Projects and Campaigns

Projects and Campaigns: Harvey Tordoff reports.

Most clubs and societies have names that describe what they do. The Midhurst Society is slightly more enigmatic. You probably know that we put on regular talks with guest speakers, and that we comment on planning applications, but behind the scenes we get involved in much more.

The common theme is: how can we make Midhurst a better place to live, work and visit?

In addition to this magazine (which first appeared in a different format in 1988) we have published many books and history leaflets. A new print run is now being distributed in popular places around town. We placed a number of seats in and around town. We became involved in cultural anniversary of the visit by Queen Elizabeth. Over the years we successfully fought for road signs to keep large vehicles out of the old town, although some satnavs aren't convinced! We fought unsuccessfully for better signage for Midhurst on the A3 after the Hindhead tunnel opened. Here is a summary of some of our more recent activities. West Sussex County Council (WSCC) decided that in the interests of economy some of the small schools in the area should be closed or merged with others. There was insufficient dialogue between WSCC and the schools concerned, and when the news broke there was little time to present a case for keeping the schools open.

Stedham Primary School

We wrote to WSCC and using social media we helped raise awareness of the possibility of closure facing Stedham Primary School. There was overwhelming local support and a petition was launched. The decision was made to 'federate' with Harting C of E Primary

activities such as the celebration of the 400th

School and Stedham has been reprieved!

Dunford House, Heyshott

Dunford House in Heyshott has faced an uncertain future since the owners, YMCA, stopped using it several years ago. It was the birthplace and home in later life of the nineteenth century social reformer Richard Cobden, and still contains many objects pertaining to his life and work. It had remained in the hands of Cobden's descendants

until they gifted it for posterity to the YMCA some 60 years ago. When the estate was put up for sale villagers and descendants of Cobden joined together in an effort to take back ownership but the YMCA favoured a commercial sale and made little effort to accommodate them. We raised awareness through social media and wrote to various national bodies who might have been potential partners. We also wrote to the Charities Commission suggesting that although the YMCA were acting within the letter of the law they were not acting within the spirit of a charitable organisation. The Commission ruled in their favour, and the YMCA announced they had agreed a sale to an organisation seeking to turn it into a wedding venue and wellness centre. The initial response by SDNPA was not entirely supportive, and Nick Cobden Wright, 3x greatgrandson of Richard Cobden, is still hopeful of a positive outcome. If his campaign fails, that still leaves the problem of the Cobden artefacts.

Mary Magdalene Church, West Lavington

Quite independently of this, we heard that the Church Commissioners had asked SDNPA for advice on the future of Mary Magdalene Church in West Lavington. This is just over a mile from Dunford House, and was closed for worship a number of years ago on safety grounds. Richard Cobden is buried in the graveyard. We wrote to SDNPA suggesting the possibility of converting the church into a museum to house the Cobden artefacts.

One successful campaign (for which we can't take credit but which we supported) was the purchase by the community of the Blue Bell pub in Cocking, which opened in December 2019, after major renovations. A cafe opened in January 2020 and expectations are that the village shop and post office will relocate there soon.

Ambulance Station, Bepton Road (now demolished)

In 2016 the Ambulance Station was closed and the site in Bepton Road sold for development. We were led to believe that an ambulance would be based at the Fire Station in New Road, but time went by and there was no sign of an ambulance. We were concerned that response times for GU29 (double the targeted time) were putting lives at risk and in March 2019 we raised the matter with South East Coast Ambulance Services (SECAMB). It transpired that a draft agreement had been agreed between SECAMB and the Fire Service but had not been signed. We pushed – and the agreement was duly signed.

In October 2019 an ambulance bay was marked out at the Fire Station. SECAMB advised us that it might be a response vehicle rather than an ambulance, but we didn't see much evidence of either. In January 2020 we used the Freedom of Information Act to request details. We were told that a response vehicle had used the bay on 9 occasions. More tellingly, perhaps, response times had not improved. The average response target for Category One (emergency) calls was 7 minutes, and a response time of 15 minutes to be achieved 90% of the time. In fact, in only two months of 2019 (January and May) did the average response time fall below 10 minutes; in the other months most averages were between 12 minutes and 20 minutes. Unless a vehicle (with team) is based in Midhurst, this is almost unavoidable, and so we looked for

another way to help save lives.

First Responder in action (library picture)

We had already, in 2019, placed a publicaccess defibrillator in North Street, and a second in the Cowdray Sports Pavilion, so we considered the setting up of a First Responder Group for Midhurst. Under this scheme 999 calls that result in the despatch of an ambulance also trigger a request for a local volunteer. The volunteer, trained to deal with common emergencies, is likely to arrive before the ambulance. We solicited views on Facebook and received expressions of interest from a number of individuals, following which we approached SECAMB. They were very supportive, but not surprisingly there were certain procedures to be followed. However, the chain of events was set in motion and in December the NHS advertised for volunteers in various parts of West Sussex – including Midhurst. We notified the people who had responded to Facebook; we posted again on Facebook, and put posters up around town. The result was that 6 people from the Midhurst Area volunteered and will be interviewed and (if successful) trained in due course.

