Following a Parish Council meeting on Tuesday 8th October, the Council has now finalised and submitted its response to the proposed development north of the A264, as outlined in Horsham District Council’s Preferred Strategy Document.
A copy of the letter can be found here.
Over the past few months there have been a number of complaints made to both Sussex Police and Horsham District Council about the behaviour of a small number of people who misuse alcohol and become aggressive and abusive in the town centre.
Following consultation between Sussex Police and Horsham District Council, an application was made for a Dispersal Order to be granted under Section 30 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 for Horsham town centre. The Order will run for a three month period from midnight on Friday 27 September 2013 until Friday 27 December 2013 and gives uniformed Police Constables and Police Community Support Officers the power to disperse problem groups from the area and to stop them returning within 24 hours.
The Order is not designed to create an exclusion zone or a curfew area, nor is it a blanket ban on people associating in groups; it is intended to make the area a more pleasant place for everyone.
Sussex Police will not necessarily disperse people in this area for just being in a group but officers will judge each situation on its individual merits. It is therefore vital, if needed, that members of the public contact Sussex Police providing as much information as possible at the time incidents are occurring. They will aim to quickly deal with any matter reported to them in a fair, robust and proportionate manner.
If any member of the public feels intimidated, harassed, alarmed or distressed they should contact Sussex Police at the time on 101 (non-emergency) or 999 (if a crime is in progress).
Greg Charman, Community Safety Manager for the Horsham District Community Safety Partnership said:
“The introduction of a Dispersal Order in Horsham town centre is a measured response on the part of the Horsham District Community Safety Partnership to the number and nature of reported incidents.
“It will not impact in any way on the lives of law abiding citizens but will ensure that the Police locally have the necessary powers to tackle those individuals who insist on causing problems.”
The Samaritans of Horsham and Crawley have been offering emotional support for 40 years from 21 Denne Road. To celebrate, Samaritans Awareness Week will run 29th September to 5th October. The week is being launched with a concert on the bandstand in Horsham’s Carfax, 12 noon Sunday 29th September presented by Horsham Folk Club so come and enjoy the music and the ceilidh finale. During the week Samaritans will be in Swan Walk everyday and at the Market information stand on Thursday and Saturday. Local organisations, business and schools have been invited to put up posters and ask Samaritans to give talks.
At the campaign’s forefront is the message that you don’t have to have suicidal thoughts to call Samaritans. Imagine that you – or someone you know – has a problem that is growing steadily. We all have an idea of what constitutes either a big or small problem. What concerns Samaritans is how big that problem feels. Why wait? If the weight of something feels huge, then it is. Don’t wait.
Sometimes, we might not want to or be able to speak to someone close to us. We might feel embarrassed; the problem may even involve those close to us. It could be something we’ve never told anyone before or feel afraid of being judged by someone important to us. We simply might not want to burden anyone else. Whatever it is, Samaritans don’t judge or feel burdened. Most importantly, it’s OK to talk to Samaritans about that growing problem before worry turns to overwhelming despair. But if it does, they’ll be there for that too.
So how does it work? 21 Denne Road is a homely building with listening volunteers quietly coming and going for their shifts around the clock. Just like their callers, listening volunteers come from all types of backgrounds. Each has their own life experiences but they leave those at the door of the centre, don their metaphorical Samaritans hat and concentrate 100% on each caller. They never know who’s going to call or what they’ll be talking about but they are there, ready to listen 24 hours a day so there’s no need to worry about waking them up!
For face-to-face callers, the visitor’s entrance is tucked around the corner in Denne Place. You’ll get a comfy chair and a warm welcome. You talk when you feel ready and they listen. It’s exclusively your time. They’re open most days between 9am and 9pm but it’s best to call or visit their website www.handcsams.org to check for visiting times.
Keeping abreast with modern technology, many callers can now contact Samaritans by text or email as well as by phone. Speaking aloud isn’t always comfortable so both of these methods can be useful for communicating discreetly.
However callers choose to make contact, confidentiality within Samaritans remains at the heart of their ethos. Technology may have advanced since Chad Varah founded the organisation in 1953 but the core values haven’t. It’s all about the callers.
Where next? The Samaritans of Horsham & Crawley are already doing much work with local organisations to reach out and support vulnerable people in identifiable groups. But they also want to reach out to those who may not have considered themselves a Samaritans caller before. Any of us could be callers. So please look out for them during Awareness Week and do join in celebrating their 40 years in Horsham. They’d love you to stop by and say hello. You might even see a large green telephone wandering about! What better way to raise awareness?
Phone 01403 276276 / 01293 515151 / 08457 909090
Text 07725 909090
Following on from the two recent Parish Council meetings held at North Heath Hall to allow local residents to have their say over proposals for development north of the A264, minutes for both meetings have been posted to the Council’s website. The minutes for both meetings can be found by clicking here, and then choosing the relevant date.
The minutes for the meeting of 16th September 2013 also include the Parish Council’s first draft response to the proposed development north of the A264 as outlined in the Preferred Strategy document. This response will remain a draft, and is liable to be amended over the coming weeks, until the next Parish Council meeting that will be taking place at Roffey Millennium Hall on Tuesday 8th October at 7.30pm for the purpose of approving the Parish Council’s response to the consultation.
Following the Parish Council meeting on Monday 9th September, during which the public were given the opportunity to speak on this issue, reference was made to various Horsham District Council Planning documents – amongst which were the LDF Strategy Review Consultation document 2009 and the Core Strategy 2007 document. Links to these and other documents are listed below:
“Leading Change Partnership to 2026 and beyond”
http://www.horshamdistrictldf.info/Files/CSReviewDocument.pdf
The Core Strategy (2007) Horsham Distrit Local Development Framework, February 2007
http://www.horshamdistrictldf.info/Files/Core_Strategy_(2007).pdf
As part of the 2009 Core Strategy, a report by consultants GVA Grimley:
http://www.horshamdistrictldf.info/Files/HorshamOfficeMarketDemandAssessment.pdf
North Horsham Parish Council 