Village victory in battle over Southwater Christmas memorial

For the past two Christmases a group of residents have decorated a tree on a roundabout in Worthing Road with baubles and lights.

They dubbed it ‘The Phoenix Tree’ in a tribute to baby Phoenix Benson who died aged just six weeks and also dedicated it to late Southwater resident Lynne Ede.

But this year the group were told by West Sussex County Council that no decorations could be be put on the tree because of health and safety concerns.

It was said that the decorations could be distracting to drivers passing the busy roundabout.

But after a sustained campaign by villagers, the council has done a U-turn - and jubilant villagers have once more decorated the tree with lights and baubles - many in memory of lost family members.

Organiser Polly Barnes said: “The reaction of the residents of Southwater, since the lights went on, has been overwhelming and most importantly, we have had many more people come forward requesting that their memorial baubles dedicated to lost loved ones be hung on the tree.

“Each bauble tells a story, emotional and very moving, l am so pleased that we still have The Phoenix Remembrance Tree to honour these people.”

Polly said the council had backed down because “of the sheer volume of support that we had from everyone.”

She paid tribute to Kate Tiley who organised a petition, to local councillers Claire Vickers and Billy Greening and to Southwater Parish Council.

And she gave special thanks to Ian Featherstone and his company Security and Events Solutions who fitted the tree lights.

She said people had been very upbeat while decorating the tree and “many cars beeped their support as they passed.”

Hot drinks were provided to the decorators by The Little Teahouse in Southwater’s Lintot Square.

Other sponsors included At Home Estate and Lettings Agency and Sussex Events.

A spokesperson for West Sussex County Council said: “We were always happy to try to help the residents and we are pleased to have found a way forward so a licence can be issued by us as the highway authority: this required the appropriate risk assessments, public liability insurance and the commitment that the decorations will be temporary.

“This type of issue has to be looked at on an individual basis: it is entirely up to residents if they wish to associate the decoration with lost loved ones but, in this case, we would not class this as a memorial.

“We do not allow roadside memorials for long periods on the highway and have an established policy on this.”