District news Spring Edition 2016
in this issue: SUPPORTING CHARITIES
COUNCIL PLAN
SPRING CLEAN AND RECYCLE EASTER COLLECTIONS RANGER EVENTS TENANTS OF THE YEAR AWARDS Your Lewes District Council Newsletter
www.lewes.gov.uk
FEATURES New street cleaning fleet 3 Council Plan 2016-2020 4 Newhaven Growth Quarter 5 3VA 6 Nevill playground refurbishment 7 Recycling & garden waste 8-9 Ranger events 13
REGULARS Housing news 10-12 Council meetings 14 Bank holiday refuse and food waste collections 16
New beginnings Spring is a time for new beginnings and here at Lewes District Council we have a new Chief Executive, Rob Cottrill (pictured right), who has become joint Chief Executive of LDC and Eastbourne Borough Council, as part of the move towards shared services between the two councils. In the first of a series of articles on the charities we support, in this issue we take a look at 3VA – the charities’ charity, which offers help and advice to other voluntary organisations. We are also pleased to announce details of our Council Plan which sets out our priorities and key projects for the next four years. If you are about to embark on spring cleaning, please read our feature on recycling and then send us examples of imaginative ways in which you have recycled items you no longer need. If your garden is due a tidy after the winter months, you may be interested to read that we are rolling out our garden waste collection service. And our streets will certainly get a spring clean with our new fleet of street cleaning vehicles! Finally, are you an artist or maker in the district? Artwave is open for applications now and until 11 April. To find out more visit www.artwavefestival.org
We are extending our garden waste collection service RIGHT Cow and calves snapped by our Community Ranger ABOVE
FRONT COVER
Photo by Alexis Maryon Babe in bluebell woods District News is available in large print, audio tape, disc or in another language upon request. If you would like to receive an email alert for District News sign-up at www.lewes.gov.uk/districtnews CONTACT 01273 471600 EMAIL press@lewes.gov.uk DESIGN Lewes District Council @LewesDC
Clean streets We are delighted to be investing in the future with the delivery of seven bespoke street cleaning vehicles. The new vehicles, which replace a well-used and ageing fleet of vehicles, have many additional features including on-board weighing systems, storage for street cleaning equipment, 360-degree cameras, safety beacons and facilities for staff including hand washing and storage of personal items. This will help take our service to new and improved levels of efficiency and safety compliance. Cllr Paul Franklin, Lead Member for Waste & Recycling (pictured above), said:
“This is the start of a new fleet of vehicles for waste and recycling services that we are planning to introduce over the next 18 months. There is an additional benefit of using two new electric vehicles, with an eighty mile range when fully charged, providing extra flexibility for the crews and saving time as they will only need to charge their vehicle once using the recently installed rapid charging points in either Lewes or Newhaven.” We recently invested in a new mechanical street sweeper and other equipment that is making a real difference as we regularly target pavements and pedestrian areas that get high use including the town centres of Seaford, Newhaven, Peacehaven, Telscombe and Lewes.
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This capital investment in our waste and recycling vehicle fleet demonstrates our commitment to keeping the environment of the district clean and attractive for residents, businesses and visitors alike. 3
Council Plan 2016 A 2020
The plan is divided into the following themes: CUSTOMERS AND COMMUNITIES The Council Plan 2016 to 2020, which sets out our priorities and key projects for the next four years, was presented to Full Council on 25 February.
• Resilient, healthy and engaged communities • Improved customer service PLACE
We thank everyone that has given their views on the plan during the consultation period of December to February. This feedback has helped us ensure the plan addresses the priorities of people in the district.
• Delivering sustainable new housing
The plan is available to download from the council website: www.lewes.gov.uk
VALUE FOR MONEY
and infrastructure • Growth and prosperity • Clean and green district
• Making the best use of resources
Council Chair receives top honour Our Chair of the Council, Councillor Ruth O’Keeffe was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for her services to the Lewes community. Councillor O’Keeffe said: “It is a great honour to have been awarded the MBE. I love my work as a Councillor and to be recognised in this way for it is amazing. I could not do all the things that I do without the support of my family and friends and I would like to thank them for making this possible, as well as all the kind people who have been in touch since the award with good wishes.”
