University campus is wrong place for library

I'd like to ask if the councillors who thought up the plan to move the library have ever walked into the building to use its facilities.
If so, they should have noticed it is well run by efficient, friendly staff and because thousands of pounds was spent on it recently, it should stay where it is.
Most of us who have bus passes who walked to London Road will now bus along the High Street, meaning the bus company will benefit, and more tax payers' money wasted.

M Plowman, Aldwick Felds, Bognor Regis

The regeneration Vision Group does not agree to moving our library to the university campus. What a ridiculous idea. The library is fine where it is.
I not only use it for books but it is a haven of rest when carrying my shopping etc.

Ms P Williams, London Road, Bognor Regis

The library is a public library for the use of the people of Bognor. The idea of putting it in the university campus would make it difficult to access, especially for children and the elderly.
Instead of negative changes, how about a few positive ones such as a marina, enlarging the theatre, extending the pier, instead of just plans, more action!
We could then welcome back Birdman and also bring some life into Bognor Regis.

I Hebin, Bognor Regis

As residents of Felpham for the past 15 years, we have enjoyed the use of the library situated in London Road.
The location of the building is ideal, giving easy access to anyone who wishes to avail themselves of all the different facilities on offer.
We look forward, with interest, to seeing any further developments that may take place. We can see no logical reason for moving it to another site.

Mr and Mrs Harris, Bereweeke Road, Felpham

I can only think of reasons against. The Upper Bognor Road splits Bognor Regis in two. The only people who would gain are those on Glenwood.
The only safe way across is by the underpass, which many are nervous of using. To cross the road you take your life in your hands, with such fast moving traffic.
The extra traffic and parking in and around the campus would be a nightmare for residents of Glenwood.
The numbers joining and rejoining the local history society, after it moved from the university to the Royal Norfolk Hotel, proves amenities must be in the town centre, giving easy, safe access to all.

Jenny Jennings, Norfolk Square, Bognor Regis

How can anyone seriously suggest the library should be moved away from the town centre?
I lived, when a teenager, in a London suburb where the library was in just such a position, next to an edge-of-town school.
This meant, for me, a cycle ride from home in the opposite direction from the shops. For adults it was a bus ride or a long walk.
Even in those reading-hungry war years it was under-used.
Do the people who have put forward this illogical plan not realise people often include visits to libraries in trips to shops, to meet friends for coffee etc? We do not all have cars or unlimited cash for bus fares.
I hope we hear no more of this idiocy.

Mrs L Mulvany, Elmer Road, Elmer

What a daft idea to move the Bognor library to the university campus! I know of no other town where the public library is situated in a university.
The needs of students and ordinary users are quite different.
I note a lift would have to be installed. When the present library's first floor area was closed off, I suggested a lift should be installed for the elderly or disabled. I was told the money was not available.
Anthony Wills, Crescent Road, Bognor Regis



