I am sure everyone in East Worthing & Shoreham shares my concern at the news that the King has been diagnosed with cancer and wishes him a speedy recovery. What has been remarkable is the transparency with which King Charles has disclosed his illnesses, first with his prostate procedure and now cancer. Rarely has that been the case before and we were never told officially the nature of the late Queen’s debilitating condition, or indeed cause of her passing.
He is to be commended, and the apparent impact on many more people coming forward to have their conditions investigated rather than dismiss them, has been remarkable. I remember back in September 2022, soon after the popular TV presenter Bill Turnbull had sadly died from prostate cancer, I turned up at the drop-in PSA checks run by the local Rotary Club in Worthing with the charity PCaSO. More than double the expected number of local men turned out to be tested such is the power of celebrity, taking the advice that early diagnosis is key and ignoring a suspected problem can only make matters worse.
At last week’s street surgery potholes were the most popular, or rather unpopular issue, with a number of complaints especially about the state of Kingston Lane close to Shoreham Academy. I visited the road straight after and have sent some pictures to the County Council to see if we can get some urgent action on this busy stretch of road. Despite an additional £200m for potholes in the Autumn Financial Statement with West Sussex having dealt with over 16,500 in the first 6 months of the financial year the wet and then icy weather has made matters worse.
Crucially though, over 95% of potholes are now being properly treated with the ‘cut and saw’ method for more sustainable repairs, added to which over half of revenues from the lane charging model piloted in West Sussex have to go on road maintenance, courtesy of utility companies digging up our roads.
See you at my Shoreham Farmer’s Market Street Surgery on Saturday as usual.