Rotherfield Mews (empty for many years)

Staying with the health theme the Bailey Unit at the Community Hospital closed in 2018 because of staffing difficulties. The whole site is now being considered as the health care centre/hub for the North Chichester Area. We maintain a watching brief. We have expressed the view that Rotherfield Mews, adjacent to the Community Hospital, and which has been empty for many years should be incorporated into the new Hub. It could be suitable for use as consulting rooms or staff accommodation but we have yet to see plans that take this into account. We have urged the appropriate section of the NHS to find a use for it or make it available for other purposes - e.g. affordable housing through the Midhurst Community Land Trust.

Every citizen and every organisation can play a part in reducing the impact of climate change, and we considered what actions we can take. Although The Midhurst Society isn't a consumer, we can influence others, and when appropriate we shared global and national messages on social media. We also joined in a national scheme designed to reduce the single use of plastic bottles: we established

Refill Midhurst. We encourage cafe, restaurant and pub owners to refill water bottles free of charge and provide window stickers advertising the scheme.

We also responded to the problem of poor air quality in certain parts of town, not just by posting on social media, but by writing to WSCC and CDC asking about the vehicles under their control. WSCC have 405 diesels, 70 petrols, 3 petrol hybrids and 6 electrics. CDC use two electric cars for car park duties, but the other 65 vehicles are all diesel. We suggested that in future air quality might play a bigger part in their procurement policies.

Every time we passed over North Mill Bridge we looked at the water flowing freely over the weir. In the past it had powered the machinery at the mill. Would it generate electricity with a micro hydro scheme? We spoke to our old friends at Energy4All, who looked at figures

North Mill Bridge

and confirmed that with landowner consent and planning permission it was possible. But might not make commercial sense unless the power was sold to a nearby user. We spoke to Midhurst Rother College, who expressed an interest. But the more we looked at the issues the more difficulties arose. We turned our thoughts to solar power, making use of the (almost) flat roof at the College gymnasium. We invited Energy4All to come down for initial discussions and the idea proved attractive to both sides. Schools Energy, a member of the Energy4All family of co-ops, would supply solar panels at no cost. The panels would generate electricity which the College would buy at a discount to market rates. After 25 years the panels would become the property of the College and all future electricity would be free. The initial cost would be covered by a Schools Energy share offer, giving Midhurst residents an opportunity to support the scheme – and earn a modest return. The Chairman of Energy4All was invited to present details of the project at our February 2020 public talk.

One of our social media posts highlighted some of the problems facing people with mobility issues in Midhurst. Many shops and business premises have steps to navigate at their entrance. We raised the matter with MTC, SDNPA and a major landowner. Discussions are on-going.

We were aware of the desire of MTC to provide a 'wow' factor at the northern entrance Jackson with the audacious request that he

following the withdrawal of the feed-in tariff it to town. We approached local sculptor Philip

Philip Jackson with one of his sculptures at his home in Cocking

loaned one of his fibreglass models to be displayed on the Stag Garden Roundabout; perhaps rotating them so that visitors would come just to see the latest display. He summoned us to his studio to explain why that wouldn't work (too fragile), and then stunned us by offering to donate a full-size bronze sculpture to the town! He said that he and his wife Jean had lived here for many years and wanted to do something for Midhurst. We liaised with him, MTC and the Midhurst Town Trust and eventually decided that Market

Square would be a better location. We are now waiting for Philip's design so that we can file a planning application. Meanwhile, MTC are working on a different proposal for a sculpture for the Northern Gateway.

For some time we have been working with SDNPA on a proposal to upgrade the muddy footpath heading west from North Mill Bridge, providing a hard but permeable surface that would be more friendly to prams, buggies and wheelchairs. It would be an 'Easy Access' path leading to a picnic area with seats and tables (again, with wheelchair access in mind). If this comes off SDNPA would seek grants and we would provide the balance of up to 50% by drawing on funds from our Mrs Carne legacy. We hope to have more information in our next magazine.

One of the solar projects carried out by Schools Energy Co-op

On Planning

The activity of Planning may well seem at times to be like this idea of team tennis, drawn by William Heath-Robinson in his book Inventions, Duckworth, 1st ed 1937: a book well worth a visit for a load of laughs.

Apparently, as that book’s Foreword tells us, H G Wells, an admirer, wrote to him on 31 December, 1914:

‘I have been ill and frightfully bored and the one thing I have wanted is a big album of your absurd beautiful drawings to turn over. You give me a peculiar pleasure of the mind like nothing else in the world’.

His first collection, that went to press in 1915, was of anti-German WW1 cartoons.

‘His work has a quality of innocence in his art, mockery without malice,’