Readers' Letters October 28

I READ the news regarding no Christmas lights with dismay and horror.

Christmas comes but once a year.

We all pay council tax and the shops pay business rates, surely some of this money could go towards the supposedly festive season?

However, I also agree that the traders, – especially the larger ones – should be able to provide some funding towards these lights, as they do benefit from the extra trade at this time of year.

One of the main highlights of the year’s shopping is the Christmas late nights with the lights shining.

As we have lived in Spain for the past three years (where the Christmas lights are switched on from December 1 in every town) my family were looking forward to a traditional Christmas – not 
a ‘blackout’ one.

Therefore I, along with a lot of my friends, will not be doing our shopping in Chichester this year. If the shops do not care about their customers then why shop here?

Why not give our custom to an area 
that does?

Carol Orpwood, Chichester

I AM sure that most sensible people will not miss seeing a few lights in the shopping area.

I won’t call them ‘Christmas lights’ as they usually appear at least two months before the said day, and if children are excited when they see them, the excitement will have worn off long before the day actually arrives.

I am amazed that at a time when we have all been asked to economise, the council is prepared to waste £15,000 – money which would do far more good almost anywhere else.

A few coloured bulbs are not going to influence people to spend more in the shops, and the shops themselves provide plenty of reminders via their contents and window dressing from the end of August onwards.

J Barratt (Mrs), West Walberton Lane, Walberton

AS A city we have £15,000 promised by the council, plus £3,000 kindly donated by local retailers/businesses so let us have £18,000 worth of Christmas lights.

We have the lights anyway, so why not use them?

I am sure that with some thrifty negotiations this can be achieved and we could have a great display.

Maybe the council does not want to make a contribution at all and is just trying to blame it on the retailers?

Amanda Baggott, Proposals of Chichester, St Martin’s Street, Chichester

I HAVE noted with dismay the absence of lights in Chichester this Christmas.

May I suggest Plan B?

Could all shops in Chichester be encouraged to light up their shop windows with Christmas lights (they will often have some at home) and the Chichester Observer could run a competition for 
best-lit window, voted for by the public?

We must all get behind it!

Michael Burton, Lavant

CHICHESTER district councillors should hold their heads in shame.

The council tax around here is disgusting and, let’s face it, you pay more to live in Chichester than the surrounding areas, but I bet those other places get Christmas lights.

The car park charges in the city keep going up and extending hours, and yet we see nothing for it!

With the money generated from the city’s charges, CDC could and should be capable of paying more than just half the cost for the lights.

I wonder where it’s having its Christmas staff party this year?

L Eason, Chichester

BEFORE WE all start calling each other Scrooge, perhaps we should take a look at the purposes of decorating the city centre for Christmas?

Here they are in no particular order.

n Boosting trade: Clearly traders in the centre have never thought it did because they haven’t contributed much over the past ten years.

But why should that group be targeted?

Why should that group be expected to pay for something from which they can see no return?

A cause for concern is that small traders will suffer while multiples thrive.

The council had to make a hard decision.

But it is spending our money; when Scrooge had a change of heart and bought a turkey for Bob Cratchit, he was spending his own.

Perhaps cheaper parking for the season or temporary park and ride might do more for city-centre trade than decorations?

n General jollification: We’re all in favour of that and communities everywhere have always celebrated the passing of the winter solstice.

That’s fine if the community pays for it.

The council has decided on behalf of the community that this year we can’t afford it.

It says fairly that if central traders will get a special benefit they should make a special contribution.

But in matters of trade, traders know best and they have decided they will not benefit.

We should respect their decision and not expect them to pay just to cheer up the rest of us.

n Religious festivity: No quarrel with that either, but if that’s what it’s all about surely the council should ask the Christian community to make a special contribution towards the cost of adorning the city?

Paul Albrecht, Mill Lane, Sidlesham

HOW VERY sad that the city of Chichester should be so poorly supported at what should be a joyful time.

We all realise that financially we are suffering.

Surely it is at such a time that we need something to cheer us up?

Marks and Spencers are in position to contribute greatly.

It is surely tax deductible?

Especially as I recall M&S made a profit of £636m last year.

It is a one-time situation.

