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Tim Loughton's Parliamentary Newsletter
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Parliamentary Newsletter - July/August 2015


Dear Constituent

Welcome to the summer edition of my newsletter. As Parliament is currently in recess I have combined the July and August editions and will revert to the normal monthly format after the Commons returns in September. Apologies therefore that there is a lot to cover in this ‘bumper’ summer edition.

Unintentionally my face has been plastered over the media a lot in recent weeks as I have been interviewed for my comments about the demise of Kids Company with which I had a lot of involvement as Minister for Children. I have also been very vociferous on the continuing chaos at Calais as a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee where we produced a report earlier in the year and are now revisiting the worsening problem.

A number of mass circular campaigns have continued to hit my email box in recent weeks and as usual you can find my general response to them on the Hot Topics. The Hunting Regulations vote which had been due at the end of July and which understandably excited a lot of interest was pulled in the end and it remains unclear what will happen next. The Assisted Dying Bill has also sparked a lot of interest on both sides ahead of the vote expected on Friday September 11th and I have posted my reasons for not supporting the Bill on Hot Topics too.

Our street surgeries continue as normal in August and my next scheduled constituency surgery will be in Shoreham on September 4th. As usual you can book an appointment through the constituency office on 01273 757182.
 
Best wishes

Tim Loughton MP
Street Surgeries
  • Street Surgery - Lancing Children's Centre - Sat 15 Aug 2015 - 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
  • Street Surgery - Worthing Town Centre - Sat 15 Aug 2015 - 12:15 pm to 2:00 pm
Surgeries by appointment (call 01273 757 182)
  • Shoreham Farmers' Market - Sat 12 Sep 2015 - 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Southern Water Court Case

The jury at Chichester Crown Court covering the Southern Water case have found the utility company guilty on one count of breaching environmental rules after releasing untreated wastewater into the sea in 2012. The water company argued they acted following emergency equipment failures, which threatened the flooding of homes and Worthing hospital. However the jury decided there was not enough evidence to substantiate this claim.
 
Southern Water have released the following statement:

"[We] would like…to apologise to any customers or businesses who were affected by this incident.

"We have since invested close to £20 million on improvements…to help reduce the risk of a future emergency."

I have held a number of meetings with Southern Water about beach quality in Shoreham and Lancing and welcome this ruling from which it is clear Southern Water need to continue to improve the way it deals with waste water locally. 
Brighton Road Hoarding

Thanks to those who emailed me regarding the hoarding that has been erected on the corner of Adur Close, Shoreham.

I have spoken to the Leader of Adur Council and apparently the land has been purchased by Hyde Housing, a social housing company. I find this a bit mysterious, as both Adur Council and the Environment Agency have suggested the land unsuitable for development, due to potential flood risk. 
Nevertheless, following our conversation, council officers were dispatched to inspect the hoarding to discover whether it was intended to be anything other than temporary. I am glad to report the sign has now been removed.
Democracy Awards

I was honoured this year again host the West Sussex Democracy Awards, which have become something of a tradition. They celebrate the hard work and engagement of organisations taking part in the youth elections across the county. I handed out a series of Gold, Silver and Bronze awards depending on how well these schools had managed turnout at the elections.

It was great to see so many young people from West Sussex fired-up about fighting elections and participating in the democratic process. It was wonderful to hear them speak so passionately, particularly about how they had managed to get their friends and school mates involved in the elections. In fact, there were a record number of young people who voted in the West Sussex Youth Cabinet and UK Youth Parliament elections this year.

Their success in encouraging people to vote is clearly something adult politicians could learn from. It certainly underlines why we should listen to the voices of young people. 
Roads Permit Scheme

I welcome the development by West Sussex County Council to introduce a roads permit scheme. It will require utility companies to obtain a permit directly from the authority before being able to begin work on county highways.

Residents have been at the mercy of utility companies for far too long. Their constant digging up of our roads and pavements is really not good enough and can cause frustrating traffic congestion. Whilst the patchwork repairs and poor quality of reinstatement have often been blamed for damaging people’s cars and endangering cyclists and motorcyclists.

