Copthorne Village website

The request from Copthorne youth via the Copthorne Local Area Team (LAT) was ratified at the meeting of the Amenities Committee on October 9th and a set of goalposts and some seating have now been provided on the Recreation ground. Councillor Anne Souter, speaking for the youth on the Council, has reported their thanks to the Council. We do have concerns regarding litter and broken bottles in that area and we urge all who use the bottle bank next to the Rec to ensure no bottles are left outside the recycling bin but all placed inside. We also ask the young people using the Rec to keep the area tidy. If that is not the case, the provison of further facilities will be jeopardised. We are still hopeful of some funding from the grant of £216,000 which was awarded to the District Council by the Big Lottery Fund through the Children’s Play Initiative. We will continue to work for improvements to recreational and youth facilities in the village.
I hope as many of you as possible objected to the Copthorne sites included in the updated Small-scale Housing Allocations Development Plan Document issued by the District Council and reported on last time. By now you should have received an acknowledgement of your representation which confirms that if you were opposed to the inclusion of one or more of the sites, then you are a supporter of the District Council’s original document (which did not include any Copthorne sites). The decision as to whether or not these sites are to be included for possible future development will be made by an Inspector of the Planning Directorate, based on the weight of objections or support registered. This examination will commence at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 6, 2007 at the District Council offices. A Pre-Examination Meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 12 at Clare Hall, Haywards Heath starting at 10 a.m. The public can attend but, if you wish to do so, advance notice must be given to the Programme Officer on 01444 477188 by December 4th.  Your Council, and the District Council, will continue to fight to protect the quality of the village environment and avoid Copthorne being subsumed into Crawley.