EVENT : COFFEE MORNING PAGHAM VILLAGE HALL 6TH. APRIL 2019
THE 6TH. APRIL 2019 ... A RESOUNDING SUCCESS
We would like to thank all the attendees at our drop in meeting that we organised at Pagham Village Hall on the above date. It certainly was a milestone from the feedback we have been given from you the residents and we would like to think it conveyed important messages about the way forward particularly as the Local Council elections are almost upon us on the 2nd. May. Residents heard there were positive and negative areas, no more so than the Hook Lane fiasco. This development having been refused will now be the subject of a Government Planning Inquiry on 22nd. October 2019 in Littlehampton (so far but have appealed to have it moved to Pagham) after the developer cynically put in an identical planning application for Hook Lane to try and 'force' it through before the Inquiry is held. This is legally permissible in planning terms. The question is however, will the Councillors on the Planning Committee be strong enough to say no once again as nothing has changed, we must object to this ploy either online or by letter quoting Ref. P/30/19/OUT and those objections must be in before the 4th. May 2019.
During the drop in meeting PAGAM Chairman Alan Pivett gave a speech that included information on air pollution that he gave to the Development Control Committee when it deliberated on the Sefter Rd. dev. but the information applies to all our local sites. Click here to view/download/print the PDF transcript ...
WWaiting to be uploaded
Think Local Elections for District Councillors now and why we are in this sorry mess regarding the housing they are trying to dump on us. This was primarily caused by the new Local Plan 2011-2031 being voted through on the 18th. July 2018 by Councillors which we were told would protect us from over development by predatory developers. We think everyone in Pagham would agree that all the developments that ADC are trying to push through in our local area fall into this category but remember from the table below how the voting took place to allow this to happen .......
VOTING ON THE LOCAL PLAN 18TH. JULY 2018
FOR ..............................................37 Conservatives 1 Independent
AGAINST.......................................0 Conservatives 5 Lib Dem, 1 UKIP
ABSTENTIONS ..............................0 Conservatives, 1 Independent
ABSENT FROM MEETING...............5 Conservatives, 1 Independent, 1 Labour
ABSENT FROM VOTE.....................2 Conservatives
It should be noted that both the District Councillors for Pagham were absent from this vote, think about the above voting details and consider where your loyalties lie. The Elections 2019 are your chance to vote with your feet, too much complacency has emerged over the past 4 years, and the political arena should not be the driving force behind decisions, no more than ADC being driven by Officer led decisions in Planning.
'It is the Councillors who should have the final say with due respect to their electorates wishes, wellbeing and consideration for the Parish, and those Councillors should perhaps heed the relevant paragraphs in the National Planning Policy Framework document that elaborate on this'.
It should not be forgotten how the Planning Development Control Committee (15 Councillors) is made up so here we are ....
Conservative 12 Councillors
Independent 1 Councillor
Labour 1 Councillor
UKIP 1 Councillor
These are the Councillors that are making planning decisions across the District, do we have any proof their training is adequate enough to make qualified decisions on developments comprising hundreds, if not thousands of homes correctly. If the makeup of this Committee was not as skewed then we might see more resistance to the decisions that are being recommended to them by Planning Officers.
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EVENT : CALL TO ARMS 23RD. JANUARY 2019
A reminder of the Planning Development Control Committee meeting this Wednesday 23rd. January 2019 at Arun District Council Littlehampton Civic Centre 2.30pm. regarding the Hook Lane and Church Barton House developments and your possible attendance. Pagham and the local area has shown that it is still in fighting form over this ridiculous saga that continues to haunt us. ADC are treating us in a manner that beggars belief, absolutely no one can understand the logic of what they are doing, the damage it will inflict on our community and the Reserve and its inhabitants, they see Pagham only as a 'cash cow' to be bled dry of its very soul and then left to rot in a sea of infrastructure failures. PAGAM have been supported by the majority of residents in the fight to save our village, if you can attend please do, and show your support once more.
