First of all, the Parish Council would like to send best wishes to all residents for the New Year! 

The Parish Council was saddened to hear of the passing of David Thompson, who was the parish Clerk from 2005 to 2012, and that of Marianne Wapling who was one of the Council’s Neighbourhood Watch coordinators on the Security Committee for many years. Our condolences go to both of their loved ones. 

A267 speed reduction at Wellbrook Hill

Our East Sussex County Councillor, Anne Cross was pleased to be able to inform that the speed reduction to 40mph on Wellbrook Hill is a step closer. It is expected that a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) will be progressed in the second year of the County Council’s programme for 2025/2026. 

The current three-year speed management programme looked at 16 sites across East Sussex, three of which are in the Heathfield & Mayfield Division. All three reached the criteria for lowering speed limits. It includes the existing 40mph speed limit on the A267 at Five Ashes being extended to a point south of the A272 Summer Hill junction, and a 50mph speed limit be introduced between that point and the existing 40mph speed limit at Cross-in-Hand. The remaining section of the Battle Road past Heathfield through to Cade Street that is still National Speed Limit will also be reduced to 40mph.

A Traffic Regulation Order is a long process normally taking between six and nine months to complete due to the necessary consultations and pricing etc. The Battle Road will be progressed in the first year and the speed limit reductions along the A267 in second year. So, a big thank you for everyone who signed the petition and thanks go to Cllr Marlow, Cllr Tibbles and Cllr Cross for putting so much time and effort in pursuing this.

Holders Lane

You will be aware that Holders Lane is closed for access due to recent wind damage to the gable end of one of the adjacent properties. The end of the building is still unstable (when this article was written) and tiles continue to fall. The Parish Council would like to urge residents not to move the barriers and use the lane – they are there for your protection. Please use Star Lane for pedestrian access and the South Street/ West Street junction for vehicular access and the car park.

Mayfield on-call fire station

The Parish Council is very disappointing that East Sussex Fire Authority decided on the closure and sale of the fire station site at its meeting on 05 December 2024. The decision means the station’s fire engine will be used as a spare appliance where required and its staff budget will be reinvested in operational firefighters. 

The Chairman has written to the Chief Fire Officer to request information on whether the existing fire fighters will retain their jobs and if there will be a fire appliance in attendance at the annual Bonfire Festivals. A letter has also been written to the Chairman of the Fire Authority to express how outraged the Council is that a public authority has agreed to make such a profit from a site that was originally purchased by East Sussex County Council for the benefit of the community. It is purported that the land has been valued at £500k without planning permission and £1M with planning permission for development – the Fire Authority has agreed to apply for planning permission.

Court Meadow

The hole that has opened up at Court Meadow opposite the play area is needing investigation before it is filled. Please bear with us while the work is carried out and do not remove the safety barriers. 

A reminder of the January waste collections:

Garden Waste collections will resume on your usual collection day from Wednesday 08 January 2025

Temporary road closure warnings

The Wealden Clerks met last month and received a presentation from East Sussex Highways on their road maintenance. When asked why not all the road closure notices are being received, we were informed that Highways will now only be providing information on their own road works. We will not be provided with any information from stakeholders such as BT Openreach or South East Water. The Clerks were not very impressed as the information has always been very useful for residents.

There is a website however where information on roadworks can be found  – Causeway one.network is a platform used by road agencies to collaborate and communicate. It has over 20,000 operational users and many millions of public consumers that use the site for information on traffic operations across the UK. You can access their map using this link:  https://one.network Then all you need to do is search the area you are interested in. There is detailed information on road closure orders, the specific location of road works, what they are for and timings. Unfortunately as we will not be forewarned of up-coming works, it may not be until signs are installed that we know to look it up.

South East Water road closure information

South East Water has informed that work on the new water main installation between Bewl Water Treatment Works and drinking water storage tanks in Wadhurst and Rotherfield will cease over the  Christmas period and roads will be reopened in the week before Christmas. They will and return to site on Thursday 02 January 2025 then continue to work along the B2100 (Best Beech Hill and Wadhurst Road), Work will also continue in private land across the project area.

Keep Warm and Well in East Sussex 

As it gets colder, Health and Social Care News East Sussex is encouraging you to wrap up and do all you can to stay warm and well over winter. If you’re struggling to stay warm at home then do look at the Warm Home Check Service, and how it can help people stay warm at home for less. 

The East Sussex Warm Home Check service provides free impartial energy advice and support to help improve the energy efficiency of your home. The service can also provide free help including heating repairs and small home improvements for those who are eligible. In addition, low-income households who do not heat their homes using a gas boiler could also get current government grant funding for larger energy efficiency improvements.

Applications in East Sussex are open until the end of December. Find out more and apply on the website or by texting WARM to 80011 or by calling 0800 464 7307. https://warmeastsussex.org.uk

On the website you can also sign up for free cold weather alerts. This is a FREE service provided by the Sussex Air Quality Partnership (Sussex-air) and funded by East Sussex Public Health. The service is operational between 1 November and 31 March,providing free severe cold weather warnings for individuals with respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, parents of young children, carers and healthcare professionals. The link for this is: https://coldalert.info

Wealden’s Climate Green Paper 

Earlier this year, Wealden District Council hosted a survey and three research reports which examined how climate change is likely to impact Wealden, how greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced and explored options for renewable energy. 

The key themes below were identified:

• Renewable Energy
• Sustainable Transport
• Biodiversity and Green Spaces
• Community Engagement
• Waste Reduction
• Affordable Climate Solutions
• Health and Lifestyle

They are asking for resident’s feedback on the paper to formulate a new Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan for Wealden in 2025: https://letstalk.wealden.gov.uk/wealden-climate-green-paper

The survey will close Wednesday 12th February 2025.

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