Angmering Village Life
News Archive
May 2005
May Day Celebrations
We have been advised by David Boreham, Headteacher of St Margaret's CE School, that the village May Day celebrations, this year hosted by St Wilfrid's School, takes place on Wednesday May 25th 2005, with the procession setting off at St Wilfrid's coming at 1.15pm up to St Margaret's CE School, accompanied by the May Queen and King and May Prince and Princess. Some 700 people will then process down to St Wilfrid's for the crowning ceremony and dancing including around the Maypole.
If you are free on the 25th, why not go along and support this long-established traditional village event.
(23 May 2005)
Water Lane / Lansdowne Road Development
Following a recent planning appeal, the Government appointed Planning Inspector has overturned Arun District Council's refusal of Application No. A/84/04 which will allow Cliveden Homes to build two bungalows at the rear of No. 6 Lansdowne Road - these will exit in the twitten by The Lamb. Generally, the Inspector considered that the dwellings would be in keeping with nearby properties, would not appear obtrusive, and would "improve both the appearance and the security of the walkway". Disappointingly, the Inspector obviously had no idea what a Sussex twitten was, which she referred to as "a narrow and featureless passage".
To build these bungalows, construction traffic will access the site through the old "Red Admirals" site at 24 Water Lane which will also contain two car parking spaces for the bungalows. When the bungalows have been completed, Roffey Homes will be able to commence development of the Red Admirals site itself comprising a block of seven apartments. It is noted, however, from Roffey Homes' website that "Construction is scheduled to start in 2007". It is pleasing that they appear to be naming the site "Red Admirals" after the name of the old bungalow which stood on the site previously.
Angmering Parish Council, The Angmering Society, and many individuals in the village over the last couple of years have opposed the over-development of these two plots of land and the style of the properties originally proposed by Roffey Homes and Cliveden Homes. While these bodies and individuals would no doubt still consider the developments inappropriate, what they have achieved is dwellings more fitting to the style of the village centre and with a lower occupation density. This goes to prove that we should not consider planning applications by developers to be inevitable and unchangeable, and we should therefore challenge them when applicable to obtain their scrapping or their improvement. If not, inappropriate development will destroy the character of our village.
(19 May 2005)
Other News in Brief (Week 20)
Texaco Garage to close - Texaco has announced that their garage on the A259 at Angmering will close on 10 June 2005. Ten jobs will be lost. The site will probably be sold to developers.
Refuse Tip - The re-opening of the tip has again been delayed. It is now scheduled to re-open on Friday 27 May.
Doctor's Surgery - Some ground clearance commenced at the Station Road site yesterday together with the erection of some fencing, presumably in preparation for the commencement of construction.
St Margaret's CE School - Following a recent review, Ofsted has praised the school's impressive teaching standards.
(19 May 2005)
Angmering Artwork Exhibition
Some 400 people visited The Angmering Society's Artwork Exhibition in the Village Hall at the weekend. They came from the local area, Guildford, Oxford, Stoke-on-Trent, Australia - and Mongolia! Organiser, Jane Rowley, said that messages left in the Visitors Book included phrases such as: "Excellent standard-well done"; "What a lot of hidden talent"; "Such a pleasure"; "Surpassed my expectations"; "Absolutely inspiring - going home to paint". These comments summed up the whole idea of the Exhibition which was to provide the opportunity for those within the Parish to share their talents and hopefully inspire others to 'have a go' themselves.
(17 May 2005)
Limes in The Square
The contractors
arrived today and started removing the diseased lime tree in The Square
Angmering Parish Council intend replacing the diseased tree with a new but fairly mature tree later in the year. The diseased tree needs to be removed, not only for safety reasons (although the tree is not yet in a critical condition), but also due to the fear that the disease will spread to the other limes.
On a historical note, the limes were planted by the Parish Council in about 1902/3, only a few a few years after the Green had been levelled, shaped and re-sown. This was necessary as there had been considerable problems with the culvert which runs through Angmering and under the Green before exiting into Black Ditch behind the Village Hall.
(13 May 2005)
Policing of Angmering
We are pleased to announce another significant page on this website. This is entitled "Policing the Parish of Angmering" which you can view by clicking here. Five months ago, Angmering was fortunate enough to have a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) assigned exclusively to the Parish. Since PCSO Emma Orpin took up duty, there has been a measurable reduction in minor crime and disorderly behaviour. Already, Emma is becoming a familiar face around the village and is someone who can communicate at all levels and take a common-sense approach to the job. People who are dismissive of the rôle of PCSOs should think again. Do look at our new page (you can also click on the link in the navigation bar to the left) which will be an eye-opener on PCSO's powers and duties! The page also contains many contact addresses and advice on crime prevention and, if it unfortunately happens, how to report it. Additionally, you will be able to read the latest policing news in the village, the local police structure, and feature articles.
(12 May 2005)
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Angmering Artwork Exhibition
Have you remembered that an exhibition of artwork will be held in the Village Hall on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend between 10.00am and 5.00pm? The exhibition will comprise: paintings, photographs, découpage and textile art. There are 29 exhibitors who will be displaying some 126 items of art, some of which are for sale. Do go along and support this event. Admission is free.
