Staplecross

EWHURST PARISH COUNCIL: OPEN MEETING. On Tuesday of last week (26th) Ewhurst Parish Council arranged an ‘Open Meeting’ held at the Village Hall in Staplecross, for all residents of our parish to come along and listen to representatives from both Rother District Council’s Housing and Planning departments regarding the development - now known as ‘Stockwood Meadow’. A great number of residents attended and were able to put forward their questions & queries, concerns & comments to ‘the panel’ in a polite and democratic way. The many questions were dealt with by Amy Fearn - from Housing, and Richard Wilson - from Planning, the friendly and well informed officers from RDC who answered them simply, openly and honestly. Although not everyone was happy with the end result, - ‘you cannot please all the people, all the time’ - comes to mind, - they all were better informed on many issues relating to this housing development. Mr David Young, Chairman of Ewhurst Parish Council sent this little synopsis of this meeting, which sums it all up rather nicely. Here it is, - in it’s entirety:-- “What a great turnout at the Public Meeting about Stockwood Meadow (the proposed development next to the Bowls Club). Those that turned out received a detailed report of where we are today, what we can expect, as well as letting off a bit of steam. I was expecting to see some noisy debating but after the introduction, the behaviour was spot on with people speaking in turn through the chairman. What did come across is how let down the people were in terms of knowing what is actually going on and the process that is followed in town and country planning. I think “we don’t all have the internet” or “time to read a mass of documents” or even “knowing where they can be seen”,- sums up the main issues. The myths about the “Waiting list” for Social housing were I think dispelled, with the knowledge that only 4 or 5 families are physically on the list and that anyone can apply. Of the 26 dwellings to be built, 10 will be ‘affordable’.

Certainly, the good turnout of Parish Councillors will ensure that the Villages get what the section 106 agreement stipulates. We will be monitoring closely. The meeting ended on a positive note with people fully informed on what to expect in the next 2 years or so.”

STAPLECROSS LUNCHEON CLUB: - HELP NEEDED !!! ~ An appeal is being made for kind-hearted people to volunteer to help in the smooth running of this popular village dining group. Only 3 hours maximum, are requested once a month on a Wednesday to help ensure that this little club can continue to operate. We are a group running a lunch club for over 50’s on the 3rd Wednesday of each month, in the Village Hall at Staplecross. If you are free between 11.30am and 2.30pm with a happy, friendly disposition who would be kind enough to assist in the setting of the tables; serve dinners; clear away and clean up afterwards, as well as being happy to chat to the diners, then we would love to hear from you. - No washing up of dishes, pots or pans is required as the Luncheon Club has it’s own dishwasher ! The more volunteers we can entice to help, the less hours would be needed to be manned...it wouldn’t even be once a month !. The old adage, “Many hands make light work”, certainly applies here and it’s always fun when there are enough people to do the job !. If you think you would be able to help, PLEASE, contact either Pauline on 01580~830570 or Sally on 01580~830000. Thank You.

ROTHER RAMBLERS: Easing us nicely into the Autumn season the members of the local walking group, the Rother Ramblers have two (2) walks planned this week and Walk No: 1 is arranged for Sunday October 8th. and is an eight mile circular walk around Stonegate. The meeting point is to be the car park at Stonegate railway station. OS. EXP136. TQ658272. (SatNavTN5 7EU) at 10.00am. The walking notes state that unfortunately car parking charges will apply here, so please be aware of this. A picnic lunch is suggested once again. Adrian is to be your ‘walk leader’ and you may contact him on 01273~514336 or mobile:07729~861854 for more details. Walk No: 2 is going to take place on Wednesday October 11th and is another 8 mile circular meander but this will happen between Mark Cross and Rotherfield. The meeting place for this outing will be the car park at the junction of B2100 and A267 at Mark Cross. OS. EXP135/136. TQ582311. (SatNav TN6 3NP) again at 10.00am. The walking notes state that this is a comfortable walk in undulating countryside. Once more, a picnic lunch is the order of the day. Your ‘walk leader’ will be Martin, and you may contact him on 01424~752793 for all further information.

STAPLECROSS BOWLS CLUB: JUMBLE SALE - LAST REMINDER - The club will be holding their annual Jumble Sale on Saturday October 7th.- THAT’s TOMORROW - This will take place in the Village Hall, Northiam Road, Staplecross TN32 5QG. The entrance fee is just 20p and the doors will open at 2.00pm. Along with all the usual bargains, there will be cakes and teas and a raffle. So come along and grab yourself a bargain. For more information about this, please contact Brian on: 01580~830570.

