The High Weald AONB Partnership, which includes the 15 local planning authorities with land in the AONB, has drafted a Design Guide for new housing development in the High Weald. Once adopted, the Guide will be a material consideration in the determining of planning applications within the High Weald AONB, see map below.

The Design Guide gives succinct, practical and consistent advice on design expectations for new housing development within the High Weald AONB. This will enable higher quality and landscape-led design that reflects intrinsic High Weald character and is embedded with a true sense of place, without stifling innovation and creativity.

The Design Guide is the subject of an eight-week period of formal public consultation from 19 June to 14 August 2019.  Further details and how to make comments on the consultation can be found at http://www.highweald.org/look-after/planning/design-guide-consultation.html. A paper copy of the consultation document will be placed at the Rother District Council Town Hall, Town Hall Square, Bexhill-on-Sea, TN39 3JX.

You can make comments in the following ways:

• Alongside the Design Guide at http://www.highweald.org/look-after/planning/design-guide-consultation.html will be an online consultation form.  This form will also be available as a downloadable pdf for those who prefer to complete it and email it in.
• Responses to the consultation can be submitted via the online form, by email to info@highweald.org or by post to The High Weald AONB Unit, Woodland Enterprise Centre, Hastings Road, Flimwell, TN5 7PR. Please do not send your response to Rother District Council as it may not be registered.
• You can view a copy of the High Weald AONB Unit’s privacy policy at http://www.highweald.org/about-the-high-weald-unit/2324-privacy-notice.html
  

What will happen next?

• The High Weald AONB Unit will collate all the comments and draft responses to them including any recommended amendments to the Design Guide.
• These recommendations will be discussed by the Officer Steering Group for the High Weald AONB Partnership and any changes agreed.
• The Design Guide will be amended and reported back to the High Weald Joint Advisory Committee in Autumn 2019.  This report will include the collated comments and the agreed responses to them.
• Once approved by the JAC, individual local authorities will decide whether to adopt the Design Guide as either a material planning consideration or as a formal Supplementary Planning Document.

Should you have any queries relating to this consultation, please contact Claire Tester at the High Weald AONB Unit: Claire.tester@highweald.org or 01424 723018.

As a result of the increased funding to the precept from the Police and Crime Commissioner, Sussex Police launch their latest recruitment drive today and are looking for people who have got what it takes to join them on the front-line as a Police Officer.

Being a Police Officer is one of the most personally rewarding, challenging and diverse careers available. Tackling crime, taking knives off the streets, engaging and educating young people and being the person everyone looks towards for help; no two days are the same.

Full details and how to apply.

Message from Chris Holden

The bell tower open day held on June 1^st was a great success.

We were blessed with fabulous weather as a magnificent crowd gathered for our open afternoon. Chris Lever provided some delicious burgers and hot dogs, Bob served up some of his legendary mini cheese scones and sausage rolls and a very pleasant afternoon was had by all. 

Seventeen intrepid visitors were escorted up the tower where Mark and Caroline gave an explanation of the bells. Mark, with his assistants Jane and Gill, had been very busy hanging the new ropes so that they were ready for their inauguration, many thanks to them for getting it all done in time.

There were plenty of ringers available including some from other tower groups, also Lorne and Harriet, a couple of “old girls” from Brightling who added great style to the event! The ringing demonstrations gave rise to lively applause from the audience and we all felt a great sense of achievement.

 We now have eight interested people who are going to try their hand at campanology, a fantastic result about which we’re very excited. Now it’s down to training and practise so that all eight bells will once again ring out at Brightling church.

If you missed the open day but think you might like to join try your hand as a bell ringer please contact Chris Lever on 07875 701398 or Chris Holden on 07871 18705

The flight path of an historic collection of aircraft is planned to pass over the Mount/Needle position on 2:40 pm on Wednesday 5th June, en route to France and the D-Day beaches.

More than 35 Douglas DC-3s and C-47s will fly overhead as they travel over to Normandy on their journey from the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.

