Category: News
Temporary change to bin collections due to hot weather
On Monday 10, Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 August the Mid Sussex bin collections will start from 6am due to the high temperatures that have been forecast.
This will give our crews more time to work in the cooler part of the day. Please ensure your bins are placed out ready for collection the evening before, in plenty of time for the early start. The early collection times may continue throughout the week depending on the forecast. Please check the Mid Sussex District Council website for further updates: www.midsussex.gov.uk/recycling
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Temporary change to bin collections due to hot weather
On Thursday 6 and Friday 7 August the Mid Sussex bin collections will start from 6am due to the high temperatures that have been forecast.
This will give our crews more time to work in the cooler part of the day. Please ensure your bins are placed out ready for collection the evening before, in plenty of time for the early start. The early collection times may continue next week depending on the forecast. Please check the Mid Sussex District Council website for further updates: www.midsussex.gov.uk/recycling
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Incident Information from WSCC Resilience and Emergencies Team – The Met Office has issued a Level 3 Heat Health Alert
There is a 90% probability of Heat-Health criteria being met between 1200 on Thursday and 0900 on Sunday in parts of England
View the full warning at the Met Office Heat Health Watch site.
Hot weather can affect your health. The people most likely to be affected are the elderly, the very young, and people with pre-existing medical conditions.
If you know or look after someone that may be susceptible to the effects of this hot weather period please help make sure that they stay cool and well, and if possible check in advance that they are prepared for this hot spell.
Please follow this advice to keep cool and comfortable and reduce health risks:
- Shut windows and pull down the shades when it is hotter outside. If it’s safe, open them for ventilation when it is cooler.
- Avoid the heat: stay out of the sun and don’t go out between 11am and 3pm (the hottest part of the day).
- Keep rooms cool by using shades or reflective material outside the windows. If this isn’t possible, use light-coloured curtains and keep them closed (metallic blinds and dark curtains can make the room hotter).
- Have cool baths or showers, and splash yourself with cool water.
- Drink cold drinks regularly, such as water and fruit juice. Avoid tea, coffee and alcohol.
- Plan ahead to make sure you have enough supplies, such as food, water and any medications you need.
- Identify the coolest room in the house so you know where to go to keep cool.
- Wear loose, cool clothing and a hat if you go outdoors.
Also, please don’t forget about the animals in your care and view the top tips for keeping pets cool in hot weather by using the RSPCA link below.
For more information go to:
- Met Office Heat-health watch
- NHS Choices Heatwave: be prepared
- WSCC Dealing with extreme weather
- WSCC https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/campaigns/heat-alert/
- WSCC Preparing for emergencies
- Follow us on Twitter for regular updates @WSCCNews @WSCCResilience @wspublichealth
- RSPCA Top tips for keeping pets cool in hot weather
West Sussex County Council Coronavirus Survey Results
Thank you to the 17,455 residents who took part in our coronavirus survey back in May. We asked you to provide feedback on how the coronavirus was affecting you so we could better understand the situation in West Sussex. Below is a snapshot from the results:
Community connection: 48% of our survey respondents said the coronavirus pandemic had a positive impact on how connected they felt to their local community. A further 28% of respondents reported no impact, whilst around 23% reported a negative impact.
Your financial situation: 33% (around a third of all those participating in our survey) said their financial situation had been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Just over a third (36%) of our respondents reported a negative impact on their job.
Mental health: Almost half the people in our survey (49%) said they experienced a negative impact on their mental health, and 30% said they were concerned about the impact of coronavirus on their mental health in the future, and 6% said they needed help or support with their mental health but were not getting it. However, 15% were not at all concerned about their mental health and 12% of respondents reported that the pandemic had resulted in a positive impact.
Access to healthcare/medicine/dental care: More than half of respondents (57%) reported a negative impact on access to healthcare, medicine or dental care and 53% reported being concerned about the impact of the pandemic on their access to these services in the future. However, 31% said they experienced no impact, and 5% of respondents reported on a positive impact on their access to healthcare, medicine or dental care.
Education: Just under a third of our respondents (31%) reported a negative impact on their child’s/children’s education or schooling and 32% reported being concerned about the impact of coronavirus on education in the future. 21% reported no impact on their child’s education/schooling, but around 4% reported a positive impact. 34% commented they did not know or said this question did not apply to them.
Lockdown activities: Overall, gardening was the most often reported ‘lockdown activity’ reported by our respondents (65%), followed by spending time on social media and reading books (both 52%), although there were variations by age. For example, whilst all groups reported spending time on social media within their top three activities, gardening was the top activity for those aged 45 and over (64-73% across those age groups), helping their children to learn at home was the most often reported activity for 35-44 year olds (69%), baking/cooking tops for 25-34 year olds (69%) and watching tv/streaming and time on social media came a close second (70% and 68% respectively) for those aged 16-24.