Housing doesn't have to be bland and boring

We have received news the inspector appointed by the secretary of state for communities and local government, Jill Kingaby, has allowed the appeal and granted planning permission to the developer Gladedale to build 59 new residential dwellings on Yapton Industrial Estate.
I don't think anyone who attended the appeal hearing will be too surprised at this decision.
We are, however, obviously disappointed – but not for the reason that you might initially think.
It would have been very easy for local residents to entirely oppose this development outside our village boundaries. However, this was not our fundamental objection regarding this issue.
Yapton is a vibrant community, and a large part of this is due to how the village has developed over the years with new residents moving into developments as they have been added. I have no doubt our new neighbours will be welcomed and will continue to add to this community.
However, recent government reports have highlighted the importance of good design, particularly when building on land which has previously seen no development. The report recognises how recent developments do not reflect the context of their location and extend what they refer to as the 'urban sprawl' into the countryside.
The government has called on local planning authorities and developers to apply imaginative and forward-thinking design to such new developments.
Such thoughtful design can be seen on a national and local scale. However, we do not feel this has been applied here.
Arun District Council called the design 'monotonous, cramped and regimented' and rightly concluded this estate could be 'anywhere' with no reference to any local identity.
At the end of the day, it is pretty clear to us all good design costs money and thus effects the bottom line, which will always be profit.
With so much pressure on this area from developers wishing to build on our countryside, we see this as a missed opportunity for the government to send out a message that these reports mean something and everyone has to sit up and take notice.
We are not an exclusive community. We have not stated there should never be any development outside our boundaries, We would just like such developers to see this as a privilege. Such developments will be our legacy and thus should be designed to benefit current and future residents.
Did you know only around 30 per cent of the house-buying public would consider buying a new house? You have to ask why this is. Might it be because we are all, in the end, individuals and we would like to live in a space we feel we belongs to and reflects our identity?
We can all see mistakes have been made in the post-war years, with poorly-designed and poorly-built estates all over the country to reach government targets. It seems that, rather than learning the lessons, the message is 'we did it like this in the past, so why change now?'
Our message was you have to start somewhere. Other areas have benefited and if you want to spend our money commissioning reports, then please abide by them.
We would also ask that when the secretary of state for communities and local government specifically congratulates Yapton Parish Council for reflecting the feelings of local people, and states they want to 'put the people back in to politics', next time might they be specific with regards to who these 'people' are.
With the decision now made, the next important step is we learn the lessons from this application.
Such developers are extremely professional. The representatives were very well prepared and focused and brought a very in-depth and detailed argument to the inspector.
To its credit, Arun District Council argued its points well on the whole. However, in such an arena, preparation is everything and when it becomes abundantly clear to everyone present the overall responsible representative from the local planning authority has not walked the site or read in detail the documents submitted by either the developer or the local residents, it is frankly a shame.
Unfortunately it was clear this tainted the credibility of the evidence provided by the council.
I feel we are justified to expect more from our local council representatives. Be sure, many of us in the community and parish councils will be watching individuals closely to make sure this does not occur again!
To a major extent, Arun District Council was on a losing wicket from the start.
There were extenuating circumstances, but with a clear shortfall in the housing supply and no clear schedule to rectify this, allowing the developer to bypass several policies, it was always going to be difficult.
I feel the district council representative put forward the best argument he could under the circumstances, but the developer cleverly cast doubt on the figures presented.
The council argued the points well concerning the allocated play areas and design but this could not overturn the arguments regarding the shortfall.
We feel developers now have a precedent to point to and until Arun can produce credible evidence regarding housing land supply, this will offer a window of opportunity for developers and landowners to exploit the countryside on our boundaries.
Finally, I would like to thank the substantial number of local residents who came along and gave such a reasoned argument to this appeal, as well as to the parish and county councils and local groups and for showing their support.
My final hope is, as the pressure continues to mount on our area, people might look to similar developments around the country and realise there are ways councils, developers and local people can work together to develop our communities in such a way that can benefit us all.
We don't have to build the same generic urban boxes – there is a choice.
Modern society puts an increasing emphasis on design in all areas of our life. Why not apply the same philosophy to our homes and build developments people are queuing up to live in? It does happen, I've seen it. Just not here, unfortunately.

Andrew Knight, Bilsham Road, Yapton



We've really missed the food festival

I was really very disappointed the wonderful food festival in Emsworth was cancelled this year.
It has been one of the key south-coast attractions of the summer and appealed to many thousands of people from all over the county and country.
Even for those people who may have been familiar with the beauty and charm of this lovely coastal village, the pleasure of visiting such an interesting, varied and unusual event in Emsworth was just icing on the cake.
Emsworth has become a real centre for 'foodies'. There are several excellent places to eat in a fairly small area, and the food festival was so suited to this lovely place.
It was particularly refreshing to know the money I spent there was going to the stall holders and local businesses and not into the pockets of the organisers.
I know it has always been an extremely popular event, and I sincerely hope it can be revived, so we can enjoy the delicious experiences of the festival again next year.

Jenny Maxwell, Harbour Road, Pagham

The Emsworth Food Festival was ruined two years ago when the organisers changed it from being relatively local (including our French pals) and allowed it to be over-run by all of the usual 'festival hopping' dross you find at all of the other food fairs.