Currently permits are granted by the Secretary of State for Transport, but under the changes the county council can influence the quality of the reinstatement works to roads. I am hopeful local control can lead to better coordinated roadworks. This will help minimise disruption and deliver a better standard of roads.
Aquarena Development

Will be placing an update on the new Aquarena planning application on Hot Topics ahead of likely new Planning Committee date of September 22nd
 
Post Office – 61 Mansell Road


The Mansell Road Post Office in Shoreham, has finalised plans for the new-look Post Office. It is scheduled to open at its current location on Wednesday 2nd September 2015 at 13:00.

In order for the refurbishment to take place, the branch is going to be closed from Wednesday 19th August 2015 at 17:30. However the following branches will be happy to provide customers with Post Office services during this period:

Southlands Post Office, 272 Upper Shoreham Road, Shoreham-By-Sea, NN43 6BF
Southwick Post Office, 43 Southwick Square, Southwick, Bright, BN42 4GJ

The newly refurbished branch will offer a newly modernised Post Office service and longer opening hours:

Monday to Saturday 06:30 – 18:00 & Sunday 06:30 – 13:00

A copy of the final plans can be found on the Post Office website: www.postofficeview.co.uk. When entering the website you will be asked to enter the code for this branch: 08290899. 
Forthcoming Events

Shoreham Lifeboat 150th Anniversary Ball (Saturday 10 October at 7.15pm) will be held at the Grand Hotel, Brighton, to celebrate 150 years of the Shoreham Lifeboats.

Lancing Art Club 2015 Annual Exhibition (Saturday 15th – Friday 21st August), where I am President, will be held at Lancing Parish Hall and will run from 10am-8pm every day, apart from Sunday 16th and the last day when it will end at 3:30pm. Entrance is free.

Shoreham Methodist Church Art and Crafts Festival (Saturday 8th – Sunday 16th August) will be held at Shoreham-by-Sea Methodist Church, Brunswick Road. It will be open over the weekends - Saturdays from 10.00am till 5.30pm and on Sundays 12 noon till 4.00pm - as well as during the week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday 2–5.30pm; Tuesday and Thursday 10–1.30pm. Admission is free. You can learn more about the festival at www.facebook.com/shorehamartsandcraftsfest.

Dragon Boat Racing (Sunday 30th August at 10:30am) - Lancing Business Park are looking to put a team together in the Dragon Boat Race as part of 2015's River Fest. A team of 20 is needed at a cost of £300 per boat. There will a briefing at the Adur Outdoor Activity Centre at 9.30am, before the race starts at 10.30am. The race will be over a distance of 250metre, with an approximate duration of 4 hour. If you are interested, in being part of the team please email lindastopp@lancingbusinesspark.co.uk.

Canadian Memorial Day service – Worthing (Sunday 16th August at 10:30am) will take place at the Canadian Memorial at the bottom of Grand Avenue, West Worthing, to remember the Canadian service men and women that were stationed in Worthing and West Sussex during WW1 & WW2. Local military associations and Standard Bearers will be in attendance, and the Lancing Brass Band will also be supporting the event. The service has been organised again by the charity Canadian Roots of which I am a patron. All welcome. More information can be found here: www.canadianroots.uk.org.
War Child

I do not usually promote the campaign material of individual charities, but I was very struck by the power of this video from War Child, an excellent organisation of which I am a support. I thought you might like to see it too.

Link to video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZnBgWd_R2g&feature=youtu.be


 
Friends of Lancing Ring Summer Newsletter 2015
 
Please find attached the latest newsletter from the Friends of Lancing Ring, who are doing good work to conserve this local environmental asset.

 
Bovine TB in West Sussex

The National Union of Farmers held a briefing session for West Sussex MPs about the current Bovine TB situation in the county. I thought I would outline the situation and the key action points for you.

Currently there are four confirmed cases of Bovine TB in West Sussex. This has resulted in five separate 3Km radial testing zones being set up. The tests will be able to confirm if Bovine TB is present. If it is found then it will also be able to confirm the source of origin too.

Thankfully West Sussex is currently classed as a low risk. Nevertheless we do have a number of controls in place to reduce the risk of TB spreading into our county. These included individual annual testing on high risk herds and having pre-movement testing for animals moving from a high risk herd. You can find out more by visiting the NFU’s website: www.nfuonline.com.
 