More of our residents are using online video meeting software: 72% of you told us you had started using online video meeting software, or had increased your use of it since the pandemic began.
Please visit our survey results page to see the full results and the actions we are taking.
Finally, a reminder that last week we launched our new campaign to Keep West Sussex Safe which has information online about what we can all do to reduce the spread of the virus. Our pages are being updated frequently so please take a look.
Thank you for your continued support.
Mid Sussex DC Planning Documents Consultation – Submission Draft Site Allocations DPD (Regulation 19)
Mid Sussex District Council is publishing its Submission Draft Site Allocations DPD for consultation on the 3rd August 2020. A hard copy of this paper is available for view at the public reception at East Grinstead Town Council, East Court Mansion, College Lane East Grinstead (Monday – Friday, 9am – noon). This is an important document, setting out future development and the Town Council would recommend viewing and commenting on this paper.
In light of COVID-19 and current restrictions, please be aware that handling public documents is not recommended, if you do come to the offices to do so, we advise you to sanitise your hands before and after handling them (this is provided). We would prefer you did not wear gloves as any contaminant on your gloves could be transferred to the papers. As an alternative, members of the public can view the document on the following link where further details of the consultation, the consultation documents and how you can respond are also available: www.midsussex.gov.uk/SitesDPD.
Questions or responses should be sent to: LDFconsultation@midsussex.gov.uk.
Virgin Media Community Liason Stand
Election canvass letters sent out to residents
Mid Sussex District Council has written to local residents to ask them to confirm their details on the 2020-21 electoral register.
Each year, everyone in the UK must confirm their electoral registration details are up-to-date by responding to the annual electoral canvass. This information is then used to ensure the electoral register is accurate.
This year, the annual electoral canvass has changed. Under the new system, data held on the Electoral Register for each household is matched against the information on the Department of Work and Pensions database to check data is correct before households are contacted. Depending on the result of the match, properties are contacted in a variety of different ways.
As a result, some residents will shortly receive a form in the post with information about how to confirm their details on the electoral register. If required to respond, people are encouraged to do so by telephone, text message or online because this is by far the quickest and most convenient method.
By using digital channels, all information is processed instantly and effectively, there’s no chance of the form being lost in the post and it’s environmentally friendly. It also provides taxpayers with savings when compared with the cost of posting back the form.
Tom Clark, Returning Officer for Mid Sussex said:
“Elections can be called at short notice so it’s vital that everyone responds to this canvass and makes sure that their details are correct on the electoral register.
“We want to help the residents of Mid Sussex to have their say and maintain their democratic rights. Logging details with another council department does not automatically entitle you to vote because details must be entered onto the Electoral Register separately.
“Registering to vote only takes a few minutes. Make sure you don’t miss your opportunity to vote by responding promptly when contacted.”
For more information about the electoral canvass visit www.midsussex.gov.uk/elections-voting/annual-canvass/registering. To contact the Mid Sussex District Council Electoral Services team email elections@midsussex.gov.uk or call 01444 477003.
Site Allocations Development Plan set for one final public consultation
Mid Sussex District Council has approved a draft Site Allocations Development Plan for one final public consultation before it is submitted to the Government for public examination.
The Council has produced a final version of the draft Site Allocations Development Plan, which sets out how to meet the District’s outstanding housing and employment needs up to 2031. There will now be an eight-week public consultation from 3 August 2020 to allow people to comment on the plan.
The Mid Sussex District Plan 2014-2031, which was adopted in March 2018, sets out in broad terms what, where, when and how development will take place in Mid Sussex up until 2031. Whilst the majority of development sites are already planned for in the District Plan, the Planning Inspector required the Council to identify more sites to ensure the housing and employment needs of the District are met.
The draft Site Allocations Development Plan Document addresses that requirement and recommends 22 housing and 7 employment sites at locations across Mid Sussex, plus a Science and Technology Park.
Following the public consultation, the draft Site Allocations Development Plan Document will be submitted to the Secretary of State for examination by an Independent Planning Inspector.
Councillor Andrew MacNaughton, Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning said:
“The preparation of this draft Site Allocations Development Plan Document is one of the final steps we must take to finish our work on the 2014-2031 District Plan.
“Strategic plans like this are really important because they show that Mid Sussex can meet the future housing needs of our District. Once agreed this protects our District from speculative unplanned developments put forward by developers.
“The consultation starts on 3 August and I encourage as many people as possible to read the proposals set out in the Site Allocations Development Plan Document. If you have any comments to make about the plan, please submit them to us and we will send them to the Independent Planning Inspector for consideration as part of the public examination.”
Virtual Festival Summer 2020
