The following are the latest results contributed by HM Courts Service, for cases sentenced by West Sussex Magistrates’ Court sitting at Worthing from July 3 to 7, 2017.

Paul Dickenson, 26, of Baffins Lane, Chichester, was given a 20-week prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, with 13-week curfew, electronically monitored, from 8pm to 6.30am, and Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, and must pay £50 compensation, £115 victim surcharge, £250 costs, after admitting using threatening words or behaviour with intent to provoke violence, racially aggravated, in Chichester on January 31, 2017. He was given a ten-week concurrent prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, and must pay £100 compensation after admitting assaulting a police constable in Chichester on January 31, 2017. He was given a 20-week concurrent prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, and must pay £50 compensation after admitting using threatening words or behaviour, racially aggravated, with intent to cause alarm or distress in Chichester, on March 19, 2017. He was given a two-week concurrent prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, after admitting possessing 1.1g of cannabis in Chichester, on March 19, 2017. He was fined £20 after admitting disorderly behaviour while drunk in Kestrel Court, Chichester, on March 19, 2017. He was given a 20-week concurrent prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, and must pay £50 compensation after admitting using threatening words or behaviour, racially aggravated, with intent to cause alarm or distress in Chichester, on May 20, 2017. He was given a ten-week concurrent prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, after admitting using threatening words or behaviour with intent to provoke violence in Chichester, on May 20, 2017. He was fined £20 after admitting disorderly behaviour while drunk in East Street, Chichester, on May 20, 2017. He was fined £20 after admitting disorderly behaviour while drunk in Oliver Whitby Road, Chichester, on May 28, 2017. He was given a 20-week concurrent prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, and must pay £50 compensation after admitting using threatening words or behaviour, racially aggravated, with intent to cause alarm or distress at Chichester Railway Station on June 5, 2017. He was given a two-week concurrent prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, after admitting possessing cannabis and cannabis resin at Chichester Custody Centre on June 5, 2017. He was fined £100 after admitting failing to comply with supervision requirements following release from prison. He also admitted breaching a conditional discharge order and was fined £20 for the original offence of possessing cannabis.

Brian Hooper, 41, of Cawley House, Cawley Road, Chichester, was given a community order with Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and must pay £100 compensation, £85 victim surcharge, £100 costs, after admitting causing £1,404 damage to a cash machine in Chichester on January 17, 2017.

Frederick Wratten, 31, of Silverdale, Coldwaltham, was fined £120 and disqualified from driving for 22 months after admitting drink-driving (152mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood) in Five Oaks Road, Slinfold, on January 29, 2017. He was fined £120 and disqualified from driving for 22 months after admitting drug-driving (532ug/l benzoylecognine) in Five Oaks Road, Slinfold, on January 29, 2017. He was given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, with drug rehabilitation requirement and must pay £115 victim surcharge, £85 costs, after admitting having a knife in Five Oaks Road, Slinfold, on January 29, 2017. He also admitted drug-driving (844ug/l diazepam) in Five Oaks Road, Slinfold, on January 29, 2017, no separate penalty.

David Ashton, 33, of Stocks Lane, East Wittering, was fined £500 and must pay £50 victim surcharge, £85 costs, after admitting drug-driving (2.1mg/l Delta-9-THC) on the A27 Chichester on April 11, 2017. He was disqualified from driving for three years. He also admitted being in charge of a vehicle in East Bracklesham Drive, Bracklesham, on April 7, 2017, while over the drug-driving limit (3ug/l Delta-9-THC).

Paul Clarke, 63, of Riverside, Codmore Hill, was discharged conditionally for 12 months after admitting being in charge of a bearded collie dog that was dangerously out of control and injured another man at Kithurst Hill car park, Storrington, on April 18, 2017. He was also given an order that the dog be kept under proper control, with a number of conditions imposed. He must pay £20 victim surcharge, £85 costs.

Dean Rutter, 26, of St James Square, Chichester, was given a community order and must carry out 80 hours’ unpaid work after admitting drug-driving (3.2ug/l Delta-9-THC) in St James Square, Chichester, on April 15, 2017. He was given a community order and must pay £85 victim surcharge, £85 costs, after admitting drug-driving (436ug/l benzoylecgonine) in St James Square, Chichester, on April 15, 2017. He was disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Darryl Grindlay, 32, of Grosvenor Gardens, Bognor Regis, was fined £599 and must pay £59 victim surcharge, £250 costs, after being found guilty of failing to identify a driver when required by police in Shoreham on September 7, 2016. His driving record was endorsed with six points.

Arun District Council leader Gill Brown was challenged over the slow speed of regeneration in Bognor Regis by public, political and business figures on Wednesday (July 12).

Questions over the progress of plans to transform the Regis Centre and Hothamton sites were raised by resident Terry Ellis, councillor Paul Wells and Dave Myers, of the Bognor Regis Regeneration Board.

Mr Myers asked what progress had been made since options for the sites went before councillors in March.

Mrs Brown said: “The council has been working hard to progress these schemes. This has included speaking to key stakeholders, potential funders and statutory partners. Preparatory work in such a complex scheme takes time to progress and there is considerable work going on in the background.