It would have been an act of enormous good faith on their part.

Instead they are, in my book, a bunch of Scrooges.

I do hope that all the stores add extra lighting to their windows and hang lanterns outside, as they used to do long ago.

We can still make it work for all of us – especially the children.

Sally H Thomas, Chichester

I WOULD like to pledge £5 towards the money required in order that we can have our Christmas lights in Chichester.

If everyone who shops in Chichester were to do the same we would quickly reach the target of £15,000 and who knows even have some in the kitty which could go towards the lights for the following Christmas.

Please can someone put the wheels in motion immediately in order that the general public can put their hands in their pockets to ensure we get our Christmas lights?

I feel sure there are enough people in Chichester and the surrounding area who would be able to afford giving £5 and then we can hopefully put some of the businesses in Chichester to shame.

Surely if they want us to spend our money in Chichester they should put their hands in their tills.

Why can’t the money be equally divided by EVERY business in Chichester?

Surely there are enough businesses to make the amount each would have to pay fairly minimal and if not, perhaps a portion could be raised by the general public in a bit of fundraising in town by volunteers with tins?

I would certainly donate.

All I know is that my husband and I and our six children, ranging from 16-24 all want to see the lights in our city this Christmas.

If you think my idea is a good one please contact me on 07748 042024 to tell me who I should give my £5 to.

Perhaps one of our local banks could set up an account for the general public to give their donations to.

A Horne (Mrs), Nutbourne

DAMN YOU lot, Chichester businesses.

Just can’t be bothered to dip your hands in your pockets for a few quid for Christmas lights.

H and M, that’s the last time I’m in your shop for goods, Next, Rowlands, Sussex Books, Vodafone, Smiths, Waterstones, Army and Navy, Milletts and the lot of you that had my trade, no more.

I’m off to John Lewis in Southampton to do all my Christmas shopping in one go, next year too, and you lot should feel the deepest, deepest shame at such dreadful parsimony.

And I’d guess a good few more of Chichester shoppers will feel just as I do and move elsewhere.

What a lot of scroungers, trading for our pennies all year and huge profits on top of all that.

Just you watch how many shoppers will not be coming your way next year and see your sales drop.

Awful! You should hang heads in shame and just see how your bottom line will suffer as a result of being truly so mean.

Tony Spillard, Palmers Field Avenue, Chichester

INSTINCTIVELY I tend to be against privatisation of essential services.

Too often it results in already low-paid employees having to work longer hours for less money and much worse benefits while the people at the top make a killing, but I am changing my mind about the Royal Mail.

At one time, if an item for delivery had money to be paid on it this could be collected by the postman, very sensible and convenient, and if you were not in when the postman came you could go to the collection office in Basin Road, Chichester at any time up to 6pm to collect the item.

Now the postman is not allowed to take money and the collection office closes at 3pm so what is the working person who wants the item quickly supposed to do?

Put up with it, apparently.

On Friday I heard the postman come and there was a card through the door to say that one item had 10p excess postage to pay plus a £1 penalty.

Knowing it would take a while for him to get back to Basin Road, I left it until early afternoon to go out in the pouring rain to collect the mail, only to find that the collection office had closed at 12.30pm ‘due to staff shortages’.

What kind of organisation is this?

Certainly not one that at a management level has any regard for customer service, it seems.

I have no problem with our postman, we get excellent service from him, but no non-monopoly commercial organisation that wanted to have a future would allow this sort of thing to happen; staff would be redeployed and the office would be open at times convenient for the customer.

These may seem small annoyances but they are just the sort of thing that destroys customer loyalty and seem to typify what is wrong with Royal Mail.

Regretfully, I have to say privatisation of Royal Mail cannot come soon enough.

Jim Hooker, Birdham Road, Chichester

HAVING discovered I am not the only one who needs frequent sit-downs after recent illness, I wrote to management in the East Street branch of Marks and Spencer.

I wrote in early September requesting at least three proper chairs at their entrance and had a very negative reply.

All we have to date is one square box in which one person can sit uncomfortably on edge.

With the quantity of customers they have, surely this is not too much to ask?

