Tim's Top 10 Bright Ideas
- Hands of our hospitals - Tim set up the Keep Worthing & Southlands Hospital (KWASH) campaign to focus protests at the threats to close Southlands and downgrade Worthing hospital by shutting A&E, maternity, paediatrics and other departments. So hands off our hospitals Minister.
- Give us a bypass - people in Worthing & Adur have been campaigning for over 30 years to get a bypass around Worthing/lancing.
Over that time thousands of extra houses have been built to make Worthing the largest town in Sussex whilst traffic on the A27 is gridlocked and forecast to rise by a further 23% over the next 15 years. So what hope for ambulances diverted from a downgraded Worthing hospital? It's time to look at our bypass again seriously Minister. - Stop the Garden Grab - due to changes in planning regulations by Government and the demand to crowd ever more houses into Sussex to meet centrally imposed targets houses with large gardens in Worthing & Adur are being bought up by developers to replace with high density flats often out of keeping with the local area. Isn't our infrastructure under enough pressure already and shouldn't local people who object have more of a say? That's why we're supporting this petition. For more information see www.conservatives.com/scripts/campaign.cfm?obj_id=131201
- Midnight football - based on an initiative in Scotland Tim is working with Adur Council, local police, Boundstone College and Lancing Leisure Centre to set up a football league for bored local teenagers in and around Lancing to keep them off the streets late at night.
- Mobile phone masts - let the people decide - we are facing a deluge of mobile phone masts all over the place, many too close to houses or environmentally sensitive areas for comfort, but if they are below 15m they usually do not require planning permission whatever people think. Tim has been calling for the mobile phone companies to publish maps of all their proposed mast sites and give local people greater say over where these things go. It's time to give people more say.
- Making Worthing Worth It - Tim and Peter Bottomley set up this campaign to give young people a say in how the local community is being developed particularly on key sites like Teville Gate and the Aquarena. We need to get on with a state of the art mixed development at Teville Gate to include leisure facilities for young people easily accessible by transport links. Either the new Aquarena should go there or stay in central or east Worthing.
- Fair Deal for Fishersgate - Fishersgate has been the neglected corner of West Sussex for too long. Now that the future of Fishersgate Community School has been secured after a hard fought fight Tim is working with councillors to get a comprehensive new children's centre attached to the school and regeneration for the area.
- Local film at Ropetackle - the Ropetackle Arts & Education Centre at Shoreham will be opening soon and Tim is Chairman of the Charity running it. Film will be one of the early activities at the centre which is particularly appropriate given Shoreham's film making heritage from the time of the Glasshouse Studios on Shoreham Beach. Tim wants to include local newsreels made by local schools, based on the old Pathe News reports before film showings at the centre. if you have some good ideas for the Centre or want to become involved look at our website on www.ropetackle.co.uk
- Supporting the Sustainable Communities Bill- Tim is supporting a Parliamentary Bill giving new powers to communities and their elected councils to drive Government policy to reverse 'ghost town Britain' - the ongoing loss of local shops, services and facilities with the knock on economic, social and environmental effects. For further information see www.localworks.org
- Stop killing whales in the name of research -Despite strong evidence that 'scientific whaling' is unlawful, Japan plans on killing even more whales next year, including the endangered humpback whale: the singer of the sea. The only way to stop Japanese whaling is for the governments to make it clear that Japan will face serious consequences if it continues killing whales. Tim supports the IFAW campaign to stop whaling.