“The council clearly wishes to move forward as quickly as possible and to maintain momentum.

“Proposals for Hothamton’s linear park will be the first to come forward in greater detail and a report setting out the next steps is expected in October.”

Mr Ellis criticised the council’s leadership for ‘failing to guide its officers to produce workable, affordable solutions to regenerate the area’. He argued Bognor Regis was in the same position as it was in the 1970s.

Mrs Brown said she did not share the same views, with public and private sector investment of £280million secured for the town.

This included projects like the relief road and more than £100million of current projects like the university’s engineering and technology park.

Liberal Democrat councillor Paul Wells moved discussion away from the two main sites and focused on the progress of the seafront strategy, first drafted in 2009.

He said the only major progress had been the fitness trail and highlighted concerns over year-by-year leases for concessionaires.

He said: “There has been a lot of talk and a lot of plans but on the seafront there has been a lot of lack of delivery.

“I would hope the leader will take this on board and start to move forward plans for the seafront. I know there’s a lot of attention on the Regis Centre and Hothamton site but the seafront is the jewel in the crown for Bognor Regis.”

Mrs Brown said she had ‘no concerns’ about the speed of regeneration.

“All these big schemes do take time,” she said.

“They are not going to happen overnight.”

A talented and diverse group of actors have come together ‘just for a laugh’.

Southwick Players’ July production at the Barn Theatre in Southwick is Just for Laughs 3, opening on Thursday.

Among those doing a comedy turn are Barn favourites Amy Bowyer from Shoreham, H Reeves from Southwick and Ron Common from Portslade, who brought the house down in previous Just for Laughs productions with his Hunchback of Notre Dame routines.

Also coming from Shoreham are Ian Churchill and wife Sharon, who is the lead teaching assistant at Shoreham Academy.

Ian and H are sharing the task of directing and producing the show with Sally Diver from Southwick.

Also appearing in the various comedy sketches and songs will be Dave Otway, a past president of Southwick Players, from Henfield.

From slightly further afield, do not miss the wonderful comic timing of Hannah Kelly, a drama teacher at The Academy, Selsey, who lives in Tangmere, and Sarah Dawson, a pole dancing instructor who runs classes at The Shoreham Centre and lives in Lancing.

The show, featuring hilarious comedy sketches and songs from the sublime to the ridiculous, will be compered by Jamie Collins from Southwick.

The show is suitable for ages 16 and over. It runs from tonight until Saturday at 7.30pm daily. Tickets are £11. Visit www.southwickplayers.org.uk or call 01273 597094.

Following the intense election campaign of 2017, Labour shadow home secretary Diane Abbott spoke out about the racist and misogynistic abuse she received online.

Diane revealed that she was subject to a litany of abuse on Twitter. In a recent Westminster Hall debate, she described the comments she received as ‘characteristically racist and sexist’.

Her experiences are not just depressing on a personal level – they pose a threat to democracy.

The BBC recently reported that a huge number of women MPs are experiencing abuse on social media.

The problem was so bad during the 2017 election, with several MPs making complaints to the government, that Number 10 asked the Committee on Standards in Public Life to investigate the abuse of MPs during election campaigns.

Comments during the 2017 campaign included: “nazi witch” and “repatriate the ***** back to Africa”. The Prime Minister herself was called a ‘whore’ by some Twitter users.

In Australia, the former Prime Minister Julia Gillard was subjected to twice as many abusive online comments as her Labour party rival Kevin Rudd between 2010 and 2014. Many of these statements were of a sexual nature.

Similarly, in the Democratic presidential primaries in the US, Hillary Clinton received almost twice as many abusive comments as her Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders.

These types of comments have started to become the norm for women politicians.

Julia Gillard has said: “As a woman in public life, the violent threats take on another sicking dimension. Threats of violent abuse, of rape, are far too common. A woman in public view may expect to receive them almost daily.”

With so many people subject to online abuse, many are choosing to withdraw themselves from social media.

In fact, a campaigner I recently interviewed about the online abuse she received was advised by the police to shut down her social media accounts.

But advising a woman to remove her online presence if she doesn’t want to be abused is akin to telling a woman that she needs to behave a certain way if she doesn’t want to be raped.

Rather than engaging in victim blaming, we should be tackling the behaviour of abusers.

We need to be sending stronger messages to individuals that online abuse will not be tolerated.

A full, in-depth inquiry is needed to establish if social media companies need to take more responsibly for what is posted on their platforms; or, if in fact, we need more specific legislation to govern social media.

The likelihood is that we are now at a point where the law itself needs changing.

Who’d be a woman politician?

Online abuse may be seen as an everyday part of being a politician, but it’s a threat to democracy.

Constant abuse aimed at politicians, especially female politicians, threatens to reduce the plurality of voices essential for a modern democracy.

As conservative MP Sarah Wollaston recently said, online abuse is ‘designed to intimidate’. If that intimidation is successful, women will be dissuaded from becoming politicians.

Already, only 23.3 per cent of politicians worldwide are women.