Sustrans

Great to hear that West Sussex County Council Highways have just issued Sustrans with a licence to erect new signs along the NCN2 shared back from Widewater car park to the Western Road junction in Lancing.

The document attached is quite extensive and very interesting. I hope you will read it through and it will reassure you that your concerns are being taken on board and are being acted upon. I have had to personally chase this several times but we are getting somewhere now.

I have been concerned about the safety of pedestrians and speeding cyclist on this shared root and a full safety audit is being carried out. 
 

Warwick Street Accessibility 

 
At a recent meeting of Worthing Access and Mobility Group (WAMG), it was agreed the accessibility of Warwick Street was becoming a significant problem, as a result of increasing street furniture. The street scene is of course something we should cherish, but we should ensure that it is accessible to all.

I remember a similar problem facing Adur District Council a few years ago, as the proliferation of street furniture, particularly A-boards, limited the accessibility of Shoreham High Street for wheelchair users, prams and people with sight impairments.

Apparently a trial scheme is being rolled out in Warwick Street, which if successful will be extend across Worthing. Hopefully this is a success and Worthing Borough Council and West Sussex County Council can work together with representatives from WAMG to discuss the current situation. Whilst the previous experience of Adur District Council should help lead to an acceptable solution for all parties. 
Rowdy Behaviour Worthing

A number of constituents have been in touch with me regarding anti-social behaviour in Worthing, in particular public drunkenness. I have passed your concerns onto the local police and the respective ward councillors.

I am aware that both the local police and council have recently exercised various powers, including a no alcohol, zero tolerance policy for selective use, to restrict drinking in the town centre, which has resulted in people being apprehended.

I have also been made aware of the anti-social problems within Homefield Park. Last month I visited the Worthing Churches Homeless Project (WCHP) which provides a home for those with drink and drug problems where they have been support for former addicts very successfully and have capacity to take further people. You can find out more about the work of the WCHP by visiting their website: www.wchp.org.uk.
Rampion Wind Farm

As you know, I have supported the Rampion off-shore wind farm, where E.ON granted permission to start work on the state of the art infrastructure. I was particularly interested to hear about the proposed visitor centre, which is currently under consideration by E.ON.

A constituent recently contacted me regarding the visitor centre, following a conversation with an E.ON representative at their recent exhibition on the project at Lancing Parish Hall. She suggested a visitor centre at Widewater, which would provide a valuable link to both the South Downs and the seafront. This would benefit the local community by providing a link through the Sompting Gap, which is in need of regeneration. The funding for such a project could be shared between the £1m lottery funding allocated to this region (the Big O) and E.ON. 

I have been in touch with E.ON who are committed to opening a Rampion Visitor centre on the Sussex coast. It was also pleasing to learn that they were open regeneration schemes should it fit with their selection criteria. They are hoping to have a made a decision by the end of the summer.

I am meeting E.ON soon and will be able to provide a further update. 
Help beat cancer sooner

I have recently pledged my support to helping Cancer Research UK save more lives in Adur, Worthing and across the UK.

I attended a parliamentary event hosted by the charity in July, which gave us MPs a chance to speak with the charity’s dedicated volunteers. They explained to us that there is a critical role for politicians in helping medical staff to detect cancer earlier and bring innovative new treatments to patients faster.

The outlook for new and better cancer treatments in the UK is bright and it gives me great hope to hear that Cancer Research UK’s pioneering research is turning the tables on the disease.

One life lost to this terrible disease is one too many and that’s why I’m supporting Cancer Research UK in their mission to beat cancer sooner. You can read more at: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org.
National Silver Pearson Teaching Awards 
 
I was great to attend the National Silver Pearson Teaching Awards 2015 and see Alexandra Holmes awarded Science Teacher of the Year for her work at Davison Church of England High School. It was great to see her receive national recognition for her hard work. I am incredibly proud of what she has achieved and I know that her family, friends, colleagues and pupils will be too. Worthing is very lucky to have her teach our children. She has done a great job in engaging girls with science, a subject too few girls take up.

Silver Teaching Award winners are invited to the grand UK at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden on 18th October, where they will have the chance to win the prestigious Gold Plato Awards.  I wish her all the best for the Gold Plato Awards later this year. 
Political Studies Association’s Student Short Video Competition
 
I believe encouraging young people to become more engaged in politics is really important. That is why I would certainly encourage all local A-level students to take part in the Political Studies Association’s competition, which is now in its 5th year.
 
