Category: News

In our regular feature introducing councillors elected to the Town Council last May, the spotlight turns on Peter Wyan who represents Imberhorne Ward.

PETER was born in September 1939, 10 days after the declaration of WWII, and grew up in Hull, East Yorkshire, where he was educated at the all-male Grammar school.

“I got good ‘O’ and ‘A’ level results,” Peter laughed, “but my school reports were always to the effect that if I had applied the same interest to my studies as I did to sport, I would have been an outstanding scholar.”

But his prowess on the sports field earned him a place in the 1st XV rugby squad and the title of Victor Ludorum (Champion Athlete).

After leaving school at 17, Peter worked in a shipping company, quit to do his National Service and returned two years later.

He married his wife Diane in 1971 and the couple moved to Cherry Burton, where they raised the first of their children, Donna and Mark.

“My main hobbies at the time were fishing and rugby, which I played until I was 40,” said Peter.

“Then I broke two ribs, and my wife told me I was getting too old to carry on.”

So at 40 Peter changed his life completely.

He moved his family to Otley, and took a new job as a supervisor with the Leeds Marine Centre of the Commercial Union Group.

His youngest daughter Natalie was born in 1984, and the same year Peter was promoted to Marine Centre manager in Manchester.

Four years later he was given “the opportunity of a lifetime” when he was offered a new job as regional manager of the Far East Regional Office in Singapore.

“I travelled to all of our offices throughout south east Asia, my wife and chilldren were with me and it was a wonderful experience for all of us.”

Further promotion brought Peter back to London and the family moved to East Grinstead almost 20 years ago.

Since retiring as manager of the UK Marine Department in 1999, Peter has enjoyed fishing, attending the gym and taking on the role of Vice President at the East Grinstead Rugby Club.

“We’ve lived in the town for almost 20 years, and all three of our children have attended local schools so I decided it was time I gave something back to the community which is why I decided to stand as a town councillor.“I have been appointed chairman of the Planning committee and also vice chairman of the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group whose challenge is to help the community create the East Grinstead it wants over the next 20 years.”

VOLUNTEERS who run the Costume Store at Chequer Mead hope to mark their third anniversary this month having raised £14,000 in support of the theatre.

The store, which opens on Saturday mornings for private hire, or by appointment for theatrical productions, has a huge and ever-expanding stock of costumes ranging from historical figures, to dinosaurs.

And as they enter the autumn, the team are looking forward to their busiest months of the year.

“Hallowe’en is always a good time for us, and then of course we have Christmas and New Year to look forward to, so we anticipate that we’ll have quite a rush on over the next few weeks,” said co-founder Barbara Stovold.

“The past three years have been very successful and we are delighted that the money we have raised has gone into supporting the town theatre, because we know it gives a great deal of pleasure to a great many people.

TOWN Mayor John Saull raised £1500 for St Catherine’s Hospice at an evening devoted to Concorde.

John, a former member of the Civil Aviation Authority, was closely involved in certifying the iconic aircraft and its maintenance programmes.

He was joined in addressing a packed Meridian Hall, which included several local mayors and artist David Shepherd, by Concorde pilot Captain John Hutchinson sharing some anecdotes about his time on the flight deck.

 

* The mayor’s wife Silvina, who catered the buffet, was presented with flowers by Council Leader Norman Webster.

A TOUR party of 35 from RC Romans in southern France visited East Grinstead Rugby Football Club for their bi-annual tour over the August Bank Holiday.

The town club has had very close links with RC Romans, the rugby club of East Grinstead’s French twin Bourg de Peage, for nearly 50 years, and the East Grinstead Town Twinning Association supported the tour with a generous payment for the hire of a coach to pick up and return the French side from the Euro Tunnel.

THE Town Twinning Association is inviting local schools to take part in an exhibition in the Greenstede Gallery at Chequer Mead from 2 – 7 December 2011.

The title of the event will be Europe on your Doorstep and its focus will be on the links and communication with Europe and the rest of the world.

