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Author: Andrew Taylor

Outdoor Gym Sessions – 2017

Posted on by Andrew Taylor

East Grinstead Town Council and Mid Sussex District Council have teamed up with local charity Albion in the Community to offer the following activity sessions:

  • Dates:  Wednesday 20th & 27th September & Wednesday 4th October 2017.
  • Time:  10.00am – 11.00am.
  • Location:  Outdoor Gym, Hollands Way, Stone Quarry Estate.
  • Dates:  Wednesday 11th, 18th & 25th October 2017.
  • Time:  10.00am – 11.00am.
  • Location:  Outdoor Gym, Mount Noddy Recreation Ground.
  • Dates:  Wednesday 8th, 15th & 22nd November 2017.
  • Time:  10.00am – 11.00am.
  • Location:  Outdoor Gym, King Georges Field.

All sessions are £1.00 per session and targeted at beginners and those wishing to increase their activity levels.  Suitable clothing and footwear for exercise should be worn. Please bring your own water.

For further details please contact: backtoexercise@albioninthecommunity.org.uk or call: 07876 898045

Free Health and Wellbeing event for older people

Posted on by Andrew Taylor

The Mid Sussex Wellbeing team is inviting older residents to come along to Chequer Mead, East Grinstead on Friday 20th October 10am-3pm to get some advice and information on staying fit and well in later life.

The event will feature free exercise sessions that are specifically tailored to meet the needs of people over the age of 50. There will be the opportunity to try Tai Chi, strength and balance sessions, Zumba Gold or practice relaxation and breathing techniques that help to improve mindfulness.

Charities, voluntary groups and local organisations will be on hand to offer advice on topics such as developing a healthy lifestyle and keeping warm. Charities and voluntary groups are always looking for the sort of life experience and professional skills that many older people can provide so this event is also a great opportunity to find out more about volunteering.

Trained health professionals will be there to provide free NHS Health Checks to help people spot potential health problems at an early stage. The checks take just 30 minutes and include a blood pressure check, a cholesterol measurement, and a BMI (Body Mass Index) reading that is calculated by measuring height and weight. After the health check there will be an opportunity to discuss the results with a trained health adviser, who will provide personalised advice on how to lower the risk of future problems and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Although walk in appointments are avalible, to avoid disappointment call the Mid Sussex Wellbeing Team on 01444 477191 to book.

The event is all about helping older people enjoy later life by bringing people together and introducing support organisations that can help them to continue living independent lives. Every attendee will receive a free goodie bag and complimentary tea, coffee and cake.

“We want to ensure that older people have all the support they need to live a healthy and happy life,” said Councillor Norman Webster, Cabinet Member for Community. “This East Grinstead Health & Wellbeing Event will promote the many different opportunities available to senior members of the community and will provide lots of information on activities, groups and support in the area.”

For more information please contact the Mid Sussex Wellbeing team on 01444 477191 or email info@midsussexwelbeing.org.uk.

Review of Hi-de-Hi! by Ace Theatre Company at Chequer Mead, 7 – 9 September

Posted on by Andrew Taylor

ACE brought another of their signature feel-good shows to Chequer Mead this week with a stage production of Hi-de-Hi! adapted by Paul Carpenter and Ian Gower from the hugely successful TV series originally written by comedy giants Jimmy Perry and David Croft.

Even at the height of its eighties popularity, the TV show harked back to a gentler age when post-war Britain was learning to enjoy life again at fifties holiday camps, and mined the nation’s nostalgia for donkey rides, knobbly knees competitions and the faux sophistication of ballroom dancing as a high art.

And it was good to see all the familiar characters back in action, not least Megan Frazer’s excellent performance as Peggy Ollerenshaw, the chalet maid who dreams of stardom via the acquisition of a coveted Yellow Coat.

Megan delightfully captured all Peggy’s good-hearted yearning for a chance to throw off her humble Lancashire roots – and the demands of her unseen nemesis Miss Cathcart.

And there was real pathos in her joy at succeeding in her ambitions, only to have the prize snatched from her grasp by a (topical) tropical storm in the Caribbean.

Christine Linden Smith made a simmering Gladys Pugh, the Welsh siren tormented by lustful longing for her boss, and showed she had mastered both the xylophone, and an impressively snitty flounce which said nothing, but nevertheless spoke volumes.

Jeffrey Fairbrother is a man out of his social milieu as the former Cambridge Professor, disillusioned by academia and longing to connect with his fellow man as Maplins’ new entertainments manager.

And Steve Gray captured all his dithering inadequacy, and distaste for the more vulgar aspects of camp life while remaining stoically immune to the romantic aspirations of the lovelorn Gladys.

David Burton’s entrance as the crudely humorous camp host Ted Bovis won him an immediate round of applause for his resemblance to the late Paul Shane, who created the role on TV.

Peter Jones as riding instructor Fred Quilly was another welcome and familiar face, while Colin White gave an admirably tetchy performance as Mr Partridge,  the grumpy Punch and Judy man.