Diane Abbott has said: “Other women look at how those of us in the public space are treated and think twice about speaking up publicly let alone getting involved in political activity.”

If we want to live in a world of true equality, we need to start tackling online abuse.

Simply concluding that such abuse is an everyday part of life is clearly a threat to the political system.

This piece originally appeared in The Conversation

With this being Bognor GC’s 125-year anniversary, a number of events are marking this milestone. For the ladies the first event was the 125 Trophy at home to Copthorne GC ladies. Copthorne also celebrate their 125th anniversary this year.

Bognor won the overall competition but there were prizes for the best combined teams. The winning team was Jane Russell and Louise Colvin with partners from Copthorne Rosie C-Hill and Jan Wilson.

Second were June Salt and Nicki Vincent with their partners from Copthorne Julie Weddell and Stefi Argnani. Third were Margaret Martin and Gill Harries with their partners from Copthorne Sue Walkden and Janet Scott.

Next year the competition will be hosted by Copthorne.

Bognor’s 125th anniversary celebrations got off to an excellent start when 112 senior gentlemen played in a four-ball better-ball Stableford competition. A best four-man team score was added.

Scoring was of a very high calibre. The course was immaculate thanks to Rob Brown and his staff.

After the game, the players were treated to an excellent buffet and all eyes were on the tremendous prize table.

The event was sponsored by Kevin Holland Funeral Services with special additions from the senior section.  

Prizes, presented by Kevin, were excellent with club jumpers, golf shoes, shirts caps and balls for the prizewinners while the first three also collected engraved cut-glass vases.

4BBB result - 1, Steve King and Malcolm Dodds 50pts, 2 Steve Flack and Mark Ireland 48, 3 Phil Conisbee and Bruce Williams 47 (cb), 4 Alastair Murray and Trevor Ridges 47, 5 Mike Hornby and Brian Boustead 46. Best four-man team results - 1 Alastair Murray, Trevor Ridges Mike Hornby and Brian Boustead 93pts, 2 Steve King, Malcolm Dodds, Mike Wilson and Horace Roberts 92; 3 Ian Bright, Sean Francis, Mike Matthews and Alan Saunders 91.

This event will be repeated next year to compete for the Holland Trophy and will become a great new addition to the seniors’ calendar.

Thanks went to the seniors’ committee for their hard work and to all the players for making the day so much fun.

The 125 Medal Day ran from 8am to 9.15pm and had three tees: white for men, yellow for seniors and red for the ladies.

On the white tees, Andrew Greig won on countback with nett 66. Alan Entecott was second on countback from Chris Lovell and Mark Prothero, all with 66.

On the yellow tees, Richard Riseborough won on countback with nett 65. Rod Searle came in second, with Steve King third with 66.

The red tees saw Nicki Vincent win with an outstanding score of nett 64, eight under handicap on the ladies’ card. Jackie Herbert came second, beating Rita West on countback with nett 70.

The winners and runners-up of each set of tees will win gold and silver medals donated by club president Peter Mitchell.

Congratulations go to the winners and thanks go to Peter Mitchell for his generous sponsorship.

CHICHESTER

Chichester ladies’ division-one team stayed unbeaten in the league rounds and will now play Highwoods in the quarter-finals on July 19.

Their division-three side won their last game against Royal Eastbourne and will meet Goodwood in the last eight on July 14 (pictured).

Caroline Hawkes and Fiona Walsh have qualified for the Coronation Foursomes area final at Caversham Heath on August 1.

SELSEY

The veterans’ section of Selsey GC had their presentation day, which started with 14 holes of golf for 36 members.

Presentations started with the St Wilfrid’s Hospice Cup being awarded to Jeff Wootton by the hospice’s Jasmine Cotton and veterans’ captain Reg Ewens, who later presented a cheque for £150 from the proceeds of the day to Jasmine for St Wilfrid’s.

Next award was to Harry Newman for winning the Ted Sherman Trophy, played for by members over 75. Harry is just over 90 and still playing very well. The presentation was made by veterans captain Reg Ewens.

The winter singles presentation to winner Richard Jarvis of the trophy, bottle of spirits and a glass was also made by the vets’ captain.

The Brexit Cup was awarded, also by the vets’ skipper, to winning pair Peter Hartard and David Winter.

Weekly winners and runners-up were awarded their bottles or vouchers, while thanks went to Tony Terry for organising the presentation day.

COWDRAY PARK

Cowdray ladies in the silver division competed in the Bowyers Cup, an 18-hole scratch strokeplay. This is played simultaneously with the ladies in the bronze division competing for the Stowers Salver.

Results - Bowyers - 1 Sue Brown gross 84; 2 Wendy Street 88; Stowers - 1 Brenda Rees gross 91; 2 Catherine Staples 93.

Roy Penrose has been Cowdray seniors’ match manager against Pycombe for ten years, but in his last fixture in the role, at the end of a high-quality day of golf, he was left to rue this was the strongest team Pyecombe had put out during his time and they won 5½-2½.

Penrose and partner John Lee led the teams out, but it was to be a baptism of fire for Lee (who takes over as match manager against Pycombe next year) when they came up against Pycombe captain David Leach and partner Peter Ferns, who were on top of their game.

