Category: Covid-19

Mid Sussex District Council is set to host its first virtual council meeting since new regulations came into force last month.

On Monday 1 June, the Council’s Cabinet meeting will be hosted online using a video conferencing platform and members of the public will be able to follow the debate on the Mid Sussex District Council YouTube channel.

Ordinarily, the 1972 Local Government Act requires councillors to be present to decide applications, but the Coronavirus Act and the temporary regulations provide a virtual alternative during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Committee meetings can now take place virtually, by phone or video link.

Tom Clark, Head of Regulatory Services at Mid Sussex District Council said:

“Hosting our Council meetings online will enable our Councillors to debate the important issues affecting our area whilst complying with the current requirement to maintain a safe social distance and prevent the spread of coronavirus.

“Modern technology means that every Councillor has the opportunity to take part in our meetings as appropriate from their home and local residents can follow the meetings live.”

Full details about future virtual council meetings can be found on the Committees section of the Mid Sussex District Council website at http://midsussex.moderngov.co.uk/

This year marks the 75^th Anniversary of Victory in Europe; VE Day. The day in 1945 that marked the end to the hostilities and the end of WW2 across Europe. To commemorate this momentous occasion the British Government had moved the early, May Bank Holiday from Monday 4^th to Friday 8^th and many events had been planned to allow as many people as possible to celebrate and remember the heroes of the War.

Today the World faces another battle; the Coronavirus, Covid-19 and plans for events with mass gatherings have had to be cancelled or postponed indefinitely. East Grinstead Town Council had planned a Civic Reception and cream tea for invited guests followed by free entertainment for all, culminating in a firework display at East Court. This will still happen at a later date. At this point we are planning for September 20^th.

In the meantime, however, even in this period of social distancing we can still celebrate and remember those that gave so much during WW2. The Council is encouraging residents to hold their own VE Day ‘Stay at Home’ family parties, following all Government restrictions and regulations of course. This is not an excuse to get together with friends, family members and neighbours outside your household groups, but a chance to dress your homes in red, white and blue and celebrate in any way you can. In this way even in our isolation, we can come together for a moment of shared joy.

The Original day was planned to follow a standard format

2.55pm: The playing of the Last Post

Buglers, trumpeters and cornet players might like to consider playing the Last Post from the safety of their front or back garden, outside their front door or from their balcony or window. We would ask you not to play in an area that could attract a group of people however.

3pm: The Nation’s Toast to the Heroes of WW II

We would very much like to encourage you all to still take part in the Nation’s Toast from the safety of your homes to pay tribute to the many millions in the United Kingdom and overseas who sacrificed so much to secure the freedom we have today. We would invite you to join the Town Mayor, Cllr Danny Favor,  live on the East Grinstead Town Council Facebook page at 3pm, stand and raise a glass or cup of refreshment of your choice and undertake the following toast: “For those that gave so much, we thank you.” This will be the first time such a tribute has ever taken place.

6.55pm: The Cry for Peace Around the World.

Town criers and others who wish to take part can perform the Cry for Peace from their front or back garden, at their front door or from their balcony or window. The words can be found on the Download page of the VE Day 75 website – www.veday75.org. Please don’t perform it from a place that might encourage people to gather.

We would love to see photographs and videos of your celebrations, so please post them to our Facebook or twitter @egcouncil and @VisitEG or send to towncouncil@eastgrinstead.gov.uk

107 Meridian FM will be broadcasting music from the 40s to mark the occasion, so tune in, enjoy the music and raise a glass to celebrate this momentous anniversary. People overcame adversity then and so, in time, will we.

Stay Home Saves Lives.

Mid Sussex District Council is resuming garden waste collections from Monday 11 May.

As part of the Council’s response to the COVID-19 national emergency, garden waste collections were paused on 13 April to enable the collection crews to meet social distancing requirements and to preserve rubbish and recycling collections.

During the past month the Council has worked hard alongside waste collection partner Serco to secure additional resources that will enable our crews to practice social distancing and collect our customers’ garden waste safely. Collections were originally predicted to be suspended for a period of 12 weeks, but new working arrangements mean it is now possible to bring the service back after only a four-week pause.

When the service resumes on Monday 11 May, customers should place their garden waste bins out for collection on their usual collection day. Anyone who is not sure when their bin is due for collection can check online at www.midsussex.gov.uk/waste-recycling/bin-collection

The garden waste collection service has been paused for exactly four weeks and during that time each customer has missed two collections. To ensure that no household is financially disadvantaged by the suspension of the garden waste collection service, the Council will add four weeks onto the end of each subscription period to cover the number of collections missed.

