As one of the last areas in the southeast where we still get a good dark sky, it has also been wonderful to try to see all seven known planets aligned in the night sky.
Spring is a great time of year to enjoy nature. On Friday I visited the RSPB Pulborough Brooks at Wiggonholt near Storrington. With beautiful views across to the South Downs, this reserve is set in one of the richest areas for nature in the country. At this time of year there are a fantastic array of birds: lots of aerobatic Lapwings and wintering wildfowl, such as Wigeon and Teal. The RSPB also looks after neighbouring Amberley Wildbrooks.
We cannot take these precious and delicate nature landscapes for granted which is why it is important that we make our rivers even cleaner and invest in the infrastructure to cope with the population influx in the southeast of England. I share residents’ concerns about the increases in our water bills, but the hard truth is that many of us spend more on a cup of coffee than a whole day of clean water and our sewage taken away. Since 2014 the average water and wastewater bill increased by just 0.5% compared with inflation of 33%.
Progress often takes longer than we would like but one real positive development locally. This week, West Sussex County Council have been erecting signage for the lower 20 mph speed limit that Petworth residents and the Town Council have successfully obtained. On a targeted basis in the centres of towns where there are narrow pavements and young children and elderly in the vicinity of heavy vehicles these sorts of changes make perfect sense.