V Wood (Mrs), Henty Gardens, Chichester

FOLLOWING your recent articles on the community’s attempt to buy the Fernleigh Centre from the county council, I would like to urge readers to support this bid.

We do not have much time left before bids close and with good support from local people we can persuade the county council to give us this vital change.

The centre, with success in fundraising which is already under way, would be set up as a community trust for groups and services in Chichester and the surrounding areas.

Please write to your county councillor asking that this building, owned by the public, continue to be used by the public.

L Younger (Miss), Shore Road, Bosham

WE WRITE with reference to your article on the front page of the Observer, October 7, regarding the donation of £150 by James Todd and Co.

Please would you note that we are a firm of chartered accountants not solicitors as printed in the article.

James Todd and Co, West Stoke Road, Lavant

IN RESPONSE to the recent letter by Janet Newton-Lewis last week, I too miss the Chichester Library noticeboard.

In fact, apart from the lift for the disabled, it’s hard to see where the improvements to the library were made.

While we went bookless for a month they changed the lovely green carpet for a less attractive one, and moved the fiction and non-fiction to opposite sides.

As well as the noticeboard they also got rid of those two nice rotating stands of paperbacks that were always my first port of call.

Where are the much-needed toilets and baby changing facilities, or the coffee shop we were all looking forward to?

What a waste of time and money.

E Barber (Miss), Spitalfield Lane, Chichester

I AM a Catholic and for 70 years have found the Roman Catholic Church a good vehicle to travel on.

We are all flawed, Mark Chapman.

You, me, organised religion of all faiths, that is why we continue to strive for a better life and fail miserably.

There is no difference between believers and non-believers except if you knock both down the believer is more inclined to get up again.

In your letter (Observer, October 7) and to your shame, you attempted to kick the Catholic Church when it is down, the heathens and antichrists in our midst must be thinking Christmas has come early.

Pat Williams, Southover Way, Hunston

YOUR correspondent, Mark Chapman is correct in saying that the Roman Catholic Church is flawed because I am a member.

There is a story about a lady who went to her minister and said she was looking for the perfect church.

The minister replied that he hoped she would not find one because she would spoil it.

All Christians who have been baptised in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and have committed their lives to Jesus Christ, are the body of Christ to which St Paul refers.

Jesus chose an ordinary fisherman to lead his church and said to Peter: “...You are 
Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)

After the arrest of Jesus, Peter then denied Him three times.

A cursory study of the past 2,000 years of church history makes it remarkable that such an organisation has managed to survive.

During his visit to the UK, Pope Benedict beatified Cardinal Newman which is the penultimate step before canonisation.

The word saint derives from the Latin santo meaning holy.

No-one is 100 per cent good or evil and holiness or wholeness means that people have striven to overcome their negative aspects of the human condition.

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales published a statement about child abuse in the Catholic church.

They admit the abhorrent crimes of some priests and religions and acknowledge the deep shame to the whole church.

Mr Chapman cites Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and St Therese of Lisieux.

St Therese died at the age of 24 and seemingly did not do much, while Mother Teresa dedicated herself to the poorest of the poor.

We are all flawed human beings needing the touch of Christ.

Carole Irvine, Orchard Close, Petworth

HOW refreshing to read Mark Chapman’s Flawed Catholicism letter.

No-one desires to criticise a person’s faith but the Roman Catholic Church has much to hide and I would like to bring to light just a few instances.

Going back in time to the last war, Italy, France and Nazi Germany were allies and I remember reading a book stating that Mussolini paid the Vatican £3m to keep quiet during the terrible holocaust when in Germany men, women and children were being starved, tortured and sent to their deaths in the gas chambers.

Not one word of protest came from the Vatican.

Furthermore, some of your readers may remember the man accused of stealing from the Vatican bank.

He was chased to London and the next morning was found hanging under London Bridge.

Ann Winckworth, Gibson Way, Bognor Regis

I KNOW we are in difficult economic times but there is one easy decision that could spare a lot of the ‘tough ones’.

A tax on the banks could raise £20bn in the UK to help those hit by the financial crisis in this country and around the world.

For every cut I hear the government announce I keep asking: could a tax on the banks have paid for that?

The situation we find ourselves in started in the financial sector and we spent £1.4bn bailing 
them out.