Lesley Chapman, Westergate

What went on at Emsworth this summer?
After years of increasingly successful food festivals, suddenly the whole thing is decamped to Stansted Park (entry £7 per head), leaving Emsworth bereft of its annual event, which pleased many thousands of people, and brought trade to stallholders and local businesses. The whole event seemed to be for the benefit of everyone.
What a sad loss for Emsworth and for all the people who enjoyed this tasty experience every year.

A Black, Bognor Regis



To the point...

In response to Pauline Setters' letter in the Observer (last week), the problem of nudists on West Beach, Climping, has been of concern for many years.
I chair the Climping Gap Partnership which is a group of locally concerned people. We have regular meetings and often the police are in attendance.
A few years ago when the Partnership complained to the police and asked them to take action, we were told they get very few complaints.
So we are now encouraging anyone who has witnessed anti-social behaviour on the beach to telephone the police on 0845 60 70 999. If you have a mobile, phoning immediately may help the police to take action.
Over the past few months the local PCSOs have patrolled the area and stopped people they have concerns about, taking their particulars and logging them for future reference. The offenders have look-outs which makes it difficult for police to report any misconduct.

David Biss, May Close, Climping (chair of Climping Gap Partnership, Arun district councillor)

Heavy rain, stuck indoors, unable to walk far, I phoned my sister. 'Oh cheer up,' she said, 'read Readers' Letters in the Observer, the one about The Music Man'.
Well, it's a long time since I've laughed so much. It raised my mood.
I made a cup of tea, sat down and laughed again.

Thank you Kevin Cassidy.

D Priday, Bognor Regis

In a recent Peregrinations article in the Observer Magazine, Richard Williamson wrote of his columns being read with considerable interest in Australia and Bangladesh.
They are also read with great pleasure and interest in Massachusetts in the USA, where my family and I are currently living.
We have a house and strong roots in Chilgrove, near Chichester, and Richard Williamson's articles keep us in touch with the natural history and seasons in Sussex.
We never fail to enjoy his fascinating observations and perspectives. We look forward to reading them every week and.

Andrea Caspari, Hubbardston Road, Princeton, MA

Many of us in Bognor Regis will be truly delighted if St Modwen walked away and left our seafront as it is.
We have a thriving theatre already, much used and enjoyed by the community, and many people are quite happy with that. Conversely there is little support for the proposed flats and another ugly tower block.

Cllr Sandra Daniells, Bognor Town Council

If you are English and have received electoral register forms, and they have printed nationality as 'British', send it back, refuse to sign it, demand a replacement form, then fill in 'English', if you are. More of our nationality being taken away. Stand up for your rights.

Mr James, Hechle Wood, Bognor Regis

A big thank you to Roger Gibson and all the staff and volunteers at the Chichester Cinema at New Park for another successful International Film Festival – the 17th one, in fact!
Not only were we offered a staggering 90 films in 18 days, but there were panel discussions, selective retrospectives celebrating the work of, for example, Sir Michael Redgrave, talks, etc.
The ambiance at the opening and closing gala was magnificent with wonderful food sourced locally from Field and Fork, The Earl of March and India Gate.
Chichester should be proud to have hosted such a great event. Roll on next year!

Sheila Chisholm-Mackintosh, North Mundham



Pet idol

I'd like to thank all Observer readers who voted for me in the recent Pet Idol competition. It was a dream come true for me to see my photo in the paper – but I couldn't believe it when I actually won!
Thank you very much.

Frazer from Chichester



School transport has been a problem for a while

My daughters Georgia and Alex (both Year 10) have been travelling on school bus 127 from Bracklesham to Chichester High School for Girls for three years, and in all that time, it has rarely been punctual.
It is suppose to pick them up at The Lively Lady at 8.09am. Nine times out of ten it is late.
On Friday, September 5, we waited at the bus stop until 8.30 and then I drove them in, because I did not want them to be late on their first day back.
Coming home they were late and did not get back until 4.15pm. And then Georgia told me she got a detention for being late in the morning.
On Monday we went to the bus stop and waited until 8.30 – no bus, so I took them in again.
You know if you live in Bracklesham it takes a good 30 minutes to get into Chichester at that time of day and, once the bus fails to arrived on time, it is impossible to get them to school on time.

