Welcome to your community website!
This site is an exciting new venture by the community for the community. The website has been specifically designed to embrace all parts of the community. Over the coming weeks and months, the intention is that it will become the virtual hub of the parish.
Make this your home page and come back and visit us regularly to keep up to date with what's going on in your parish such as a Community Event on the 12th September in the Country Park.
Please feel free to let us know what you think, sign up to our newsletters, make suggestions about what you what to see, and more.
SOUTHWATER PARISH BUS PARTNERSHIP CONSULTATION
Should you wish to take part in this consultation, please register with this website ticking the ‘Bus Svs’ questionnaire box at the time of registration. This questionnaire will then be sent electronically to you on the lst August 2010. Meanwhile, within the quarterly Parish News Magazine currently being delivered to all houses in the Parish, there is a hard copy of the questionnaire. Should you wish to use this method of responding, please return this document to the Parish Council office in Beeson House or alternatively to Southwater Leisure Centre.
Should you wish to take part in this consultation, please register with this website ticking the Bus Svs questionnaire box at the time of registration. This questionnaire will then be sent electronically to you on the lst August, 2010. Meanwhile within the quarterly Parish News Magazine currently being delivered to all houses in the parish, there is a hard copy of the questionnaire. Should you wish to use this method of responding, please return this document to the Parish Council office in Beeson House or alternatively to Southwater Leisure Centre.
CORE STRATEGY CONSULTATION ON POSSIBILITY OF NEW HOUSES IN SOUTHWATER
"At this early stage of the Consultation Process being undertaken by Horsham District Council, Southwater Parish Council are legally restricted in terms of how they can respond. It is crucially important that we continue to keep the public fully informed and ensure that we are fully able to represent the opinion of the community. In order to do so your Parish Council have already leafleted every household in the Parish, held an exhibition over a two day period, held a public meeting and a survey in order to understand public opinion. We welcome all further comments from any individual or group on their views.
More detailed information on the Horsham District Council plans are expected later this year. Accordingly the Parish Council have not arrived at any decision and will continue to seek to understand a majority view. This will enable your councillors to form an opinion at the appropriate time and represent the community as a whole to the planning authorities at Horsham District Council. The Parish Council would therefore encourage all residents whatever their views to keep informed and involved in what is undoubtedly the single most important issue to face the community in many years." (19th March 2010 - Southwater Parish Council Press Release)
If you wish to read further see below:
In order to address some of the comments being reported recently the Parish Council wish to comment thus.
1. The Core Strategy Review is a Public Consultation undertaken by Horsham District Council. It has been made necessary as a result of Central Government requirements for more housing in the region.
2. The ultimate decision is with the planning authority and District Councillors at Horsham. Southwater Parish Council are consultees in the process and have the ability to represent local opinion.
3. Contrary to recent statements, at very short notice your Parish Council did indeed carry out full consultation with the community, leafleting by hand every home in the community. This leafleting was carried out by parish councillors themselves and representatives from some of the local amenity groups in order to guage local opinion.
4. Southwater Parish Council organised and held a two-day exhibition/consultation at Beeson House on the proposals.
5. The Parish Council asked for and obtained from the District Council an extension to the original consultation period to allow full comment and responses to the first stage of the Core Strategy Review to be made.
6. Arranged for the new community website providers to put up a holding page to ensure that we could hold an online petition quickly and effectively.
7. Arranged another full-scale public meeting at the Leisure Centre to hear the comments of residents. At this meeting only 46 members of the public attended out of a total electorate of 7,350. The total population of Southwater is 10,608 (2006 estimated).
8. The Core Strategy Review was not about whether we agreed or otherwise with the proposals, but contained a number of questions which requiring response in order that the District Council could deliberate upon them.
9. A response to the questions raised in the Core Strategy was submitted by your Parish Council. Indeed .the Parish Council was one of few who replied in the appropriate manner, allowing for full analysis to take place by the District Council based on the questions raised.
10. Within this document we raised the need for an independent sustainability assessment on all sites identified in the first stage of the process. This is something which was provided previously by the District Council.
11. Southwater Parish Council has met with representatives of local interest groups on a number of occasions, when it has been made clear that:-
a. As elected authority we have to consider the views of the whole community and work within the process currently being undertaken by the Planning Authority (Horsham District Council). For the Council not to do so could prejudice future comment for or against any planned development. The Council might then be unable to take any further part in the process – we are sure that this is not what you as residents would want.
b. Our public records have been made freely available to all concerned in order to assist them with background information which they may need to support their aims and objections. We also provided updated planning information to the group, and have put a link on the new community web site provided by the Parish Council.
c. At the last meeting of one such group with the Parish Council, it was made perfectly clear that it has not been a question of yes/no to development, but rather that we have to work within the guidelines set and no decision has been made by the Parish Council to date. Indeed it would be irresponsible to come to a formal view without having the full facts before us and may legally prejudice our ability to comment in the future
We understand from Horsham District Council that the next stage of the Core Strategy “Preferred Sites” option document will not be issued until September 2010 and intend to consult further with our residents at that time. In the meantime please do not hesitate to express your views to elected members of the Parish and District Council. We will continue our investigations and discussions with all parties concerned to ensure that we have the correct information at all times.
If you have information about events in the village or would like a link to your organisation, please contact Catherine Tobin, the Parish Clerk, on 01403 733202 or email Catherine@southwater.net.