EAST SUSSEX MOBILE LIBRARY SERVICES: That brilliant little Mobile Library van will be returning once again, trundling along our country lanes, as it continues with it’s full and busy schedule. This time the little white van will be visiting Ewhurst Green on Thursday October 12th. The van is due to arrive at 10.40am and will be departing at 11.10am. This is to be the only visit of this important, free service to this village this month - so please ensure that you don’t miss it. There are so many things of interest within the portals of this wonderful and so far still free, Mobile Library Service vehicle,- so please come along and find out for yourself. With the vast array of services at your fingertips, Libraries are now certainly, more than just books.

EWHURST PARISH COUNCIL: Members of Ewhurst Parish Council, would like to invite you to come along to the October monthly meeting of your local Parish Council. This will take place on Thursday October 12th. at 7.30pm and will be held this month in the Arthur Herdman Pavilion, Village Street, Ewhurst Green. This, like all council meetings, is open to the public, so please come along and have you say. Tell us about your concerns and talk to us about what you want to happen - or not happen - within our community. Put your questions to all levels of local government as representatives from Rother District Council and East Sussex County Council will hopefully, also be in attendance. We are always working hard on your behalf so please come and tell us how we’re doing and how we can improve, and how we can make living within this parish a happier and better place for us all.

EARLY REMINDERS

EWHURST,STAPLECROSS & BODIAM GARDEN SOCIETY: For anyone with an interest in gardening- in any shape or size, then a treat is in store for you at their next monthly meeting on Thursday October 19th. The meeting begins at 7.30pm and visitors & non-members are also welcome, at a miserly entrance fee of just £2:00. The guest Speaker will be Jean Griffin, who not only is a true gardening expert - she definitely does get her hands down & dirty - she also works for BBC Radio Kent “Dig It Programme”, as well as being a trustee and judge for South & South East in Bloom, which is part of the national “Britain in Bloom” campaign, - and which you may remember- Ewhurst Green won a ‘Gold Medal’ in 2016 for the Best Small Village entry. Jean is an amazing speaker, knowledgeable, very funny, helpful and just a delight to listen to-her talk here tonight is entitled “Tales from the Potting Shed” - and Jean is truly a speaker not to be missed. This month also sees the ‘Apple Dessert Competition’ which has rapidly become very popular to members and visitors alike. If you’d like to join in - just take along a home made ‘pud, - with apples being the main ingredient and if you’d like to share the recipe, please also bring copies of how it’s made~ these are always eagerly accepted. Jean will also be judging (& tasting!) the competition - but everyone will also get to have a tester taste of them, which adds to the fun and ambience of the whole evening. It promises to be yet another great night.

HERDMAN ASSOCIATION : A.G.M. - The Herdman Association’s Annual General Meeting will be held at the Herdman Pavilion, Ewhurst Green, on Wednesday October 18th. 2017 at 7.00pm. All members are welcome to attend. For those ‘not-yet-members’ application forms are available to download on the website: www.herdmanassociation.weebly.com or please contact the Membership Secretary: Suzanne via her contact of: [email protected] The newsletters will keep you up-to-date with all that is happening in and around the Herdman Pavilion and what plans the association of this great asset to the parish have in store for us.

CHURCH SERVICES: Church services for the parish of Ewhurst, will commence at St. James the Great, Ewhurst Green on Sunday October 8th. Trinity 17 at 9.30am.This service will include Holy Communion (BCP) together with a Harvest Festival There will be NO SERVICE at St. Giles church Bodiam today, but a Morning Praise service which will also feature a Harvest Festival will be held at St. Mark’s church, Northiam Road, Staplecross and will follow directly after at 11.15 am. This will also include Holy Communion. If there is any church matter on which you feel you may need further assistance, especially Baptisms, Weddings and sadly, Funerals, then for the time being, do please get in touch with the appropriate Churchwardens: ~ For all Bodiam matters, please contact Graham Peters - email at [email protected] or telephone 01580~830203. For all Ewhurst Parish matters please contact Jo Goodwin on 01580~830601 or via her email at [email protected] Help in some way is always at hand and always so generously given, so do please contact them.

PLEASE CONTACT ME: If you are arranging an event in the foreseeable future, --- whatever the nature of the event and however large or small, if you’d like some extra free coverage for it - courtesy of the Observer Newspaper - then please get in touch. If it’s of interest to you - it’s of interest to us. It’s never too early to send in any of the details and to tell us what you are planning. Many of you will be turning your thoughts to other events in the near future so please do contact me - email :[email protected] -- telephone 01580~831881-- as I’d love to hear from you to help ‘spread the word’ on your behalf.......Thank You.