Fairlight

Pews News: This Sunday, January 13, The day starts with Holy Communion at St Peter's at 9 am, and then there is Morning Praise at St Andrew's at 10.13 am This service will include '˜Origins of Mankind: 1', based on Genesis chapter 1, verses 1-19. The creÌ€che and Junior Church, together with a Pyjama breakfast, will all be at this service. At Pett Methodist Chapel, the Chairman of the District, the Rev John Hellyer, will lead the annual Covenant Service at which the Methodists will be joined by friends from Pett Parish Church. The service starts at 10.45 am.

MOPPs today and next Friday: Today, Friday, January 11, the entertainment comes in the form of a talk, ‘A Journey through Israel’ by Felicity Bullock. The lunch that follows will be pork casserole and then apple tart. Next week, on Friday, January 18, the visiting guest artist is Pete Prescott, the singer and guitarist well known for not only his performances but also for having founded the annual charity fund-raising Beatles Day at the White Rock Theatre. Lunch will be fish and chips followed by trifle.

Coordinator Carolyn Smyth’s informative and chatty newsletter for January points out that the group has vacancies at present as some members circumstances have changed, or they have move d away. If you would like to participate in what is regarded as a warm and friendly weekly activity with excellent food, entertainment and companionship, please give Carolyn a call on 07786 835181, and she can give you further details.

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The Pantomime Group: In a mere fortnight, the run of Rumplestiltskin will have begun! A timely reminder, then, to nip down to the Post Office and buy your tickets to get some laughs and lighten up the cold, grey days of the new year. They’ll cost you £6 for adults and £3 for children at each of the first three performances, and then, for the final Saturday show, all tickets are priced at £7.

Tuesday Ladies Club: The club’s monthly sessions begin in 2019 on Tuesday next, January 15, Pamela Clean talking of the ‘Six Five Rock n’Roll Express’ at the meeting. Your subs fall due at this meeting, and after being for the past 8 years the rate has had to be increased to £20 to meet rising costs. It obviously remains excellent value, and visitors, including the menfolk, are always welcome for £2 admission.

Speakers Corner: Up and running again for 2019 with Edward Preston telling of the St Leonards of James and Decimus Burton, all starting on Wednesday next, January 16 in the village hall. Annual subs are only a tenner.

A note for your nearly-new diary: A repeat of the item seen last week reminds you that the auditions for the Players next production, Humble Boy, an acclaimed newish work by Charlotte Jones, which will run in May, will be held in the village hall on Thursday, January 17 at 7.30 pm. The play is to be directed by Aisling Tigwell. The cast consists of three men and three women. Why not go for it…?

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The Gardening Club: No, you’re right, there is no club meeting in January, but it is worth noting that we’re well over half way through the Club hut closure period, which has only some six weeks to go until you can once again purchase all your immediate gardening needs, though not including thick wool socks and thigh-high waders.

A word about Faircomm: This is a working group set up by the Parish Council to explore the feasibility of providing a meeting place with storage on Wood Field Rec. for the use of village groups. The existing building on the rec., used by the former Activate Club, is no longer fit for purpose and will need substantial investment. The plan will examine the chance of taking this opportunity to develop the facility for the use by the village. It would not be intended to replace the village hall, but to extend the facilities available. The views of village groups are sought so that a plan can be produced showing what is deemed necessary and how it could be best achieved.

At present, comments are invited about whether there is general support for the project or if there are any objections, and the Parish Clerk, Mrs Pauline Collins, ‘Kerri’, 35 Waites Lane, would be pleased to receive your reactions by letter, or by email to [email protected]. All replies are requested by Monday next, January 14.

Road up: Not only does the state of Battery Hill and the Fairlight Road remain an ongoing worrying feature of our infrastructure, but now the new gas main in Ore makes longish term disruption inevitable. Add to this, Martineau Lane, recently completely shut for four or five days, now has an irritating dog-leg diversion at the far end, while the obstruction making this necessary has never got any workers working on it. Come on – get your act together and get this show off the road…

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This is the road to which the Wakehams Farm development would bring an extra 1,000 car movements a day…

Is a puzzlement…: Hastings Country Park is already a source of wonder, for the wrong reasons, with several residents concerned that the new Country Park Visitor Centre, with compressed tyre foundations and stramit type straw walls, is a folly – not in the quirky mock-Gothic sense, but as a foolhardy monument to profligacy. It seems almost to seek to be a unique selling proposition in its own right, overtaking the Park itself. It will cost at least twice, and possibly three times, as much as a traditional building, but in times of austerity, some apparently feel this is immaterial, as we’re talking EU money here (yours? mine?) which as we all know is not real.

Now comes news of a further hare-brained scheme, which could plaster much of this unique Country Park with solar panels. Hastings is preparing to spend many thousands of pounds examining the feasibility of this idea, which they clearly believe would have the outcome of being a fully developed and productive milch cow. They have allocated £80,400 for the viability research, studying the likely business model. No mention, of course, of the aesthetic model, or the nature model or the beauty model. They really do know the cost benefit of everything and the value of nothing. If you would like to sign a petition against these panels, just put Amber Rudd Solar Panels in your Google search bar, and it will take you to the petition in opposition to the proposed development that she has inaugurated. You’re invited to sign up, please.