We are all paying for a party we weren’t quite invited to.

I want to see my MP and leaders start fighting for a tax that would make Robin Hood proud.

Paul Bentley, Hammer Cottages, Bosham

IN REPLY to Michael J Smith in the Observer, I obviously missed the fact in previous correspondence that he works as a carer in a residential care home.

As a retired district nurse I have the utmost respect and admiration for the wonderful care and dedication to this often very difficult and undervalued role which is so vital to the wellbeing of people unable, for whatever reason, to care for themselves.

Therefore, Michael, I unreservedly apologise for any implied criticism of your role as a carer, this was certainly not my intention.

Maura Field, Grosvenor Road, Chichester

THOSE PEOPLE who support the proposed scheme to keep dogs on leads at Fishbourne obviously know nothing about dogs.

Believe it or not, dogs need off-the-lead exercise to be healthy.

The muscles of a dog kept on a lead will eventually waste away.

Our dogs have NEVER frightened the wildfowl at Fishbourne (or anywhere else for that matter), and even though we go on this beautiful walk daily, sometimes twice, we have never seen any other dogs worry them either.

There is more danger in fishing line and plastic rings from ring-pull cans, not to mention all the other disgusting litter to be found along the channel.

When is the council going to employ a warden to put a stop to THAT, may I ask?

If this cruel proposal does go through, can anyone please suggest a place where dog-owners might be ‘allowed to give our dogs the exercise they need’?

Mary Cameron, Sidlesham

ON BEHALF of the Lions Clubs that were present recently at the Chichester Cross I would like to thank the people of Chichester for their generosity towards our collection – £350 was raised in total.

Lions from Bognor, Chichester, Midhurst, Selsey and Southbourne all attended what was officially Lions Awareness Day; Lions handed out literature regarding the various projects that they support both locally and internationally.

Mayor of Chichester Michael Woolley is an active supporter of Lions and thoroughly enjoyed handing out balloons to children on the day.

The money which was raised on October 9 will go towards the Friends of Chichester Hospitals’ pledge to raise money for the new ophthalmology unit in Chichester.

All clubs in our Zone have unanimously agreed to support this very worthwhile project which will greatly benefit the community we serve.

We will continue to work with Friends in the future to this end; we and the Friends of Chichester Hospital truly appreciate the public’s support.

Corina J Hall, Zone Chairman, 1B Lions Clubs International www.chilions.org.uk

I LOVE going into town at the weekend, browsing the shops and having a quiet coffee or lunch in nice surroundings, but it has become increasingly difficult to find anywhere to sit without screaming children and pushchairs obstructing the passageways.

It is great that there are family-friendly places where parents can go for a coffee and take the children; however, is there anywhere adults can go for a coffee without having to listen to noisy children?

Perhaps some like-minded soul would be kind enough to open an Adult-Friendly coffee shop/restaurant in Chichester and make some peace-loving shoppers happy?

Aileen MacKinnon, Chichester

IT IS so nice to see that WSCC Highways and their contractors are at the cutting edge of technology when it comes to the resurfacing and line marking of Spitalfield Lane in Chichester.

Some 40 years after the metric system was introduced in the building and civil engineering industries, the proposed works have all been marked out in feet and inches!

I suppose I really shouldn’t be surprised considering that the road gully four doors down from me is blocked solid with mud and hasn’t been cleaned out since 1988, despite my complaints!

Iain Wright, Spitalfield Lane, Chichester

RE THE Chichester Observer of September 30, Council Chief is bowing out – leaving on amicable terms.

One of the dictionary definitions I have for the word ‘amicable’ is ‘relating to an agreement or decision that is achieved without argument or unpleasantness of all concerned parties’.

In the context of what has recently taken place at the top table of West Sussex County Council, I can well see that this ‘achievement’ is eminently ‘agreeable’ to the to the now ex-chief executive of WSCC, Mark Hammond.

Picking up a departure payment of, I would surmise, some £800,000 plus full pension rights, would be a dream come true for most ordinary mortals.