It was a similar story for many Cowdray pairings, who generally played very well but found the downland course’s nuances being magnified by a stiff breeze. The locals had the experience to overcome these minor distractions.

Cowdray’s Derek Smith had a wonderful opening few holes with four pars and one birdie in the first five holes, but they were still only just level after five, but eventually they carved out a narrow win.

David Tilley and a newcomer to the seniors, Richard Shears, were the only other winning team. But Cowdray’s late stand-in, the dependable Ian Heustice, and partner Mike Cardiff battled to a respectable half.

The course was excellently presented on a lovely summer’s day, and the result apart, it was a very enjoyable day for Cowdray, with Pyecombe making them most welcome.

Cowdray look forward to returning the compliment and seeking revenge at home on Thursday, July 20.

Results: Roy Penrose and John Lee lost 6&5, Nick Austin and Richard Burden lost 1 Down, David Heard and Sam Howes lost 3&2, Mike Hughes and Barry Overington lost 4&3, Derek Smith and Dave Wickham won 2&1, Alan Gormley and Graham Ralph lost 3&2, David Tilley and Richard Shears won 2&1, Ian Heustice and Mike Cardiff halved.

CHRIS McDONNELL COLUMN

With the Irish Open, Scottish Open and The Open Championship in the space of a three-week period, July is the peak month for golf in the British Isles. Of course, the latter is the tournament that excites everyone most.

The Open is my favourite major tournament of the year, purely because a links-style golf course really tests all areas of a golfer’s game. To become Open champion you must be able to control your ball flight, have great imagination and have the capability of dealing with various winds and weather conditions.

This year The Open takes place from July 20 to 23 at Royal Birkdale, near Liverpool. Having played Royal Birkdale myself, I can attest that the course is very demanding from tee to green, with holes surrounded by huge sand dunes. The dunes make perfect vantage points for spectators, though, so it’s an excellent course for viewing.

My pick for this year is Englishman Justin Rose. For those of you who can remember, Justin Rose achieved global fame in 1998 at Royal Birkdale with an incredible fourth-place finish in The Open as a 17-year-old amateur.

He turned professional soon after and went on to the European Tour, where he missed a staggering 17 cuts in a row, enough for any young golf professional to rethink his choice of career. However, after this disappointing start he weathered the storm and in 2007 he became the number one golfer on the European Tour.

In 2013, when he was a Goodwood golf ambassador, he won the US Open Championship, the first Englishman to do so since Tony Jacklin in 1970. He also represented Great Britain in the Rio Olympics in 2016 where he won gold. 
Rose has overcome very tough times to reach such heights and is a fantastic role model for young people taking up the sport. A return to Royal Birkdale will certainly bring back fond memories and with his skills and experience I think he is a leading contender.

For anybody wishing to go up and watch The Open, it’s surprisingly good value for such a huge event. Under-16s go free and those aged 16 to 24 pay only £10.They also have camping packages for families wishing to go for a few days. I highly recommend it.

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Grasses were showcased to their full glory at RHS Hampton Court and won a silver gilt medal for a Sidlesham grower in his first year at the show.

David Allen, who owns and runs Meadowgate Nursery, in Street End Lane, said the natural garden display was the culmination of much hard work and planning.

David said: “Using only grasses within the show stand really demonstrated the versatility of different planting combinations within a small space and the judges agreed.”

He was interviewed by Toby Buckland and featured on the BBC’s show coverage.

The vision was to give show visitors an idea of the flexibility of grass planting within the modern garden and how a stunning planting scheme can be achieved with grasses only, resulting in vistas that provide interest throughout the seasons.

Bosham artist Karen Ongley-Snook worked with David and her jewel-like shoal of fused glass fish brought the stand to life.

The show judges were very complimentary of the use of the sculptures, weaving their way through the stand.

David said: “

“From the planting and care of our show specimens to the design and construction of our stand, it has been an exciting journey.

“The months of hard work, planning and growing our show grasses certainly paid off. To win a silver gilt medal was beyond our expectations.”

Midhurst skateboarders are bringing back the annual competition in a bid to raise awareness of the need for new facilities.

The competition which was abandoned more than ten years ago, will return to the Carron Lane recreation ground this year on Sunday August 27.

It is the brainchild of skate boarder Jason Woodman (27) who last year went to the town council to flag up the need for new equipment.

He told them the current ones were almost unusable. And he said new equipment would cost between £120,000-£130,000.

Acknowledging the council’s finances would not foot the bill Jason said he was keen to start fundraising by bringing back the popular competition.

“Originally this first one was to fund raise,” Jason told the Observer, “but it has been a very steep learning curve. I have never done anything like it before, so even if it doesn’t raise a lot of money this year it will raise awareness of what we are trying to do and next year we will have more experience.”

He has now enlisted the help of fellow skateboarder Stephen Else (32), better known as ‘Stig’ in Midhurst who became well known when, as one of the first contestants in the original competition, he jumped 12 skate boards.

