STREET PARTY – The street party was a great success, a heart-warming community event and a lot of children in evidence livening up the place. Congratulations and sincere thanks to Brian, Noel and the Westgate Belles. Next date for your calendar: our social team is now starting to work their magic on the Westgate Christmas Party.

WHITEHOUSE FARM The Section 106 agreement is reported to be almost ready and should be signed by the end of July, but no further movement is expected before the October planning meeting. There are still problems over the Bishop Luffa School playing fields, which affect the course of the Southern Access Route. Dominic Smith, who has been very supportive of our concerns, is leaving the Highways Department, which is a worry. We wish him well in his new job.

A27 CONSULTATION – The Secretary attended a combined business and community workshop organised by the County to continue building the local case to retain the Highways England funding package for improvements to the A27. It was concerning to discover that Highways England had set an early deadline of the 15th September following the cancellation of the project by the secretary of State. It looked like the consultation meetings with the community and businesses could have been a waste of time.

Read all about it:

OTHER CONSULTATIONS – You have until August 10th to make your feelings known about the Southern Gateway: http://www.chichester.gov.uk/currentconsultations.

Rumour has it that the WSCC Chichester Road Audit (the one that closes car parks) will soon be published for consultation. We will keep you informed.

The Chichester Vision received final approval at the recent full Council meeting, a document more for policy guidance than a plan, since no budget is attached.

CRATE AND APPLE

* FAREWELL TO CHARLOTTE AND MARTIN – Charlotte informs us that she and Martin will be in the Crate and Apple pub on Saturday evening, 29th July, after 6.30 p.m. She says she wanted to say goodbye to as many customers as she can and we are sure that many of you would like to do the same, to say thank you and wish them both well. It has been a very fruitful relationship between residents and pub on both sides, and they will be missed. Pay for your own drinks of course.

* LE ROI EST MORT, VIVE LE ROI! (from the days when Queens didn’t get a look in of course 😉 ) – The pub carries on! Andy Jeffcoat takes over as landlord from Charlotte and Martin on August 1st although she will continue to work there. Andy comes out of the hotel rather than the pub industry, so we reckon he is more likely to maintain the current qualities of the Crate than others might. He has maintained the same chef team as Martin built up and is very interested in the community links that have been forged. While we don’t keep the pub in profit just on our own, Andy wishes to continue with the collaboration and the Committee are in touch with him about the coffee and locals’ evenings continuing as before. So, we are working for “business as usual”, at least for the time being. As we always say, “use it or lose it”!

* DONT FORGET – The next Coffee Morning at the Crate and Apple will run from 10.00am on Saturday August 5th. Just turn up. The next “Locals’ evening” will be on Wednesday 16th July. Please book in advance to avoid food waste.

NEW LOOK WEBSITE I have given the website a complete facelift and simplified the navigation. Now you can access all its lovely delights from just four main headings: Campaigns, History, Social and our new residents’ Welcome Pack (you can register your email address from the front page too so please do so if you haven’t, before the new stringent data protection regulations come in).

The site is fair bursting at the seams with information now, including many photos of the recent Street Party, just posted up. Two years on from its inception, the main work is now completed. Why not visit www.westgatera.org.uk today, where you will find news and a great deal of information about the area than you thought possible – there’s really not much more that can be said about Westgate and its side streets. Of course, if anyone has any suggestions for content or further improvements, then do contact Colin at sec@westgatera.org.uk asap.

Read it, spread the word, become a contributor.

 


Colin Hicks

Site Admin - Westgate Residents' Association Chichester

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