Thank you and lots of neighs this time from Pagham Ponies whose home is threatened by the Church Barton development ....
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EVENT : THE PASSING OF RAY RADMALL CHAIRMAN OF PAGHAM PARISH COUNCIL
16TH. FEBRUARY 2019
It is with much regret and sadness that the community of Pagham has lost a extremely special and respected gentleman. Ray Radmall BEM, Chairman of Pagham Parish Council and a pillar of our community passed away in the early hours of this morning, the 16th. February 2019 in Chichester Hospital. He will always be remembered for his dedication to the community of Pagham, particularly his 'hands on' philosophy to many aspects of life, installing benches, helping to repair roads, fighting for the beach to name just a few. We are sure many accolades will be forthcoming and memories from many on how Ray influenced or helped others in their time of need. It was indeed a humbling thought that whilst his illness progressed he still resolutely believed that others were more worthy of care than himself and we should all seek to remember such kindness.
Phil Hailey, himself a Councillor and lifelong close friend of Ray felt it appropriate that this simple message should be put on our website even though Ray would no doubt smile at the thought, being the last to use such modern technologies as the Internet!
We know many residents, friends and close associates will miss him for their own personal reasons, by all means let us know through maybe an email what he meant to you, or on Facebook where there is a tribute to him, we want those memories to be a fitting epitaph to his life, not to be forgotten but written into the history of Pagham. We will be updating this Homepage with a longer epitaph to what he has achieved in the next day or two.
AS RAY WOULD HAVE SAID TO COUNTLESS OTHERS ....
GOD BLESS YOU
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EVENT : YEAR END THOUGHTS 1ST. JANUARY 2019
Well here we are at a year's end, full of controversy, definitely anger and a deep sense of frustration at how ADC can be so incompetent and still be masquerading as a Local Authority. The list of shortfalls, errors of judgement and sheer arrogance never cease to amaze us all but that can only be the subject of our News Year Resolution ... that we never capitulate to such maladministration and this is now close to fruition with Pagham Parish Council (and it's Judicial Review request) waiting for the green light from the judge who will decide if there is a case to pursue after speaking to the 2 Barristers concerned (maybe 3 if the developers jump into bed with Arun). However we will let you all know when we know as they say and fingers crossed.
A special thank you for your participation in Goose sightings and photo's/video's, unbelievable and fingers up at the developers Ecologists who dared say that Brent Geese did not visit our village, in they came to our 'rescue', thousands of them just when needed. They did not take kindly to the inflatable man fiasco (reported in all the newspapers), and firecrackers the envy of the 5th. November but still they turn up battle hardened no less. Keep up the good work and remember all sightings and numbers are being recorded for the appropriate authorities (BirdTrack, Sussex Biodiversity Centre etc.) such that our evidence will be official and not called unscientific in its approach.
From an appreciative PAGAM Committee and lots of honks from the geese.
Alan Chairman PAGAM 1st. January 2019
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EVENT : CALL TO ARMS FOR PAGHAM RESIDENTS REF. DEVELOPMENT CONTROL COMMITTEE MEETING TO DECIDE 3 PLANNING APPLICATIONS IN PAGHAM
DATE : 24TH. OCTOBER 2018
PAGAM are asking residents if they would be prepared to come along to the Planning Meeting at ADC Littlehampton on the 24th October 2018 at 2.30 ( next Wednesday ) which will decide the future of Pagham village, no letters required!! PAGAM will coordinate those who would be prepared to give lifts, and those who need lifts, please contact us on email at info@pagam.uk OR leave message on 07462 175329. We want to make Arun aware of the complete and utter disgust that residents feel over the way their village has been earmarked for a disproportionate level of housing on the Western edge of their district. District Councillors need to be made aware of your feelings, this can be achieved if enough of us turn up and stand together.