Midhurst town councillors are backing the competition, but have been unable to commit funding to it this year because they are not the organisers and because they cannot give grants to individuals.

“As much as I’d really like to support these guys,” said finance chairman Carol Lintott, “I can’t magic the money.”

She said she hoped with more time next year, the town council could work with the organisers to provide more support and a grant.

In the mean time Jason is appealing for volunteers to help marshall the event on the day and to provide first aid cover.

Anyone who would like to help should contact him through Facebook or at dj.ninja@live.co.uk

A family group is preparing for a trip to Uganda to work with disabled children.

Susi Leggatt and her son Sam, 19, are making a return trip to the remote village of Rukungiri – and this time they are taking Sam’s girlfriend Jess, 19, and sister Paige, 15.

The adventurous quartet will team up with other volunteers from the charity Mission Direct for the trip on August 5.

To raise money, they are holding an afternoon tea at Maybridge Church, in The Strand, Worthing, on Saturday from 2pm to 5pm.

Tickets are £5 from Susi, email sukilegg@hotmail.com or telephone 07771801415 to book.

Two years ago, Susi and Sam helped construct water towers and worked on other community and health projects in Rukungiri.

This time, the aim is to help with the construction of a physiotherapy centre for disabled children, working alongside Chilli Children.

Susi said: “Disabled children often find themselves deprived of educational and social facilities in this culture, so helping to build this centre will give these vulnerable children a safe environment to feel loved and valued as well as receive the help to make their lives better.”

The team will spend most of their time at the project site, helping with a range of physical tasks, such as water carrying, bricklaying, rendering and painting, or working alongside the children and healthcare teams.

They will also be spending time with children who are orphaned by HIV and helping young mothers in their community.

To support their efforts, pop into the church building on Saturday and take part in a great raffle running alongside the tea. Prizes include a family day out to The Bluebell Railway, entry for two to Brighton Pavilion, a Raire hairdressing voucher, beautician voucher and lots of fizz and wine.

Eight different species were recorded at the Big Butterfly Open Day in Worthing on Saturday.

It is a great result for Cortis Avenue Wildlife Garden, as one of its main purposes is to be a habitat for butterflies.

Many other creatures were found and investigated on the day during the children’s bug hunt.

Nathalie Hadjifotiou, from the garden team, said: “It was a very good day. We had 80-odd people come, which is twice as many as in previous years, and 17 of them were children.

“The children really enjoyed themselves. They were looking at stuff from the pond, like snails, millipedes and beetles. We prefer to take the water out and let them look at it, rather than allow them to do pond dipping, as a lot of them are really small.

“We were using a sweep net as well this time, so we got some flying insects and crickets. Some of the children stayed for at least a couple of hours, they were so enthralled by it.

“We recorded eight different species of butterfly, which is quite a good count for one small area. One of the purposes of the garden is to be a habitat for them and the weather was just perfect for them to come out.

“It was quite a mix of ages, not only the children, but people in their 20s and 30s, up to pensioners. People brought different generations - one group had all the family.

“Many people came from Broadwater but there were others from around Worthing and from Sompting, Lancing and Southwick.”

Cortis Avenue Wildlife Garden is a voluntary organisation, licensed by Worthing Homes to manage the site, which is off Carnegie Road in Worthing.

The next open day will be A Fruity Feast of Wildlife on Saturday, September 3, from 12pm to 4pm, which will give people the chance to see the food plants in the garden as the hips and haws will be out.

Bright border collie cross Flame enjoys nothing more than learning new things.

This smart five-year-old has been having fun learning new tricks with staff and volunteers at Dogs Trust Shoreham.

Manager Tracey Rae said: “Flame can be shy when initially meeting new people, so he is looking for an understanding owner who can help build his confidence.

“Once Flame develops a bond with you, his sweet and friendly character shines through and he is lots of fun to be around.”

Despite his bouncy and active nature, Flame is seeking a calm and settled lifestyle. The ideal home would be in a rural location with the promise of long, muddy adventures.

Although Flame likes to meet up with other dogs when out and about, it would be best to be the only pet in an adult-only home, without too many visitors.

Call the Brighton Road rehoming centre on 01273 452576 for full details.

Campaigners have failed in their bid to have a much loved wildflower meadow removed from the South Downs National Park’s emerging Local Plan where it is earmarked for 35 to 40 houses.

The Coldwaltham meadow Conservation Group made strong protests to a full national park authority meeting, but their plea fell on deaf ears.

Members voted to keep the meadow on the site south of London Road in the draft plan when it goes out for consultation in September.

Now campaigners will have to renew their battle through the latest public consultation of the park’s draft Local Plan but they say the consultation goalposts have been moved and they now have an uphill struggle to win their case.

Campaigner Jim Glover said: “Coldwaltham residents are alarmed because they were denied a proper ‘section 18 consultation’ which looks carefully at all the evidence when the proposals for 40 houses on the meadow were quietly released just days before the consultation deadline. “The next stage of public consultation this autumn, known, as a section 19 consultation, restricts the questions that can be asked to just the soundness and legality of the local plan, making it much more difficult for local people to object.”

