Mayor of Bognor Regis' weekly briefing

It was a pleasure to visit Bishop Tufnell CE Primary School earlier this week, to present them with their ‘winners’ certificate and voucher, to celebrate their success in this year’s Bognor Regis in Bloom ‘Schools and Nurseries’ competition.

Bishop Tufnell was chosen as the ‘cream of the crop’ from this year’s entrants, growing some very impressive tomato plants and documenting so eloquently, their growing process. It was lovely to meet the students and teachers involved and their hard work and dedication shone through, as they explained to me how they’d got their plants looking so beautiful.

In Bloom Working Group members judged the competition, which received 12 entries from schools and nurseries across Bognor Regis and the immediate area. On behalf of the Working Group, a very big thank you to all the students and their teachers who took time out of their busy days to dedicate some love and attention to their tomato plants.

From what I hear, all the entrants were fantastic, and although Bishop Tufnell were the eventual winners, it was stiff competition! I really hope everyone will enter again next year!

The Bognor Regis in Bloom and Allotments Awards Evening will be taking place in a few weeks’ time. The evening is held to celebrate winners of this year’s gardening competition, with all entrants invited to attend. Recently combined to include Allotment award winners too, I’m looking forward to attending this latest Town Council event, to see on full display, photos of some of the beautiful entries received this year, which all go toward beautifying our Town.

The Southdowns Music Festival returns this weekend, with another packed line-up to keep music lovers of all tastes entertained. I’ll be performing the official opening of the event in London Road on Saturday.

I’m sure this will be as popular as ever, make sure you check the programme on the Southdowns Music Festival website, for all the details: www.southdownsfolkfest.co.uk.

Since its inception at the end of March, the Bognor Regis Time Portal has welcomed well in excess of 15,000 visitors. The Augmented Reality art installation is centred around Mary Wheatland, a bathing machine proprietor, lifesaver, and swimming teacher who worked on Bognor Regis beach for over 60 years and is credited with saving over thirty lives from the sea. She is often called the “Mermaid of Bognor.”

In honour of the remarkable role that Mary played in the Town’s history, the Time Portal was created to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her death in 1924.

To ensure the experience is ever evolving, Mary has some new stories to share about the history of Bognor Regis and her life as a local hero. So, even if you’ve stepped through the Time Portal already, why not make another visit to see if you can spot any changes!

The Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner, Katy Bourne OBE has recently launched a new survey asking Sussex residents for their feedback on the policing service they receive.

As the publics’ elected voice within policing, she is eager to understand residents’ concerns and ideas to help inform her new Police & Crime Plan which must be published before 31st March 2025. The survey only takes a few minutes to complete, with links to do so available on the Town Council’s website and Facebook page.

Remember, as well as by reading this article in your Bognor Observer every week, you can keep up to date with Bognor Regis Town Council by following our Facebook page, visiting our website and by reading our monthly e-bulletin, which you can subscribe to via our website ‘News’ page: www.bognorregis.gov.uk. Just like through this column, we regularly share important information, links, surveys and more, through these platforms.