This year’s competition asks students to explore the question: "Designing for Democracy - what would you propose?”  Groups of A-level students are invited to submit short videos outlining what they would suggest if they could design a democratic system from scratch.
 
Shortlisted groups will be invited to The Speaker’s House in the Palace of Westminster to discuss the ideas raised in their video with a panel of politicians, journalists and academics.  Whilst the winners will receive their award at the PSA’s Annual Awards Ceremony in Westminster, which will be broadcasted on BBC Parliament. This year’s ceremony takes place on 1st December in London and accommodation is provided for the winning group and their teacher in a central London hotel.  On top of this, the winning students will each be invited to spend a week volunteering with and shadowing the YouGov political team during their school holidays.
 
You can find out more here: http://www.psa.ac.uk
Freephone
 
On 1st July, Ofcom is introducing a new system which will make the cost of calling numbers clearer for everyone. 

Since the beginning of August, the cost of calling a Freephone number (0800 or 0808) from mobiles has been free whilst the charges for calling service numbers (08, 09 or 118) will become clearer. These new rules will apply to all consumer calls to 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers across the UK, delivering clearer call rates for everyone.

The changes do not affect calls made to ordinary landline numbers (01, 02), 03 numbers or mobile (07) numbers. Calls made to international numbers, or calls to the UK when roaming overseas are charged at different rates and are not covered by these changes. Further information is available on the UK Calling website.
National Flood Forum
 
Although it is dry at the moment, flooding will inevitably return and when it does the National Flood Forum can offer support and ensure that the trauma caused by flooding is minimised as much as possible.

The National Flood Forum is a national charity that supports and represents flood risk communities. They support people in their preparations for flooding and helping them to recover their lives if they have been flooded.

They provide an advice line dealing with all flooding issues, including insurance, selling a home, how to protect your home, what to do if you are flooded, flood recovery issues, community Flood Action Group support etc. Tel 01299 403055.  Monday to Friday 09.00 – 17.00

You can find lots of advice and support on their website: www.nationalfloodforum.org.uk
Electric Storm Youth - Summer Newsletter 2015
 
Please find attached the 2015 Summer Newsletter from Electric Storm Youth, a great organisation of which I am a patron. 
NSPCC
 
This August the NSPCC is aiming to reach more parents than ever with their hugely successful Underwear Rule campaign.

The Underwear Rule campaign launched in 2013, in the wake of high profile sexual abuse scandals, to help give parents the confidence to talk to their children about staying safe from abuse. It is targeted at parents/carers of children aged 5-11 and is designed to enable them to have age-appropriate conversations that don’t feel scary or damage a child’s innocence. 

The campaign has had overwhelming positive feedback from parents and carers. We know that over 400,000 parents have spoken to their children as a direct result of the campaign. And crucially some of these conversations have led to disclosures of abuse and a small number of convictions.

However, there are still hundreds of thousands of parents who are not aware of the campaign and we are planning another wave of the campaign commencing 3rd – 17th August to reach more parents.

You can follow and join in the campaign on the NSPCC’s Facebook and Twitter pages: facebook.com/nspcc and twitter.com/nspcc.
Performance Summit at London Bridge Station

I have written before about the ongoing problems with the service from Southern Rail and a number of constituents have complained about constant punctuality problems, cancellations and overcrowding. I was therefore pleased to speak at the Westminster Hall Debate, secured by Nick Hubert, on the abysmal performance of Southern Rail. We discussed a range of topics with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Claire Perry MP. These included the appalling passenger engagement from Southern during extended delays and station skipping. I have attached the letter I received from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, as well as a summary of the points raised during the debate. 

Following the points raised in the debate, it was very helpful to be invited to London Bridge Station along with representatives from National Rail, Southern, the Government and other MPs with residents effected by Southern’s abysmal service. We were given a tour of the station before we sat down for a summit at station to discuss Southern’s record and how it is going to improve. The discussions were ride ranging and constructive; here are a few of the key facts:

South East Quadrant
The Rail Minister, Claire Perry MP, is chairing weekly meetings involving Network Rail, Southern, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), and Southeastern to monitor and co-ordinate improvements in both performance and passenger experience in the South East.

