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I've also gone through some of our old family photographs of my childhood growing up in Selsey. (No laughing…I did once have hair)

SELSEY is definitely a unique place and we are all lucky to call it our home. I got fed up watching "keyboard warriors" moaning and groaning, but not actually achieving anything, so I decided to stand.

Selsey needs looking after and both our history and our future should be valued. I hope that I will be able to be the voice of many not on social media and I can assure you I will do my best to ensure Selsey moves forward and will try to keep the balance of practicalities with the beauty of our little part of West Sussex.

Thanks so much to my supportive and patient husband Shaun and all my family, friends and the Local Alliance team, for all the hard work you have all put in. I really appreciate the support from each one of you.”

Donna had a meeting of the Harbour Conservancy on Monday and there was a meeting of CDC’s Budget Review Group on Tuesday. This private group met whilst I was teaching, so on Wednesday I was briefed by Officers: there is an expectation that whoever wins the General Election, public finances will be tight so savings will be necessary and work is being done to see where they...

could be made. Watch CDC’s public meetings here, and Full WSCC here.

Progress is being made with CDC’s Local Plan, as you can read here. It has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for examination. This follows careful consideration of the comments and feedback received during the Regulation 19 consultation, which took place last year and resulted in almost 2,500 comments from groups and individuals. In addition to this, a great deal of work was done by the council’s planning policy team to update and finalise critical evidence, including examining the impacts on the A27 and local highway network.

As we are sure you know by now, the Local Plan identifies housing requirements, development areas for economic growth and locations for new homes in the Chichester plan area over the next 15 years. The Local Plan also has a raft of policies relating to climate change and the natural environment. There is a separate plan for areas located in the National Park and this is produced by the South Downs National Park Authority.

Now that the plan and accompanying documents and evidence have been submitted, a Planning Inspector will be appointed to review and assess it. They will consider whether the plan has met the legal requirements; whether it has been positively prepared and is justified, effective and consistent with national policy; and if the council has engaged and worked effectively with neighbouring authorities and statutory bodies.

To support the examination process, CDC has appointed an independent Programme Officer. Their role will be to act as a point of contact between the council, individuals and groups who commented during the last consultation, and the Planning Inspector, throughout the examination period. Once appointed, the Planning Inspector will set out the next steps in the examination process, which CDC will publish on their website. CDC has updated the Statement of Consultation summarising the work that has been done to prepare the plan to this point, including previous consultations and the suggested modifications that have been submitted alongside the Local Plan. For more information about the local plan examination process, the government has also created a guide.

We mentioned Selsey's Annual Town Meeting last week, which included the Selsey Pavilion Trust receiving a  cheque and revealed things are in hand for Selsey’s civic commemoration of D-day 80 when, as requested by the Pageantmaster, Bruno Peek CVO OBE OPR, a beacon will be lit at 9.15pm on June 6.

Some quick items you may have missed relating to things that crop up regularly: -

• With the continued concern about the release of sewage into our rivers, University of Oxford rowers have named one of their boats after river campaign group;

• Switching to roads, something many of us think a tunnel should be considered for the A27 as the Hindhead Tunnel, this article reminds us, was transformative for one of Surrey’s principal routes.

• Staying safe online, there is new malware that takes over Android devices and steals data. 

• Finally health, and some research with mice that suggests a 2p pill could stop cancer as well as dementia. We began taking Vitamin D supplements daily during Covid and still do, so this is welcome news if it does turn out to be of help.

Chichester Roman Week is back this May half term featuring a packed programme of district-wide events. The highlight event of the week welcomes leading re-enactment group Legio Secunda Augusta back to Chichester for a ’Romans at the Museum’ day on Wednesday 29 May. Taking place at The Novium Museum, the event will bring the Roman period to life with everything from gladiators in combat, to Roman soldiers in action. 

There will also be an interactive storytelling workshop with Chris North, of ‘Freedom Through Fun’ for children aged 5 to 10 years, exploring what life was like for both Romans and Celts using drama, fabrics, musical instruments and artefacts.. There will also be a unique Roman poetry and music evening, overlooking Chichester’s Roman bath house: a recital of the famous lyric odes.

Visitors will also be able to experience two mosaic workshops: children can create their own ‘mosaic masterpiece’ using air drying clay, while adults will use paper to create a traditional mosaic.