At the other end of the social scale – at least in their own eyes – were the delightfully snobbish Yvonne and Barry Stuart-Hargreaves. Played by Lynne Fallowell and Richard Seagroatt, the ballroom dancers were reduced to giving dancing demos to the campers and hated every minute of it – and each other.

The Yellow Coats, ably led by aspiring comic Spike (Keiran Gladman) and Lisa Frazer as sexy Sylvia, added to an evening of plain old-fashioned fun, which saw Ted’s feisty wife Hilary, played by Chrissie White, eventually get her alimony.

Sylvia on the other hand didn’t get to the Caribbean, Peggy didn’t get her coveted coat, and Gladys didn’t get her man.

But the audience left the theatre knowing that none of the three was going to give up on their dreams.

Hi-de-Hi!

Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) – Call for Sites

Posted on by Andrew Taylor

Following the recent Examination hearings into the District Plan, the Council has committed to preparing a Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD), which will identify further sites for housing and employment, to enable the Council to meet its full objectively assessed housing and employment land need.

In addition, the Council will shortly prepare a Brownfield Land Register; the Government requires that the register must be published by 31st December 2017. The National Planning Policy Framework provides a definition of land which is considered to be ‘brownfield’.

To inform the preparation of both the Sites Allocations DPD and the Brownfield Land Register, the Council is undertaking a Call for Sites, to identify sites which have potential for housing and employment development, as well as sites required to provide infrastructure and community facilities.

Whilst the Council has an ‘open’ register and developers, landowners and agents have been able to submit information at any time, this formal Call for Sites is inviting further submissions during a specific time period.

The Council first undertook a call for sites in 2008/2009 and in some cases no further contact with the landowner/site promoters has been received since that time.  This Call for Sites process seeks to confirm that sites previously promoted and included within the current SHLAA are still available for development. Therefore even if the site has previously been included within the published SHLAA, landowners/site promoters are asked to re-submit details of the site through this current Call for Sites process.The Council would also welcome nominations on new sites, which have not been considered previously.

The Call for Sites is open from 4th September 2017 to 30th October 2017. The Council will use the sites nominated through this process to prepare a new Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA), to inform the Sites Allocation DPD, and to inform the preparation of the Brownfield Land Register.

In order that sites are included in the Spring 2018 SHELAA, and therefore considered for inclusion in the Sites Allocation DPD and the Brownfield Land Register, nominations must be submitted by 5pm on  30th October 2017. The Council cannot guarantee that sites nominated after this time will be included in these documents.

Sites which are nominated for inclusion on the Brownfield Register should be primarily for residential development, although employment or community uses may be proposed as ancillary to the residential development.

All sites nominated should be capable of accommodating 5 or more homes, or have a site area of 0.25hectares or larger.

The same online form can be completed to nominate sites for inclusion in either document. Officers will decide which sites should be included in the Brownfield Register.

SHELAA Web Page

Online Site Submission Form

Should you have any queries relating to the SHELAA you can contact the Planning Policy and Economic Development Team on 01444 477053 or email planningpolicy@midsussex.gov.uk.

Lest We Forget

Posted on by Andrew Taylor

IN a regular feature on the Town Council website, we will be remembering, on the anniversary of their deaths, the East Grinstead soldiers who died during WWI,  and who are named on the High Street War Memorial.

lest-we-forget

This month we recall (as recorded on The Roll of Honour website):

Thomas James COMMERFORD

Sergeant L.7271 6th Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers.

Died at home 28. 9.17. Aged 34.

Son of John and Susan Commerford Husband of Mary Commerford (remarried) later of Hounslow. Regular Soldier.

Buried Brentford and Chiswick (New Brentford) Cemetery.

George ELLIS

Lance Corporal G/3687 11th Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment. 39th Division.

Killed in action near Ypres 26. 9.17. Aged 24.

Son of Mr. and Mrs. W.H.Ellis of 4, Mill Cottages, Dunning Road, East Grinstead. Born in Lingfield, Surrey and enlisted in Chichester.

Commemorated on The Tyne Cot Memorial Belgium MR.30.

Charles FIELD

Private 70118 16th Battalion, The Notts and Derby Regiment. (The Sherwood Foresters) 39th Division.

Killed in action near Ypres. 22. 9.17.age 24.

Son of Mr. H. and Mrs. Elizabeth Field of “Felcourt” East Grinstead. Born in Warlingham, Surrey and enlisted in Petworth

Commemorated on The Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium MR. 30

George PIPER

Private G/17891 12th Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment. 39th Division.

Killed in action near Ypres, 25. 9.17. age 20.

Son of William and Ellen Piper of Hoskins Cottage, East Grinstead. Enlisted in East Grinstead

Commemorated on The Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium MR. 30

Harry SKATES

Private G/19629 12th Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment. 39th Division.

Killed in action near Ypres 25. 9.17.

Born in Hammersmith and enlisted in East Grinstead

Buried Zantevoorde British Cemetery, Belgium B. 116

Henry WELLER

Private SD/2425 12th Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment. 39th Division.

Killed in action near Ypres 25. 9.17. age 28

Husband of Bertha Kate Weller of 6, West Street, East Grinstead. Born in Forest Row and enlisted in East Grinstead.

Commemorated on The Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium MR.30.