Dawn Heath, Earnley

Children at Bishop Luffa school have had several buses withdrawn because of lack of funding, and future projections of the number of children who will need transport in the county.
Not only have many children been taken off the school bus through lack of spaces, parents of Year 7 pupils are being charged £90 a term per child.
The Education Act 1944 is what all the decision making is based upon and more recently the ultimate decision is held with the county council to make discretionary decisions. Unfortunately for parents in West Sussex, the results are always negative.
The staff at County Hall and the policy makers in Darlington all say 'you made your choice by sending your child to a faith school'. In other areas of the country, such a statement would be unacceptable concerning various faiths.
The Education Act 1944 was drawn up during the second world war when many children weren't at local county schools. There were far fewer cars on the roads.
Children now who live more than three miles away, particularly in rural areas, rely on this service.
What isn't taken into account is that Bishop Luffa children arrive at school one hour earlier than the high schools, so in winter it is still dark.
On the Manhood, two buses are laid on for the high schools and are re-directed right to the door of the schools.
Our children are expected to walk one mile from the cathedral to the front of school. The bus station is less than half a mile from the high schools.
Regularly, parents are told not to drive their children to school to try to save the environment. It also means hopefully fewer potential accidents.
Apparently, the funding for school transport comes out of our council tax which we have to pay or face imprisonment. I would like to know why some children and their parents have preferential treatment, when we are all just trying to transport our children as safely and reliably as possible.

Emma Baillieu, St James Close, Birdham



Council is ridiculed for its silly stance

A71-year-old grandmother had to do Chichester District Council's job of clearing rubbish from four inches of water.
At a national conference I attended last week, the council was held up for particular ridicule over their politically-correct guidance on language.
It is understandable the legal team may advise excessive caution and extreme political correctness on all matters, and it is perhaps understandable the officers go along with it, although I do not approve of, or condone, either.
However, are we not entitled to expect some common sense from the members and some backbone in standing up to these stupidities?
Everyone I speak to thinks this state of affairs is ludicrous. Most of them vote Conservative and the Conservatives have a thumping majority on the council. There is clearly a complete mismatch between what the councillors are doing and what the voters want.
So where are our councillors on this issue and what are they doing about it?
Am I right in thinking they are just accepting what the officers tell them and spending substantial sums of our money on 'going with the flow'?
In which case, is it time we started voting for a different set of councillors with more common sense and some independence?
Or must we accept the members are actually completely powerless and our council is run entirely by the officers, often just following the diktats of central government ?

Andrew Moncreiff, Cherrylands Close, Fernhurst

After reading Chichester District Council has no personnel qualified to wear Wellington boots, can I offer my services as a consultant to train council staff in how to put on and walk in Wellington boots, their purpose and all other matters associated with Wellington boots.
I can produce health-and-safety documents and risk assessments in relation to wearing Wellingtons.
I can also give talks to interested staff on what sizes and colours the boot comes in, the depth of water acceptable in relation to the type of boot worn, and a brief history of the Wellington boot.
I await in anticipation the council's response through your paper to my offer of assistance in this matter, thus allowing them, should the problem of entering a stream with a depth of four inches of water to remove an upturned metal bin, happen again, to be able to put their best foot forward (as long as they are wearing Wellingtons, I trust).

JJ Frame, Felpham

The River Lavant runs along River Side into Tozer Way. Two years ago, while I will still a city councillor for the east ward of the city, I lived in this ward.
At this time, the public metal and plastic litter bins in St Pancras were constantly being removed and dumped elsewhere or stolen altogether.
One of the very smart bin covers bearing the city crest appeared in the River Lavant. It was seen by lots of people who came to tell me.
I telephoned the right department and spoke to a pleasant gentleman saying who I was and giving him details of where the bin cover was.
It was moving slowly in about five inches of water as the children were getting in to the water and playing with it.
I then said: "One of your men can easily retrieve it if they have wellies on."
"Stop right there," he said. "My men cannot have wellies on."
For once in my life I was almost speechless. I told him that if I could get down the bank and into the water and get it, and I am a grandmother of three teenage grandchildren, could I keep it and use it as an ornamental flower tub in my garden?
"Well, I don't know about that," he said.
After weeks in the water, the bin cover disappeared one night. Perhaps it is in a city garden looking beautiful with plants in it. I wish it were in mine!