Now, if this ‘amicable agreement’ has been achieved by the master tactician, council leader Cllr Louise Goldsmith, in this matter, without her having to resort to raiding public funds in order to further cushion Mr Hammond’s exceedingly comfortable existence, then I, like many others, would wholeheartedly applaud her for getting rid of at least one of the vastly-overpaid local government elite.

If, however, the enormous sum of money shortly to be doled out to Mr Hammond has been lifted from the over-burdened taxpayers’ pocket, then I think that we, the ordinary beings of this county, will have been treated despicably.

We, the ones who have to pay up or face prison for non-payment of rates, have every right to know what brought about the sacking of this individual who has crested the public sector salary wave for many, many years and exactly how much his departure has cost and who is going to foot the bill.

Phil Thomas, Tangmere

ONCE UPON a time.....

In a lovely city where I grew up (and by the way have been waiting 40 years for an ice rink that has never got here!) called Chichester lived a person called Bright Spark...

One day Bright Spark had an idea that he would build a multi-storey car park on the Cattle Market Site in Chichester to create more parking spaces.

The peasants in Chichester did not like this idea at all and told Mr Bright Spark.

Mr Bright Spark got very angry and decided to hatch an evil plan.

He decided to leave the Cattle Market as it was – but build small houses on the remaining car parks in Chichester until there were no spaces left and the peasants had to drive around in frustration ... even when they have their 84-year-old mother with them on a Saturday in the rain and they need a disabled space – he knew this would wind them up a treat.

Mr Bright Spark thought that by packing in houses and flats the peasants would have nowhere to park but would be nice and compacted so as to cause maximum stress.

Fanks, Mr Bright Spark!

Then one day a front page appeared on the Chichester Observer that warned of the lack of parking spaces in Chichester...the next chapter could be that Mr Bright Spark has tricked the peasants of Chichester and his evil plan has worked.

We will get a Tricorn Car Park on Chichester’s Cattle Market.

May be if it’s large enough he could fit in a few more little houses...

Sarah Dubben, Bridge Road, Chichester

I REFER to the useful and informative recent article by Peter Homer about housing.

The headline chosen indicates that the numbers have been brought down,

But the proposed figure represents a reduction of about ten per cent, which is hugely inadequate having regard to the new government’s expressed intentions.

Cllr Ridd, chairman of Chichester District Council, said they ‘had to wait for government policy on the issue’.

There was therefore no point in adopting 8600 as an ‘interim measure’.

It is derived from a number based on the old system of developers’ demands as seen for the region, instead of on local needs. Although the Bill abolishing the regional plans will not be passed until next year, the government has already used existing powers under a 2009 Act to revoke regional strategies ahead of the new legislation.

As a result, regional plans no longer form part of the development plan.

Local authorities have been advised that they only need to have regard to documents of the existing development plan if they have been adopted.

Our LDF for Chichester District has not been adopted.

The constraints on large-scale development, due to the polluting of the harbour with raw sewage every year, together with the increasing congestion on the A27, mean that all significant development should be haulted in the short term, while the infrastructure is improved and new policy considered.

There is therefore no justification for allowing any significant development under the old regime. Richard Hill for Chichester (South) Committee, Sussex CPRE, The Saplings, Highleigh, Chichester

CHICHESTER is cramming them in, justifying ‘affordable housing’ as a need (which it is for first-time buyers) while affluent second-homers, investors, commuters and retirees snap them up, later selling at unaffordable inflated prices, and squeezing out the needy young.

‘Desirable’ towns ironically become less desirable with more car congestion and diminishing green public spaces for town dwellers to breath and relax in.

Our proudest post-war achievement was the public provision of spacious landscaped council housing (as in Parklands) which Thatcher later destroyed with her short-sighted ‘right to buy’ sell-off.

Her destructive housing policy ushered in ‘social housing’ profiteering, and sacrificing regulated government building standards which also provided ample garden areas fit for kids to play in, and shared allotments for growing vegetables.

Packed high-density housing and garden-grabbing building speculation fuels space degradation, while also creating unhealthy cramped housing conditions for future generations.

Eco-housing is ostensibly a gain, but let’s be savvy enough not to be taken-in by smart marketing (the so-called ‘eco-village’ is just more urban sprawl) disguising the reality of claustrophobic density with a few pictured trees, and the sick joke of public transport ‘incentives’.

