Vandalism at Court Meadow 

Sometime at the beginning of January some fires were set underneath the benches of the green shelter near the entrances of Pre-School and the Primary School. After this, on a different occasion a fire was lit in the litter bin beside the same green shelter. This has obviously caused damage and has been reported to Sussex Police who have informed they will add it to their areas to patrol. The cost of repair will be ascertained. It is a very worrying occurrence as there is a link between setting small fires as an adolescent then going on to commit arson on a grander scale. If you have any information at all on the perpetrators it would be very useful so they can be educated on the impact it causes.

Community Safety and Traffic Committee

This committee met in January and welcomed one of the members of the A267 Road Safety Group (RSG) to discuss the concerns on traffic speed and dangerous road junctions on the A267. They would like to increase membership numbers and promote awareness of their campaign to make the road safer. (See their Facebook page and article on ITV’s Meridian on 13 January 2025). There are three dangerous junctions between Mayfield and Heathfield that need safety improvements: 

• A272/ A267
• Mayfield Flat
• Cross-in Hand opposite the petrol station

The Parish Council has discussed the possibility of a roundabout or traffic lights at the junction of the A272/A267 with East Sussex County Council on numerous occasions but have been informed that it is too costly. The requirement to purchase land to widen the roads to allow for additional lanes for turning traffic was also a factor that they informed would be necessary.

One of the aims of the RSG is to reduce the speed limit from the Mayfield roundabout to Horam to 40mph (excluding Five Ashes, already 30mph) to make it less confusing to drivers. Currently there are speed limits of 30, 40, 50 and 60mph within this Parish.

Our thanks go to the RSG for organising the cleaning of the road signs along the A267 and to the Deer Warden for installing deer warning signs at known crossing points.

Community Speedwatch (CSW)

Please contact the Parish Council office if you are interested to train and help our CSW group. With additional volunteers, sessions can be arranged more often to monitor traffic speed in Mayfield and Five Ashes. Below is an update received in January 2025.

• There are currently eight trained members of CSW 
• Four sessions have taken place so far – two in each village.
• 32 vehicles were exceeding the allowed limit out of a total of 894. 
• A letter from the police is received after the first report of speeding. If a vehicle appears on any parish CSW list twice they receive another ‘reminder’ letter. If they appear a third time they are visited by the police and may be cautioned.
• The data is held centrally (by registration number) so it is the incident of speeding not the location of the speeding offence that is relevant. 

Speed indicating devices

The below data from our devices currently installed in Five Ashes covers the period from 10 November 2024 to 08 January 2025. Residents may be surprised to learn that 93.85% of the vehicles were recorded travelling below 35mph, the speed at which would incur a traffic penalty. There has been a slight decrease in those travelling at 35mph and above year-on-year.

Percentages	Nov to Jan 2025	Nov to Jan 2024	Nov to Jan 2023
Over 30mph	28.73	27.88	27.74
Over 35mph	6.15	6.99	6.27
Over 40mph	1.29	1.68	1.34
Over 45mph	0.29	0.38	0.57

Temporary road closure warnings

As informed previously, information on roadworks can be found at Causeway one.network. You can access the map using this link:  https://one.network Then you need to search the area you are interested in. There is detailed information on road closure orders, the specific location of road works, what they are for and timings

New bus fares for 2025

Good news! Bus fares across East Sussex will continue to be lower in the new year thanks to funding from East Sussex’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).

Across the nation, a £3 bus fare cap was introduced on 01 January 2025, that meant the maximum fare for a single bus trip would be limited to £3. However, thanks to BSIP funding from the Department of Transport, East Sussex County Council is introducing lower single adult fares of £1 and £2. The new lower fares will ensure passengers will pay less than £3 on a number of journeys, with some trips being cheaper than they were in 2024.

Under the East Sussex BSIP fare reductions, short hop trips will be capped at £1, with medium length rides costing £2. Longer journeys will be £3 under the new national fare cap. Children’s fares will be even lower, with short journeys starting at 50p.

Sussex Councils’ expression of interest to devolution priority programme

The Cabinets of the three Sussex upper tier Councils, East Sussex County Council, West Sussex County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council, have agreed to submit an expression of interest to be considered for the Government’s Devolution Priority Programme indicating support for a Sussex Mayoral Strategic Authority which could unlock new money and powers for the region. 

If the Government accepts the initial proposal for Sussex to join the devolution priority programme, the Government will run a consultation to obtain residents’ views.

The Government’s White Paper set out in detail the key areas that a strategic authority would be in control of to drive growth and provide support on shaping public services. These include:

• Transport and local infrastructure
• Skills and employment support
• Housing and strategic planning
• Economic development and regeneration
• Environment and climate change
• Health, wellbeing and public service reform
• Public safety

The expected timeline following the submission of the proposal is:

• A devolution consultation would be held before the end of March 2025.
• The results of the devolution consultation will be assessed in the Spring 2025 following which a Ministerial decision will be taken as to whether to proceed with a Mayoral Strategic Authority (prior to unitary re-organisation).  The Spending Review will then confirm future mayoral investment funds for new mayoral areas.
• relevant legislation will be laid before Parliament in relation to the creation of Strategic Authorities.
• In March 2026 notice of mayoral elections will be given for a Mayoral election in May 2026. A decision whether to move to a Mayoral Strategic Authority under the reorganised arrangements would follow.

There will follow a separate process of Local Government re-organisation

• A formal invitation to submit reorganisation proposals will be issued to all authorities in January 2025.
• At the end of 2025 and in early 2026 Ministers will consider unitary proposals and delivery phasing with statutory consultations being undertaken on the first tranche of proposals.

Timelines for the remainder of the reorganisation process will be subject to the proposals received.

More information can be found at: https://www.local.gov.uk/topics/devolution/devolution-hub/devolution-explained