As I write my column this week the horrific images coming out of Israel cannot fail to shock all decent people. I joined a large cross-party group of Parliamentarians in signing a letter to the President of Israel to express our horror and solidarity as we pray for a resolution to bring an end to the senseless carnage as soon as possible. There will be much more to say in Parliament when the Commons returns next week.
Talking of conference, I was away in Manchester last week when the latest traffic chaos in Shoreham lit up my email box as UK Power Distribution (different to UK Power Networks) dug up the road at the eastern end of the Norfolk Bridge. Shoreham County Councillor Kevin Boram was on it straight away and queried with the County Council Highways Department whether UKPD had the necessary permissions and what warning they had given, as I was certainly not aware of the plans and have obviously been very hot on disruptive traffic works since the launch of my campaign.
It turns out that the company were not operating strictly to the terms of their licence and have been fined and there are daily monitoring visits from County Hall. The offending traffic lights have now been removed but the work is due to be finished by October 24th and I have posted more details on my website. Meanwhile I am also on the case of UKPN who appear to want to match the disruption on the A27 at Warren Road in Worthing.
There was more welcome congestion in Southwick last Saturday when the sunshine brought out the crowds to welcome the opening of the newly refurbished Square. Adur and West Sussex councils have done a great job there and Adur Leader Neil Parkin unveiled the new foundation stone and laid inside a new time capsule alongside the original placed by Cllr Lt Col Sir Herbert Shiner DSO in 1961 – they don’t make Council Chairmen like that anymore!
See you at the Shoreham Farmer’s Market street surgery on Saturday.