Valerie Gostling, Tozer Way, Chichester

The fact no-one at Chichester District Council is trained and is therefore rendered incapable of donning a pair of Wellington boots surely comes as no surprise to anyone?
What is deeply shocking is that any one of these woolly liberals is allowed to utter the word 'Wellington' in the first place.
Please can we all be reassured no Frenchmen – sorry, French person – was hurt or upset by the use of the word Wellington?

Jonathan H Fulford, Bosham

I totally agree with the view of Tony Colpoys regarding the complete waste of our money on a useless politically-correct guide. Chichester DC appears to be completely out of touch with the views of real people in the community.
Everyone I know is absolutely fed up with (1) political correctness, and (2) our money being wasted on completely useless and pointless projects.

Richard Trew, Wisborough Green

A lot of good work, such as sensible health and safety or risk management, is being undermined. We have to ask ourselves: was this the most convenient excuse to get out of some work?
There are many decisions being made in the name of health and safety that are not, in fact, about health and safety at all. It's about people being frightened of being hit with compensation claims if someone gets hurt or failing to grasp the true purpose of health and safety.
Health and safety is not here to ban fun. It's here to protect us from serious life and limb-threatening hazards. It saddens me when uninformed people use health and safety as an excuse for not doing anything.

David Whiting, Safety Business Services, Sussex

I am a pensioner, supported by handouts as the state duly returns some of the money I have contributed to them all my working life.
I may be an old fool and certainly a curmudgeonly old codger, but I do object to this inane political correctness emanating from all sectors of society and recently from Chichester District Council, who to my mind, are seemingly guilty of mis(oops)-spending our money.
To distract myself from all this nonsense, I bury myself in my garden. But now I am concerned because I have planted Hebe and perhaps I should have purchased a matching Shebe.
It also explains why the Miscanthus is not responding to my tender care – she prefers, I now realise, to be called m/scanthus!
Perhaps I should cultivate a plant more descriptive of this whole scenario – Helleborus.
Medically, it would seem, we are in for trouble. Will women object to having a menopause, meningitis or even a hysterectomy; and he to a hernia?
Please will the man on the street, indeed all mankind, revert to BC to spurn PC.

M Steward, St Pancras, Chichester

Presumably, according to Chichester District Council, the good folk of Selsey are now living in the hundred of personhood.

Jeremy Goodger Pink, Chichester



Now the county council has caught the disease...

It's not just the district council. It's aquaphobia, and the county council has got it too!.
I telephoned the highways authority on April 21 to let them know the end of Quarry Lane floods every time there is a shower. It covers the pavement so the pedestrians must find it a real pain – soggy muddy grass and filthy water.
I have called a further two times and it's now been over four months and nothing's been done.
It begs the question as to what they are all doing. I guess they must all be conducting surveys and preparing guides on health and safety and political correctness.
They should, of course, have several meetings, allow lots of different people to get involved, none of whom do anything about it, and then file the report to go to another department to which nobody has access or even knows about. Of course, finding somebody qualified to wear wellies may just be a problem...
Have I passed the job application?

Nick Gordon, Sidlesham



Dis-United Kingdom

At a family gathering recently, the subject of garden compost was raised.
Visitors from Hampshire, Berkshire, Essex and West Yorkshire were amazed to discover Chichester council actually charges to dispose of it, while the other councils did not, but provided free bins.
Is the community tax lowered to offset that? It did not seem cheaper when we compared bills.
Elderly people cannot get to the skip and have so little compost that the exorbitant charge which is increased yearly makes purchasing bins prohibitive.
Shame on the dustman who opened the household bin which contained very little rubbish and took out a small bag of trimmings dumping it on the pavement.
What happened to our United Kingdom?