SEE OUR STATEMENT ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY ON OUR 'LATEST NEWS' PAGE
READ .... NOTE ... TAKE ACTION BEFORE ITS TOO LATE
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EVENT : INFORMATION AND COFFEE MORNING AT ST. NINIANS CHURCH PAGHAM
DATE : 11TH. NOVEMBER 2017
We had the latest information on the Government Planning Inspectors examination of the ADC Local Plan by Councillors and residents who attended the hearings at Littlehampton during the last two weeks of September. They, and our committee member's endeavoured to give an interpretation of the Inspectors interim report which has just been released, and its impact on our communities. PAGAM explored various avenues of objection which required the participation of residents to succeed. On hand to answer questions were local councillors from all affected areas, and CPRE Sussex (Campaign to Protect Rural England) who were at the Local Plan inquiry every day, sometimes with a barrister reinforcing their views. Your attendance proved yet again that we are determined not to be ignored by those whose heart is not in the right place, what we do is NOT for PROFIT ( Developers and ADC take note) .....
Yet again, a very special thankyou to all who attended, we hope you went away enlightened and more positive by what you heard. A copy of the presentation that was being shown on the large projection screen will shortly be available.
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EVENT : PROTEST AT ARUN DISTRICT COUNCIL OFFICES OVER LOCAL PLAN
DATE : 25TH. SEPTEMBER 2017
THE BURNING QUESTION ... PEOPLE WATCH THE X FACTOR ON TV BUT THEY COULD WATCH THIS ... just click >>> https://vimeo.com/238312908
On September 25th. 2017 a group of staunch supporters from PAGAM and BAD DEAL (the Action Group for Bersted) assembled at 8.30 in the morning outside Arun District Council offices in the rain (!!) and sung a modified version of Jerusalem orchestrated and led by Martin Lury of Bersted Parish Council many times, just in case the staff and visitors to the offices had forgotten that the Arun Local Plan which has cost us £1.8 million was being examined in public to determine if it was sound by a Government Planning Inspector over a period of 2 weeks. A warm thank you to all those who attended.
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IMPORTANT MEETING THIS FRIDAY 23RD. JUNE 2017
The Campaign To Protect Rural England (CPRE .... Sussex Countryside Trust) have arranged for a meeting to take place at Barnham Community Hall, Yapton Rd., PO22 0AY on the 23rd. June 2017 (this Friday). Arrive by 6.45pm. for 7pm start till 8pm., then 1 hour thereafter till 9pm. for general discussions. They are very influential and have responded to our concerns with respect to the "process" or what Arun District Council call a "Local Plan 2011-2031", a procedure which has all the hallmarks of an environmental disaster, in addition to a infrastructure nightmare when it comes to Pagham and Bersted. It would strengthen our cause and campaign against Arun if you could attend and voice your concerns.
If you have any doubts about their (CPRE's) strength of feeling and resolve, click on the link below, quite detailed but will give you some background.
Finally, if you keep on hearing about the alternative site at Ford which was originally considered for up to 5000 homes but was strangely downgraded to 1500 homes by Arun, then click on the link below and all will be revealed ....
http://brdp-ws.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/time-for-action-is-new-settlement-at.html
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PAGHAM AND ALDWICK GREENFIELDS ACTION GROUP
SAVE PAGHAM RALLY
SATURDAY 8TH OF APRIL 2017
(Photo's can be found of the event on our "Photos" page ..)
The PAGAM Committee would like to say a very big thank you to all those who were able to come along and support us on the day, by joining forces and voicing your objections at Saturdays Rally on the 8th. April 2017 at Pagham Village Hall....... But really it is the residents who should thank each other for coming together to display their solidarity against those who should seek to disfigure our small community with their misconceived views on where to dump thousands of houses.
We hope you will agree that the Rally was a resounding success, on a beautiful sunny warm spring afternoon with the attendance judged at between 500 and 600 people. From an organisational point of view (our first time) we had a few hiccups ... the PA System failing with 1 minute to go (!) as with a few other problems we encountered, it was resolved.
