MSDC Garden waste collections return on 11th May 2020

Mid Sussex District Council is resuming garden waste collections from Monday 11 May.

As part of the Council’s response to the COVID-19 national emergency, garden waste collections were paused on 13 April to enable the collection crews to meet social distancing requirements and to preserve rubbish and recycling collections.

During the past month the Council has worked hard alongside waste collection partner Serco to secure additional resources that will enable our crews to practice social distancing and collect our customers’ garden waste safely. Collections were originally predicted to be suspended for a period of 12 weeks, but new working arrangements mean it is now possible to bring the service back after only a four-week pause.

When the service resumes on Monday 11 May, customers should place their garden waste bins out for collection on their usual collection day. Anyone who is not sure when their bin is due for collection can check online at www.midsussex.gov.uk/waste-recycling/bin-collection

The garden waste collection service has been paused for exactly four weeks and during that time each customer has missed two collections. To ensure that no household is financially disadvantaged by the suspension of the garden waste collection service, the Council will add four weeks onto the end of each subscription period to cover the number of collections missed.

Councillor John Belsey, Cabinet Member for Environment and Service Delivery said: “This has been a difficult month for everyone and we are so grateful to all our garden waste customers for their patience, support and understanding during the past few weeks.

“We know that garden waste collections are important to people, especially during this lockdown period, so we have been working as hard as we can with Serco to reinstate them safely as soon as possible. I’m delighted to say that we are now able to resume our garden waste collections.

“We really appreciate the efforts you are making to hold on to your garden waste but please remain patient for a little while longer once collections are back under way and we work through the build-up.

“Our crews are not able to collect any side waste so it’s important to make sure all your garden waste is contained within the bin and that the lid is closed. If you are unable to fit all your garden waste into your green wheelie bin, please continue to store it until your next scheduled collection. This will ensure the safety and wellbeing of our collection crews and that we can continue to offer a garden waste service to everyone.”

For more information, visit the garden waste collection page at www.midsussex.gov.uk/gardenwaste where there are answers to several Frequently Asked Questions. Anyone who is unable to find the answer to their query online should email gardenwaste@midsussex.gov.uk.

MSDC seek help to commemorate Mid Sussex Virtual VE Day

With planned VE Day events now not taking place, MSDC are compiling a virtual tribute

Mid Sussex District Council are calling for your help to create a memory bank of commemoration for Victory in Europe Day (8th May).

While current social distancing measures are in place it will not be possible for street parties to take place at the moment, so Mid Sussex District Council is calling for submissions for a virtual memory bank to help commemorate VE Day. Tributes and photos, memories, songs and stories of VE Day and what it means will be merged into a showreel and presented on the Council’s digital platforms. Recordings of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ can also be sent to form the soundtrack to the presentation.

Earlier in the year MSDC provided grants to commemorate VE Day; but given the current national and international situation these events won’t take place at this time. The Council will of course be honouring our grant commitments when recipients feel they are in a position to mark the many sacrifices made and to commemorate the end of WWII.

Councillor Norman Webster, Cabinet Member for Community said: “This is an important commemoration and we want to do everything we can to ensure it is marked. Somehow it is even more relevant, as we all recognise the bonds of friendship and community we are experiencing anew, that we commemorate those who gave so much at that time”.

Please send photos and poems for Mid Sussex Virtual VE Day to comms@midsussex.gov.uk or via the Council’s Facebook channel. You can upload film or songs to a special form at www.midsussex.gov.uk/VE2020

Deadline for submissions in Monday 4th May 2020. MSDC cannot guarantee all will be used but the team will try to use as many as possible. Before submitting you must ensure you have permission for any items to be displayed publicly.

Proposed new development off Gravelye Lane, Lindfield

Lindfield Preservation Society just missed the copydate for Feb's magazine for this article, written by them, about a new development in Lindfield...

Wates the developers have applied for planning permission to build 230 houses on green field land off Gravelye Lane. Combined with the high-density housing estates that Lindfield has already been compelled to accept at Newton Road and Lyoth Lane, this scheme would add 1,000 new residents to the village – a population increase of 20%. It would put 600 additional cars on our roads (figures based on West Sussex County Council census data). This kind of speculative development is grossly disproportionate to the scale of our village and the capacity of its infrastructure.

Nor is there any need for it. There are currently approved sites for more than 4,000 homes in Mid Sussex, which developers have not taken up. This should be more than enough for them to be getting on with, especially as the historical completion rate is c. 400 houses per year.

Even if there were a need, this site is entirely inappropriate for large-scale development. A housing estate of this size would do further, serious damage to a local infrastructure that is already overstretched. Local roads are already congested at peak times, schools and medical facilities are oversubscribed and water and sewage systems are under considerable strain. Bland assurances from the developers that they would work with various bodies to mitigate the impact of their proposals are as meaningless as they are vague.

Our countryside is precious. Once it is gone, it is gone for good. Before more of it is lost, there should at the very least be a convincing demonstration of an overriding local need. There is clearly no such need here.

Concerned residents can help by sending their objections to Mid Sussex District Council Planning Department before the deadline of 8 February.