Sayers Common Village Society

A Water Warden for Sayers Common.

Our village, like many others, has experienced a few different water-related issues over the past few years. At the request of villagers, Sayers Common Village Society has taken on the challenge of bringing the various organisations together to get some action happening. As we’ve worked through these with the various local authorities and agencies we’ve learnt that the issues fall into three main areas.

1. Sewers and Drainage - are the responsibility of Southern Water

Although we’ve had problems, these are now being addressed by Southern Water, and as we previously posted, they are investing over a million pounds in infrastructure improvement works over the next few months.

2. Roads & Drains - are the responsibility of West Sussex County Council (WSCC)

Many of the drains (‘gullies’ in the trade) in our roads are blocked. These are the responsibility of the WSCC. We understand that WSCC are carrying out survey work and we hope they will accept our invitation to update the village on their progress and plans later this year. We encourage you to report any blocked ‘gullies’ on their website or directly to their regional manager for this area. His email address is [email protected]. The WSCC website is: https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/maintaining-roads-verges-and-pavements/road-maintenance/flooding-drainage-and-gullies/

3. Ditches and Streams - are mainly the responsibility of local landowners and residents

The third area that causes issues is the various streams and ditches in and around our village. This area can be complex to address due to the large number of landowners and residents that have responsibility for maintaining the condition of any particular ditch or waterway.

In response to this challenge, SCVS has appointed a Water Warden for Sayers Common.

The Water Warden will receive any concerns that villagers have about ditches and streams and will liaise with landowners, householders and any relevant local authorities or agencies, to assist in resolving any problems.

This position is purely voluntary and we are pleased to appoint Steve White to the position of Water Warden.

Steve is contactable via WhatsApp on 07583 062292. Please contact him if you would like some help, guidance, etc. with anything to do with water issues in the Sayers Common area.

For those who don’t know Steve, he has experience working on local waterway projects and is an avid walker of the ditches and streams in the area. He can often be seen out with his two dogs, come rain or shine!

For those who would like to see the details of what was presented by Southern Water at the open meeting on Monday morning, here's the presentation.

Southern Water open meeting - Sayers Common Village Hall 24th June 2024

A well-attended meeting in the Village Hall was presented with the planned improvement works following recent investigations by Southern Water in the area. The Southern Water team were very forthcoming with details and made it clear that they are keen to improve the local situation for the community.

Key points:

Investment and timing

SW is investing £1,025,000 in the Sayers Common public sewer to address stormwater inundation and create a more resilient network. The works will be starting on 28th July and will run through to 4th October. This schedule may change if the works have to be extended for any reason. There will inevitably be some disruption to local traffic during the project.

Planned works include:

- Relining up to 1812m of public sewer to address groundwater infiltration
- Sealing up to 63 manholes under the flood line
- Investigating inputs from local developments and rooves

Benefits for residents:

- Reduced instances of foul flooding or restricted toilet use
- Significant reduction in tanker disturbance in the area
- Provides the basis for future upgrade works to accommodate growth in the area

Communications

Southern Water will keep residents informed about upcoming works and potential disturbances. For questions or concerns, contact Joey Whitehead, Project Manager, quoting project number 752084.

Sayers Common Village Society will post updates here as and when they are made available to us.

Outlook

Overall, we were very heartened to hear details of the works and feel that this is a significant step towards rectifying the village's problems. We continue working with the various agencies involved, to resolve the challenges that a small minority of people in the village have faced. We are optimistic that villagers can look forward to fewer water issues in the future. We will have more news on this soon!

Contact

We would like to encourage all residents to stay informed and share any concerns or suggestions with Southern Water or the Village Society.

Follow us here on Facebook for regular updates on this project.

We have the long awaited news from the Parish Council that drainage improvement works are due to start on 1 July and are expected to last for two weeks.

