A third of people treated for anxiety in Adur are struggling with debt problems, reliable sources tell us. The figures come straight from the horses’ mouth: family GP practices in the district.
Let’s meet up on Saturday!
Find out about Morrison’s plans to bring another supermarket to Shoreham — and then join us for lunch this coming Saturday.
Labour members were out in force on Tuesday at the Adur planning meeting. Now we want a good turnout at the public exhibition of the plans to develop the site around the Civic Centre.
We’re meeting up this Saturday 11 May at 11am at:
The Shoreham Centre, Pond Lane, Shoreham BN43 5WU
All members and friends are welcome to join us.
Biofuels station: an ill wind
A very bad night for democracy: on Tuesday the Adur planning committee decided to approve plans for a biofuels power station on the south side of Shoreham harbour, with just one amendment focusing on sustainability.
Set aside the fact that objectors had not been given the chance to comment on a revised application submitted after the public consultation ended.
Who cares about two petitions that gained about 1,000 signatures (this in an area not known for public displays of protest)?
And let’s not question the (actually questionable) suggestion that the plans were acceptable to Brighton and Hove council officers, subject to additional mitigation measures being taken.
The fact is that only one councillor, the eloquent Shoreham Beach representative Ben Stride, questioned the Adur planning team’s presentation.
There was a whiff of stage management about the way the amendment was moved by Mike Mendoza and seconded by David Donaldson. Both Tories. Both keen to establish how closely they had questioned the plans (or not).
The chair allocated six minutes to objectors and six minutes to the applicant. Seems fair enough. But hang on, who decides who’s an objector? In an open democracy each speaker should have the same time allocation.
The amendment was duly passed: let’s try and get the nice developer to say that they’ll only use fuel that’s unfit for human consumption. (Fuel can of course start off as fit for human consumption, and can become contaminated en route to Shoreham…) Not only that: we’ll be really tough and tell the developer that they have to pay for a biannual inspection to make sure they’ve been doing the right thing.
At the end of the day the application was nodded through with just one noble vote of opposition.
We say that this is too important a decision to be left to six councillors on a planning committee. The air pollution and potential smells will affect everyone who lives in and around the harbour and the Adur, depending on how the wind blows. The committee’s decision must go forward for scrutiny by full council.
It affects us all. We all need to know where our councillors stand on this crucial question. We all need to see which way the wind blows…
Shoreham power station debate Tuesday
This is the time to stand up for a safe and sustainable future in Shoreham, Southwick, Fishersate and our neighbours in Portslade and greater Brighton.
The Adur planning committee meets on Tuesday to discuss a bid to build a biofuels power station at Shoreham Harbour.
Labour members and supporters will be there to make sure that the councillors put Adur residents first.
The time: 7pm, Tuesday 7 May
The place: The council chamber, Adur Civic Centre.
We want Adur to be a green and pleasant place to live and work!
We’ve got the wind in our sails!
OK we didn’t win this time round. But we DID field some excellent candidates. We DID have an army of enthusiastic helpers in the run-up to polling day, and on the day itself. And we DID beat the Tories into third place in that important Southlands by-election for Adur council.
Thanks to everyone who helped out. Now we know we can do more, you can be sure that’s exactly what we’re planning. We’ll do more and next year we’ll win more.
All our candidates made gains from the last elections in 2009. In East Worthing the gains were spectacular.
All of this achieved despite UKIP’s recent rise locally and our limited resources.
ADUR
Alun Jones – Sompting & North Lancing +2.4%
Brian Hall – Southwick +9.8%
Irene Reed -Shoreham + 5.6%
David Devoy – Saltings +5.9%
Doug Bradley – Lancing +2.7%
Sami Zeglam – Kingston Buci +2%
WORTHING
Mike Barrett – EastWorthing + 11.7%
John Turley – Broadwater +10.2%
Ann Saunders – Cissbury + 1%
See all our county election results
And for details of Labour’s uplifting results in Crawley see here
Andy Bray fighting for Labour in Southlands
Great news from the election campaigns team: our former chair Andy Bray has accepted our invitation to stand in the Southlands by-election, on May 2.
Andy is a tireless champion for his community in Southlands — he’s lived here for 50 years and has been a key figure in making the wonderful Southlanders centre such a community hub.
If you want to get involved in the campaign to elect Andy Bray for Southlands, please contact us. Send a message on this site and we’ll get back to you.
And see our full list of candidates for the county council el.ection also being fought on May 2 here.
Keep our NHS public
We’re backing our local HealthAlert! group in its fight to keep health services public.
The Government was forced changed its tune on regulations that would have forced new commissioning bodies to tender out all NHS services.
But the GP-led clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), set to take over in April, can still push ahead with ‘marketisation’ of services.
HealthAlert! has launched a petition demanding that the Coastal West Sussex CCG chooses NHS services first. It’s the only way to ensure we have accountable and transparent health services: answerable to the public and not to shareholders.
Stop this NHS sell-off
There’s still time to tell the Government where to get off on selling our NHS. Sign the petition demanding that the Tories scrap new ‘back door’ privatisation of the health service.
The petition reads:
THE PETITION TEXT:
Our NHS is precious – we don’t want it privatised.
Jeremy Hunt’s plan to force local doctors to open up almost all NHS services to private companies is anti-democratic and breaks government promises made last year. Please ensure his plan, contained in the NHS Competition regulations (SI 257), is subject to a full debate and vote, on the floor of both Houses of Parliament. Please do all you can to ensure that they are defeated or withdrawn.
Visit the 38 degrees petition here
SHOREHAM HARBOUR CONSULTATION
| Public Consultation on Development Briefs Consultation Deadline: 8 March 2013 Two development briefs are out for public consultation. Now is the time to have our say on far-reaching plans for the development of Shoreham’s port and riverside. Visit the Shoreham Harbour Regeneration pages on the Adur & Worthing Councils website Displays are available at:
Libraries and Council Offices: Copies of the reports and the survey forms will also be held in local libraries and council offices in Shoreham-by-Sea, Southwick, Portslade and Hove throughout the consultation period. Shoreham Port: The reports can be viewed in the reception area of Nautilus House, the headquarters of Shoreham Port Authority (www.shoreham-port.co.uk). The two briefs propose future land uses and set out planning guidelines for new development proposals. The briefs have been jointly commissioned by the Shoreham Harbour Regeneration Partnership, comprising Adur District Council, Brighton & Hove City Council and West Sussex County Council, working closely with the Shoreham Port Authority. Once finalised, the briefs will form a key part of the Shoreham Harbour Joint Area Action Plan. |
Find out about Biofuels plans for Shoreham
Plans for a biofuel power station in Shoreham harbour are the focus of an open meeting on Wednesday, 20 February, starting at 8pm.
The meeting will be held at the Southwick Community Centre (five minutes walk from Southwick railway station on the Brighton-Worthing Line). Speakers will include Kenneth Richter, Biofuels Campaigner with Friends of the Earth and Duncan Law, Biofuelwatch. Both the wider impacts of burning biofuels and the local air quality impacts will be discussed.
Edgeley Green Power is applying for permission for a 32 MW power station which would burn around 50,000 tonnes of biofuels a year.
The date when Adur Council’s planning committee will decide on the application has not yet been announced but it could be as early as 4 March.
If you use Facebook then please help to invite others via this events page: http://www.facebook.com/events/464307853622418/?ref=2 and please Like and share the link to the local group’s NO2 Shoreham Biofuels Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/NO2-Shoreham-Biofuel-Power-Station/155997541108501 .