Lindfield Parish Council newsletter - April 2024

View fullsize

Click to enlarge

Annual Parish Meeting 2024

Click to enlarge

The Annual Parish Meeting will take place on Tuesday 16th April from 8pm at The King Edward Hall and we invite all residents of Lindfield to join us. This is the opportunity for residents to meet their local parish councillors, learn more about what we do as a Parish Council and learn more about how to get involved. The Parish Meeting (which, it must be stressed, is NOT a meeting of the Parish Council) is a forum for local government electors to discuss parish affairs and to pass resolutions on them, although such resolutions are not binding on the Parish Council. As this Parish has a Parish Council, it is the Council’s Chairman who must convene the meeting and, if present, chair it. A representative from Good Neighbours CARE (Haywards Heath, Cuckfield and Lindfield) will be attending and giving a presentation on the charity’s work. We also hope that the District and County Councillors for Lindfield will be attending. The Agenda will be on the Parish Council’s notice board in Denmans Lane nearer the time, as well as on our website (www.lindfieldparishcouncil.gov.uk).

To read the full newsletter, click the images to enlarge them or pick up April’s Lindfield Life.

Lindfield Parish Council's January 2024 newsletter

View fullsize

Click to enlarge

VILLAGE ARCHIVES

The Parish Council’s existing volunteer archivist, Richard Bryant, after over twenty years of service, has stepped down. The Council wishes to place on record our thanks to Richard for all his hard work. The Council is now looking to recruit a new volunteer(s) for the voluntary position.
The role will require:
• Reviewing our existing stock
• Maintaining records of our stock
• Liaising with other organisations (i.e. West Sussex Records Office) to see if they are interested in any of our stock
• Answering public enquiries
The successful applicant(s) will need to be comfortable using email and logging records in Microsoft Excel or Word. If you are interested in the voluntary role please contact us at clerks@lindfieldparishcouncil.gov.uk.

View fullsize

Click to enlarge

AUTUMN CLEAN 2023 & SPRING CLEAN 2024

A massive thank you from Lindfield Parish Council to all the volunteers who took part in our Village Autumn Clean on Saturday 14th October. We would also like to thank Mid Sussex District Council for supporting the event with hi-viz jackets, litter pickers, extra refuse bags and for disposing of all the waste collected by the volunteers. We will be looking to organise a Spring Clean in March /April 2024. We will update our website, Facebook page, and noticeboard with further details once we have confirmed a date.

OUR OFFICE

View fullsize

Click to enlarge

Lindfield Parish Council Office is usually staffed five days a week and is open to the public on Tuesdays 1pm to 4pm, Thursdays and Fridays 10am to 1pm – when members of the public are welcome by prior appointment only to come along to look at planning applications for Lindfield, acquire the codes for obtaining concessionary railcards, or simply seek advice on issues of concern. However, if you do need to speak with someone outside our normal opening hours, then please contact the Clerk who will be happy to make alternative arrangements with you.

To read the full newsletter, please pick up January’s issue of Lindfield Life and turn to page 41, or click the images to enlarge.

What's happening with Lindfield pond?

There was something fishy going on at Lindfield pond last month and members of the Bonfire Society were quick to investigate!
Accompanied by harbour master David Riddle, the members descended on the pond to offer their support to the team of specialist contractors catching and removing fish from the village pond. The de-stocking saw dozens of fish caught using huge nets and transferred to special holding tanks before being transported to enjoy a new life in lakes across Sussex.

The de-stocking of the pond was organised by Mid Sussex District Council, which owns and manages the pond, following advice from the Environment Agency. An investigation by experts from the EA had found that poor water quality and oxygen levels, combined with over population, had left huge numbers of fish struggling to breathe. Removing all of the fish was advised to improve the health of the pond and the other wildlife including ducks, amphibians and insects.

Not all the fish have been removed, so there are plans to regularly de-stock the pond during the year. The de-stocking is the latest in a series of improvements to the pond by Mid Sussex District Council, supported by Lindfield Parish Council. They include installing a new floating island and replacing and repainting the bollards and fencing along the pond side wall. A new floating duck house, funded from a community crowd funding initiative, will be installed soon.

Lindfield Parish Council newsletter - December 2022

View fullsize

Just keeping in touch…
Just to remind you that we really appreciate it when residents keep in touch and let us know how we can help. Do not forget that contact can be made via Facebook or via our website lindfieldrural-pc.gov.uk or email clerk@lindfieldrural-pc.org.uk or telephone number 01444 831499.

View fullsize

Our staff work predominately at home, however they are very willing to meet with you on site or at our offices located in the Walstead Burial Ground, they can be contacted using the details above to make an appointment.

The newsletter is available for you to read here, by clicking the pictures to enlarge or by picking up a copy of December’s Lindfield Life today.

Remembering Lindfield resident Ernest Mackellar Turner

By Roddy Turner

In the April 22 edition of Lindfield Life, in the article on royal celebrations in Lindfield I was pleased to see a photo of my late father, Mac Turner of Meadow Lane, in Highland dress playing the bagpipes, leading the procession through Lindfield as a part of the 1977 Silver Jubilee celebrations. Ernest MacKellar Turner, otherwise known as Mac, was a well-known character in the village, always ready to stop for a chat with anyone, whether walking to the shops or to passersby whilst tending his garden. His rich Scottish accent and warm manner made him many friends, and I know his passing, last year at the age of 88, will be felt by all those who knew him. I would therefore like to tell a little about his colourful, hardworking and very full life.

Mac was born in 1933 in the village of Minard on the shores of Loch Fyne in Argyll, a place of pristine beauty with a strong community, and a lost way of life about which he never ceased to reminisce. Although the village was poor by today’s standards everyone helped each other out and his childhood was coloured by working on farms or roaming in the hills. As a child he developed a strong love of making things, be it model boats or repairing old bikes, and the skills he learned were invaluable in years to come.

Mac’s idyllic childhood was overshadowed by the outbreak of WW2. The whole of Loch Fyneside became a restricted area, as one of the places chosen for the preparations for the eventual landings of D-Day. The local children could attend home guard lectures with the adults, and Mac could strip and re-assemble a Bren gun in double quick time, to the embarrassment of the men who were finding it hard to accomplish!

in 1951 he received his national service call-up papers and took the train ‘down south’ to the RAF camp at Yatesbury in Wiltshire for his basic training, and then to learn a trade as a ground mechanic working on wireless, radar and other technologies of the burgeoning post war recovery years.

To read the full, and beautiful, piece Roddy has written about his late father, please grab a copy of Lindfield Life’s August issue and turn to page 12 and 13, where you’ll see wonderful photos and be taken around the world with Mac.