This will enable the completion of the Society's proposals for the improvement of the southern ground. Phase 1 was the reinstatement of the 5 to 10 year olds adventure playground. This and the Phase 2 provision of a 5 a side football pitch, netball and basketball practice areas, a table tennis table and picnic benches for older children will complement the toddlers' play area and the gym equipment to cater for all ages.

Hey everyone!

We have some good news for those interested in the water improvements happening in Sayers Common. Southern Water is hosting an open meeting at the Sayers Common Village Hall (right behind the shop) this Monday at 10:30 am.

At the meeting, Southern Water will share their findings from recent investigations in our area and provide details about their upcoming plans and activities. This is a fantastic chance to learn about all the improvements taking place in our village.

We hope you can join us! We know it’s a Monday morning, which might not be convenient for everyone, but if you can, please make an effort to attend. This is your opportunity to ask questions and get informed.

For those who can’t make it, don’t worry—we’ll be sharing updates from the meeting here.

See you there!

Southern Water will be holding a meeting at Sayers Common Village Hall next Monday 24th June from 10:30-12:30.

This is a follow up to the previous meetings arranged by the Village Society to address our village's drainage problems. SW will report on the investigative work that has already been undertaken and the further surveys that it is proposing. We will endeavour to ascertain what remedial works might be carried out depending on the results.

We hope that as many affected villagers as possible will be able to attend. However, if you cannot attend but have questions or statements that you wish to be put to the water company please email [email protected] by Friday!

There is a Parish Council Meeting this Thursday 25th April at 19:30 at Sayers Common Village Hall.

We have the opportunity to raise our concerns within the village. If you have any concerns please come along we hope to see you there!

Name a new street!

Yes, now’s your chance to name some new streets in Sayers Common.

For those that haven’t noticed, there is another new development of houses currently under construction to the North of Reeds Lane.

The Parish Council is now looking for Sayers Common villagers to suggest names for the new streets.

Your ideas can be anything you think would be suitable. Past themes have included local birds (Sayers Meadow) and the history and people of Sayers Common.

You can see details of the new development here.https://www.midsussex.gov.uk/media/5203/sa301-site-layout.pdf

For inspiration, the site used to be a brickworks - Yes! There was a brickworks in Sayers Common!

Please add your ideas here as comments, or if you prefer, email your suggestions to [email protected]

All ideas will be shared with the Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common Parish Council.

Ideas by 8pm on Sunday 28th April, please.

We can’t wait to hear what you come up with!

A big thank you to everyone that came out to our litter picking event last weekend!

We had a great turnout of people and managed to bag up a lot of litter! Here are a just few of the pickers enjoying cake after their hard work along with the bags we collected.

It was good to have the support of our local MP, Andrew Griffith MP at our recent meeting about the flooding issues in Sayers Common. It's also good to see that we feature in his monthly email. If you haven't already, please complete the flooding survey here: https://tally.so/r/w51Ezb

This message is particularly for those villagers that have experienced flooding, the effects of flooding or the threat of flooding.

Following the Village Society's prolonged endeavours to have Southern Water resolve this serious problem, last year it arranged for the company to meet villagers in the presence of our MP Andrew Griffith.The water company appeared to acknowledge the seriousness of the problem and undertook to carry out surveys of the system to determine what improvements were necessary.

Society member Michael Bailey has arranged a follow up meeting with SW that will take place from 12.30 to 2pm in the Village Hall in Friday 16 Feb to be attended again by our current MP and, to ensure continuity in view of the imminent general election, the Mid Sussex candidates/their representatives.

It is important that the meeting is well attended as numbers impress so please try to be there if you have been affected or know of someone who has.

Southern Water Update on Flooding : 16th Feb 12.30 at SC Village Hall

Sayers Common Village Society is a page to inform everyone what is going on in your village.
There will be updates soon regarding a litter picking day on the 30th July.
It would be great if we could get as many people as possible to help clear up our village.
More details soon. Put the date in your diary!!