Mr Glover, fellow campaigner Chris Skinner and chairman of the Wiggonholt Association Janet Aidin all spoke to members at the full authority meeting.

They told the meeting: “It takes decades to create a flower meadow with the benefit of substantial government grants but just one careless decision to destroy it. So why do it?”

They said they felt ‘disenfranchised’ by the lack of consultation over plans for 40 homes on their much loved wildflower meadow.

Janet Aidin said: “It rings very hollow for people to be told this is a landscape-led plan when they can’t even comment on this blot on the landscape. The local plan process should be seen to be fair, it should be seen to be reasonable.  Instead it just looks mechanical.  Major changes could be made and I would like to suggest this is an obvious candidate.  A decision to remove it and hold a fresh consultation would demonstrate natural justice and the plan would be the sounder for it.”

Campaigners are angry because they were not consulted about the allocation of the site for housing.

It first appeared on a national park planning agenda in March when housing allocations in the were discussed.

Members of the committee believed Coldwaltham Parish Council had been consulted, but they knew nothing about the allocation.

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Crawley Town extended their unbeaten record in pre-season thanks to two goals by Panutche Camara against his former club.

Enzio Boldewijn and Matt Harrold completed the scoring away to the Bostik League Premier Division side in south east London.

Boldewijn gave Reds the lead in only the third minute with an assured finish after Billy Clifford won the ball in the opposing penalty area.

Substitute Camara scored against his former club after he replaced the injured Aryan Tajbakhsh and took advantage of a poor back-pass before netting Crawley’s 29th minute second goal.

Dulwich pulled a goal back seconds later when keeper Glenn Morris missed a cross and Dumebi Dumaka headed home.

The two teams went into half-time level at 2-2 after Dumaka evaded the visitors’ challenges and blasted in Dulwich’s second goal.

Head coach Harry Kewell played a completely different XI for the second half.

Jordan Roberts struck the bar with a spectacular volley, while Harrold was denied on the rebound by keeper Preston Edwards.

Reds regained the lead eight minutes into the second half when Moussa Sanoh’s initial shot was parried as far as Harrold who played a square ball to Camara who made it 3-2.

At the other end former Crawley player Gavin Tomlin forced Josh Lelan to clear off the goalline.

Reds increased the lead to 4-2 with five minutes to go when Sanoh went on a run and crossed to Harrold to score put away his sixth goal of pre-season.

There was still time for both sides to have one more attempt on goal with Mersin denying Dulwich’s Gustavo Ferraz and Edwards kept out attempts by both Sanoh and Harrold.

REDS: Morris, Tajbakhsh (Camara 11), Yorwerth, McNerney, Blackman, Djalo, Payne, Clifford, Lewis, Cox, Boldewijn

Subs: Mersin, Young, Lelan, Evina, Randall, Bulman, Sanoh, Roberts, Harrold

ATTENDANCE: 392

Members of Chichester Aikido Club celebrated another successful grading.

The club is a member of the National Aikido Federation and British Aikido Board and teaches a traditional form of aikido.

They train at the Westgate Centre, Chichester, on Mondays (8pm to 10pm) and Wednesdays (7.30pm to 9.30pm). They also have a Saturday class at the New Park Centre. There is a special class for teens on Wednesdays at the Westgate Centre (6.30 to 7.30pm).

The class is split into two one-hour sessions to allow easier student participation.

Chichester Aikido Club cater for a wide range of people of all ages and allow them to work at their own pace so everyone regardless of physical ability can have an opportunity to learn.

For further information see their Facebook page or contact Scott Luckham on 07847 443056.

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West Sussex residents had front row seats to a huge lightning storm last night.

After Met Office warnings earlier in the week, the storm lived up to expectations, filling the sky with impressive lightning flashes and rumbles of thunder.

The storm began rolling in from the sea at about 11pm, and finished at around 2am.

This morning, there is little evidence that a storm happened at all, despite heavy rain.

West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service confirmed it had not been sent out to any flooding incidents or lightning-related fires in the county.

Readers have already began submitting their pictures of the storm – if you have any that you would like to feature in the paper, please email us.

What did you think of the storm – was it a free show or a nuisance that kept you awake?

Just one £69million option to cut congestion on the A27 between Worthing and Lancing is feasible – and highways bosses admit it will not have ‘significant’ long-term benefits.

That is the conclusion residents will be given today as a crunch consultation on the major road’s future begins (Wednesday, July 19).

Highways England exhibition documents explain only one option is feasible within the budget of up to £100million, with six more radical options discounted.

It includes converting three of six junctions into crossroads controlled by traffic signals, widening five to create more lanes and acquiring 6.2 hectares of land.

The organisation argues the scheme would create ‘significant extra capacity and would reduce delays’ but raises questions over its ability to provide a long-term solution.

The documents state: “The improved junctions do not have sufficient capacity to cater well for peak period traffic in the longer term, due to planned developments and natural growth in population.

“Local authorities would need to consider measures to reduce long-term growth such as traffic restraint policies, improvements to public transport and increased cycling and walking.”

Highways England will hold the first of eight public exhibitions between 4pm and 8pm today, at the Richmond Room, in Stoke Abbott Road, Worthing.