Sackville and Imberhorne Schools have already expressed an interest in taking part, and invitations went to them and to all the town’s primary schools last month.

TOWN Mayor John Saull and his wife Silvina were guests of honour at the induction of the Filipino British Association’s new officers for 2011 to 2013.

Cllr Danny Favor, recently honoured as the first Filipino to hold public office in the UK following his election to the Town Council last May, thanked the mayor for his interest and support.

Council leader Norman Webster, and Christine Hardisty of the EGCVS also attended the event.

In the second of our biographies this month, we turn the spotlight on Cllr Dick Sweatman who represents Herontye Ward.

DICK Sweatman was born and bred in Edenbridge, but was a regular visitor to East Grinstead as a teenager, when he would cycle over to see pop heroes including The Rolling Stones and Dusty Springfield perform at the Whitehall theatre.

Newly-married in 1980, Dick finally arrived here to live, and has run his own business in and around the area ever since.

His two daughters, now 24 and 26, both attended Sackville school, and Dick himself is a member of the Holtye Golf Club.

Like many of his fellow councillors, Dick was elected to public office for the first time last May, and is still learning the ropes, both on the Town Council and on Mid Sussex District Council where he also won a seat.

“It’s still all pretty new to me,” he admitted, “but I decided to stand because I am interested in people and I thought it was time I gave something back to the community.”

As a local businessman himself, Dick is all too aware of the challenges facing the town’s traders, and is keen both to support those already working in East Grinstead, and encourage anyone considering starting up here.

“East Grinstead is a fantastic place to live and work," he said.

“I also want to promote the work of Herontye Ward’s Neighbourhood Panel, and to make myself and the Council more visible and more available to the town’s residents.”

WEST Sussex County Council is seeking the public’s view about possible changes to parking arrangements in East Grinstead following a consultation about the issue which took place last January.

Some residents and businesses indicated that they did not currently suffer from parking problems and that the introduction of a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) was not needed.

However a number living closest to the town centre, were in favour of a CPZ to deal with problems caused by non-resident parking.

As a result, the County Council is proposing to introduce parking controls, as an extension of Zone A, into:

• Brooklands Way (between the current boundary of Zone A and West Hill)
• Copyhold Road (between Brooklands Way and the green area)
• Garden Wood Road (between Brooklands Way and the railway viaduct), and
• West Hill (between the current boundary of Zone A and Brooklands Way).

Details of scheme

The proposed CPZ would operate from Monday to Saturday between 9am and 5pm, excluding Bank Holidays. During these controlled hours, parking would only be permitted in designated parking bays marked by white lines on the road. Outside of these hours, parking would not be restricted in bays or on single yellow lines, unless indicated otherwise by a statutory yellow time plate.

Resident permits would be available to residents who own a vehicle and who do not have adequate off-street parking facilities at a cost of £40 p.a. for the first and £80 p.a. for a second permit. Motorcycles and scooters would not require a permit.

Disabled drivers who live within the zone, and do not have a parking bay marked out for their use, could apply for a ‘free’ first residents’ permit. Disabled and/or elderly residents living within the zone, who rely on regular visits from care organisations, relatives, friends etc. in order to maintain an independent lifestyle living at home, and do not own a car, could also be eligible for a Residents Carer Permit.

Visitor parking would be accommodated through the purchase of scratch-off resident visitors’ permits, available in books of ten, which allow parking in permit holder bays at a cost of 30p for two hours. For contractors or trades people working at properties, dispensation notices could also be issued.

WSCC will be contacting affected residents and urging them to complete a comments card and return it in a pre-paid envelope by Monday 3 October 2011.

The County Council is keen to stress that no final decisions have yet been made and also that no changes to parking will be made without further consultation.

Should the study progress it will include a further statutory consultation later this year, and no immediate changes will be introduced on-street as a result of replies to this consultation.