Click and Connect Would you like to get news and updates from the council direct to your inbox? We now provide an email alert service which means you can be the first to hear about council news, consultations, local events and service updates. We also hope to offer email alerts to remind you of your refuse and recycling collection days, starting later this year. To sign up, visit www.lewes.gov.uk and click email alerts at the bottom of our home page. You can choose to receive email alerts on the things that interest you most and can change or switch them off at any time. Don't forget you can also contact us via our Facebook and Twitter pages which are manned during office hours: www.facebook.com/ lewesdistrictcouncil @LewesDC
New Space for Business Start-Ups The exciting £2.5 million Newhaven Growth Quarter project is now complete, including a major new extension to Newhaven Enterprise Centre on Denton Island. Following a successful bid to the Coastal Communities Fund in 2013, we have worked with our partners including Basepoint, Sussex Community Development Association, Sussex Downs College and East Sussex County Council – as well as our contractor, Morgan Sindall – to deliver the project, which includes: 1 A large extension to Newhaven Enterprise Centre, making
56 offices and workshops available to local businesses. 2 An extension to Denton Island Community Centre, creating
extra childcare places, training space and a new ‘community kitchen’. 3 A new communal networking and break-out space within
Sussex Downs College, available to all users of Denton Island. If you are a new or growing business and are interested in renting a unit in the Enterprise Centre extension, please contact Basepoint Centre management on 01273 615250.
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The charities’ charity By supporting 3VA, we are able to help many voluntary organisations across the district. 3VA is the Council for Voluntary Services, providing support for voluntary and community organisations across Lewes District, Eastbourne and Wealden areas of East Sussex.
Don’t Stand By To commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day in January a series of 39 portraits were displayed in windows up and down Lewes High Street as part of “The Refugee’s Gift” photographic exhibition. Bill Knight’s photographs showed refugees who have made a contribution to the UK and who have benefited from this country’s tradition of providing protection to refugees. The occasion was also marked by an evening of words, photos, film and music, entitled “Don’t Stand By”, at the Assembly Rooms in Lewes. Cllr Ruth O’Keeffe, Chair of LDC said: “The theme was chosen to draw attention to the dangers presented to groups singled out as different when local populations allow a gradual escalation of persecution to take place. Holocaust Memorial Day asked everyone to think about whether they are standing by, or reaching out to resist and challenge persecution.” Children escaping to safety in England on the Kindertransport, 1938. Courtesy of the Austrian National Library
ABOVE
The charity provides a range of practical support to other charities and community groups including start-up support, funding advice, help with governance, training and getting your voice heard locally. 3VA is supported by a grant from Lewes District Council and since the autumn has been offering a free drop-in service from Southover House, Lewes on a Thursday morning. In the coming year, we are giving 3VA £3.5k to promote the Dementia Friends project, which aims to make Lewes District a more friendly and understanding place for people living with dementia and their carers. If you are a member of a voluntary group, charity or not for profit organisation and would like some advice you can either drop-in or contact Lee Shepherd at lee.shepherd@3va.org.uk or call 01273 483832. We can now also offer some Saturday appointments in the Lewes District. For more information, or to sign up for the free weekly e-newsletter visit www.3va.org.uk Networking with 3VA
A playful treat for the senses Works are underway to refurbish and extend the playground at Nevill Recreation Ground in Lewes. The contractors Playsafe Playgrounds will oversee the construction of a sandpit, seating areas, climbing equipment, swings, a bicycle roundabout and even trampolines! The playground will include sensory planting to encourage users to explore, touch, hear and interact with particular plants. The works are programmed to last 6 weeks and will see the existing playground closed for a period of time to allow the contractors to carry out the works. RIGHT
Sand play unit, nest swing and sensory planting
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#canIrecycle? It’s great news that our recycling rates have improved from 22% in 2013 to 26% in 2015. But we are still a long way from the national average recycling rate of 44%, while the best-performing local authority, South Oxfordshire, recycled 67.3% in 2013/14. The councils with the highest rates of recycling prioritise collecting recyclable materials over refuse. If we want to catch up with our neighbouring authorities such as Wealden, which recycled 48.9% of its waste in 2013/14 and Rother which recycled 45.4% of waste, we all need to work together to recycle more, helping to tackle climate change and save valuable resources. We have supplied all households that take part in our recycling scheme with two recycling boxes: a box for plastic bottles, cans, clean aluminium foil and small items of scrap metal, and a smaller box for paper. We have supplied two bags: one for clean glass bottles and jars and the other for cardboard. We have also supplied a food waste caddy and food waste bin to everyone who takes part in our food waste collection service. Please get in touch if you would like to join our recycling scheme, food waste scheme or to request replacement containers.