The Rally was opened by Gill Homer, one of our founder members who duly welcomed everyone to the event. It was followed by short speeches from the following speakers ...
David Huntley, Councillor and Ray Radmall, Chairman of Pagham Parish Council gave strong rousing speeches on where we stood as a community. This was followed by Peter Atkins, who gave his experiences as a ex farmer and many years in the farming industry as well as expertise in soil structures.
Alan Pivett of PAGAM then took over and presented non technical but strong ideas on how we are represented by our Arun councillors and why they are ignoring our views. Commented on 42 of the councillors on Arun District Council are Conservative plus 2 reported defecting UKIP councillors making 44. Not very democratic as only 9 councillors in opposition.
A resident of Bersted, Judy Gonsalves asked to speak briefly of her and her neighbours daily nightmare they now have to endure since the North Berstead Relief road was opened with vastly increased rat running traffic, the same also being experienced by residents of Rose Green and Aldwick. She also robustly spoke out about Pagham not being in isolation, as Bersted has 750 homes being built there and the spectre of Chalcroft Lane at 2500 homes.
Alan then handed over to Gill and Albert Homer who formally presented Ray Radmall with a petition of 1220 signatures which was duly accepted. Ray gave a short speech and a final rally to the crowd.
Unfortunately missed by many however, was a speech given by two 14 year old girls, Sophia Moulson and Clare Toone who gave a short, powerful and moving interpretation of these developments through their eyes. CLICK ON LINK TO VIEW VIDEO >> https://vimeo.com/212723271
The quality of information provided by the speakers, we hope was informative and not boring, short and to the point. The success of this Rally depended not on us the organisers, but on you the public who gave up their Saturday afternoon to prove they are behind us. We thank you all for your help ( volunteers, marshals, food and drink preparation, first aid support) and the councillors who also gave up their time. The Public also responded strongly to our need for contributions to help us support our cause, way beyond our wildest dreams, so a very special pat on the back for that.
Finally not forgetting our contributors ...
Pagham Pony Rescue
For providing 2 beautiful Shetland Ponies and enabled them to receive contributions.
Please see tab at top of screen
"Letters you should read" page and the "From the heart" section.
Global Scaffolding
For providing the stage with no hesitation FOC
Lou Hazell
For providing a very old farm tractor ( circa 1940's ) this was just one of many in Lou's tractor collection, this stood alongside a modern tractor of today ( we hope to have some photos shortly )
The RAFA 381 Band
A wonderful skiffle band from RAFA Bognor Regis who believe in the same principles as us
regarding unsustainable developments
And finally to BBC South Today for actually delivering what we so needed, huge publicity on the TV News.
CLICK ON LINK TO VIEW THE VIDEO >> https://vimeo.com/212727496
PS. Thought for the day ....
On Arun District Council website Councillor Gillian Brown (Aldwick East) and Leader of the Council states
"As Leader of Arun District Council it is my role to keep in touch with local opinion. If you have an idea about how things could be done better, or if you want to express your view on one of the major issues of the day - please send me an email at committees@arun.gov.uk " SORRY ... Did she say local opinion ?
THE END ....... BUT NOT OF PAGHAM !!
LETTERS OF OPPOSITION TO ARUN DISTRICT COUNCIL
The PAGAM committee held two letter writing/coffee mornings at St. Ninian
on Saturday 21st and Saturday 28th of January 2017
Both events proved very popular, with lots of people writing their letters whilst also enjoying a
cup of tea/coffee and a piece of homemade cake. Members of the committee were on hand to help any that felt they needed assistance. Others that came had already written letters, but came along to support the group and our continuing work on behalf of the residents of Pagham and Aldwick.
The meeting was also attended by Ray Radmall Chairman of the Pagham Parish Council, who once again gave up his time to support us and offer his expertise and advice.
