Dear Resident,

White House Farm

This has been a busy month. I have been to three meetings about WHF and there will be a public exhibition of the first phase of house building and sports pitch plans by the developers at:

The Baptist Church Hall, 124 Sherborne Road on Thursday 31st January 3.00-7.30pm

Related imageThese are the plans which are currently with the planning committee for the first two groups of houses on the north of the site. They hope to start construction of the roundabout on the B2178 (Funtington Road, for the northern access) late spring, which will mean traffic problems on this road, and on-site work in the summer, which will mean the start of construction traffic proper and problems on Orchard Street and St Paul’s Road, although it will almost certainly affect Sherborne Road as well. Work on the Southern Access Road is not likely to start for at least a couple of years. Information is on the developer’s website here.

Westgate

We are very concerned that the developer’s “Westgate Improvement Scheme” which actually reduces the traffic calming and fails to provide a safe cycle path along Westgate as proposed in the CDC Local Plan which has slipped through “under the radar”, dealt with by officers. It has not been before the planning committee. I do not believe there was proper consultation and I have taken this up with the Head of Planning at the CDC. My letter has been published on the CDC WHF planning website here.

The most positive news is that 4 members of the committee met with Miles Davy, who is in charge of the Chichester Road Space Audit, which is looking at parking across the city and he had a very encouraging attitude and said he wished to engage with residents in making decisions.

There is an interesting concept article with drawings of how Westgate could be re-designed with a separate cycle path on page 17 of a work book drawn by John Grimshaw for the Friends of Centurion Way here.

Miles Davy says he would consider removing the parking on one side to allow this. This could be a starting place for discussion and is much more imaginative than the Vectos plan.

We were told at a meeting at County Hall that the red block road surface at the eastern end of Westgate, which is in poor condition, is to be replaced with red tarmac. We have no information about a planned date.
The South Chichester County Local Committee will meet on Tuesday, 5th February, 2019 7.00 pm in Committee Room 3 at County Hall. The agenda will be published on the WSCC website in the week before the meeting. This is a public meeting and can be interesting as issues relating to the area are discussed by councillors.

Image result for speed indicating deviceThe committee is considering trying to get a “Speed Indicating Device” (SID) for Westgate. This is the electronic sign which flashes your speed at you. We are looking for someone outside the committee who will lead on this. We are also in touch with the Parklands RA, who may come in as a joint project which will share the cost and the work. If a member is interested in trying to reduce speeds on Westgate please could they contact me at chair.wgra@gmail.com. PLEASE HELP.

You will have noticed that sadly the Tree of Heaven at 27 Westgate has had to be felled. It was the British and Irish girth champion. A large branch fell off in October and damaged a nearby property. For safety reasons the decision was taken to cut the tree down (CDC planning application 18/02740/TCA). At the cut, the trunk was 8’ in diameter of which 6’ was cavity. There were 140 growth rings which means it was planted before 1878.

PLEASE NOTE that the chair and secretary have newish e-mail addresses: chair.wgra@gmail.com and sec.wgra@gmail.com. The old addresses are no longer in use because they became swamped with spam.

Subscriptions
At the recent committee the treasurer reported that the number of subscriptions received this year was down on the same time last year. I think we are just about to enter a very busy period with WHF, and the Westgate Traffic and it is important to have reserve funds. We ask for £10 per annum, per household, which gives the right to a vote at the AGM or other meeting. If you have not paid since the last AGM (November) please send your cash or cheque (made out to WGRA) to the treasurer Vince Waldron at 72 Westgate or bring it to the next coffee morning at the Crate and Apple at 10.00am on Saturday 2nd February.

Richard Brownfield

Coming events:

WGRA Coffee Morning – Every 1st Saturday morning of the month at the Crate and Apple. Just
turn up between 10am and 11am and meet your neighbours. The next one is 2 February.

Knitting and Social Group – Every Monday morning from 10am – 12 noon. Knitter or not,
please come along and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea at the Crate and Apple. Organiser:
Sally Lowe (sallylowe10@gmail.com)

“Bavardage au Pub” – Last Monday in the month at the Crate and Apple at 6.30pm. A relaxed
hour or so speaking French. All levels welcome. Contact Jane Davies (janedavies31@gmail.com) 07792 708229. Next meetings are on 28 January and 25 February.

Bebette Jones

If you do not wish to receive further communication from the WGRA,  contact the Secretary, Bebette Jones, at 6 Tannery Close (sec.wgra.gmail.com)

error: Content is protected !!