Staff from Mid Sussex District Council will be available for questioning at East Grinstead Library in West Street on Saturday, 24 September, from 10am and 1pm, and on Thursday, 29 September, between 10am and 3pm.

A further drop-in session will be held at Halsford Park Primary School in Manor Road, East Grinstead, on Thursday, 29 September, between 6pm and 8pm.

Read EGTC’s response to consultation on draft statement of community involvement

COUNCILLOR Danny Favor was honoured by the Deputy Philippine Ambassador Reynaldo Catapang as the first-ever town councillor of Filipino origin to be elected in the UK, at a recent ceremony held at the Philippine Embassy. The Deputy Ambassador presented Cllr Favor with a certificate recognising his historic achievement.

Danny said he hoped his achievement will “inspire and encourage Filipinos to be more proactive, motivated, and productive members of society and continue making a difference in their communities, both in the UK and the Philippines”.

Danny who is an Ophthalmic Nurse Practitioner at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, was elected in May this year as Councillor for Asphalts Ward on the East Grinstead Town Council. He is also President of the Filipino-British Association and works closely with several local charities.

With the support of the Town Council, he will continue his work with various groups in organizing social, cultural and sporting activities which promote good relationships, cooperation and participation in pursuit of common goals within the community. In particular he hopes to organise a large inter-town sport festival in East Grinstead, supported by various local groups and neighbouring towns.

Cllr Favor, who was interviewed by the BBC about his honour, has also started a Health and Wellness Action Team, composed of Registered Nurses and other health care professionals who will volunteer to perform free blood pressure checks, blood sugar checks and BMI checks for interested residents, with the aim of preventing, detecting and monitoring common health problems such as hypertension, diabetes and malnutrition.

THE Forest Garden at Shovelstrode, which Town Mayor John Saull will open officially on 8 September, is the brainchild of Lisa Aitken, a keen horticulturalist, and Charles Hooper, an experienced landscape designer, who share a passion for sustainable living.

Charles Hooper appeared last year in the TV series Mastercrafts where he honed his woodland skills learning to work with greenwood.

The Shovelstrode project is an inspirational place for other people to learn about the principles of forest gardening and to learn ancient woodland crafts.

There are also ‘back to nature’ camping facilities available for hire in yurts set in ancient woodland.

The project involves the creation of a Forest Garden on the 0.7acre site of a vacant paddock which will be used to harvest a range of healthy food.

The team have also restored and managed adjacent existing ancient woodland of 3.7acres where a wildlife pond has been created to further increase the local biodiversity.

Situated in the heart of the Sussex High Weald, the site extends in total to approximately 5 acres of which 3.5 acres is ancient woodland.

Once part of John of Gaunt’s hunting park, the woodland was originally part of Anderida Forest and would have consisted mainly of giant oaks with hazel undergrowth which flourished over the damp clays and loams of the valley regions.

Much of the oak has now been replaced by ash which exists today alongside the few remaining oak trees and a neglected hazel coppice understory.

One of the earliest historians of the Weald, William Lambarde, describes the area in his 1576 Perambulation:

“In times past nothing but a desart and waste wildernesse, not planted with towns or peopled with men, but stored with herdes of deere and droves of hogges only.”

Forest gardening, or agroforestry, takes on the principles of permaculture and is undoubtedly the oldest form of land use known to mankind. Permaculture is an ecologically sound system for sustainability by minimising inputs and recycling all potential wastes back into the system.

The Forest Garden is an oasis of edible plant species which takes its vision from nature, and specifically the natural ecology of a young forest. Wildcrafting is the practice of harvesting plants from their natural or "wild" habitat for food, medicine or other purposes. Only the branches or flowers are taken and the living plant is left.

The design of the planting is crucial in order to achieve a successful balance. The aim is to plant utilising the seven different layers: the root layer, ground cover, herb layer, fruiting shrubs, dwarf trees, tree canopy layer and the high canopy or vertical layer.

A well-considered and diverse planting scheme will help insure against the threat of disease or disasters.