We the committee would like to thank all those who came along, and to those who have taken the time to
write to ADC in opposition to these unnecessary and unsustainable developments
THANK YOU
Coffee Morning
Held Saturday 10th December 2016
at
St Ninians Church Hall
Pagham Road
We would like to extend a sincere thank you to all the residents who attended our coffee morning. It allowed us to meet you in person and discuss in more detail the issues surrounding Pagham and Aldwick regarding proposed housing developments, as well as the proposed expansion of packaging facilities at Barfoots which in turn would increase the amount of traffic (particularly articulated lorries and tractors) on our country lanes. We would like to think we presented a "united" front on behalf of all the residents in our local parish's and reiterate that Arun District Council should not be allowed to "steamroller" these developments through without the public's democratic involvement.
We are not alone in our concerns, Bersted, Yapton, etc. are all experiencing similar problems after it was reported in Friday's Bognor Regis Post 9th. December 2016 (and we quote) that the policies contained in neighbourhood plans which set out where people wanted new housing in their localities will be ditched. It was stated on 6th. December 2016 by Kathryn Banks, Arun's planning policy team leader, who told the sub-committee "This option removes all current parish/town allocation numbers from the Local Plan". Apart from beginning talks with town and parish councils, this decision is set to be agreed by all councillors next month ( the councillor's WE elected into position)
We would finally like to thank Ray Radmall ( Chairman Pagham Parish Council ) for arranging the use of St. Ninians Church, the fee for which he paid for out of his own pocket. And special thanks to the Bognor Regis Post who reported on the event in person. Please please read and take note of the articles they are reporting, as their coverage of all matters concerning housing developments and the Groups efforts have been "rock solid", so lets hope their efforts as well as ours will not be in vain. Let's also not forget a pat on the back for all the member's of the PAGAM committee who provided tea's, coffee's, cake's, and above all their valuable time and effort in hosting this event.
MEETING 18TH NOV 2016
A very big thank you to all those who came to the public meeting at Church Farm Holiday Park on the 18th November 2016. We had well in excess of 350 people present. Without your help and support this meeting would not have been possible, we hope it has shown the District Council of the growing upsurge of public opinion against the plans that have been presented to them. Although these plans are being shown in isolation, if added together, they will represent a serious threat to village life, as we know it now !!
On behalf of the action group, I would also like to thank our speakers on Pagham, Aldwick, and Bersted Parish Councils who are also passionate in their belief of the non sustainability of the proposed developments. They all gave personal short speeches which allowed the audience an insight into how they believe the way forward should be achieved. Karl Roberts, Director, Planning and Economic Regeneration after his speech, answered questions from the floor on behalf of Arun District Council. Nick Gibb MP also gave a short speech from the governments perspective. Also present were members of the local press, The Bognor Regis Post.
We, the action group are indebted to Church Farm Holiday Park ( Bourne Leisure ) for their invaluable contribution to the evening, by allowing us the use of their facilities at short notice ( including refreshments )
Finally we will be sending out an acknowledgement to all those who left their details in the form of a short email which will have a link to the website. There is a slideslow gallery of photo's taken on the night below.
CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO VIEW AN ARTICLE & INTERVIEW
DONE ON SPIRIT FM THURSDAY 17 NOV 2016
The following slideshow gallery is of photo's taken on the night of the Public Meeting at Church Farm 18th. November 2016.
Hello everyone,
On Wednesday 16th November I received a phone call from Simon Fielding news editor at Spirit fm asking if one or more of the committee would be available for an interview regarding the proposed housing developments in Pagham and Aldwick. Their attention was drawn to our action group by Sue Brunton who has a link to someone at the station, after looking at our website they became aware of the ground swell of opposition and being a local issue have given us a valuable ‘plug’
I have put a link to both the article and a small sound bite from our group secretary Jackie Lovell, you will see they have also published the public meeting this evening at Church Farm Holiday Park.
Pam (committee member)
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