The senior team at Network Rail has conducted a deep dive into the underlying causes of service problems and an enhanced performance improvement programme is now being introduced across the route to strengthen and accelerate improvements for passengers.

Performance of Southern
In February, Network Rail, along with Southern and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) presented to the Rail Minister, Claire Perry and a number of MPs, a Joint Improvement Plan for the Brighton Main Line.

The Joint Improvement Plan set out actions to stabilise and improve reliability of services for Southern and GTR passengers and progress against this plan is published each month on the Operators website.

One of the critical elements to the plan included making urgent changes to the timetable to ensure improvement to stability and reliability of services.
 
At the beginning of August, the Office of Rail and Road issued Network Rail with a £2m fine for a historic breach in our licence in relation to Southern/GTR performance.

Drivers
This was another critical part of the Joint Improvement Plan as Driver Cancellations on both Southern and GTR have been a contributing factor to poor performance. This was due to the need to train significant numbers of drivers on the new London Bridge layout.
 
Both operators have been recruiting heavily to reduce the reliance on a high level of overtime. At the end of June there were 209 trainee drivers on Southern and GTR.
 
It takes almost 14 months for drivers to complete their training in full and although the driver pool is steadily increasing Southern and GTR are also losing drivers to other operators and retirement, over and above the numbers predicted.
 
It should be noted newly qualified drivers are less productive than more experienced drivers as the routes on which they can drive are limited for a period of time. This means it will take a little more time for passengers see the full benefit of this recruitment.
 
GTR Franchise (Southern – GTR Merger)
GTR is now the largest franchise on the network. The franchise will provide a unified operating structure on the Brighton Main line ensuring better lines of communication to passengers and within the rail industry when problems occur.
 
The franchise will benefit from new fleets, one of which will be 108 new carriages to replace the full Gatwick Express fleet that will be introduced from December 2015.
 
General Investment
The Government has a bold long-term plan for investment and growth, this means more trains, more seats and quicker journeys right across the country.
 
The Government has set out its most ambitious programme since the Victorian era with a £38 billion programme for enhancing and maintaining the current network.
 
Journeys have more than doubled since privatisation. The reliability of assets on the railway is up. An industry that was once in decline, now provides thousands more journeys to passengers!
 
Thameslink Programme
The Thameslink Programme will deliver long overdue investment and will provide passengers with:
  • A transformation of London Bridge, the fourth busiest station in the country, used by 56 million people per year!
  • New flagship stations at London Bridge and Blackfriars – the first station to cross the Thames and also providing new access to the Southbank
  • Direct interchange with Crossrail at Farringdon from 2018, providing easy access to the West End, Docklands and Heathrow
  • The ability for passengers to travel north to south across London without the need to use the underground
  • Significant increase in capacity - the Thameslink class 700 trains will allow circa 500 more passengers (per 12 car train) to travel into London. 

You can see the latest newsletter from GTR attached.

 
WADARS
 
I was pleased to join a well-attended special meeting of the Worthing and District Animal Rescue Service in Ferring last month when the transition of this well-loved local charity to a fully-fledged trustee led organisation was completed. Earlier in the year the charity moved to its impressive new premises at Hangleton lane, Ferring and is now firing on all cylinders. Having served as President of WADARS for many years it is good to see the organisation in good hands bit helpers and supporters are always welcome. More details on: http://www.wadars.co.uk/default.asp?pg=164
Heritage Lottery Funds
 
The Heritage Lottery Fund is keen to hand out grants to groups and schools particularly undertaking projects to commemorate the First World War. Their ‘First World War: Then and Now’ scheme is for community projects that explore the heritage of WWI. Groups across the UK can apply quickly and easily to help mark the anniversaries of 2014-2018 for grants from £3000 to £10,000 for community projects and I saw some of the first beneficiaries at a reception at the Commons hosted by my former colleague and now HLF Chairman Sir Peter Luff. See www.hlf.org.uk for further details.
Butterfly Spotting on the Down
 
Spent a glorious morning on the Downs above Shoreham with local RSPB officer and constituent Chris Corrigan looking at the unique chalk land butterfly habitat in particular.
Calais Chaos
 
