Category: News

EAST Grinstead residents who fail to return their voters registration forms will lose their right to a say in future elections.

Town Clerk Julie Holden is reminding residents to return their electoral registration forms to Mid Sussex District Council to make sure their voices are heard. The District Council is due to deliver 59,000 forms to households across the District over the coming days.

Legislation is currently in the Houses of Parliament to create elected Police and Crime Commissioners across the country next year and residents must ensure they are on the 2012 Electoral Register if they want to be eligible to vote for these new posts.

Registering is easy.

If the pre-printed details are correct, residents have the option to confirm their details by internet, SMS text message or over the telephone. Last year, over 5,000 more households chose these efficient and cost-effective methods compared to 2009.

If the information on the electoral registration form is not up to date, residents must use the form to send the correct information to the Council. New voters can be added, former residents removed and alterations can be made to names and other personal details. The form must then be signed and returned, by post, to the Electoral Registration department.

Residents can opt to have their details excluded from the edited register, which means they cannot be bought by individuals and commercial organisations.

“Registering to vote is very simple. All you have to do is update the annual canvass form with the details of everyone in your household who is eligible to vote, and return it to us as soon as possible,” said Tom Clark, Returning Officer for Mid Sussex.

“If you are already registered then confirmation is still required, and this can be done very easily using the phone or internet.

“There was a lot of interest in this year’s referendum on the UK voting system and we were pleased with the increase in registration shortly before polling day. However, some people may not realise that they have to register every year to take part in all future elections.”

It is up to individuals to ensure that they have registered to vote. Paying Council Tax or logging details with another Council department does not automatically entitle people to vote as their details must be entered for the Electoral Register separately.

The independent Electoral Commission has a website, www.aboutmyvote.co.uk, packed with information about registering to vote, who can register and the different ways of having your say – you can even visit a virtual polling station.

Anyone who has moved house in the previous few weeks and has not received a form for his or her new property should contact the electoral services office immediately.
For more information about the registration process and voting go to www.midsussex.gov.uk/elections, contact Electoral Services on 01444 477003 or email elections@midsussex.gov.uk.

* The annual canvass takes place every autumn. An annual canvass form will be sent to every property in Mid Sussex. A revised electoral register will be published by 1 December 2011.

* You can only vote if your name appears in the register of electors and you are aged 18 or over on polling day. Any eligible person over the age of 16 can register to vote but must be 18 or over on polling day.

* Special provisions to register also apply to members of the UK armed forces serving abroad to allow them to vote. For more information, go to www.aboutmyvote.co.uk.

THE following councillors will be available at the town library in West Street between 10am and noon, to meet local residents and offer advice.

• September 3: Cllrs Bob Mainstone and Jackie Beckford
• September 10: Cllrs Ben Burns and Garry Sillitoe
• September 17: Cllrs Bob Mainstone and Jackie Beckford
• September 24: Cllrs Tony Scott and Danny Favor

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.

For more information, or to book tickets, contact the box office on 01342 302000

SOUTH Coast Productions presents Champagne SuperNova and Friends – Helping The Heroes: 9 September

Champagne SuperNova presents a fantastic mix of rock and pop hits, old and new, in aid of Help For Heroes. Featuring A Bag Full of Hats with Gemma Dandy and InChoir, the West Sussex rock, pop and soul choir. A great concert for a great cause.

The Real Thing: 10 September

You To Me Are Everything – Britain’s number one love song, performed by Britain’s number one band. Still featuring three original singers, the Amoo brothers Chris and Eddy, and Dave Smith, The Real Thing recreate the sounds of the seventies and eighties.

EAST Grinstead Operatic Society presents A Chorus Line: 15 to 17 September

EGOS, who last year wowed audiences with The Full Monty, are back with A Chorus Line. Telling the tale of 18 dancers auditioning to be in a chorus line, this show was one of the longest-running ever on Broadway and won nine Tony awards.

CHEQUER Mead Lunchtime Concerts Series presents Songs of Yesteryear: 20 September

John Noyce accompanied by Marion Schuster on piano.

John has been singing in local choirs for many years and is a founder member of both Concordia and The Weald Choir of Crawley. He has sung with the Bel Canto Opera, Crawley and East Grinstead Opera, and the Company of Friends.

