Aldingbourne Community Sports Centre

Trustees Required

ACSC are looking for 3 tustees with hopefully experience in the following:-

Booking Clerk

Secretary

Treasurer

These are voluntary positions, training and support will be given.

Anyone interested should contact Mr. Mike Burton e-mail woodgate37@talktalk.net, or by letter to Mr M Burton, Aldingbourne Community and Sports Centre, Oliver’s Meadow, Westergate.

Dog Fouling

Over the last three years we have been fighting a losing battle against the unacceptable levels of dog fouling on the football pitches, children\'s play area and other areas of the site.

There have also been several incidents where children have been frightened by dogs roaming free without the immediate presence of their owner.

Due to the actions of a small number of inconsiderate dog owners, the Trustees have been forced into the decision that from the 1st November 2011, all dog walkers using the Aldingbourne Community Sports Centre grounds must keep their dogs on a lead. This decision was made in the face of calls for a total ban on dogs.

The Trustees have taken this decision after careful deliberation and in conjunction with Aldingbourne Parish Council, Aldingbourne Football Team, Barnham Trojans Football Team, Hopscotch Playschool and reports detailing incidents witnessed by Trustees and other members of the public.

The ban on allowing dogs to roam free has been delayed until the beginning of November to allow notices to be erected warning all dog owners that if they fail to comply and/or they fail to clean-up after their dog they may be banned from using the site, face prosecution and if convicted face a fine.

Dog owners should also be aware that no dogs will be allowed in the new children\'s play area, with the exception of guide dogs,.

The Trustees can only apologise for the inconvenience this will cause to the responsible dog walkers of our community.

Arsonist Strikes Signal Box

Fire-fighters rushed to the centre in the early hours of this morning as the Barnham signal box was on fire.

The fire was contained and extinguished but the Edwardian timber signal box signal box has been severely damaged.

The signal box was saved from demolition by a group of local enthusiasts and moved to its current home just under 12 months ago. Members of the Barnham Signal Box Trust have spent many hours restoring it and this has come as a bitter blow.

Anyone with information on this crime is asked to contact Sussex Police on 0845 60 70 999 or anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Stage Curtains Phase Two Completed

The new track was fitted last week but the contractors held off fitting the curtain as the hall floor was still being completed. Today they returned to finish the project and we think it looks fantastic.

The two phase project started almost a year ago to replace the rear curtain, tabs and main curtain. Funding for phase one was obtained via a grant from the Joint Downland Area Committee and the rear and tab curtains were fitted.

The funding for Phase two of the project was kindly provided by Arun District Council.

Hall Re-opens

The hall floor has finally been completed and now the big clean up begins.

We would like to thank Mike and Sandy Burton, Bill Warwick, Dennis Leonard and Maggie Rhodes for giving up their free time on Thursday to clean the large amount of dust from the hall and stage.

The new floor will be put to the test on Saturday night when members of BLS dance will take to the floor.

To finish off the hall, volunteers will be redecorating, the stage curtain is being fitted together with new window curtains over the coming weeks.

Police to step up their patrols after serial arsonist strikes again.

Police have warned a serial arsonist they believe is responsible for a dozen incidents in the Westergate area to stop before he pays the price.

The 12 or so incidents happened in May and June, when hedgerows, sheds and fences around the Westergate, Woodgate and Eastergate areas were set on fire, mainly at weekends.

There had not been any incidents since then after police stepped up their efforts with high-visibility patrols in the area – until Friday night when a hedge and fence of a rear garden in Ivy Lane, Westergate, were set on fire.

Arundel and Littlehampton Neighbourhood Police Team Inspector Robert Moore said: "The longer it continues, the more resources we will be putting into it. They will be caught will have to pay the price.

"If any member of the public sees anything suspicious, even if it turns out not to be suspicious, I would rather hear from them than not.

"At the moment we have some potential suspects, but no evidence.

"It started in the summer, when we had a series of fences or hedges and bushes being set alight. We have done some high visibility patrols, and it went very quiet for the past six to eight to weeks.

"On Friday night we had another arson of a hedgerow, and again we have put out extra patrols on Friday and Saturday night in Westergate."

