February 2020 Newsletter
Apologies for the delay in publication which was due to surgery at Worthing Hospital, where all the staff encountered were absolutely wonderful.
For our February Coffee Morning we hosted Turning Tides who are doing great work locally with the homeless, not just in finding beds for the night but also helping people to get back on their feet and contributing to the community. If you feel you can help them with donations or offering support you can find out more at:
www.turning-tides.org.uk
Following the visit to The Littlehampton Academy by Janet Crosley, Sue Penn and Pauline Latter we sent a letter to all councillors with the results of our own survey and the views taken from the school children. Whilst it is perhaps surprising to note how much the views of all age groups in the town have in common (and therefore a good guide to our community’s opinions and requirements), it is less so that there has been little, so far, engagement from our representatives on regeneration matters. However, a chance to grill Hugh Coster at our next coffee morning may prove to be
quite informative.
On the subject of town regeneration, and in the light of recent weathers and climate change, do we not feel that flood mitigation and resilience should be serious considerations at all levels? Or are they? Interesting to read in the application for changes at the old Gratwick pub, LU/376/19/PD, that it is in a “low flood risk area”!
It is at the junction of Anchor Springs and East Street which is the lowest point in the town and we all have seen the photographic evidence of flooding. There are other proposals for this part of town and if they all plead the same low risk will the risk be pushed on to the High Street, Beach Road, etc. Maybe time for reassessment of what does constitute flood risk.
We would very much like to have a small number of “planning application watchers”
to keep us up to speed on developments, not at all a time consuming task if you are unable to attend council meetings, although we do need a couple more for that.
Our coffee morning on 6th March (poster attached) will give us all an opportunity to put questions and ideas to Hugh Coster, Chair of Bognor’s Civic Society and now an independent councillor on ADC, so do come and see what we, and he, can learn.