Queen Elizabeth II

We are still greatly saddened and there is still is deep sorrow throughout the Council, Parish and East Sussex at the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, our longest-serving monarch. Whilst we respectfully remember the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and mourn her departure, we send our warmest wishes to King Charles III on his accession to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Heathfield Community Safety Action Group

During September there was a meeting of this Committee that, as well as Heathfield and Mayfield and Five Ashes, includes the Parish Councils of East Hoathly, Hadlow Down, Horam, Laughton, Wadhurst and Chiddingly. Sussex Police shared a comparison of local crime data for the same three months in 2021 and 2022 that will be of interest to residents.

With respect to the category ‘Violence Against a Person’, 27 involved no injury, 23 were for malicious communications, 29 were for violent crime in a public place and the remainder was for violence reported in the home behind closed doors. Cross-in-Hand had the highest number of thefts and the statistics included those reported from the petrol station. Horam had the highest number of Public Order offenses and Sussex Police is trying to determine why this may be. Drug offences were nearly all for procession of cannabis and it was interesting to learn that theft of catalytic converters has massively declined.

Mayfield High Street

Following further complaints concerning the High Street can we please remind residents to clean up after their animals as the amount of mess on the pavement has worsened. Please also respect the parking restrictions and double yellow lines. Disabled badge holders can legally park on the double yellow lines when they shop or visit but this becomes problematical when all the space has been taken up by antisocial parking.

Temporary road closures and upcoming works

West Street is scheduled to remain closed from the junction with Newick Lane to the junction with South Street until 22^nd October 2022 for SGN to carry out mains replacement works.

Changes to some bus services in the Wealden District

Information has been received that changes have been made to a number of bus services in East Sussex. These are mainly to Stagecoach’s commercial routes serving the Hastings and Eastbourne areas, where they need to contain ongoing and significant financial losses. Government bus support and recovery funding to bus operators and local transport authorities has been available in various forms since the start of the pandemic. While it is understood that Government funding support will continue until January 2023, then in a revised form possibly to April 2023, the level of funding support will not be sufficient for Stagecoach and some other operators to maintain services.

East Sussex County Council, as well as securing indicative funding from Government for its Bus Service Improvement Plan, is providing its own additional support to help maintain as much of the bus network as possible. They are continuing to pay bus operators at pre-Covid funding levels for carrying free concessionary pass users and launched, in conjunction with the majority of bus operators, a number of attractive new lower fares initiatives designed to encourage greater use of buses. These include up to four free young people being able to travel free with an adult fare paying passenger or concessionary pass holder. 

It has been confirmed that there are no changes to the 226 Crowborough-Rotherfield-Mayfield local service on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays that the Parish Council contributes towards. There however are minor timing changes to some 251/ 252 Heathfield-Rotherfield-Mayfield-Tunbridge Wells journeys on Mondays – Fridays so please check the bus timetables.

Don’t lose your vote

Wealden residents are being urged to check their electoral registration details or risk losing their chance to vote on decisions that affect them. With elections taking place in Wealden in May 2023, this is an opportunity for residents to make sure they can take part. The annual canvass allows Wealden District Council to keep the electoral register up to date, to identify who risks losing their voice at elections, and to encourage them to register before it’s too late. Head of Support and Improvement at the Electoral Commission, said: “It’s really important that everyone who is eligible to vote is able to do so. We urge people to look out for updates from their local council on this year’s canvass. The council may contact residents by post or email”. Information on registering to vote is available on the Electoral Commission website. Residents with questions about their registration status can also contact Wealden District Council’s Electoral Services team at elections@wealden.gov.uk

Wealden Community Sports Hub

Plans for the proposed multi-million pound Wealden Community Sports Hub have taken a major step forward when they agreed to progress the scheme towards a planning application on a 20 acre parcel of land at Knights Farm East between the A267 and A271. The proposed onsite sports facilities are for two full size 3G floodlit football pitches, four dual use floodlit tennis / netball courts, two padel tennis courts along with a walking and cycle route, BMX Pump track, skate park, children’s play area, outdoor tennis tables, outdoor gym equipment and a community café.

New Street Learning courses available

The Street Learning programme has been released for September – December 2022 and offers residents aged 19 and above free courses to help develop new skills, enhance existing ones, and expand on their education whilst socialising and gaining new hobbies. A range of free courses are available to help boost employment opportunities such as maths, English and accounting as well as sugar-craft, cookery and felting for people who want to develop their hobbies. 

The courses are provided in local community venues including East Sussex College in Eastbourne, Uckfield College, Uckfield Civic Centre or online. Street Learning is a project run by Wealden District Council in partnership with ACRES, East Sussex College, Sussex Community Development Association, East Sussex County Council Library, Job Centre Plus, GRH Training, Compass Community Arts and Heathercroft. Visit www.wealden.gov.uk/streetlearning, @StreetLearning.Wealden on Facebook, or email streetlearning@wealden.gov.uk for more information. 

Back To School Photo Advice

The start of a new school year for any parent is a proud moment and you may want to share that special moment with friends and family with photos of your children smartly dressed in their uniform! When you feature those pictures as your profile photo, Sussex Police warns that many people don’t realise profile photos typically have a default privacy setting of ‘public’. Quick tip: You can set your profile photo to be seen only by those close to you – on a mobile, click on your profile picture and choose ‘View profile picture’. On the top right there are three dots, click ‘Edit privacy’ choose a preference that’s not public. (This privacy feature is not however available for cover photos).

Instagram – mayfieldvillagelife 

This is available to highlight events in Mayfield and Five Ashes. The site can be messaged with details of an event or contact Cllr Sally Ann Tibbles: sally-ann.tibbles@mayfieldfiveashes.org.uk

and she will put it up for you. The site  ‘mayfieldvillagelife’ is a picture book showcase of activities in this Parish. (If you press ‘follow’ at the top of the page when you have the site up you will be notified of posts as they appear.