Last Friday, I was delighted to join the Chair of Pulborough Parish Council, Ian Hare, in formally opening Pulborough Exchange. I am a big supporter of our local High Streets and it is great to see this new and innovative business, which helps people shop locally and to recycle.
I also visited Mark and Amy Dallyn (pictured) at The House on the Brooks in Pulborough to see how their local hospitality and farming business has weathered the pandemic and is preparing for a busy season of staycations and visitors to the South Downs National Park. The family-run enterprise was voted one of the top rural businesses in the UK, scooping a Rural Tourism Business Award in November.
Last October, I wrote to the Environment Minister to raise the issue of fly-tipping, a serious problem across West Sussex. As well as being unsightly, on average, each fly-tipping incident costs £800 to clean up, but in some cases this can be much higher with some facing bills of over £100,000. As ratepayers we all pay the price. That's why I am glad that following pressures from myself and others, last week the Government set out a new plan to clamp down on waste crime and support people and businesses to manage waste correctly. This will involve increased background checks on firms who move or trade waste, ensuring only that authorised handlers do so. It will also see the introduction of digital waste tracking – much like that used to track our parcels or grocery deliveries - using powers in the landmark Environment Act. Together, these reforms will protect landowners, wildlife and countryside-lovers by keeping our South Downs tidy.
At the time of writing, we have not yet seen the independent report being produced by civil servant, Sue Gray. As I wrote last week, having lost my own father to Covid during the most restricted phase of the 2020 lockdown where I could not even say a last farewell in person, I wholly understand the pain, hurt and frustration caused by allegations of drinks parties in 10 Downing Street. I won’t rush to judgement until the independent report lays out the facts which I look forward to then scrutinising closely.
