In response to a request from Steyning Parish Council for brief comments on the Draft County Minerals & Waste Framework I have made the following points on the long list of possible sites suitable for minerals extraction or waste management in this area: -

Minerals

a) Ham Farm - opposite Wiston Park on the A283, next to Horsebrook Cottage/Ham Farm (14 hectares with potential reserves of 850,000 tonnes of soft sand). Was previously considered in 2005 Minerals DPD but area now reduced. Main concern would be the environmental eyesore in this rural area designated as adjacent to ancient woodland, and not exactly enhancing the view from Wiston Park. In addition the extra lorry traffic on the A283 would make the pedestrian crossings in Steyning, Bramber and Upper Beeding more dangerous. Provision of traffic light controls at the most used of these crossings should be a requirement of any planning approval.

b) Shoreham Cement Works at Upper Beeding - extraction of chalk for the manufacture of cement by expanding the existing quarry southwards. (21 hectares with reserves of 12-14 million tonnes.) I am sure that local people with longer memories than me will recall the traffic conditions when this was an operational quarry in the past, but re-opening such a site in the new South Downs National Park must be questionable and should be opposed. Although a new roundabout access on the A283 is suggested, again the increase in lorry traffic must be of considerable concern. Provision of traffic light controls at the most used of the pedestrian crossings in our area should be a requirement of any planning approval.

Waste

a) Shoreham Cement Works at Upper Beeding - refers to built waste facility. This could be anything from an incinerator to a household waste facility for the Chanctonbury area. (And of course could be in addition to the new chalk extraction mentioned above.) Again I am opposed to such a use in the middle of the South Downs National Park. The increased traffic would be a major concern. The suggested possibility of restoring the rail link to Shoreham and/or use of the river for transport of material is interesting, although probably unlikely; and what would happen to the Downs Link? In this case no new roundabout is suggested but the increase in lorry traffic must be of considerable concern. Provision of traffic light controls at the most used of the pedestrian crossings in our area should be a requirement of any planning approval. If this site was approved alongside a new chalk extraction quarry the impact on our local environment would surely be horrendous.

b) Star Road Trading Estate, Partridge Green - could be a household waste site for the Chanctonbury area or an industrial recycling facility. Most concern would be extra traffic on the Horsham Road through Ashurst and on the A283.

c) Golding Barn, Henfield Road, Upper Beeding - this would be for construction and demolition waste. This is an existing quarry of 2.31 hectares. Some of this type of waste has already been taken into this site under licence from County Planners.

I am sure many people will be able to add comments to these proposals. Please contact me with your views.

I have been informed that this work will start on Tuesday 9th February, subject to weather, emergencies and usual reservations with minor maintenance work. The work has to be done now before the start of nesting season.

As the ground conditions are not suitable for heavy machines there will be a small digger and a chipper, chain saw, small tools

The small trees will be chipped on site and the chips will be left on site to mulch. This is a sustainable way of managing of green waste. The roots will be stockpiled at the side of the road and removed when the cutting work is complete. Any thing that is too big for the one gang involved to handle will be referred to tree surgeons to be felled at a later date.

The work is likely to take 2 to 3 days, and the Local Highway Manager will be on site on the Tuesday about mid- morning.

Once the work is completed the visibility splay will accord with the original plans for this junction with the Steyning By pass, and hopefully improve visibility of traffic from the Washington direction for vehicles turning right out of Canons Way.

Many people will be aware of the continuing flooding of the Horsham Road outside the Leisure Centre whenever we have periods of heavy rain.

I organised a site meeting on Monday to discuss the matter with the Local Highway Engineer, and am pleased to say that in the short term he has added the drainage points concerned to the jetting list to be cleared. 

For the longer term he has added a full survey of the drainage provision in the area to this jetting work with a view to developing a scheme that might resolve the flooding problem. 

We also discussed the flooding which takes place on footpath 2600 outside St Andrew’s Primary School. This is a continuing problem that often leads, when it has been raining, to children attending school with wet feet or using the road, which is dangerous. Recent photographs have revealed that it is more of a ponding problem rather than a ditch related flooding issue and so the Local Highway Manager has arranged to carry out maintenance work to raise the level of the footway where this ponding takes place. Hopefully this will be done soon, but priority is currently being given to repairing winter damage and potholes in the carriageways.  

There is some concern about the ditch next to the footway, and since this is the responsibility of Horsham District Council appropriate District Council officers on behalf of District Councillor George Cockman are investigating any necessary works.

At the submission at County Hall of the Thakeham Action Group petition against the planning application for a landfill site at Laybrook Quarry, the MP for Arundel & South Downs said many fine words against the continuing use of landfill sites to deal with waste.

What he did not say was how; if the Conservatives became the next government, what he and his colleagues would do to help reduce the continuing commercial demands for such landfill provision.

What I would have said was the Secretary of State for the Environment should: -

1. Immediately introduce a government policy of zero waste to landfill,
2. Direct that no provision should be made by County Councils (such as West Sussex) to take waste from London Councils,
3. Require that County Councils, in preparing their Minerals and Waste Planning Frameworks, should make no provision for landfill sites. (West Sussex is currently preparing its Planning Framework.), and
4. Require commercial and industrial businesses (which produce 30% of the waste in the County) to meet the same targets for recycling with the same financial penalties for non-compliance and use of landfill sites as local government. (This would dramatically reduce landfill requirements in the county and make the business case for Laybrook Quarry much less viable.)

Government action is required to make landfill sites unviable and Liberal Democrats will continue to press for such action.

A full review of the library service has taken place using customer feedback to help build a service which makes the best use of modern technology whilst doing everything possible to shape its services to what individuals and communities most want from their local library.

The County Council is therefore proposing to implement a new design framework for the library service, which will provide consistent Longer opening hours for Steyning Library and affordable levels of service for communities of similar size and demographics, with some details left for implementation following local consultation. 

The great news is that the opening hours for Steyning Library are to increase from 34.5 to 39 hours per week. The Library would be open from 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, and for 4hours on Saturday.

Senior library managers will be available for residents to talk to about the opening hours and to express their views in Steyning Library from 10am to 12pm on Tuesday 16 February.

From 1 to 20 February forms will be available in the Library for residents to record their views on the proposals. In addition there will be a chart showing the pattern of library use over the last year.

There is to be a further review of the mobile library service, for implementation by May 2010 if feasible.