Want to know if you can recycle it? Tweet us a picture @LewesDC #canIrecycle? Call 01273 471600 or visit lewes.gov.uk/waste msringmer @lewesdc #canIrecycle?
Yes please! Give a rinse and put in your bigger recycling box.
beautifulseaford @lewesdc #canIrecycle?
Absolutely! The jar goes in your glass bag, the lid in the bigger recycling box.
lewesdad @lewesdc #canIrecycle?
Yes please! Leave in small plastic bag with your other recycling.
ditchlingmum @lewesdc #canIrecycle?
Sure thing! Please put any paper in your smaller recycling box.
peacehavenrocks @lewesdc #canIrecycle?
We don’t collect Tetrapaks yet but hope to start next year!
telscombechap @lewesdc #canIrecycle?
Yes please! Put in your food waste caddy which we collect each week.
It’s easy being green This summer we are extending our garden waste collection service focussing on the coastal towns in the district. This is following a successful trial in Seaford last year. We also plan to make the service available district-wide from next year onwards. Once signed up we will send you a 240 litre bin which we collect from your kerbside every two weeks, saving you the time and effort of taking your garden waste to the tip. The garden waste we collect is then turned into compost rather than being sent to landfill, which is much better for the environment. The service costs £70 for 10 months (there is no collection in December and January). To join the service complete and return the slip below to Garden Waste, Lewes District Council, Southover House, Southover Road, Lewes BN7 1AB. To find out more or join online visit www.lewes.gov.uk/gardenwaste Name: Address:
Phone number:
We would also love to hear about how you have turned “rubbish” into something useful. Tweet us your pictures @LewesDC #rubbishtoriches and we will display these online and in our reception at Southover House. Best recycling idea wins £100!
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Housing advice surgeries If you are having difficulties paying your rent/mortgage, need advice on your rights as a tenant or owner, need to find somewhere to live, or are having problems maintaining your home then come to a “Housing Advice� drop-in surgery: Peacehaven Community House, Meridian Centre, Meridian Way Monday 9am-12.30pm Lewes Council Offices, Southover House, Southover Road Tuesday 9am-12.30pm Newhaven Saxon House, Meeching Rd Wednesday and Friday 10am-12.30pm Seaford The Police Building, Church St Thursday 9am-12.30pm Or visit our website www.lewes.gov.uk and complete an online housing advice request or email housingneeds@lewes.gov.uk For people living in villages with no means of transport, or people with disabilities our advice officers would be happy to arrange a home visit. For our duty housing officer rota visit: www.lewes.gov.uk/housing/21619.asp
One-stop shop opens its doors Residents can now get assistance from Lewes District Council, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and Sussex Police all from under one roof. The new shared facility in Meeching Road, Newhaven opened to the public in January this year. Visitors to Saxon House will be able to access our housing services, which have moved from Fort Road, as well as planning, environmental health and revenue and benefits services. Together with Sussex Police we are now operating a shared reception on the ground floor, open to the public Monday to Friday from 10am to 2pm. Fire crews from Fort Road have also moved into Saxon House. The new open-plan office building includes green initiatives such as Photovoltaic panels generating electricity to reduce energy consumption, and low energy LED lighting throughout the building. We hope this one-stop shop will lead to greater joined-up working with our public sector partners in the future, as well as offering value for money to taxpayers.