The consultation covers six junctions between Durrington Hill and the Lancing Manor roundabout.

Options including flyovers and underpasses were discounted, with alternatives costing well in excess of the budget set by the Department for Transport.

Junction-by-junction proposals include:

Durrington Hill/Salvington Hill, Worthing – Convert priority junctions into a traffic signal-controlled junction. Durrington Hill would be widened to accommodate a two-lane approach

Offington roundabout, Worthing – Convert the roundabout into a crossroad, controlled by traffic signals. Approaches will be widened along with some exits to form new slip roads and lanes

Grove Lodge, Worthing – Widening approaches and circulation lanes to create two lanes of traffic through the junction

Lyons Farm, Worthing – Widening to accommodate more lanes. New turning arrangements at both junctions

Busticle Lane/Halewick Lane, Sompting – A new junction to the west of the current junction for access to and from Halewick Lane

Manor roundabout, Lancing – Widen existing approaches and convert the roundabout to a signal-controlled junction for traffic turning from Manor Road onto the A27. Traffic coming from the Brighton direction would not be able to make U-turns

‘Slight benefits but no significant ones’

Highways England has scored the sole option to improve the A27 between Worthing and Lancing on a number of factors.

Ratings are given for factors including congestion to air quality, rating them as having between ‘significant benefit’ and ‘significant adverse’ effects.

The scheme is forecast to achieve ‘slight benefits’ on congestion, cutting accidents, accessibility for walking and cycling and journey times.

But, according to the scorings, no ‘significant benefits’ will be achieved.

Instead, the majority of issues are rated ‘neutral’, including noise, air quality and long-term traffic demand (2041).

Highways England estimates the plans will have no ‘significant adverse’ effects but ‘slight’ impacts on disruption during construction and visual impacts, with some land part of the South Downs National Park in need of acquisition.

Despite the absence of significant benefits, the organisation is clear that improvements are crucial.

The public exhibition documents state: “Without improvement, the congestion and delay on the A27 through Worthing and Lancing will increase in the future.

“Even if greater reliance on public transport, walking and cycling could reduce some of the future demand for car travel, this is unlikely to solve the problem of queuing and congestion on the A27 through Worthing and Lancing.”

Consultation ends on September 12, with two years of construction expected to start in 2020 if the scheme is approved.

MPs have reacted furiously to Highways England plans to upgrade the A27 between Worthing and Lancing, branding the plans a ‘non-starter’’ and a ‘bad use of public funds for minimal effect’.

Worthing West’s Sir Peter Bottomley and East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton issued a joint statement on the first day of Highways England’s consultation today (Wednesday, July 19).

Highways England revealed just one £69million option, which fell short of radical solutions such as underpasses or flyovers.

The MPs’ joint statement read: “We very much welcomed the news that the Government had put the A27 back on the agenda and we are grateful for the work that Highways England and their consultants have undertaken.

“What that work has clearly shown is that it is impossible to achieve an effective solution to the congestion problem within the indicated budget which has straitjacketed their work.

“As a result the only option that they have been able to come up with represents a ‘tinkering round the edges’ at the six key identified junctions from Salvington to Lancing.”

The Worthing to Lancing scheme has an upper budget limit of £100million, compared to plans for Arundel which could cost upwards of £250million.

The MPs said it was ‘hard to follow the logic’ of applying such a low comparitive figure to their area when Arundel had a town of just 5,000 residents.

They said Highways England was unable to fully explore other options highlighted, including flyovers and underpasses, despite having identified ‘clear major benefits’.

Mr Loughton also questioned how the New Monks Farm development, set to include 600 homes and an IKEA, could go ahead without a sufficient scheme to improve the stretch of the major A road.

Both MPs sit on an A27 working group, along with other key businesses and groups.

They said they would recommend the group rejects the option and authorised further work on more extensive options.

“We have already spoken to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to make him aware of or objections and deep disappointment and asked him to keep an open mind about increasing the budget to accommodate this further work,” they said.

“If it means a slight delay to any scheme starting this is surely much more desirable than spending money and causing upheaval for a scheme which will be redundant before it is completed.

“We have not spent 20 years as the Parliamentary representatives for Worthing and Adur fighting for an effective solution to congestion on one of the busiest roads in Sussex to oversee an elaborate damp squib which alas is what this amounts to.”

Today’s transfer news

Sussex return to action in the NatWest T20 Blast on Thursday when they take on Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl (7pm).

The squad of 14 is boosted by the return of fast bowler Tymal Mills, who has recovered from a hamstring injury having tested his fitness on Tuesday in a second-team T20 game against Somerset.

Head Coach Mark Davis said: “Hampshire are a strong side but we have done well at the Ageas Bowl in the past and it would be great for confidence to get our first win there and build on it.

“Having Tymal back is a big boost, not only for him personally but the whole squad. We have managed his rehab very carefully and he came through his four overs in the seconds on Tuesday and he’s raring to go. Obviously, he is a big player for us and we’re looking forward to seeing him reproduce the performances which lifted the whole tournament last year.”

