Icklesham

CHURCH NEWS: The 9.30 am Parish Eucharist will be led by the Rev. Jonathan Meyer.

COFFEE MORNING: On Saturday 21st July there will be a Coffee Morning held in the church from 10.30 am until 12 noon. There you will find tea, coffee, cake, biscuits and good friends with whom to chat. There might also be a bric-a-brac table, but I expect plants will be saved for the Village Fete at the beginning of August.

TABLE TOP SALE: It says, “bring your own table.” Each costs £5 per table. Take them to Five Villages House on Saturday 21st July for a start time of 11 am until 3pm. There will be hot and cold refreshments available, tombola, a raffle and a cake stall. All profit will go to the New Pavilion Fund. To book, please call 01424 814 876.

WEATHER: Slightly milky sky this morning, and a breeze. Very nice. On Friday 13th there is a solar eclipse, but I do not know if it will be visible in England.

BARN DANCE: Winchelsea Bowls Club will be holding a Barn Dance to the music of The Catsfield Steamers (CDs). This will be held at Winchelsea Beach Community Hall on Friday 20th July. Tickets in advance are £6 - £8 on the night. Doors open at 7pm. Bring your own refreshments. To book please call Keith Sellens on 07940 777 250.

PARISH COUNCIL: The Icklesham Parish Community Land Trust Ltd was formed following a public meeting, as the best way to promote the provision of an exception needs housing scheme to meet the housing needs of the Parish as identified following a parish-wide Housing Needs Survey promoted by Icklesham Parish Council in association with Action in Rural Sussex and Rother District Council. Membership of the Trust is open to any resident of Icklesham Parish aged 16 or over, which encompasses the communities of Icklesham, Rye Harbour, Winchelsea and Winchelsea Beach. The Trust has been advised throughout this project by Action in Rural Sussex.

Following on from that survey, a potential site in the Broad Street area of Icklesham village was identified by the Parish Council from the many sites suggested by those residents who responded to the survey.

The Icklesham Parish Community Land Trust Ltd have formed a partnership with Hastoe Housing Association to investigate the development potential of the identified site with a view to submitting a planning application for fifteen affordable units, consisting of 2 no 1-bedroom flats, 10 no 2-bedroomed houses and 3 no 3-bedroomed houses. These will be in three terraced blocks. It is intended that three of the houses will be available for shared ownership. The flats and the remainder of the houses will be for rent. This level of development and the housing mix were determined from the outcomes of the Housing Needs Survey.

If the scheme receives planning consent, the land would be owned by the Trust and let on a long lease to Hastoe Housing Association, who would carry out the development and be responsible for managing the development once occupied.

Before submitting any application for planning consent, the Trust in association with its working partners and advisers, is carrying out a public participation exercise by holding a public exhibition of the proposals at The Robin Hood Inn, Main Road, Icklesham on Monday 16th July from 4 – 8 p.m.

This will be an opportunity for residents of the Parish to not only view the draft scheme and comment on it, but also to express an interest in obtaining a tenancy of one of the units. Representatives of the Trust, their scheme Partners and the professional advisers will be on hand to explain the scheme and answer questions. Any comments received will be reviewed and where possible taken into account before the planning application is finalized.

There will be an opportunity for Members of the Trust and the Media to view the exhibition from 3 p.m.

Smaller exhibitions are intended to take place in the other three Wards of the Parish in the next few weeks.

For further information please contact Peter Turner on 01797 224617, 07738567441 or by email [email protected].

LETTER OF THANKS from Eddie Catt: Many in the village will already know that I was diagnosed with a terminal illness in February this year. What they don’t know is how kind my neighbours have been since then.

I have lived in Icklesham since 1968, and have known many of them for years, but have still been touched and surprised by their care and kindness, they have gone above and beyond what I could have imagined. Some deserve special thankyou’s....Tina Turner from Pear Tree Field, who has provided me with an electric buggy on indefinite loan, to enable me to get out and about in the village.

Aubrey Blunt and Colin Glazier and wives have been very supportive and help is always at hand with mowing and on the allotment if I need it.

There is also someone who has truly gone the extra mile, (let’s just call him Scatty....) who phones me every day to see how I am, who calls in everyday, who understands a lot of my current problems from his own experience and who never fails to raise a smile with his humour and the afternoons when we share a beer in the garden raise my spirits and mean a lot.

I hope I’ve not missed anyone out....

Thank you all...I appreciate your kindness more than I can say,

Eddie Catt, Highfords, Icklesham.

SCHOOL NEWS: The Summer Fayre was held on a glorious, hot day, and all money raised was to support school activities during the year. Total is not known yet. The awards this week go to : Head Teacher Awards; Squirrel Class, Ava for being kind to the new Reception children; Badger Class, Millie who always tries her best and listens well; Falcon Class, Mia for being very helpful and attentive to others; and Fox Class, Joseph for brilliant help with the play. The Politeness award goes to Isla in Badger Class. The caretaker was best pleased with Fox Class. Badger Class won the attendance award and House points go to Oast House. The awards for good work go to : Squirrel Class, Finn and Betty; Badger Class, Summer E. and Elliot; Falcon Class, Tiggy and Taylor; and Fox Class, Xanthe and Inigo. Well done everybody. Squirrel Class has its Picnic on Tuesday 17th from 1.30 - 3pm. There is an Open Day on 18th and the Leavers’ Service in church on 20th, which is the last day of Term 6.

CONTACT: Please keep the information coming.

AND FINALLY: Lots to do next week - enjoy.