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 this year's Southwater Christmas Festival.
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 LIBRARY REDUCING OPENING TO FOUR HOURS A DAY!
Southwater Parish Council has been advised that the County Council are reviewing library services across the County. Yet again, they propose a reduction in the opening hours. This would mean that your library would be open for only two thirds the time than when first opened, less than four years ago!
Southwater waited for 30 years to have a library provided and to much fanfare the County Council delivered this service four years ago in September. Since then there have been reductions in the hours provided locally.
Your community library was the first to open in West Sussex in over 25 years. Southwater Library serves the largest rural community in the Horsham District and one of the largest in the whole of West Sussex. Consistently, it is one of the best used libraries also used by the three local schools, youth groups and reading groups.
Located in Beeson House, the library forms an integral part of the one stop community focused building. The design of building, was specifically compromised to accommodate the library with Horsham District Council having contributed financially to the provision of the book stock. The library service was extremely forceful in their negotiations, resulting in major compromises by other occupants of the building including the youth provision and small business resource centre.
We understand that a local survey was carried out, but the questions raised were about services not opening times. The proposal is that Southwater will be open for only 24 hours, compared with both Billingshurst and Henfield, which will be open for 39 hours. Both of these communities have a significantly smaller population.
The County Council’s statement on this issue states it “will be doing everything possible to shape its services to what individuals and communities most want from their local library”. It is anticipated that the recommendation will be made to The County Cabinet, following a meeting of the Community Services Select Committee on the 15th January 2010 this being attended by our County Councillor, Brad Watson who is also the Cabinet Member responsible for the Library Service
Have your say on these proposals by voting at www.southwater-pc.gov.uk.
Contact details for the Parish Council are: Catherine Tobin, Clerk to the Parish Council, Beeson House, 26 Lintot Square, Fairbank Road, Southwater, West Sussex RH13 9LA Tel: 01403 733202, Fax 01403 732420 Email: Catherine@southwater.net
Core Strategy Review - 2,750 New Houses for Southwater?
"The Horsham District Core Strategy sets out a framework for planning the future of the District, including how the District Council intends to meet the Governments requirements for development. The existing Core Strategy covers the period to 2018 but we now need to look even further ahead as the Government has approved the South East Plan, which sets out new requirements from 2006 to 2026."
Horsham District Council's (HDC) document sets out some of the key issues in planning the future of the District including Southwater. HDC invited comments on these issues and options by 16th October 2009. The Parish Council as your elected representatives, negotiated an extended period to respond. This enabled the Parish Council, to leaflet every house within the Parish seeking your opinion and inviting your comments.
Thank you to all those who responded to and showed interest in the first stage of the consultation process. As you will have seen in the press and from comments made at the public meeting held on Wednesday, 28th October 2009, it is important that we all get involved. Although the initial consultation has closed, please continue to make your views known to your local Parish Councillors, District Councillors, County Councillors and MP's.