I am delighted to have been elected back on to the Home Affairs Select Committee under the continued chairmanship of Keith Vaz. I am particularly interested in the Committee’s work on Child Sexual Exploitation and also recently had the opportunity to meet Justice Lowell Goddard and the panel members undertaking the Enquiry into historic child sex abuse after several false starts. I am pleased that their important work is now well underway and likely to last for several years though they will be producing interim reports. Anyone who has evidence to pass on can do so via the Enquiry website at https://www.csa-inquiry.independent.gov.uk/

The committee has also been looking at the continuing problems at Calais that have dominated our headlines recently. We will again be visiting Calais after the summer break and I went head to head with the Deputy Mayor of Calais, Philippe Mignonet on the BBC Hardtalk programme last week which you can see here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b064k6wj/hardtalk-tim-loughton-mp-for-worthing-east-and-shoreham-uk-in-discussion-with-philippe-mignonet-deputy-mayor-of-calais-france  

I have also produced a blog on the situation which is under Hot Topics on my website.
North Lancing Community Garden
 
It was hi ho hi ho and off to work with a pickaxe I go as I joined Councillor Carol Albury’s team in North Lancing restoring the paved area in front of the Manor Road shops. Carol has organised a great project with the help of a hardy team of volunteers having cleared this overgrown area and taken up damaged paving. The wall and surface will now be restored by a professional builder and the area brought back into life for residents to use. A great example of community spirit and inspired organisation.
Men in Sheds
 
The Parliamentary recess is usually a great opportunity to catch up on visiting local organisations having been confined to Westminster barracks too often in recent months given the Government now has such a slim majority. I at last caught up with Men in Sheds who have been given use of the old kitchens at Northbrook College on the Broadwater site. Under the inspirational leadership of Ralph Miller a group of hardy (mostly) retired men get together to fashion all manner of furniture and wooden products out of recycled and donated wood and whatever they come across in the nearest skip. Amongst other things they have made the official gavel for the mayor of Worthing and are now making one for the Chairman of Adur to. They also have an arrangement with the Rowans Day Centre to paint and finish some of their hard work which is then sold to raise funds for local charities. It is a brilliant example of being environmentally friendly, keeping the hands and minds of retirees gainfully deployed and out of the house and supporting good causes. They need more volunteers to keep up with demand. Let me know if you are interested.
No news is good news on A27
 
People keep asking me about what is going on with the A27 upgrade. The answer is lots behind the scenes as consultants are working up several options behind the scenes which will probably be available for public consumption next year. In the meantime the new local A27 Action Group chaired by former Mayor and KWASH campaign chairman Major Tom Wye held its first meeting at Worthing Town Hall last month.

All the main political parties and local councils are represented on the group together with several residents’ groups and local businesses. We have agreed our ‘Terms of Reference’ and details of this and the first meeting will be available on the council websites soon.
Miss Becky presents
 
I spent a very enjoyable afternoon amidst lots of proud parents at the Sir Robert Woodard Academy on July 27th for the Miss Becky Dance School end of term dance extravaganza. Another triumph from proprietor Becky carter and you can find out more here https://missbeckysballet.wordpress.com
Send my Friend to School
 
My Westminster office is now festooned with lots of paper characters courtesy of a magnificent effort by Eastbrook Primary Academy in support of the international ‘Send my Friend to School’ campaign. This is part of a UN inspired global project to encourage more countries to educate more children currently missing out on the sort of schooling that we take for granted in the UK. Each chid at Eastbrook had produced their own character with a message aimed at world leaders and I was able to have a discussion with a group of them about the importance of the campaign and what they had learnt from it.

Subsequently the whole school massed on the playing field for a photograph with their handiwork and spelled out ‘Send my School to Campaign.’ I was then presented with a sample selection of the paper figures which I was then able to deliver to the Secretary of State for International development Justine Greening when I arranged to meet her at the House of Commons. Justine said this was the most impressive collection she had seen and snaffled some for her own office. Well done to Head Julia Sherlock for a truly inspiring initiative and fantastic visit. More information about the campaign here: http://www.sendmyfriend.org
Kamelia Kids
 