M Anderson, Barwick in Elmet



Excellent Midhurst schools have been sacrificed

As an ex-headmaster of Herbert Shiner School, an article from the Sunday Observer resonated.
"School phobia is already estimated to affect one in every 20 children and now experts believe the trend towards bigger schools... is making the medically recognised condition far worse."
I took another look at Herbert Shiner's recent Ofsted report. In an outstanding report there was a striking comparison with the above quote regarding large schools.
"The school takes outstanding care of its students and is effective in improving behaviour and raising self-esteem... Excellent support ensures that vulnerable children and those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities can enjoy school and progress as well as other students."
The Ofsted report on Midhurst Intermediate School is equally as positive.
And in case anyone should care to argue educational attainment may have been sacrificed for this excellent personal care, it is worth noting this quote from the HSS Ofsted:
"At the end of Year 8, standards are at least in line with, and in some cases higher than, nationally expected levels for students a year older in Year 9."
Because of ethos, size and staffing structures very, very few large secondary schools, including academies, can boast that achievement.
So it seems that two excellent schools have been sacrificed to shore up a failing secondary provision in Midhurst. As far as West Sussex County Council's educational administrators are concerned, one could ask 'When will they ever learn?'
I sincerely hope Year 7 and 8 children in the Rother Valley prosper as well as they have in the past but I doubt it.

Michael Mattinson, Manor Way, Aldwick, Bognor Regis



Shop owners needed community support

The recent front page story on the redevelopment of Gilhams Service Station in Easebourne reveals the incompetence and disingenuousness of local government, and by that I mean the Easebourne Parish Council and the Chichester District Council.
The Easebourne Village Store, owned and run by the indomitable Alex Christou and his wife Sharon, has been making superhuman efforts to repair the damage caused by the closure of their post office last May.
And while I note Alex Christou decided not to comment on the story, it is important that a response is forthcoming: though, of course, the opinions expressed are my own.
The Trojan Horse in this development is the 2,000 sq ft 'convenience' store which introduces a new and major competitor to the village store.
There were two organisations here which might but have challenged it but seemingly chose not to do so.
And here it should be remembered that the proposed closure of the village store post office was almost certainly already hanging over the Christou family when this planning application was made.
First, the Easebourne Parish Council, whose minutes I trawled over, and covering the last nine months or so.
It seems clear from those minutes that at the same time as the council was paying lip service to the danger of the possible closure of the village store, and the trotting out of such cliches as 'use it or lose it', they were actively supporting another threat, just down the road, the Gilhams Service Station redevelopment.
I have read the parish council has a duty to articulate the needs and wishes of its community. So why did it not do so on such an important and sensitive issue?
The second is the Cowdray Estate. The Estate, which should be at the very heart of support for the continuity and consolidation of the traditions and those key amenities of village life – being the church, the pub, and the village store – had in its gift to prevent or at least to seriously reduce the impact of a new convenience store, but failed to do so.
And as a rider of no little importance, I have been reading in Cowdray Park News of a new project from the Estate.
Just yards from the village store the Estate has had plans passed by both the Chichester council and the parish council, for the development of a new farm shop.
'A very exciting project for Cowdray Estate' it says; but not so for the Christou family on whose doorstep it will sit.
And, as with the Gilhams Service Station, this must have been 'work in progress' with the two councils throughout the period of the imminent closure of the post office.
So perhaps, under all these circumstances, the Estate might like to reconsider this particular redevelopment.
All this needs to be considered in the light of two other important facts. First the Christous must have invested a considerable sum in the refurbishment of their new store.
Which begs the question: would they have done so had they known, at that time, which they did not, of these other developments?
And please let's not have the poor excuse they were 'in the public domain'.
Second, and one can just hear the response being trotted out, that what is being done is in the best interests of the residents of Easebourne.
Really? Not, I would suggest, had the residents been properly consulted.

Russell Cradick, Heathfield Green, Midhurst



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