At 6:30 PM on April 4th the BHTC council chamber had a well-attended audience for its customer services Key Area Group Meeting. After a presentation by the maintenance company contracted by Mid Sussex District Council to maintain its green spaces, the meeting commenced to address an "unsolicited sales pitch" for land hire at Batchelor's Farm, Help Point funding, A Hedgehog Highway Project looking to sell hedgehog tunnels through the help point, Mid Sussex District Council using S106 funds to support the Folders Meadow play area, a new bus shelter on Keymer Road, the allotment waiting list, deteriorating artwork on the Green Circle and parking on Maple Drive.
The council agreed to take ownership of the new bus shelter on Keymer Road, on supporting the funding for the Folders Meadow play area and with funding stakers along verges of Maple Drive to deter people from parking on the verges when attending games at the Burgess Hill football club. Councillor Eves raised the concerns about people parking elsewhere in the Maple Drive area and the clear need to address this and provide more parking spaces. The hedgehog tunnel proposal was rejected on the grounds that the town has both a local hedgehog charity and the locally based Shed charity that can make hedgehog houses and tunnels. Regarding more contentious issues, the position of councillors was that their views on the "unsolicited sales pitch" to use Batchelor's farm to rent out an office space in a horsebox were already clear. Councillor Eggleston suggested it should never have made it onto the agenda on the first place and also stressed that a long-term installment of a temporary structure would require planning permission, which was not noted in the council's report. CEO Steve Cridland explained that he had added the item to the agenda because it was not his decision to make. The council concluded that when the position of the council is already clear on such items, such as that regarding the BHTC-owned Batchelor's Farm they have vowed to protect as a green space, the item should not end up on the agenda of a council meeting for discussion. It is worth noting, however, that whereas the report made sure to note the "risks" of other items such as allotments, the only risks it noted regarding the proposed hiring of land for office space was the security costs, which would have been borne by the startup company. There was no mention of the impact it would have on the surround green space and residents. Vice chair Councillor White noted that the company has apparently gone bust in the past and does not appear to be properly registered. When MSDC funding for the help point was mentioned, a member of the public noted that MSDC funding was used to fund the shop, questioning the need for a help point when a large percentage of people use the internet. Another resident asked why the help point still does not open on Saturdays. The response of councillors to this question was to claim that to open on Saturdays would use more resources and cost more and possibly disappoint residents further. There was no apparent consideration of the possibility of staggering shifts so that some help point staff can work a Saturday instead of a weekday, Another member of the public commented regarding concerns about cost and resources, noting that the salary of the advertised CEO position was over £60,000, twice that of an entry-level metropolitan police officer. The council said that they could potentially look at opening the help point on Saturdays in the future.
Regarding the Allotments Waiting List, this was a particular bone of contention for me as Chair of the Burgess Hill Allotments Association. The report stated that additional land is expensive and suggested that allotments did not benefit the community enough to warrant acquiring extra space for them. The council suggested forming a working group between allotment holders and councillors and officers, I objected to this on the grounds that the Allotments Association was founded in the first place to act as an independent voice for allotment holders who did not feel properly supported by either the town or district council. I stressed that it should not be manipulated or micromanaged by councillors and pointed out that the concerns of tenants had been raised over and over and not been listened to. Acting Leader councillor Williams stressed his position that the town council should be striving to ensure that the proposed replacement site at Nightingale Meadows to compensate for the loss of the Chanctonbury site should be a freehold site owned outright by BHTC. Councillor Eggleston assured that a "long-term lease" proposed in the district plan would still allow it to be classed as a statutory site (the current Chanctonbury site's lease with Network Rail renews each year, so it can't be despite being in continual use for over 60 years). This still does not guarantee the site's safety long-term, on which Councillor Eggleston commented that there might not be the demand for allotments in a few years.
The prediction that the waiting list will continue to go down just because it has been recently is not encouraging - times change, the waiting list number shot up during lockdown and given the position of BHTC indicated in the report and the uncertain nature of two of the town's sites - Chanctonbury and Gatehouse - in addition to the planned replacement at Nightingale, people may have simply given up waiting or thought it might not be worth applying in the first place. I noted the thousands of houses burdening the town and the precarious geopolitical situation in Europe that raises the need for people to be able to grow their own food. Talking to councillors afterwards the meeting I stressed the point that there were individual issues to address with the council, such as plans for the Nightingale Meadows site and how best to plan this out of consideration for local residents and the surrounding green space. Ultimately, the wording in the report was not reassuring, and comes after an uphill battle with councils that do not come across as hugely motivated to ensure that the town has ample allotment space for decades to come to allow for more housing, increasing concerns about healthy living and sustainability and increasingly uncertain times. The "Bee Mason" mosaic artwork commissioned by BHTC that sits by the footpath at Hammonds Ridge Meadows is deteriorating. The estimated cost of renovating the artwork and making it weatherproof was £5870.00 and concerns were raised by both the public and some councillors about the expense of repairing the artwork when the money could be used instead to improve the green space itself and plant trees. The council concluded that they could not commit to spending on the artwork's renovation for the time being, but that they would look into other ways of funding it. As an artist and carver myself particularly fond of the carving stood at the entrance of the Bedelands nature reserve, I have produced artwork myself that has sat outside in someone's garden, the reality of producing such works of art is that not everything lasts forever, this was the agreement BHTC had with the creator of the stone garden, which they decided would "weather naturally". Perhaps there were reasons why Ancient Roman mosaics were indoors. Overall it was a well-attended meeting with plenty of contributions from members of the public. Several Burgess Hill Residents members were present and it showed the passion and degree of frustration felt about a town that deserves better.