Squad: Ross Taylor (captain), Luke Wright, Chris Nash, Stiaan van Zyl, Ben Brown, Laurie Evans, Chris Jordan, David Wiese, Jofra Archer, Will Beer, Danny Briggs, Phil Salt, George Garton, Tymal Mills

Match stats (supplied by Opta)

- Hampshire have tasted victory in 10 of their last 11 matches versus Sussex Sharks; winning the last three in succession.

- Hampshire have won five of their last six at home to the Sharks; the visitors winning the last such fixture however.

- Hampshire have claimed victory in four matches on the trot ahead of this contest.

- Mason Crane (Hampshire) has the best economy rate of any bowler to record 10-plus overs this season (5.4); he’s only been hit for four boundaries across his 12 overs.

More than 100 vehicles abandoned by a now-defunct airport parking company have been returned to their rightful owners by police.

The force had received several reports in recent days of passengers booking their cars into the care of Gatwick First Parking, but not having their vehicles returned to them on their arrival at Gatwick Airport.

The company, which is not a Gatwick Airport approved meet-and-greet parking company and has no relationship with the airport, appears to have since ceased trading, according to Sussex Police.

Through research and intelligence, police have located approximately 120 vehicles at various sites in Sussex and Surrey.

Further checks identified the company office at an address in Surrey, where the keys for vehicles which had been collected from passengers departing from Gatwick Airport were left.

While this is a civil matter – meaning Sussex Police has no control to seize the keys or the cars – officers made extensive enquiries to contact the landowners and partner agencies, including Gatwick Airport Ltd and trading standards officers from Surrey County Council, and have facilitated the release of more than 100 vehicles to their owners.

The landowners, assisted by third parties, were then able to contact passengers to arrange collection of their cars.

Despite the success, there are still a number of keys – approximately 30 – to vehicles which have yet to be located.

The owners of these outstanding vehicles will be contacted by police and kept up to date with any progress.

Sergeant Darren Taylor, of the Gatwick Policing Team, said: “It’s essential that Gatwick Airport passengers use official on-airport parking, or companies registered with Gatwick’s off-airport approved parking operators scheme only, to avoid this sort of thing from happening.

“We’re carrying out further enquiries to locate the outstanding vehicles, and the owners of those vehicles will be contacted and kept up to date. Our priority is to find and return their vehicles to them as soon as we possibly can.

“We’re also extremely grateful to everyone who has assisted us in contacting passengers to reunite them with their vehicles. Without their support, we would have had a far harder task.”

If you are planning to leave your car at the airport, please ensure you check the Gatwick Airport approved parking operators online at www.gatwickairport.com/parking/other-parking-options/operator-scheme/

Sammy Donnelly swooped to sign forward Evan Archibald this week to add to his Shoreham Football Club striking pool.

Archibald, who netted 26 times for Eastbourne Town in the Southern Combination League Premier Division last term, has decided to be part of Mussels’ first-ever campaign at Bostik League South level.

The experienced frontman has an impressive CV and Donnelly sees his addition as a major coup.

Archibald has vast experience playing at Bostik League level or higher. As well as stints at Eastbourne Borough, Worthing, Horsham, Lewes, Hastings United and Peacehaven & Telscombe in this country, Archibald also finished top-scorer in a season-long stay with Finnish second division side AC Kajaani.

Identifying and bringing in a striker with a proven goalscoring record at this level is something Donnelly has sought all summer and now he feels he has got that.

Donnelly said: “Evan is a great addition for us. He’s only played one friendly and had one training season – it’s going take a little time for the players to get used to him and for him to get used to us.

“What Evan will bring is goals, it’s something he has proven throughout his career and I’m looking forward to what he can do with us this season.”

Donnelly has also added another striker in the past week with former Crawley Town forward Mitz Nayee joining Mussels.

Shoreham’s boss is satisfied with the depth in his strikeforce.

He added: “Mitz was a contract player at Crawley Town when they were in the Conference under Steve Evans. It’s early days with him aswell but I’m hopeful he’ll prove himself as a goalscorer at this standard for us this season.”

Shoreham’s preparations for a first assault in the Bostik League South have gathered pace this past week. Donnelly’s side scored a maiden friendly win with a 2-0 success at two-divisions-lower SCFL Division 1 rivals Steyning Town. Mussels were beaten 1-0 at newly-promoted East Preston three days later.

This time of the season is not about results for Donnelly – it’s about getting games in his players’ legs.

He said: “Evan got 70 minutes against East Preston, which was good.

“I’m not worried about results, it’s just about getting these players used to each other ahead of the season.”

Mussels’ Bostik League South fixtures were released last Thursday.

A first-ever season at this level starts at home against South Park on Saturday, August 12.

Mussels then make the short trip to Horsham three days later before another away game at Carshalton Atheltic on Saturday, August 26.

Shoreham visit Cray Wanderers on Boxing Day before welcoming Thamesmead Town on New Year’s Day.

A trip to Phoenix Sports on Saturday, April 28 brings the curtain down on a first campaign at this level, one that Mussels manager Donnelly hopes will see his team remain at this level for at least another season.

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