Author: Andrew Taylor

Over the winter period we can receive many phone calls from residents to our contact centre and the answers to a lot of these questions can be found on our website.  

Using our website you can also report problems with roads, apply for a child’s school place, find information about a local library, access registration services and much more.

If you’re nervous about going online, our Community Safety and Wellbeing service have put together some expert, easy-to-follow safety tips to help protect you from falling victim to seasonal scams. Better yet, these tips can be used 365 days a year.

Looking after our health and keeping well is even more important during the cold winter months. We also know that older residents can feel more socially isolated during winter and we are encouraging more people to join a group or club to build their social circle. You’ll find lots of information and contact details for organisations across West Sussex on our Age Well campaign pages.

Other ideas include ordering our Meals on Wheels service which delivers hot and nutritious food to vulnerable residents in their own homes 365 days a year. More than just a meal though, it provides the peace of mind that comes from regular safe and well checks by the dedicated team of delivery drivers who also offer a friendly face and regular company to their customers.

It’s also important to make sure you or your family have had the flu jab. It’s free for everyone who has a long-term condition, are over 65 or have young children.

Firefighters in West Sussex are warning about the risks and consequences of drink and drug driving over the festive period.

West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service has launched its ‘All I Want For Christmas’ campaign featuring children of emergency service employees encouraging drivers to think twice about the dangers of drink driving this Christmas.

In 2018, 28 people in West Sussex died or were left with serious, life changing injuries as a result of drink or drug driving.

For more information on the campaign and to watch the video visit our website.

Over the winter months we recycle around 10,000 tonnes of paper and card, at our Household Waste Recycling Sites and via your home recycling collections.

Christmas and New Year are the busiest times of the year for recycling and staff at our Materials Recycling Facility. They will be working extra shifts to process your recyclable wrapping paper, cardboard boxes, and Christmas cards.

You can help us by making sure your recycling is clean, dry, and loose. Please don’t leave any recyclable materials outside of the bin as if it gets wet it won’t be able to get recycled. If you’re unsure whether you can recycle your wrapping paper do the scrunch test. If the paper stays scrunched then it’s okay to go in the recycling.

Don’t forget extra recycling that you can’t fit into your recycling bin can be taken to your Household Waste Recycling Site just be aware of our Christmas opening times. Remember to take some ID to prove you live in West Sussex.

A full A-Z of what can and can’t be recycled can be found on the West Sussex recycles website. 

You can find your collection dates for over Christmas by following the link to your local district or borough’s website; Adur and Worthing, Arun, Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, or Mid Sussex.

Flooding is expected – immediate action required

River levels are forecast to rise as a result of heavy rainfall. Consequently, flooding of property and roads and farmland is possible, beginning between 8 am and 10 am tomorrow, 20/12/2019. We believe there is a possibility of flooding for properties on and around Lee Street and Church Road, near the river. Further rainfall is forecast overnight into Friday. We expect river levels to remain high until Saturday afternoon 21/12/2019. We are closely monitoring the situation and our incident room is open. Our incident response staff are checking our defences and structures and liaising with emergency services and our partners. Please plan driving routes to avoid low lying roads near rivers which may be flooded, and avoid contact with flood water and remain safe in the area of concern.

Mid Sussex District Council is reminding residents that waste and recycling collection days will change over the Christmas and New Year period.

Collection changes begin on Saturday 21 December and end on Saturday 4 January 2020.

Christmas flyers with details of collections over the festive period and other recycling information have been posted to all Mid Sussex homes in the run up to Christmas.

Householders can also access personalised information about their collection days online by entering their postcode at www.midsussex.gov.uk/collectioncalendar .

The festive collections are as follows:

Normal collection date	Festive collection date
Monday 23 December	Saturday 21 December
Tuesday 24 December	Monday 23 December
Wednesday 25 December	Tuesday 24 December
Thursday 26 December	Friday 27 December
Friday 27 December	Saturday 28 December
Monday 30 December	No Change
Tuesday 31 December	No Change
Wednesday 1 January 2020	Thursday 2 January 2020
Thursday 2 January 2020	Friday 3 January 2020
Friday 3 January 2020	Saturday 4 January 2020

There will be no garden waste collections between Monday 23 December and Friday 3 January 2020. Garden waste collections will return to normal from Monday 6 January 2020.

Householders with a real Christmas tree can recycle it in their garden waste bin as long as the lid can be closed.  Alternatively there will be temporary sites where residents can drop off real Christmas trees for recycling. These sites will be open between Saturday 28 December and Friday 10 January 2020 and locations can be found at www.midsussex.gov.uk/treerecycling.

For more information about festive waste and recycling collections visit www.midsussex.gov.uk/recycling, email wastematters@midsussex.gov.uk or call 01444 477440.

Proposals include; to make a change to the catchment area for the residents of Kilnwood Vale Development, give priority to children of staff and to give priority to children placed under a Special Guardianship Order who have not previously been in local authority care.

www.westsussex.gov.uk/schooladmissions2021-2022

The consultation will close on 31 January 2020. Responses should be sent to admissions.north@westsussex.gov.uk.