West Sussex County Council has announced which bus subsidies are to be reduced during the final phase of a three year programme to reduce non-commercial routes.

Most bus routes in West Sussex are operated on a commercial basis, but some routes are subsidised by the County Council to help them run. The savings are needed because they need to reduce council spending by £79 million overall.

The first and second phases of bus subsidy reductions have already been announced, following an ‘impact assessment’ last year when feedback from members of the public and other organisations was gathered and taken into account.

The recent Bus User Survey relates to the third and final phase of subsidy reductions. The survey, which closed on 17 January 2012, gathered almost 8,250 responses from passengers and local organisations about how they use the routes.

Below is a list of bus routes within the North Horsham Parish, or to see the complete list from West Sussex County Council visit their webpage by clicking here.

Routes 23, 24 (Metrobus) Crawley – Horsham
WSCC funding will be removed from both services.  Route 23 will continue to run as a commercial service, and route 24 will cease as of 1 September 2012.  Alternative journeys will be available on route 23, and from Colgate on Compass Travel route 52.
View the revised timetable here.

Route 61 (Metrobus) Horsham – North Heath (circular)
No changes to the current service.

Route 98 (Metrobus) Roffey – Southwater
WSCC funding withdrawn from supported evening services.  Metrobus will continue to operate the current timetable on a commercial basis.

Route 200 (Metrobus) Horsham – Gatwick Airport
Reduced late evening service from 1 September due to reduction of WSCC funding.  Minor timing changes at other times to improve reliability.
View the revised timetable here.

Routes 652, 662, 674, 682 (Compass) Horsham School Services
Revised timetables.
662 morning journey to be withdrawn and replaced by a diverted Service 89 journey (will not serve Merryfield Drive or Redford Avenue).
674 afternoon journey at 16:22 from Millais School will now be operated by Sussex Coaches, extended to start at 16:15 from Collyers College and continuing to Rusper, arriving 17:07.
Service 682 at 17:00 from Tanbridge House School to be withdrawn.
These changes will take effect from 3 September 2012.
View the revised timetables here.

West Sussex – Better Connected is an exciting project to bring better, faster broadband to West Sussex.  Funded by the government, West Sussex County Council and partners, the project aims to make it possible for 90% of the county to connect to better, faster broadband services by April 2015. This means that homes and businesses will have the opportunity to have a broadband connection using a commercial supplier.

The benefits will be great. Improved broadband speeds can transform how we work, live and communicate. This exciting technology can improve our quality of life, and help to grow our economy by enabling new businesses to start up, and existing ones to prosper. Providing better broadband presents challenges. The geography of West Sussex requires a range of technologies to bring broadband to households and businesses. These include fibre optic, advanced copper, satellite and wireless technologies.

This is a hugely ambitious and challenging project. It is inevitable some areas will be able to connect to better, faster broadband before others. We will be working closely with our partners to take into account many factors including local geography and demographics, planning requirements and engineering issues, to ensure a smooth installation of the technology.

Help to make sure your area is included in suppliers plans by signing up for better broadband. You can do this in the following ways:

• Sign up online
• Sign up by completing the paper form (download a copy of the form or call 01243 642119 or collect a form from your local West Sussex Library or Help Point).

Signing your support does not commit you to any form of contract for a new broadband service.

“Welcome to our latest news update. Since our last newsletter we have seen our water supplies, in particular our reservoirs, return to a healthy position, thanks to the wet weather we experienced during the previous few months.

The heavy rainfall throughout April, May and early June allowed us to lift the restrictions on water use on June 14. We also recorded our lowest leakage rate, the best of all the water and sewerage companies in the UK.

However, some underground sources are still below average and we thank all our customers for helping to save water.

In June, West Sussex saw the brunt of the wet weather and we found ourselves battling the effects of some of the most intense rainstorms in recent years.

Teams worked around the clock when a month’s rainfall fell in just 12 hours. The sheer volume of rain overwhelmed parts of the sewerage system causing flooding in areas including Littlehampton, Bognor, Chichester and Worthing.

Our priority during this time was helping our customers and carrying out clean-ups, while keeping our pumping stations running. Tankers were dispatched across the county to remove stormwater from the system and customer services staff and clean-up crews worked in the affected areas.

We are now participating fully in West Sussex County Council’s work to investigate flooding across the county.

To coincide with the Olympic torch passing through our region, a series of events took place to mark the Learn to Swim scheme’s 20th anniversary. Ambassador Duncan Goodhew and his Olympic torch were the stars of Sussex Sports Day at K2 in Crawley, where 1,300 children competed, watched by Tim Loughton MP, Children and Families Minister. We supported Olympic torch relay events in Brighton, Medway and on the Isle of Wight, providing drinking water, water bottles and educational material about drinking water for health and water efficiency. Duncan Goodhew also represented us at a torch ceremony which took place with all of the schools in Peacehaven prior to officially opening the Peacehaven Community School’s Olympic week.”

Sussex Police and Crime Panel is looking for two enthusiastic and strategically minded people from the Sussex area to serve as co-opted independent members of the panel.

On 15th November 2012, the people of England and Wales will vote for a Police and Crime Commissioner, who will be accountable for how crime is tackled in their police force area.  Each Commissioner will hold their chief constable and the force to account – effectively making the police answerable to the community they serve.

Each police force area will also have a Police and Crime Panel, to scrutinise the performance of the Commissioner, to ensure transparency, and to provide checks and balances in relation to the performance of the Commissioner. The Sussex Police and Crime Panel will comprise councillors, drawn from each of the 15 local authorities within the region, and two co-opted independent members.

Independent members, through their knowledge and experience, will augment the Panel’s ability to hold the Commissioner to account.

Applicants should live within the Sussex area (East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove). Experience in community safety, victim support, criminal justice and related issues would be helpful, but is not essential. There is no salary for the role, but travel expenses can be reclaimed.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 13thAugust. Interviews for shortlisted candidates will likely be conducted the week of 17th September.

To obtain an application pack, or for further information about Sussex Police and Crime Panel contact Ninesh Edwards at West Sussex County Council:

01243 752714
ninesh.edwards@westsussex.gov.uk

Roundabout, Horsham’s talking newspaper for the visually impaired, has launched its new website at www.roundabouttalkingnews.co.uk for the benefit of both listeners and volunteers.

Roundabout Talking News produces FREE weekly recordings on memory sticks or via their website giving the visually impaired people (VIP) of Horsham and the surrounding district the chance to keep up to date with the local news from the West Sussex County Times.  Anyone who knows of a V.I.P in the Horsham area who would be interested in the service is asked to contact Roundabout through the website using the ‘Contact Us’ facility or telephone Secretary Howard Brake on 01403 253849 or Chairman Jon Dean on 01403 266924.