Good neighbours Our annual Tenants’ Conference proved the ideal occasion for two very special people to receive recognition and thanks for all they do within the local community. Lewes District Council has over 3,500 council tenants who were given the opportunity to submit their nominations for Tenant of the Year.
Switched On
Tenants of the Year Cllr Ron Maskell, Lead Member for Housing at LDC said: “When the panel read the nomination submissions we were overwhelmed by the kindness, generosity, help and support that tenants provide to each other and the community. It would have been fantastic if all who had been nominated could have received an award. However, after much deliberation I am extremely pleased to congratulate Sarah Aldworth, a really good neighbour – always willing to help others, with no thought of reward for herself, and Debbie Twitchen, who works tirelessly for others through the residents’ association and local food banks. Both are worthy Tenants of the Year.”
We are delighted that ‘Join Us’, our digital inclusion project for older residents, was a runner-up in the Tenants Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) awards for digital excellence.
Our Tenants of the Year 2015 each received an award certificate, shopping vouchers and a bouquet of flowers from Ruth O’Keeffe, Chair of LDC, Andy Chequers, Head of Housing Services and Cllr Ron Maskell, Lead Member for Housing. Sarah Aldworth and RIGHT Debbie Twitchen
LEFT
The award ceremony was held at the Wembley Hilton in February and was attended by Angela Sharman, Join Us Co-ordinator, Janet Relf, Chair of Join Us and scheme manager Mel Carnell. Join Us is a project to help older residents get online and promote digital inclusion. We have worked together with Amicus Horizon to organise a programme of activities and events in and around sheltered housing schemes across Sussex. Recent activities have included a 1940s event held at Newhaven fort, part funded by Newhaven Town Council, a Christmas inter-landlord Skype quiz supported by TOLD and computer information sessions on changing energy supplier, safe online shopping and how to spot a scam. To find out more visit: www.facebook.com/JoinUstoo TOP L to R Angela Sharman, Melanie Carnell and Janet Relf of Join Us
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Be fire safe in the kitchen Fire can be fast spreading, lethal and devastating – yet it is very often preventable.
KEYamnesty Our ‘Key Amnesty’ which ran between November 2015 and February 2016 was a great success.
During these months we gave tenants who are either illegally subletting or not living in their council homes the chance to hand their keys back with no questions asked and avoid any legal action. A number of keys were returned during the amnesty. Tenancy fraud is a criminal offence and includes:
• Subletting your property without your landlord’s permission. • Passing on the keys to someone else for a one-off payment. • Moving out and leaving grown-up children in the property. • Leaving the property empty or not using it as your main home. • Wrongly claimed succession. • Failing to notify us that the tenant has died and continuing to live in the property.
• •
Obtaining housing by giving false information. Swapping homes without our consent.
Now the key amnesty has ended, we will take legal action against tenants who continue to commit tenancy fraud.
If you know of, or would like to report someone you suspect is committing tenancy fraud, you can report this anonymously to the Housing Team by telephone on 01273 484261, by email to tenancyfraud@lewes.gov.uk or complete our online form.
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Did you know that more than half of accidental fires at home are started by cooking and happen when people are not paying attention or leave things unattended? There are several things you can do to prevent fires in the kitchen:
• Take pans off the heat or turn the heat down if you’re called away from the cooker, for example by a phone call. • Take care if you’re wearing loose clothing as it can catch fire easily. • Don’t cook if you have been drinking alcohol or taken prescription drugs – you may get drowsy or lose concentration. For more information visit: www.esfrs.org/your-safety/firesafety-at-home/
Get back to Nature with our free Ranger Events
Domestic or sexual abuse and violence can happen to anyone
The Big Spring Beach Clean 3 April 10am-3pm Drop in to help collect the litter blown in by the winter storms and clean up this beautiful shingle beach. Meet at West Beach Car Park, Newhaven.
