Antisocial behaviour at Court Meadow

Since the April 2026 newsletter article was written there has been more antisocial activity at Court Meadow, A wheelie bin was set alight in the skate park damaging the surface for those wanting to enjoy the facility – such a shame for our youths. There was also a report of someone’s car tyres being let down. This mindless vandalism has been reported to Sussex Police. If you see any antisocial behaviour at Court Meadow, the Council would be grateful if you could report it as soon as possible on either 999 if arson is being witnessed or on 101 for less urgent antisocial behaviour.

Annual Parish Assembly

This year’s Annual Parish Assembly will take place on 18 May 2026 in Five Ashes Village Hall at 19:30. This is not a council meeting but a meeting of the parish residents that must, by law, take place between 01 March and 01 June each year. All Parishioners are welcome to attend to debate current issues within the community. The agenda is issued ten days before the meeting and will be displayed on the noticeboards and on the community website meeting schedule as usual. 

A267 Road Closure

The Parish Council is pleased that SGN managed to finish the urgent gas pipe replacement work on the A267 and at the junction of Bicycle Arms Road ahead of schedule. So residents are aware, the drainage work that was started before the road closure will need to be completed at some time. It is not yet known when this will be.

Speed Indicating Devices Update 

At the Community Safety and Traffic Committee meeting the following speed data in Five Ashes was shared. The statistics cover a three month period from 30 December 2025 to 25 Mar 2026. The data demonstrated overall lower volumes of traffic compared to the previous period. It is assumed that this was due to the A267 road closure at Argos Hill. However, the percentage exceeding the 30mph speed limit increased a little. Compared with previous years too there are larger numbers of vehicles in the excess speed categories. 

The figures in bold indicate those that would receive a ticket if logged on a speed camera.

	Current Period	Previous Period	Previous Year	Prior Year
	Jan-Mar2026	Oct-Dec2025	Jan-Mar2025	Jan-Mar2024
Average no. of vehicles/ day	7628	9178	9170	10883
Percentages
Under 35mph	92.88	94.01	93.16	93.20
Over 30mph	29.50	27.95	30.19	30.30
Over 35mph	7.12	5.99	6.84	6.80
Over 40mph	1.55	1.30	1.48	1.47
Over 45mph	0.35	0.30	0.35	0.34

Community Speed Watch

The following report has been provided from our Community Speed Watch coordinator:

In the first three months of 2026 we have undertaken nine sessions, and one had to be cancelled due to lack of resource. We have undertaken regular sessions on Mayfield High Street as we felt it important to be visible during this period of unusual traffic due to the A267 Argos Hill closure. Four sessions were in Five Ashes and five in Mayfield. Further sessions in both Five Ashes and Mayfield are scheduled for next month.

67 vehicles were exceeding the allowed speed limit out of a total of over 2348 (ie: 2.85%). They will have received a letter from the police to that effect. If any vehicle appears on any Community Speed Watch list twice they receive another ‘reminder’ letter and if they appear a third time they are visited by the police and may be cautioned. 

If you would like to join our Community Speed Watch group, please contact the Parish Council office – details at the end of the article. With more members, the group would be able to carry out more sessions at different times of the day.

Local Government Reorganisation Update

The recent decision that the government has taken in relation to Sussex is that it would like to undertake a further period of consultation on modified proposals.   

It appears the government would like to create four councils across the Sussex area. In East Sussex it is likely to mean the One East Sussex proposal and expanding Brighton by moving parts of Lewes to fall under Brighton. In West Sussex, the government is supportive of creating two new unitary councils – one rural and one coastal.  

The Government has informed it will run a short consultation following the local County Council elections and Sussex will now run to the same timetable as what they refer to as ‘tranche 3’ councils with a final decision being made this summer and the new councils starting in April 2028. 

Grass Cutting – who is responsible for what?

Grass cutting is one of the most visible local services and often generates questions and complaints.

Confusion usually arises because different organisations are responsible for different areas of grass, so cutting may take place at different times within the same area.

The Parish Council is responsible for grass cutting on land it owns or manages, such as play areas and recreation grounds.

Verges maintained by ESCC fall into four categories:

• Urban Verges – within areas where the speed limit is 40mph or below

• Rural Verges – areas where the speed limit is above 40mph. Some rural verges do appear in urban speed limit zones, but these are limited to where urban cutting equipment cannot be safely used.

• Wildlife Verges – contain notable species or an abundance of species thereby dictating a specific

habitat. Cuttings are removed.

• Meadow Verges – these tend to link or be placed near to areas of higher biodiversity value such as

Wildlife Verges, or where the species present or habitat dictates that this status is most suitable. Cuttings are not removed.

Urban verges

Some open spaces are owned and maintained by the District Council, and some are privately

owned and are not maintained by any council, such as grass around some housing association properties or along private roads.

Typically, highway verges are the responsibility of the County Council. However, Parish and Town Councils are asked each year to choose how grass in their area will be managed. This year, as a trial, the Parish Council has chosen the standard service of two cuts per year to improve biodiversity etc. This will be monitored and a decision can be taken next year if it is felt that additional cuts are preferred. Road safety cuts by ESCC will still happen – they will always cut grass where it presents a safety risk (e.g. at junctions), regardless of the chosen option or verge status.

Flexibus

As you are most likely aware, this is a bookable, on-demand ride-share service that helps connect our most rural communities to local services and the wider public transport network. In areas of East Sussex with limited or no public transport, Flexibus can get you to shops, appointments and local services, or help you connect with buses and trains for onward travel.

Service changes

From 1 April 2026:

• Flexibus will no longer operate on Saturdays, allowing us to focus resources on the busiest days and essential weekday journeys
• The service will continue to operate Monday to Friday, 7am to 7pm.
• The maximum trip length will be 9 miles (previously 14 miles)

Parish Council meetings

The website meeting schedule at https://mayfieldfiveashes-pc.gov.uk provides information on Council and Committee meetings as well as agendas, minutes of meetings and other meeting documentation