The reality is that we’re sleep-walking into unenlightened grab-what-land-you-can self-interest.

Peter Lansley, Cedar Drive, Chichester

WE USED to live in Kings Court in a ground-floor flat overlooking the shelter on the seafront in Bognor.

Every morning and evening homeless men would set up home in the shelter.

They would hang their clothes and bedding all over the shelter and the railings and it was not very nice to look at.

We feel the shelter should be pulled down as it is too big.

We complained to the council and police but no-one wanted to listen and we were told they could not do anything about it.

Eventually we decided to move away.

We think that there should be a much smaller shelter there so that people would not be able to sleep there every night.

Mr & Mrs L Kelland, Felpham

PLEASE MAY I suggest that you introduce a new column with the suggested heading Bognor Soap Box (albeit on the same page as Readers Letters if no column space can be found in any other part of the Observer) so that those who use the Readers Letters page for political rhetoric can have their own column allowing those of us who are not interested in political point-scoring to enjoy the letters section of your paper as it was intended?

JJ Frame, Wick Lane, Felpham

WITH BOGNOR’S summer seafront illuminations turned off last weekend, I would like to thank everyone who has supported the lights this season.

While the lights receive significant help from local councils, the success of the lights very much reflects the widespread support of the whole community, from those attending our fund-raising events to others adopting light bulbs or donating raffle prizes and bric-a-brac.

This is in addition to the many businesses that support our annual traders’ appeal (which this year has topped £2,000 – our best yet), provide ongoing sponsorship or give in-kind support.

While we are already thinking about the 2011 display, it is very unlikely to include any new displays.

This is because many of the columns along the seafront are due to be replaced in the near future under WSCC’s PFI scheme, and until we know which ones are likely to go, it would be a waste to expend resources on new displays that will have to come down again soon after.

However, the window will enable to catch up on some other works that have been on the ‘to do’ list – for example replacing the tube lighting on the bandstand roof.

Although the lights are now off, fundraising continues and we are looking forward to the Slide into the Past evening on November 18 with tickets now on sale at the Paperback Exchange at 67 High Street.

The lights are one thing that Bognor does better than other south-coast resorts; thanks again to all those who help with this proud achievement.

Jason Passingham, Chairman, Bognor Regis Seafront Lights

THE Poppy Appeal started with a bang on Saturday, October 9, with Jack’s Sponsored Walk, named after Jack Holloway, 90 years young, who after 11 consecutive years has raised more than £30,000 – no mean achievement.

This was followed by a coffee morning with tombola at the United Reform Church on Saturday, October 23.

It is that time of year that is fast approaching when we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, and those who are suffering from terrible injuries sustained as a result of war.

The people of Petworth and district have these many years supported the British Legion Remembrance Day parade.

This year as in previous years we will march off at 2.45pm from the British Legion Club (situated at the corner of Grove Street and Rosemary Lane) on Sunday, November 14.

We invite everyone to join us and march to St Mary’s for a service of remembrance, regardless of age or whether you have served in any of the armed forces.

Wear your grandparent’s, parent’s or other close relative’s medals with pride (right-hand side please).

There will of course be a short service at St Mary’s memorial on November 11, gathering at 10.50am and ending at 11.10am.

Please join us to remember them.

J Franks, Secretary, Royal British Legion, Petworth

IT IS is deeply disturbing to read of West Sussex County Council’s sudden intention to close Littlecote Children’s Home in Petworth (WSCC Forward Plan Of Key Decisions Nov 2010 – Feb 2011 – Page 19).

It is also deeply disturbing to read of West Sussex County Council’s sudden intention to implement a highly-questionable ‘corporate’ policy of treating that which does not yield immediate short-term profit as ‘externalities’.  

Richard W Symonds MCIPD , Lavington Close, Ifield, Crawley

THERE IS much that I would agree with in Juliet Page’s letter of last week regarding the future of Capron House and the manner in which the Hannam Educational Foundation Trust (formed 
many many years ago to act as a custodian of some of the buildings that formed the Midhurst Grammar School) is approaching its task of deciding on the future of the assets for which it is responsible.

The school, over the years, has played a big part in the community sharing its facilities with clubs and organisations in the area.

Members of these clubs and organisations are made up of parents, grandparents and the pupils of the school.

How many of us over the years have sat in the school hall and been entertained by the Midhurst Players of which Juliet is a proud member?

The use of the new school premises by the community will, we are assured ,be continued by the Midhurst Rother College.

I raise the point of community use to indicate a wider use of the term educational use and the value to the education of our children that this brings.

Capron House has played a vital role in providing a venue for social activities, a meeting place, adult education, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme and yes, weddings – often of the very pupils that came to our school.

The loss of this facility to the town will be immense.

The Midhurst Town Council from the outset has requested a meeting to discuss the future use of these buildings with the Gilbert Hannam Trustees to share views and impress upon them the value of these premises to the town and the community in the area.

Whereas the town council recognises the unique position of trustees with regard to its responsibilities, nevertheless in this day and age one might expect some form of dialogue from a group of people who are relatively new to their positions.

Many are not local to the town and have reached their position by selection from the governing body of the Midhurst Rother College.

And yet they will be responsible for taking decisions which will have a big impact on the town.

Juliet is quite right – the Midhurst Town Council has had no say in this at all and legally the trust can do what it likes within its terms of its reference. But that does not make it right and it certainly is not right or politic.

I would have thought that a responsible action would have been at least to take other opinions before taking action on something which will effect the whole community and at the very least avoid the concern and anger that might arise from precipitate action.

I applaud their decision regarding the National Park purchase of parts of the building, but what about Capron House?

As Juliet Page quite rightly says, before the easy route is taken could we not explore other more imaginative ways of keeping Capron House within the community?

I fully appreciate that the lease is owned by the Cowdray Estate and that to do this they might have to be willing to change some conditions of that lease.

I cannot believe that Cowdray would wish to deprive the community of such an important facility and would not be prepared to exercise some imagination in this respect.

It is the terms of this lease to which refers specifically to educational use.

Cannot those terms be interpreted more widely or changed?

Where there is a will there is a way.

I know that the building needs money spending on it, but couldn’t we try to find it before taking actions from which we cannot retreat?

It is not the easy route, as Juliet says, and will need a lot of work, but don’t you think we should try?

I am sure that there are those who would be willing to give their time and expertise to work for such a good cause.

Believe me, there are a lot of people who share these views expressed.

I know that this letter will not please everybody and the preferred way is always to meet and discuss things and work together.

But this way has been rejected as a way forward by the trustees and so what do we have to lose.

Oh, yes, I know what that is – Capron House.

Just one request. Please talk to your local community.

Have an open creative mind.

I am sure that it is for the best.

Colin Hughes, Guillards Oak, Midhurst

RE YOUR front page article Take down shop sign or go to jail – Observer, October 21.

Where do I start?

The comment from Chichester District Council smacks totally of ‘jobs worth’ and demonstrates that CDC really hasn’t caught on to the issues being faced by traders in our town, and indeed the whole of the CDC area.

While I understand that there are building controls in place – a penalty of £20,000?

That’s vastly more than many criminals get!

Time for change; something you would have thought our elected members would be taking forward nationally, to review these penalties and indeed the need for this type of control.

Sarah Hall hasn’t knocked down any walls or changed windows, she has purely had the bottle to open a business at a difficult trading time and put a sign up.

We are not a museum, we are a trading town. CDC state that the business development officer would have a conflict of interest, perhaps they need to start some joined up thinking and work as a team to help THEIR customers – that’s us.

Move our communities forward.

It seems that our local authorities have become too institutionalised and still fail to understand business.

If this control was indeed needed, then a more diplomatic route via a business manager would have been appropriate, but no, heavy-handed and uncaring seems to have been the preferred route.

Sarah is quite correct, what is the point of having a town so restricted that we cannot trade?

Memories of pink paint in North Street return.

It is time that this type of legislation is relaxed, we seem to have forgotten that most old buildings are made up of changes over centuries.

Why should we be arrogant enough to stop history at this point?

Life goes on.

Maybe this is the area of local authority that we can save some 
of the vast debt that we have in this country?

Dave West, Pretoria Avenue, Midhurst