(12 May 2005)
Bramley Green Development
Bramley Green residents have nicknamed the area "Bramley Brown" due to the lack of progress by the developers in landscaping the main park area which is just a sea of earth and weed. Promises of grass seeding have been broken. The work should have been completed by Easter and it now looks as if children from the Development will not be able to use the area and play equipment until late Summer.
The local authorites really must get tough on the developers and their sub-contractors. If not, residents must get tough on the local authorities!
Until the Developers have completed their contractual obligations, the Parish Council cannot take over areas of Bramley Green which is causing delays in the provision of a skate park and BMX track in land at the south of Development.
(12 May 2005)
Angmering Planning Applications (List 18)
A/44/05/T - Surgery to row of Cupressus Leylandii trees at Blue Cedars, Blue Cedars Close, Ham Manor. For Mr A W Evans.
(11 May 2005)
Greenwood Drive - Bramley Green Cycleway/Pedestrian Route - Update (2)
Further to our article on 25th April, I reminded Arun District Council that a few years ago, the then Head of Planning Services stated at a Public Enquiry that if Hargreaves effectively blocked the footpath/cycleway links, the Council "would take legal advice with a view to considering appropriate action to remedy what would be viewed as a breech of the relevant conditions of A/124/95" as Hargreaves were a party to the S106 Agreement (Bramley Green Development Project) which also had impact on other planning applications on that Development.
In their latest response, Arun District Council now confirm that they, together with WSCC, are responsible for the implementation of the agreement and that WSCC and the Bramley Green Consortium are continuing to look into the issue. Well, I suppose that's it then. When did the WSCC last listen to residents?
(9 May 2005)
Bus-stop demolished
In the early hours of Friday morning (Election Night), the driver of a car lost control of the vehicle in The Square and demolished the bus-stop outside Cafe Feliz. The Lambie memorial seat by the bus-stop was also severely damaged. The car was obviously driving far too fast as a resident in The Square heard the squeal of tyres as the car rounded the corner before the impact took place moments later. The driver parked a little way up the road and ran back to retrieve the car's bumper before driving off.
(7 May 2005)
Bluebells
This weekend may be the last to see the bluebells in Angmering woods at their best. Walk directly up Selden Lane (next to the Fox PH) for about 15 minutes and you will not miss them.
The beech trees are breaking out into leaf (see photo right) and the new green leaf looks fantastic.
(6 May 2005)
Traffic Chaos
There was chaos this afternoon on the A27, down through Angmering, along the by-pass and the A259, and through Littlehampton. A lorry carrying building chemicals jack-knifed at Hammerpot causing the west-bound carriageway to be closed and one lane of the east-bound carriageway.
(3 May 2005)
The William Older Playgroup - An
appeal from its trustees:
"The William Older Playgroup, Arundel Road, Angmering, moved into its existing hut in 1973. The Playgroup owes a great debt to the men and women, who are now senior village worthies, who worked tirelessly to fulfil a need for the under 5 year olds in the community, in providing the necessary accommodation. (We have details of the original plans and drawings).
The William Older Playgroup is run very successfully by 2 Supervisors and assistants on a daily basis with sessions in the mornings as well as the afternoons - there is now a waiting list for places.
In May 2004, Ofsted carried out a Care and Full Education Inspection and awarded 'The Playgroup with the highest grading for the standard of care as well as all learning areas'.
The Trustees and Committee of the William Older Playgroup feel it is time to update the hut to be able to continue the education of the village children of pre-school age and, to this end, are in the process of raising funds. The plans for the new hut (see right) are available for inspection, by prior arrangement with the Supervisors, who can be contacted on 01903-771025.
The Playgroup is a Registered Charity and is a 'stand alone' organisation and receives no funding from the local education departments. We need to raise funds for the replacement building and would value help and assistance in this matter. The Playgroup is an essential part of the Village and many children, now in full-time primary, secondary and further education, have had the advantages of attending the Playgroup.
For further information, the Playgroup can be contacted on 01903-775649."
(3 May 2005)
Useless Statistics!
We have now been live for 4 months and one or two of you might be interested in how we have been faring.
Since 1 January 2005, visitors have accessed the site 7200 times and have viewed nearly 25,000 pages between them. Visitors have come from 75 countries, the top ones being (in order): UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - a big thank you to all our loyal supporters, especially those from the countries mentioned. Of the 120+ pages on the site, the ones most visitors were interested in are (in order): this News & Views page, history, photo gallery, traders' directory, public transport, organisations, events/diary, maps, guestbook, and e-cards. For the more technically minded, 98% of visitors use a MS Windows Operating System and 95% use MS Internet Explorer as their browser, although Firefox is gaining popularity with 3.24%.
One surprising fact is the days on which most people visit the site. We would have expected the weekends to be the most popular as people might have more spare time to surf the internet. However, the opposite seems to be the case with higher numbers visiting this site on Mondays to Fridays. Each month has shown an increasing number of visitors. Thank you again - please keep visiting and, if you haven't done so already, please sign our guestbook (or email us - see "Contacts") and let us know your thoughts on either this site or on any aspects of Angmering life.
(1 May 2005)