The brilliant Kamelia Kids nursery at Goring has undergone something of a makeover since I last visited including the name. After going through some challenging times financially the trustees and staff have pulled together brilliantly and the quality of facilities and care here is remarkable. They always need more help and more funding opportunities so if you think you can lend a hand they would be delighted to hear from you. They are also holding an open day on September 19th when you ca find out more. http://www.kameliakids.org.uk
Mindless vandalism

There have been a series of acts of mindless vandalism across the patch recently which makes you wonder what is wrong with some people. In the middle of the repair work to the Adur Ferry Bridge where glass panels are being replaced due to a design fault, fortunately at no cost to the taxpayer and with the bridge remaining open, some idiot managed to graffiti some of the glass. What did they hope to achieve. Just upstream a huge graffiti attack took place on the railway bridge which at least showed a bit more agility and skill but why can’t these people put their talents to use on more positive things for our town? A group of Ropetackle residents leaped into action and organised a petition to Network Rail to get the offending words removed and I am now helping to lobby then to deal with this with a bit more urgency.

Meanwhile over in Worthing the most mindless and disrespectful vandalism of all took place when a number of gravestones were daubed with graffiti. This is a real kick in the teeth to the fantastic Friends of Broadwater Cemetery who have worked so hard to bring this important part of the town’s history back into circulation. But what is the point of all this negativity?
Welcome back HMS M33
 
With my Chairman of the Parliamentary Archaeology Group hat on I was lucky enough to be invited down to the Museum of the Royal navy at Portsmouth to be given a sneak preview of the First World War ship M33 the only ship surviving from the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign. Museum boss Dominic Tweddle showed me around ahead of the official opening last Thursday and members of the public can no see at first-hand what a fantastic job they have made of the restoration with a great film and lots of authentic noises and accessories to make you feel you were there. Well worth a visit over the summer. I posted a photograph of me in the telegraph room with the headphones on back to front and used it as my Twitter portrait picture but so far only one person has spotted the deliberate error!
Velodrome to Birdman
 
There has been a lot happening in Worthing this August already. The prestigious Street Velodrome event hit Beach House Gardens with a band on the first weekend and when I was there several of the very competitive cyclists hit the decks with a bang too. It was a great initiative and we should be using the beachfront for more crowd pulling events like this. Next weekend of course we have the Birdman competition over 2 days which usually hits the national headlines too. Find out more information here: www.worthingbirdman.co.uk
Eco, Young & Engaged
 
The Eighth Eco Summit of the EYE project was hosted by Shoreham College for the first time on July 13th. Over a hundred pupils from schools across Adur and Worthing came together to enjoy a day of environmentally friendly workshops and discuss ways of disseminating environmental best practice amongst their fellow pupils, families and communities. A new logo was launched and the EYE Project charter first adopted at the original Eco Summit at Worthing Town Hall in 2008 was updated. For a full report see: http://www.eyeproject.co.uk
Never work with animals and babies

Except that is exactly what I did when asked to judge the Bonny Baby competition at Lancing Family Fun day organised by Councillor Ann Bridges. The competition was stiff but fortunately there was one young toddler whose beaming smile couldn’t be overlooked. A great day was had by all.
 
Mods hit town

The Mods invaded Shoreham at July’s farmer’s market to promote the Ropetackle Film Festival when a cornucopia of Sussex related film gems will hit the silver screen at our local arts centre. Quodrophenia, filmed at Brighton is on August 14th and the season kicked off with surely Shoreham’s first movie ‘A Lowland Cinderella’ lovingly restored by film enthusiasts a few years ago and filmed in and around Shoreham Beach Glasshouse Studios. Find out more at:  http://ropetacklecentre.co.uk/
 
 
MP in the stocks again

The things you do for constituents – helping promote Shoreham Rugby Club at their Buckingham Park family fun day.
Further details at: http://www.shorehamrugby.co.uk
 
Consulting on the Hamble

There were lots of good ideas at the consultation on what should happen to the former skateboard park site at the Hamble organised by Sompting’s Big Local. See what they  are up to here:
http://www.biglocalsompting.org.uk/hamble-rec
 
Youth Cabinet sprucing up The Compound

I visited The Compound just off the beach at Goring where Worthing Council have given the Youth Cabinet a plot of land to spruce up and develop as a centre for youth activities. Apparently it was such a  jungle before that they even discovered a missing boat under all the undergrowth. Another great initiative from the town’s youth cabinet.
 
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