SEDLESCOMBE PUBLIC MEETING - SUPERFAST BROADBAND

The Parish Council is holding a short public meeting on TUESDAY 10 JANUARY 2012 IN COMMITTEE ROOM 2 OF THE VILLAGE HALL AT 6.30pm.

AMENDED NEWS ITEM

SUPERFAST BROADBAND. On Tuesday 20 December,2-4pm,  in Sedlescombe Village Hall, Action in rural Sussex is holding one of a series of four events to explain how a community can go about getting improvements to its broadband speed. Each attendee at the 20 December event will need to pay £24 including VAT and make a booking through Action in rural Sussex. THIS IS THE DEFRA FUND WHICH IS PARTICULARLY RELEVANT TO COMMUNITIES IN HARD TO REACH BROADBAND AREAS.

ALTHOUGH SEDLESCOMBE IS NOT A HARD TO REACH AREA, THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPROVED SPEEDS CANNOT BE STRESSED ENOUGH. EAST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL IS PLANNING TO PROVIDE FUNDING TO PUT SUPERFAST BROADBAND IN THE REACH OF LOCAL PEOPLE. LOCAL SUPPORT WILL BE NEEDED. MORE INFORMATION TO COME IN THE NEAR FUTURE......

BUDGET CAR COMPANY PROSECUTION. On Monday 28 November, Rother District Council successfully prosecuted the Budget Car Company in the Magistrates Court for nuisance parking in Sedlescombe. Rother's report of the case can be read by clicking the link.

CAR PARKING IN SEDLESCOMBE. Sedlescombe is included in Rother's review of all its public car parks. Rother has set up a Working Group with the remit to find £100,000 of savings from the car parks across the District. On 30 November, the Parish Council Chairman (Cllr Wright) and the Clerk (Pauline Raymond) made representation to the Rother Working Group supporting retention of the free Brede Lane Car Park.

PROPOSED HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN BREDE LANE. This autumn, the Parish Council has been approached for its support for two separate developments of housing in or off Brede Lane.

The first at East View Terrace involves removal of the garages and using the land together with that on which the Scout Hut used to stand to build nine new properties.

The second is for the piece of land opposite Gorselands and between Blacklands and Street Farm. Here a large development is being proposed of 40-45 properties, a new pre-school building, several workshops and a playing field for the Primary School.

Neither of these applications have yet reached the planning stage. The Parish Council has voted unanimously to oppose both proposals mainly because of the unsuitability of Brede Lane to take any more traffic. The Street Farm development is, in addition, outside the current development boundary.

EAST SUSSEX TRADING STANDARDS WARN OF CHRISTMAS CLOTHING SCAMS. Christmas is a time for giving but criminals just want to take
People in East Sussex who donate clothing to charities are being warned to check the charity first.
As the yuletide period approaches residents across the County may want to give to good causes using charitable collections to donate clothing.  However, East Sussex County Council is asking people to be careful who they give to and double check that the charity isn’t just one big scam.  Council Trading Standards Officers say that not all the collections are for legitimate charities.
Councillor Carl Maynard, Lead Member for Economy, Transport & Environment said: “Unless you are giving to a recognised charity, the profits from your donation could end up in the pockets of criminals.  This is not the most complicated scam in the world but the Association of Charity Shops estimates that between £2.5m and £3m is lost to these scams each year.  This is money that could have gone to bona fide charities.
“Our advice would be to be wary of vague statements on packaging with examples including ‘donations for work creation’ or ‘donations to help poor children’.  Always check the charity first before you decide to donate.”
Trading Standards say that when checking if a charitable collection is legitimate, consider the following:

• Does the bag or leaflet have the number of a registered charity?  If so, is there a registered charity number?  You can use the Charity Commission website or contact them directly for an up-to-date list of registered charities.
• Check that the registered charity does have a collection service and that it’s not some pop-up company claiming it collects for a registered charity.
• Does the leaflet or sack provide contact details?  If not this is generally a sign that the collector doesn’t want to be contacted because they are not a genuine charity.

If you would like to report a bogus charity please contact Louise Baxter at louise.baxter@eastsussex.gov.uk
Visit the Charity Commission website at www.charity-commission.gov.uk or telephone the Commission on 0845 300 0218.
Residents who would like general information about avoiding scams should visit the County Council’s website at www.eastsussex.gov.uk/consumeradvice and click on ‘alerts, food safety and scams’.  Further advice is also available from www.consumerdirect.gov.uk.