value, metal has become a much sought-after commodity. This increased demand has resulted in a sharp rise in metal theft nationally. Metal fencing, gates, manhole covers and other metallic items are stolen on a regular basis. Property is raided for lead, copper and cabling. War memorials and statues have been taken. Overhead power lines are stolen at serious risk to personal safety with huge costs for replacement and major inconvenience to the public. Historically the scrap metal trade has been a cash-in-hand industry. This creates difficulties as there is no audit trail, making identification of individuals who may be trading stolen metal or who may be committing tax or benefits fraud, a difficult proposition. An amendment to the Scrap Metal Merchants Act 1964 to prohibit cash transactions would make payment by cheque or directly into a bank account mandatory and would be a significant component in reducing metal theft.

To sign the petition go to: https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/406/signature/new

MID Sussex District Council ranger Katie Chatfield will lead her final “healthy walks” of the summer on 1 and 15 September.

The gentle strolls, which are on the first and third Thursdays of September, will last up to an hour.

Katie says she plans routes which will be no longer than 2.5 miles in length and promises no clambering over stiles will be involved.

Departures will be from the East Court car park at 5.30pm.

TOWN Mayor John Saull will be attending the following events in September:

September 4: Cllr Rex Whittaker, the Council’s representative on the East Grinstead Business Association, will stand in for the mayor at a Fashion Show being put on at Sackville College by the shop Wear It Again in aid of College funds.

September 8: The Mayor will open the Forest Garden (Ecotourism) project at Shovelstrode (see below for more details).

September 9: There will be a concert in aid of Help for Heroes by Champagne Supernova at Chequer Mead. Deputy Mayor Liz Bennett will also attend.

September 10: The Mayor will be at Blacklands Farm camp site with the East Grinstead Beaver Scouts celebrating 25 years of Beaver Scouting, when they will plant 25 trees.

September 11: The Mayor and Mayoress will attend the Soroptimists President’s Lunch at Apsley Grange, which this year is promoting Fair Trade.

September 16: The East Grinstead Music & Arts Festival will hold their AGM and Cheese & Wine evening in the Meridian Hall which will be attended by the Mayor in his role as their President for the year.

September 23: He will attend the presentation by the Lord Lieutenant to East Grinstead Museum of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

September 24: The Mayor will be the guest of the new Mayor of Burgess Hill at a bonfire procession and celebrations.

September 26: The Access Group will hold their AGM in the Cranston Suite at East Court when the Mayor will present their annual Burrin Awards to local businesses and other establishments which give good service to those with disabilities.

September 27: Concorde Evening with a talk by the Mayor and his colleague Capt Hutchinson with anecdotes on flying Concorde. There will be a raffle, with some Concorde themed prizes, and guests will be asked to contribute to a collection bucket as they leave for the Mayor’s charities, the Guinea Pig Club and St Catherine’s Hospice.

September 29: The Mayor will present prizes for the EG4KIDZ project which ran throughout the summer holidays at the town library.

September 30: He ends the month at the Meridian Hall where the Ashdown Ramblers will celebrate their 50th anniversary.

THE following councillors will be available at the town library in West Street between 10am and noon, to meet local residents and offer advice.

• September 3: Cllrs Bob Mainstone and Jackie Beckford
• September 10: Cllrs Ben Burns and Garry Sillitoe
• September 17: Cllrs Bob Mainstone and Jackie Beckford
• September 24: Cllrs Tony Scott and Danny Favor

THE Forest Garden at Shovelstrode, which Town Mayor John Saull will open officially on 8 September, is the brainchild of Lisa Aitken, a keen horticulturalist, and Charles Hooper, an experienced landscape designer, who share a passion for sustainable living.

Charles Hooper appeared last year in the TV series Mastercrafts where he honed his woodland skills learning to work with greenwood.

The Shovelstrode project is an inspirational place for other people to learn about the principles of forest gardening and to learn ancient woodland crafts.

There are also ‘back to nature’ camping facilities available for hire in yurts set in ancient woodland.

The project involves the creation of a Forest Garden on the 0.7acre site of a vacant paddock which will be used to harvest a range of healthy food.

The team have also restored and managed adjacent existing ancient woodland of 3.7acres where a wildlife pond has been created to further increase the local biodiversity.

Situated in the heart of the Sussex High Weald, the site extends in total to approximately 5 acres of which 3.5 acres is ancient woodland.

Once part of John of Gaunt’s hunting park, the woodland was originally part of Anderida Forest and would have consisted mainly of giant oaks with hazel undergrowth which flourished over the damp clays and loams of the valley regions.

Much of the oak has now been replaced by ash which exists today alongside the few remaining oak trees and a neglected hazel coppice understory.

One of the earliest historians of the Weald, William Lambarde, describes the area in his 1576 Perambulation:

“In times past nothing but a desart and waste wildernesse, not planted with towns or peopled with men, but stored with herdes of deere and droves of hogges only.”

Forest gardening, or agroforestry, takes on the principles of permaculture and is undoubtedly the oldest form of land use known to mankind. Permaculture is an ecologically sound system for sustainability by minimising inputs and recycling all potential wastes back into the system.

The Forest Garden is an oasis of edible plant species which takes its vision from nature, and specifically the natural ecology of a young forest. Wildcrafting is the practice of harvesting plants from their natural or "wild" habitat for food, medicine or other purposes. Only the branches or flowers are taken and the living plant is left.

The design of the planting is crucial in order to achieve a successful balance. The aim is to plant utilising the seven different layers: the root layer, ground cover, herb layer, fruiting shrubs, dwarf trees, tree canopy layer and the high canopy or vertical layer.

A well-considered and diverse planting scheme will help insure against the threat of disease or disasters.