If it is sunny, it should be quite a sight! Thanks to Brian Holliday for this information.  (Previous version with ambiguous date was not Brian’s error).

The flight path of an historic collection of aircraft is planned to pass over the Mount/Needle position on 2:40 pm on Friday 5th June, en route to France and the D-Day beaches.

More than 35 Douglas DC-3s and C-47s will fly overhead as they travel over to Normandy on their journey from the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.

If it is sunny, it should be quite a sight! Thanks to Brian Holliday for this information.

Brighling Bell-ringers has several vacancies for additional bell-ringers.

In an effort to spread the word that we need more ringers and to give people the opportunity to see the bells being rung – and show how much fun it can be – we are holding an open afternoon from 2 to 5pm on Saturday 1st June.

Ringing bells is a wonderful thing to do and doesn’t require you to have any particular skills, just a willingness to learn. It’s availble to people of all ages and with some initial weekly training followed by regular practise you can quite quickly master the basics of ringing in a team.

At Brightling we don’t currently ring for Sunday services and you don’t have to be a churchgoer so the committment is simply to come along one evening a week for practise so that when there is a special occasion we can put together a team of at least 6 ringers.

If you’re an experienced ringer please consider coming along on a Thursday evening (at 7:15 pm) to try us out.

We’re a very friendly group who will make you feel most welcome. We’re trying hard to keep a tradition going that is unique to Britain and is experiencing a resurgence in popularity alongside other artisan skills. We hope lots of people will be attracted to our open day and be tempted to give it a go!

Sadly there were only 3 church bells rung at Brightling on Easter Sunday morning this year. The church has 8 lovely bells and we would really like to be ringing at least 6 of them to celebrate Easter, Christmas and weddings.

Contact Chris lever on 07875 701398 or Chris Holden on 07871 187057

Bring-And-Buy Plant Sale Saturday 25^th May 9.30 To 12.00 in Brightling Village Hall

This is our annual event to raise funds to support  ever-increasing cost of the hire of the marquee for this year’s Flower Show.  We would love to sell any spare plants  or produce you are able to donate. Does anyone have a glut of rhubarb?

You will be able to buy an “ instant “ vegetable garden as we have a wide variety of vegetable plants including tomatoes*, peppers, cucumbers  broad beans , peas etc. We will also have loads of annuals for your borders including interesting varieties and colours of sweet pea, cosmos, cleome, tagetes, nicotiana .    There will also be an interesting range of perennials, succulents  and shrubs and who knows what interesting things may turn up on the day?

We are also keen to recycle  any plant pots or multi -pack trays you may have by  re-using them for the plant stall at the Flower Show. Please bring them along to the sale.

Note the earlier start than usual as it is Heathfield Show  Day but we hope that you will pop is on your way to the show.

If you would like me to pick up any plants or pots for recycling  from you, please give me a ring on  01424 838402

Vanessa Everett

*We now have donations of some amazing tomato plants  of so many different varieties that I have done a descriptive  list for you to peruse.

Tomato Menu – All £1.20 except Sungold

Apero 

By far the finest-tasting cherry tomato on our trials (and a top-seller in the best supermarkets), with good yields of rich red, slightly elongated fruit. RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. Sow end January-April, harvest June-September. For greenhouse or outdoors.(Cordon variety – One stem grown by pinching off side-shoots as they appear, needs staking and tying in.)

F1 Shirley

Best for showing. Matures early, and crops heavily on short jointed plants. Nicely shaped fruits of fine quality. Resistant to tomato mosaic virus, leaf mould, greenback and fusarium. RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. Which? Best Buy. (Cordon variety – one stem grown by pinching off side-shoots as they appear, needs staking and tying in.)

Gardener’s Delight

‘Bite-sized’ fruits packed with rich, sweet flavour. Heavy crops borne on long trusses. Which? Best Buy since 1984. (Cordon variety – one stem grown by pinching off side-shoots as they appear, needs staking and tying in.)

