Category: News

CLLR Norman Webster is the new Conservative Leader of East Grinstead Town Council.

Cllr Peter Wyan will chair the Planning Committee with Cllr Rex Whittaker as his deputy. Public Services will be chaired by Cllr Heidi Brunsdon, with Cllr Dick Sweatman deputising, and Cllr Frank Osborne will head the Amenities and Tourism committee which will have Cllr Tony Scott as its vice chairman.

Cllr Webster will be also be chairman of the Finance and General Purposes committee with Cllr Margaret Belsey as his vice chairman.

Ashplats Ward:

• Jacqueline L Beckford, 7 Woodlands Road, 3EH – Lib Dem: 652
• Liz Bennett, 39 Copse Close, 3EF – Conservative: 1100
• Danny Favor, 7 Barn Field Place, 3FD – Conservative: 893
• Tony Scott, Flat 2, Railway Approach, 1BP – Conservative: 886

Baldwins Ward:

• Margaret Belsey, Gotwick Farm, Holtye Road, 3PP – Conservative: 755
• Nick Hodges, Wellbourne, 75 Lingfield Rd, 2EP – Conservative: 750
• Norman Webster, 7 Newlands Crescent, lLF – Conservative: 698

Herontye Ward:

• John O’Brien, 5 The Dell, 3XP – Conservative: 1065
• Dick Sweatman, 81 Estcots Drive, 3YW – Conservative: 1054
• John Saull, Little Beeches, Woods Hill Lane, 3RF – Conservative: 936

Imberhorne Ward:

• Heidi Brunsdon, 83 Blount Avenue, 1JN – Conservative: 1069
• Bob Mainstone, Mallaig, Windmill Lane, 2DY – Lib Dem: 879
• Frank Osborne, Wisborough, Furze Lane, 2BQ – Conservative: 871
• Rex Whittaker, 11 The Stennings, 1PF – Conservative: 912

Town Ward North:

• Ben Burns, 3 The Close, 1DQ – Conservative: 187

Town Ward South:

• Nicola Burns, 3 The Close, 1DQ – Conservative: 537
• Peter Wyan, 7 Clays Close, 4DJ – Conservative: 484

Worsted Ward:

• Garry Sillitoe, 3 Farm Close, 3QQ – Conservative: 163

Councillors representing East Grinstead on Mid Sussex District Council 2011/2015

Ashurst Wood:

• S J Barnett Lib Dem

Ashplats:

• Mrs L Bennett Con
• P Reed Con

Baldwins:

• Mrs M Belsey Con
• N Webster Con

Herontye:

• E Belsey Con
• D Sweatman Con

Imberhorne:

• Mrs H A Brunsdon Con
• B Mainstone Lib Dem

Town:

• C M Ingham Lib Dem
• J O’Brien Con

THE garden behind East Court Mansion is to be renamed the Rolley Terrace in honour of newly-retired Town Clerk Chris Rolley.

The announcement was made at a Meridian Hall reception to mark his retirement after more than 25 years in post.

Among the many friends and family who came to pay tribute to Chris, a former Town Clerk of the Year, was MP Nicholas Soames who broke a previous engagement to be at the event, saying it was “a great honour” to be included in the guest list.

“When I was first elected as the MP for East Grinstead I came along to ‘an audience’ with Chris,” he joked.

“I have never regretted it, and I am very grateful for the sound, careful, pragmatic, sane and sensible advice he has given me for the past 14 years.

“Chris has been absolutely brilliant.”

In paying his own tribute to “the Reading lad” who has spent the past quarter century devoted to the affairs of East Grinstead, Mayor Stephen Barnett said Chris had always “fought his local corner very strongly” while at the same time fostering good relationships with community groups and other Councils.

“Localism is the new buzz word,” he said, “but he has been practising it for years.

“When we looked for a replacement for Chris we knew that making the right appointment was critical: so the people who appointed him 25 years ago deserve enormous accolades for making a fantastic, fantastic choice.”

Town Council leader James Baldwin announced that because Chris had requested a collection made to mark his retirement should be given instead to the town museum, councillors had devised a surprise gift which he was not in a position to refuse – the renaming of the garden behind East Court Mansion as the Rolley Terrace in his honour.

Replying to the good wishes of all those who had paid tribute to his long service, Chris said he would be kicking off a retirement which he hoped would feature fewer evening engagements and more sporting activities, with a three-day bike ride across the country from Workington to Sunderland.

Looking back over a career in which he had worked with 26 mayors, and been instrumental in bringing the town its own theatre complex and museum, he said had no regrets about staying in one post for over 25 years, when he had originally only planned to stay for four.

“You can chase success by constantly moving, and that is what I did until I came to East Grinstead. But then I realised you could get just as much satisfaction by staying in one job and aspiring to high standards.

“The Big Society is not a new concept – it is what East Grinstead is all about. It’s a great town, full of great people, and the council staff have been a joy to work with.

“God bless you all.

“God bless East Grinstead.”

Retiring town clerk Chris Rolley, centre back, with (l-r):
Andrew Metz (his daughter Hannah’s fiancé ), Mayor Steve Barnett, Hannah, wife Sue, mother Maureen and Council leader James Baldwin

TOWN tourist office staff Dawn Spalding and Simon Kerr have produced The Great Time Machine, a new booklet about East Grinstead.

Available at the library, it features a host of fascinating facts about the town’s history and architecture, as well as forgotten anecdotes about some of the famous people who have lived in or visited the town.

• East Grinstead stands on a sandstone ridge 400 feet above sea level
• The Greenwich Meridian passes through East Grinstead and Danehill, before exiting England at Peacehaven
• In 1955 a charity cricket match of Actors versus Politicians was composed of teams featuring among others Harold MacMillan, John Mills, Richard Attenborough and Rex Harrison
• The last public execution in East Grinstead took place in 1794 of a man found guilty of horse theft

THE wall alongside the staircase in East Court has been redecorated and all the pictures of past mayors rehung to create room for 15 more appointees before space for new ones will need to be found elsewhere.

Retiring Town Clerk Chris Rolley with the plaque which names the terrace behind East Court in his honour

(photo: by courtesy of Andrew Taylor)
 

REVELLERS using East Court for parties, weddings and other functions will no longer have to stumble to their cars in the dark, thanks to the installation of a new photocell and time clock which will control the courtyard lighting at night.

THE volunteer group which maintains Ashplats Wood has a new website at: www.ashplats.org/Ashplats_Conservation_Group

The 61 acre wood, which is part of the East Court Estate, is designated as Ancient Woodland, and is a West Sussex Site of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI), sitting within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

The conservation group hopes its new website will encourage more volunteers and bring the wood’s beauty to a wider audience.

The site features the area’s history and pictures to help identify the species of flora and fauna to be found there, as well as recipes, news and a month-by-month calendar of seasonal changes to be found on walks in the woods.

THE WEST Sussex Breast Screening Service unit is once again parked outside East Court to give women easy access for regular checks.

A WSBSS spokesman, who thanked the Council for giving its permission for the unit to stay at East Court until September, said the early detection of breast cancer is of “huge value” to women.

THE Council’s housekeeping team cleaned 115 square metres of graffiti and removed 27 items of fly-posting from around the town in January and February.

Spokesman Keith Astley said: “Graffiti tends to ‘breed’ if it is left, so we remove it as quickly as possible once it has been reported to maintain the town’s appearance and environment.”