You are not
alone
The Dawn Chorus on Newhaven Cliffs 1 May 4.15am-6.30am Take part in the International Dawn Chorus Day with thousands of others from around the world. Join a guided walk and experience the full wonder of the Dawn Chorus at sunrise. Meet at Newhaven Fort Car Park. Blooming Bluebells at Bollens Bush 7 May 10.30am-12.30pm Discover this hidden gem on a guided walk with our Ranger and learn about the woodland wildlife and flowers found here. Meet at The Fairway, Newhaven. Night Time at Newick Common 10 June 9.30pm-late Stay up late to watch the night time moth traps, listen for bats and discover the secrets of wildlife after dark. Meet on Newick Hill, Newick. Jewels of the Downs at Landport Bottom 18 June 10.30am-12.30pm Join our Ranger on a guided walk and discover the butterflies and flowers that adorn these grassy hills. Meet at Landport Bottom, Nevill Road, Lewes. For more full details visit www.lewes.gov.uk/community/18178.asp or contact the Community Rangers tel: 01273 471600 email: thyone.outram@lewes.gov.uk
We understand, and believe you The Portal is a new service to help anyone across Brighton, Hove and East Sussex who has been affected by domestic or sexual abuse or violence. If you, or anyone you know, need support you can call the Portal on 0300 323 9985 or go to www.theportal.org.uk The Portal provides specialist support for all survivors – men, women, LGBT* people and people from Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority backgrounds. In an emergency call the police on 999.
Council meetings These scheduled Lewes District Council meetings for Spring 2016 are open to the public: Employment Committee 2 Audit and Standards Committee 2 Planning Applications Committee 1 Cabinet 3 Planning Applications Committee 1 Scrutiny Committee 2 Planning Applications Committee 1 Cabinet 3 Council 1
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7 March 14 March 16 March 21 March 6 April 14 April 27 April 28 April 11 May
10:00am 10:00am 5:00pm 2:30pm 5:00pm 10:00am 5:00pm 2:30pm 2:30pm
Venues: 1 Council Chamber, County Hall, St. Annes Crescent, Lewes 2 Telscombe Room, Southover House, Lewes 3 Telscombe & Ditchling Rooms, Southover House, Lewes
For further information and to confirm meeting times, dates and locations, contact the Committee Section at committees@lewes.gov.uk or call 01273 471600. Information is correct at time of going to press.
Refuse and Food Waste Collections KERBSIDE RECYCLING COLLECTIONS
EASTER BANK HOLIDAY COLLECTIONS Normal Collection Day
Altered Collection Day
Monday 21 March
No change to normal collection
Tuesday 22 March
Bins out Monday 21 March
Wednesday 23 March
Bins out Tuesday 22 March
Thursday 24 March
Bins out Wednesday 23 March
Good Friday 25 March
Bins out Thursday 24 March
Easter Monday 28 March
Tuesday 29 March
Tuesday 29 March
Wednesday 30 March
Please refer to your kerbside recycling calendar. If you do not have one you can download one from our website: www.lewes.gov.uk/waste or you can request one by calling customer services on
Wednesday 30 March
Thursday 31 March
01273 471600
Thursday 31 March
Friday 1 April
Friday 1 April
Saturday 2 April
MAY BANK HOLIDAY COLLECTIONS Normal Collection Day
Altered Collection Day
Monday 2 May
Tuesday 3 May
Tuesday 3 May
Wednesday 4 May
Wednesday 4 May
Thursday 5 May
Thursday 5 May
Friday 6 May
Friday 6 May
Saturday 7 May
SPRING BANK HOLIDAY COLLECTIONS Normal Collection Day
Altered Collection Day
Monday 30 May
Tuesday 31 May
Tuesday 31 May
Wednesday 1 June
Wednesday 1 June
Thursday 2 June
Thursday 2 June
Friday 3 June
Friday 3 June
Saturday 4 June
Place rubbish outside a day early in these instances.
We will collect either on the usual day or the day before. Please ensure that your rubbish is put out by 6am.
For commercial recycling of paper and cardboard collections follow your normal fortnightly cycle and allow the same bank holiday alterations as shown on this table.