SMILE Productions presents Absolute Bowie: 24 September

Europe’s premier five-piece Bowie tribute band interpreting the music of David Bowie with uncanny accuracy.

JAZZ Café: 28 September

Enjoy the best of live jazz combined with the finest bistro menus at one of Chequer Mead’s regular Jazz Cafe evenings. Table reservations in advance only on 01342 324860.

DARKEST Star Productions presents Roy Orbison and Friends Special Class of 63: 29 September

Barry Steele puts the rock back into Roy Orbison as he takes to the stage to celebrate Roy’s 75th birthday. Barry’s fabulous five-piece show band will perform hits from The Shadows, Ray Charles and Jerry Lee Lewis, plus appearances from special guests The Beatles and Michael King as Billy Fury.

GREENWOOD and Price present Back To Broadway – A Musical Theatre Experience: 30 September

A musical which incorporates a young girl’s dream of stardom punctuated with dialogue and songs from some of the most popular musicals, with New York back-drop, specialised lighting effects, costumes, props and performers from the Welsh National Opera, The 12 Tenors, Beyond the Barricade and the West End.

A new exhibition at the town museum will show how East Grinstead has changed since Victorian times, with maps and photographs illustrating its story over more than a century.

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to research their own homes and see how the surrounding areas have changed down the years.

And activities planned for the school holidays will encourage children to imagine how East Grinstead may change over the coming century.

The exhibition will be launched on 28 September and will run until the New Year.

 Kent Potters Association – 2 to 13 September:

AN exciting exhibition/sale of their latest ceramic work, specially selected from over 200 professional and amateur potters and sculptors who make up this vibrant and active group.

Martin Schmandt – Seeing Through The Eyes: 16 to 21 September

PAINTINGS and drawings which weave precisely observed appearances into the depth, music and poetry of our inner lives. Media include oil, egg-tempera, gouache, ink and pastel.

Robert Meldrum – 23 September to 5 October

A series of paintings from around Crawley and Croydon. The approach has been founded on Meldrum’s favourite American painters, Rauschenberg, Johns, Guston and Basquiat, using oil and spray paint.

“John-Luc Godard said once you only needed a girl and a gun to make a film and my aims have been to try and paint traditional English landscapes using the most basic, clichéd subjects to find complexity within them…”

MEMBERS of the emergency services will be taking part in 999 Day this Sunday at East Court between 9am and 3pm.

The programme for the day includes:

• 10am – Opening by the Town Mayor
• 10.30am – Chip Pan Fire demo
• 11am – Police dog demo
• 1pm – Road traffic accident re-enactment
• 2pm – Police dog demo
• 2.30pm – Chip pan fire demo

Meridian FM will be broadcasting and helping with the public announcements throughout the day.

Search and rescue land rovers will be on display with ambulances and fire engines, and emergency service staff will talk about what they do.

The police sniffer dog unit will also be back.

* Please note that car parking will be greatly reduced as some of the displays will be in the East Court car parks. Anyone attending is advised to park elsewhere and walk to East Court.
The grounds will be open to the public as usual but some areas will be cordoned off for safety reasons around the demonstrations and displays. Everyone’s co-operation in respecting the barriers will be appreciated.

The old Caffyns site in King Street was an eyesore until a week ago when the Town Council staff stepped in to clear it up.

The site, which is empty pending development, was overgrown with weeds and fencing had been moved. It was advised at a recent Planning Committee that the owners had been contacted about clearing it themselves – or paying for the Council to get the work done.

The owners decided to pay the Council to do the job and within a few days this major town centre eyesore was looking spick and span.

Council Leader, Norman Webster, thanked the staff for their great effort and said “The Council is hopeful that a Planning application will be lodged shortly and this long running problem will be sorted to the benefit of the town.”

* Pictured below: the overgrown forecourt of the former Caffyns garage, before and after the outside staff cleared it up.

 

EAST Grinstead Town Council is appealing for help and information to catch the people behind a scourge of fly posting which has defaced the town this summer.

The most recent adverts to appear have been for a circus, but there have been many others in recent months.

Town council staff have removed more than two dozen illegal posters in the past week alone and are hoping that someone can identify those responsible. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Council on 01342 323636.