The incidents prompted a cross-agencies response with the fire and rescue service working with the police and the Arun Safer Partnership.

Arun District Commander Dave Benham said: "Firefighters have been working closely with local businesses to raise the awareness of these fires, encouraging them to be vigilant at all times.

"As a result of our partnering with the police, patrols in the vicinity have been increased.

"This has had a substantial effect in reducing the number of incidents. However, as this weekend has proved, we must continue to monitor the situation."

If anyone has any information that would be of assistance they should contact Sussex Police quoting the serial number 1921 of October 15 which relates to the fire in Ivy Lane.

It started at 11.05pm, and was put out by 11.30pm by a fire crew from Bognor.

Alternatively call the independent Crime Stoppers number 0800 555 111.

New benches installed

Visitors to the centre and the recreation field will notice some new additions. Six new benches were installed yesterday by M H Kennedy & Son; two outside the centre and a further four dotted around the site.

We would like to take this opportunity in thank the Parish council for donating four of the benches, with the remainder being provided by the ACSC.

Two of the benches will carry plaques commemorating the life of two prominent local ladies who are sadly no longer with us; Former Parish Councillor Mrs Bertha Watson and Mrs Wendy Hedges, our former bookings clerk.

Hall Closure - Week Commencing 18th October

During the week, the flooring company V.A. Hutchison Flooring Ltd have been onsite preparing the floor base ready for the new floor to be laid. They removed all of the loose original latex layer and began pouring the new latex. However, the moisture from the new layer has un-expectantly loosened the remaining old latex which has caused further delays. Thus, the we have had to close the Hall for a further 7 days while the remainder of the floor base is removed down to the concrete layer.

Hopscotch Pre School will continue to use the Lounge area, and we would like to thank the Aldingbourne Social Club for again making this available.

Further information will be posted here as it is received.

Floor tiles being removed

All tiles removed

New latex poured ready for new floor

New floor being laid

New latex layer failing in places. The effected area's are being ground back down to the concrete layer, then new latex will be poured.

images courtesy of Mike Burton

Hall Closure - Week Commencing 11th October

Many users of the Community Centre will be aware that the Hall floor has started to lift a break in places. Having called in the professionals (not bodie and doyle) it would seem to be caused by excessive humidity. The assessor from our insurance company also concluded that this must be the case.

I\'d like to take this opportunity on behalf of the Trustees to thank Mike Burton for all his time and effort in patching the floor over the last month and enabling us to keep the hall open for as long as we have.

V.A. Hutchison Flooring Ltd will be at the site for a minimum of 1 week to lay a new floor commencing 11th October 2010. Our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause any of our users.

Further updates will be posted as we get them.

Development ban could affect villages

Bognor Regis Observer reports that new building developments could be banned around the Five Villages. The embargo is set to be imposed by Arun District Council because of concerns about inadequate sewers.

The ban would apply to any scheme which would add to the flow in the underground network within the areas of Barnham, Westergate, Walberton, Eastergate and Yapton served by the Lidsey waste water treatment plant.

It would also include Middleton, Shripney and Climping. This catchment area encompasses some 19,000 residents over 1,411 hectares. There are 94km of public foul and surface water sewers as well as at least 7km of private systems which would be covered by the ban.

Arun assistant director of planning and housing strategy Karl Roberts said: "Sewage in Barnham has always caused problems and as a result we have had several occasions of bad flooding. We need to resolve this problem."

His comments came as the council\'s local development framework committee last week agreed to recommend to all councillors that a planning document presuming against future development which will produce extra effluent in the catchment area should be prepared.

The committee wants consultation about the intended ban to take place.

It decided also to seek the reformation of the Barnham drainage working group.

Official concern about the state of Barnham\'s sewage network was raised last spring by the Environment Agency regarding housing plans for Angel\'s Nursery on Yapton Road in Barnham. The proposals were turned down by Arun because of the agency\'s comments.

Investigations by the EA around the villages found the winter months and periods of heavy rain overloaded the sewer pipes to cause sewage to seep out of manholes into watercourses and fields.

An EA statement said: "Additional development is likely to cause an adverse environmental impact.

"Until a sustainable solution is found we will advise against development if it results in a net increase in the flow to the sewer network".