Councillor John Belsey, Cabinet Member for Environment and Service Delivery said

“This has been a difficult month for everyone and we are so grateful to all our garden waste customers for their patience, support and understanding during the past few weeks.

“We know that garden waste collections are important to people, especially during this lockdown period, so we have been working as hard as we can with Serco to reinstate them safely as soon as possible. I’m delighted to say that we are now able to resume our garden waste collections.

“We really appreciate the efforts you are making to hold on to your garden waste but please remain patient for a little while longer once collections are back under way and we work through the build-up.

“Our crews are not able to collect any side waste so it’s important to make sure all your garden waste is contained within the bin and that the lid is closed. If you are unable to fit all your garden waste into your green wheelie bin, please continue to store it until your next scheduled collection. This will ensure the safety and wellbeing of our collection crews and that we can continue to offer a garden waste service to everyone.”

For more information, visit the garden waste collection page at www.midsussex.gov.uk/gardenwaste where there are answers to several Frequently Asked Questions. Anyone who is unable to find the answer to their query online should email gardenwaste@midsussex.gov.uk.

The majority of West Sussex schools have remained open to provide care for children of critical workers, those with Education, Health and Care Plans and those children deemed vulnerable who cannot be safely looked after at home. The provision of this care continued throughout the Easter Holidays and some schools even remained open on Good Friday and Easter Monday, to ensure parents and carers could continue working, supporting the COVID-19 response.

In addition, our schools are continuing to provide packages of education, support and activities to families to ensure children are keeping in touch with their learning and also engaging in some really positive and interesting activities.

We are immensely proud of staff in all of our schools and the local authority teams who are continuing to keep children at the heart of everything they do and work with families and carers to ensure children are safe and supported.

Great to see that 963 people have joined our online library since we closed our buildings on 17 March.

We have added 1,300 extra ebooks and 450 eAudio titles and are now issuing about four times the number of these. Around 32,000 newspapers and magazines are being downloaded each week too!

Last week there were 2,500 views of the Ancestry page, which is linked to the free public version, and we have had over 50 compliments about this service.

We have been offering telephone support for library customers who want to use the ebook and audio but have never tried before – got some lovely comments about that too.

An additional 25 library staff have now been trained to accept and receive calls in the Community Hub and library delivery drivers have delivered emergency food parcels across the county.

Join the online library service.

Cabinet met virtually on Wednesday this week to receive a formal update on our response to COVID-19 and the impact it is having on the county council’s financial position. 

They heard that following the Government’s official lock-down the council, in partnership with district and borough councils, launched community hubs across the county to make sure those people who are vulnerable, or have been made vulnerable by COVID-19, get the support, supplies and help they need.

Social care staff across the council have been working in hospitals and people’s homes supporting residents with social care and health needs.

The Cabinet also heard an update on the financial position of the council and the affect that COVID-19 is having on that.

You can listen back to a recording of the Cabinet discussion, where the agenda item starts at 2 hours and 14 minutes. Our press release is available to read here.

Your East Grinstead GP is still open for business. Please do not neglect your important health needs and concerns during the current COVID-19 situation.

Patients will be offered a phone or video consultation initially. Should you need to attend your GP Practice we are taking care to make your visit as risk free as possible with stringent infection control procedures including waiting in your car if you arrive by car, prior to your assessment. As there are fewer ‘face-to-face’ appointments we are able to maintain social distancing within the waiting areas. Please contact your GP Practice by telephone. Please make use of 111 and your local pharmacy for simple illnesses of which hay fever is increasingly common at this time of year.

 Potential COVID 19 Cases

All of  the GP practices that serve East Grinstead have come together as a  joint ‘hot hub’ for suspected COVID-19 cases based at the EG Health Centre (next door to Moatfield surgery).

From this week NHS 111 may refer people with suspected COVD-19 who  will have an initial assessment in a drive through tent and where further treatment is needed will be seen inside the health centre.  You cannot attend the hub without an appointment.

There are barriers at the site (loaned by the Town Council) to help  stream people waiting for prescriptions,  or going to different parts of the site. The barriers are there for everyone’s safety so please follow signage as directed.

Mid Sussex District Council has reduced street cleaning crews across the district. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 the regular street crews have become operatives on the residential waste collection rounds. With this in mind, litter bins may be missed, but SERCO has advised that crews will be sent the next day to clear any bin that is full up.