A Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year to all residents of Mayfield and Five Ashes!

Further to last month’s article following the publication of the Notice of Vacancy in Office of Councillor a request for an election to fill the vacancy was made in writing to the Returning Officer by ten or more electors of Mayfield and Five Ashes (Five Ashes) Parish Ward. A by-election therefore is required to fill the position. The Returning Officer has set the date of election as Thursday 14 December 2023 for the electorate of Five Ashes.

Electoral Services has estimated the cost of the Five Ashes by-election at around £2,600. This is in addition to the £9,010 costs for the May 2023 elections and significantly exceeds the election reserves funding that has been built up over the last few years. The previous contested election was in 2007 and as far as aware there has not been a previous by-election. The budget towards election reserves for the future will have to be closely considered and may even result in an increase in precept tpwards the general day to day operations to maintain existing services.

Mayfield recycling point

Wealden has been gradually reviewing the neighbourhood recycling points within the district. Due to the additional recycling that can now be collected from residents through the kerbside collections, it is has been decided that certain sites are no longer environmentally or economically viable to for mixed recycling collections. Therefore, within the next few weeks they are looking to remove the mixed recycling bins in the Memorial Hall Car Park but advise that the textile bank will remain in place.

Residents will therefore need to use their own bins for the recycling or take items to one of Wealden’s Household Waste Recycling Sites, the nearest being:

Heathfield household site – Off Burwash Road (A265), Heathfield, TN21 8RA

Crowborough household site – Wealden Industrial Estate, Farningham Road, Crowborough, TN6 2JR

Please be aware that if you leave any recycling or waste in the Court Meadow car park after the bins have been removed you will be committing the offence of fly tipping and can be prosecuted and fined.

Christmas waste collections

Wealden District Council has informed that, as the same as last year, they are not sending out Waste and Recycling Collection Calendars to residents this year and will not be producing bin hangers with the Christmas Collection Dates on. Garden Waste collections are suspended from Monday 22 December 2023 and resume on Monday 8 January 2024

Usual collection day:	Revised collection da:
Monday 25 December	Wednesday 27 December
Tuesday 26 December	Thursday 28 December
Wednesday 27 December	Friday 29 December
Thursday 28 December	Saturday 30 December
Friday 29 December	Tuesday 02 January
Monday 01 January	Wednesday 03 January
Tuesday 02 January	Thursday 04 January
Wednesday 03 January	Friday 05 January
Thursday 04 January	Saturday 06 January
Friday 05 January	Monday 08 January
Monday 08 January	Tuesday 09 January
Tuesday 09 January	Wednesday 10 January
Wednesday 10 January	Thursday 11 January
Thursday 11 January	Friday 12 January
Friday 12 January	Saturday 13 January
Normal collections resume from Monday 15 January 2024

Temporary road closure warnings

Scotsford Hill is scheduled to be closed on 19 January  from the junction with Witherenden Road to the junction with Piccadilly Lane to allow BT Openreach to carry out further apparatus repair works. Advance warning signs will be placed on site advising of the actual date of the works.

East Street is scheduled to be closed from 22 January to 26 January from the junction with Scotsford Hill to the junction with Coggins Mill Lane for South East Water to carry out apparatus repair works.

South East Water has various temporary road closures in the Wadhurst/ Mayfield/ Rotherfield areas.   Lake Street will be closed from the junction with the A267 to the junction with Tidebrook Road. The restriction is anticipated to be in place between 17 February 2024 to 01 March 2024. A safe route will be provided for pedestrians and vehicular access for residents and to properties maintained whenever possible with alternative routes signed and maintained for the duration of the works.

Other local road closures due to works by South East Water can be seem on the community website:http://www.mayfieldfiveashes.org.uk/

Wealden Local Plan Update

Work has been paused on the forthcoming Local Plan consultation (the ‘Regulation 18’ consultation) as the Government was proposing to bring forward a series of changes to the national planning system, both through legislation and changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

There has been some progress with the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act gaining Royal Assent, but many of its provisions for the planning system rely on yet to be defined secondary legislation or changes to the NPPF, for which no firm date for publication has been set.

Wealden District Council (WDC) wants a local plan to help ensure that development can be managed in accordance with strong, innovative policies around climate change, the built and natural environment, biodiversity net gain, our local economy, housing standards and more besides.

Preparing the local plan with the uncertainty caused by national changes is complex and not without risk, however there are also risks associated with not progressing it. 

WDC has announced their intention to consider their draft local plan at a special meeting of Full Council on 8 February 2024, with the formal Regulation 18 consultation to take place in the following weeks (exact dates to be confirmed). If you would like to receive updates about the Draft Local Plan and take part in the consultation process, please register at https://consult.wealden.gov.uk/kse/

Be Deer Aware

People should take particular care in areas where there are deer warning signs or heavily wooded roads, at night, around dawn and dusk when deer are most likely to venture out.

Deer may appear on the road suddenly unexpectedly, particularly at this time of year and the results of a collision with a deer can be very serious.  

• People are advised to use full-beam headlights at night if no other cars are around, as they will reflect the deer’s eyes, but dip their headlights when they see a deer to avoid startling it.
• Deer often travel in groups so if drivers see one crossing the road they should slow down and drive with caution as others may follow.
• Anyone who hits a deer is advised to stay calm, park in a safe place with hazard lights on and call the police on 101, or 999 if someone is injured or the deer is in the road.
• People should not approach or try to comfort an injured deer, as it may make the animal more distressed or cause it to run back into the road.

Don’t become another victim this festive season.

There were 117,000 reported cases of people being defrauded buying online in 2022, totalling losses of £67 million but the actual figure is considerably higher as the majority is not reported.

Your top online buying safety tips:

•don’t pay by transferring money directly to people or companies you don’t know. If you can, pay by credit card.

• Make sure a website is authentic by checking the address is spelled correctly. 

• Don’t click or open links in emails, texts or posts you’re not expecting

• Make sure payment pages are secure – check the addresses begin with ‘https’ (‘s’ is for secure) and that there’s a closed padlock in the address bar. 

• Log out of the web page or app when payment is completed. 

• ‘Low-cost’ or ‘free’ trials – read the small print and look for independent reviews. 

• Look out for text messages/ emails claiming to be from delivery firms informing of a charge for re-delivering a parcel, or a shipping fee to be paid.

. Keep a record of everything you buy and, if specified, the delivery firm being used.

• Reporting fraud is essential. If you’ve lost money to fraud, report it immediately to your bank, as it  will increase your chance of getting your money back and the fraudster being traced. Also, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 20 40 or www.actionfraud.police.uk. 

Parish Council Meetings

The meeting schedule on the website: http://www.mayfieldfiveashes.org.uk/ shows this month’s Council and Committee meetings as well as agendas, minutes of meetings and other meeting documentation

Janna Todd, Parish Clerk 

Old Manor House, High Street, Mayfield TN20 6AL 

Telephone 01435 873784          E-mail: clerk@mayfieldfiveashes.org.uk