The Vicar of Findon Valley Free Church must have been pretty envious last Saturday as it was virtually standing room early in the church for the AGM of the Findon Valley Residents Association. It was a tribute to the hard work of FVRA Chairman Lance Allen who was standing down after serving out a very packed 4-year term as chairman. It may have also had a little bit to do with the excellent cakes on offer.
FVRA is a textbook example of an active community engaged resident’s association. It is a strong voice for the residents of the Valley, though the references about people ‘coming up from Worthing’ hinted at a future bid for independence from the municipality! The regular farmers/artisan’s market has become a firm favourite and the Coronation celebrations last year were some of the best attended in the Borough. The Association has galvanised the volunteering effort in the Valley and the planting of a community orchard is one example of how much they value the link with the Downs that surround them.
Another was the campaign to persuade the Council 14 years ago not to sell-off 150 acres of farmland around Cissbury Ring but instead make it into a community resource. We were reminded of this triumphant campaign led by Worthing Downlanders with a short film produced by Steve and Janet Nethercott-Cable and their team, which is up for several awards at prestigious film festivals. The film Spirit of the Downs - Perseverance brings Success’ is available on You Tube and well worth a watch.
This week I have organised 2 meetings with Southern Water about constituency flooding issues. On Monday no fewer than 7 representatives from Southern Water came to Lancing Parish Hall to hear resident’s complaints about the pump and pipe which has brought chaos to Grinstead Lane since last November. They held their hands up for the poor management of the work and some good news about solutions which I have written up on my website. On Thursday it’s on to Southwick re the substantial problems round the Green and I will be reporting back on that to all residents soon.