Sungold

A superb orange-coloured, cherry-fruited tomato with a vigorous habit, Sungold has a luscious flavour and exceptional sweetness. Grow indoors or out – harvest into the new year in a cool greenhouse! RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. £1.50

Harzfeuer A field variety highly regarded across Europe, belongs to the earliest heterotic hybrids with increased productivity. Thanks to the resistance to adverse weather conditions, including temperature fluctuations, this presented variety may be grown in the open field (in warmer regions). It yields rich harvest for a long time under unheated covers. This variety produces impressive, round, unrippled fruit with a firm skin that does not break and shelters fleshy, sweet, vividly red fruit flesh. These tomatoes will not be affected by green shoulders, nor have hyperpigmented stains. They taste great both raw, for example in sandwiches, and processed.

Costoluto Fiorentino Tomato ‘Costoluto Fiorentino’ is a medium-sized beefsteak tomato which his deeply ridges. It I sa  delicious, juicy Italian variety of tomato which grows and crops very reliably .It’s more prolific and easier to grow than other larger-fruited kinds. Really best under cover, or against a south facing wall.

Brandy Wine

Tomato ‘Brandywine’ is particularly recognisable for its unusual leaves that resemble potato foliage. Dating back to 1885, Tomato ‘Brandywine’ is regarded as one of the world’s finest flavoured ‘beefsteak’ tomatoes. This exceptional variety produces heavy yields of firm, clear skinned, light rosy pink fruits, often with slightly green shoulders. With a full, sweet flavour these fruits are delicious eaten fresh from the plant in salads, and sandwiches. This cordon variety is suitable for growing in the greenhouse or outdoors. Height: 200cm (79″). Spread: 50cm (20″)

Black Russian ( Noire de Crimee)

These medium sized black tomatoes grow on compact plants bearing plenty of dark mahogany-brown fruits, with a delicious blend of sugar and acid. Tomato ‘Black Russian’ is an old variety with a rich, complex flavour that has to be tasted to be believed. This cordon variety is well suited to the indoor or outdoor cultivation.

Mr Stripey  A  very attractive bi-coloured beef steak variety producing good yields of red tomatoes with yellow orange stripes averaging 1lb in weight. This open pollinated Heirloom variety has a mild, low acid flavour with yellow flesh and a pink centre. Requires warmth and a good summer to thrive outside. Indeterminate. Grow on under cooler conditions and when about 8 inches tall, either plant in their growing position in the greenhouse or gradually acclimatise them to outdoor conditions and plant out 18 inches apart in a warm and sunny spot in moist, fertile well drained soil and keep watered.

Oh Happy Day With superb blight resistance, Tomato ‘Oh Happy Day’ is a real bonus for gardeners. It is a cross between a very blight-resistant North American line and a French Marmande type. In T&M trials, ‘Oh Happy Day’ F1 resisted blight infection for three weeks longer than ‘Mountain Magic’.The round, slightly flatter, 150g tomatoes grow in clusters of 3-7 fruits which have a superb taste balance of acidity and sweetness. This cordon variety is perfect for containers or planters in the greenhouse or on the patio, but can also be planted in a sunny spot in the garden Height: 200cm (79″). Spread: 50cm (20″).

The 2019 European elections in the United Kingdom will take place on Thursday 23 May 2019.

The polling station for the parish of Brightling will be the Village Hall, which will be open from 7am to 10pm.

Citizens of the UK and other EU member states resident in this country and aged over 18 can vote.

We are part of the South-east region, which is allocated a total of 10 representatives.

You have one vote and you vote for a party, not a person (there are some independents; each independent functions as a one-person party).

Each party has put forward a list of (up to) 10 candidates.

After voting, the 10 seats are allocated to the parties on the ballot in a broadly proportional way (for example if a party gets 60% of the votes it will get around 6 of the 10 seats).

If the party that you vote for gets one seat out of the 10 then it goes to the top person on that party’s list; if they win two seats then they go to the top two people on that party’s list and so on.

The following parties are standing:

…and 3 independents.

Full list and official declaration is here.