Parish Council News February 2026
Weekly Household Food Waste Collections
In line with Central Government legislation and the Environment Act, Local Authorities across England, including the Joint Waste Partnership, will be introducing a phased weekly household food waste collection service from March 2026.
Over the next couple of months all households across the East Sussex Waste Partnership area (Wealden, Hastings, and Rother) will receive a 5-litre internal food waste caddy, a roll of compostable liners, a service guide and a 23-litre external food waste container. Communal properties, i.e. flats etc will receive the above, with the exception of the 23-litre outdoor container, they will have a 140-litre communal lockable food waste bin.
Royal Mail has been delivering a coming soon leaflet/ flyer notifying residents of the new weekly household food waste collection service. During March, Wealden will write to each household to inform of you of your start date and dates of your weekly food waste collections. There will be no changes to any of the other waste collection services currently provided across the Partnership Area.
The waste food collection will enable you to recycle all your raw and cooked food waste, including: All uneaten food and plate scrapings, dairy products (except liquids), cheese, eggs, bread, cakes, pastries, meat, bones, tea bags, coffee grounds, fruit, vegetables, peelings, fish, bones, rice, pasta, beans. You can also put your mouldy and out of date food (without packaging) in your kitchen caddy.
Traffic speed update
At the January 2026 Community Safety and Traffic Committee meeting, the following report on our speed indicating signs (currently on the A267 in Five Ashes) and the Community Speed Watch Team was kindly provided by Mr Rait who is one of our lay members:
Speed Indicating Devices Update
The period from 06 July 2025 to 29 December 2025 shows lower rates of traffic exceeding the speed limit and also lower speeds than in the same period in previous years. There has been an increase in the volume of traffic.
| Period | Oct-Dec 2025 | Jul-Sep 2025 | Oct-Dec 2024 | Oct-Dec 2023 |
| % Under 35 | 94.01 | 92.20 | 93.85 | 93.01 |
| % Over 30 | 27.95 | 32.38 | 28.73 | 27.88 |
| % Over 35 | 5.99 | 7.80 | 6.15 | 6.99 |
| % Over 40 | 1.30 | 1.72 | 1.29 | 1.68 |
| % Over 45 | 0.30 | 0.39 | 0.29 | 0.38 |
Community Speedwatch Group (CSW)
There are eight trained members of the Five Ashes and Mayfield Speedwatch Group. We would welcome additional members as that would give greater flexibility and allow us to undertake sessions more often. A new group has just been formed at Cross-in-Hand and I have contacted them with a view to sharing resources.
In calendar year 2025 we undertook 13 sessions and two others had to be cancelled due to weather or lack of resource. Nine sessions were held in Five Ashes and four in Mayfield.
142 vehicles were exceeding the speed limit out of a total of over 5000. Of those, 70% were cars, 27.5% vans and 2.75% large trucks. They will have received a letter from the police to that effect. If anyone appears on any CSW group list twice they receive another ‘reminder’ letter and if they appear a third time they are visited by the police and may be cautioned. The data is held centrally by registration number. There are two vehicles that have been reported more than once by our group. (35mph and 37mph and 38mph and 46mph, all in 30mph zones).
In Sussex 46,351 CSW vehicle reports were submitted in the last year from over 75 CSW groups. Some groups are much more active than us and this reflects the fact that they have a greater speeding problem, have been in existence longer and have a larger pool of resource.
We participate in a Community SpeedWatch Focus Group established for East Sussex which meets quarterly. There is also a more regular on-line meeting which is a forum for day-to-day issues relating to Speedwatch groups. One of the main topics was the abuse of Speedwatch volunteers and the advantage of wearing body cameras. Across Sussex in November, 89 reports of abuse of Speedwatch members were logged. The video information from the body cameras is vital to follow these up. Very few adverse reactions have been encountered by our group but it is recommended one member wears a body camera during any Speedwatch session.
Commenting on Planning Applications
The Council’s Planning Committee usually has a different consultation period for each planning application it is sent from Wealden than that for residents. Any comments you wish the Committee to be aware of need to be received at the office before the meeting in which it is due to be considered. This information can be found on the Council’s website in the Planning Applications section or meeting schedule page. Your comments must also be submitted to Wealden District Council if you wish them to be considered by the Case Officer as the Parish Council cannot do this on your behalf.
You can follow a planning application by clicking on ‘Track this App’ at the top righthand side of Wealden’s website page for each planning application. This enables you to be kept informed of any uploaded documentation and to be informed if the application is called in for consideration by their Planning Committee.
Safety at home
The Risk Reduction (Prevention) Team at East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service offers free Home Safety Visits to:
- Identify fire & rescue related risks and take steps to prevent them, for example fitting free smoke alarms and other equipment
- Offer a range of guidance to keep people safe and independent in their own home. This includes identifying health and wellbeing needs to give advice or refer individuals (with their consent) to one of our partners to help them gain the support they need.
On receipt of a Home Safety Visit, they will contact you to find a good time and date to visit or call you. They will ask you some easy questions about your house and who lives there to prioritise the visits. You can contact them on behalf of someone else but make sure you ask their permission first and let them know that they will ask them a few questions. To request a visit: https://www.esfrs.org/hsvs . If you are unable to complete the online form, please call 0800 1777069.
East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service’s Child Home Safety Advice and Equipment Service gives safety tips and helps prevent fires for families in East Sussex. They can come to your home and give advice to keep your family safe. They also give free safety equipment to families with children under 5 who get certain benefits because of their income. This equipment can include stair gates, safety barriers, bathmats, cupboard locks, and fireguards. If you want to use this service, please talk to your Health Visitor, Early Help Keyworker, Community Nursery Nurse, or Social Worker for more information. https://www.esfrs.org/equipment
Wealden’s Local Plan consultation
The local plan details what development can go where in the district over at least a 15-year plan period to 2042. The consultation will be running from mid-February for six weeks with ten in person exhibitions – the dates will be published on the Community website and Facebook when released.
Asylum accommodation in Crowborough
Wealden District Council continues to oppose the Home Office’s decision to house asylum seekers at the Crowborough Army Camp. For information on press releases and public letters that have been issued please use the following link: https://www.wealden.gov.uk/crowborough-army-camp/
WDC Grants
There are a number of community grant funding opportunities still open
Funding still open in February 2026:
- Community Led Infrastructure Fund: £5k – £200k
- Community Lottery: Around £1k-£2Kkraised per year
- Councillor Ward Budgets: Up to 5k (Closes March 2026)
- Sports Infrastructure Fund: £5k – £50k
To see what might be available to help your organisation visit: