Littlehampton Town Council  Planning and Transport  Committee have proposed that the Windmill Theatre, the Swimming & Sports Centre, the Maltravers Park, and the Norfolk Pleasure Gardens should be listed as Assets of Community Value.
The Committee has delegated power to carry out this action, and the nominations have been submitted to the District Council for listing as Assets of Community Value, under Part 5 Chapter 3 of the Localism Act 2011.
As the action has already been carried out there's no need to contribute to the open public question time at the Town Council meeting at 6-30pm on Thursday 29th November, in the Millennium Chamber, but if you feel inclined to turn up and express your support it would encourage all Councillors in their defence of our Leisure Assets.
The Assets of Community Value measures in Part 5 Chapter 3 of the Localism Act 2011 provide for a local council to maintain a list of 'community assets'.  Local community groups, Town or Parish Councils are able to nominate an asset, and, if the nomination is accepted by the local authority, it will be listed. Then when it is put up for sale the group will have to be informed and will be given time to prepare a bid.  There is no community right to buy the asset, just to bid.

Although not part of the Draft Leisure Strategy, Maltravers Park, which was given to the people of Littlehampton in 1913 for sports recreation, is also under threat from Arun District Council who wish to remove the grass tennis courts and replace them with a 'community growing space' complete with polytunnels and wooden sheds. Friends Of Maltravers Park has been established to fight these proposals. A public meeting has been arranged for 7pm Wednesday 21st November at The Dairy in Church Street, Please come along and voice your support to our campaign. The website is at www.fomp.info
NOTE THE POSTPONEMENT OF THE DECEMBER ARUN COUNCIL MEETING - see below

It will be held later in the municipal year. This means that the next meeting that you can lobby and ask questions is the ADC Cabinet meeting on 14th December. 
Note- Cabinet meetings start at 5pm
The meeting has been postponed, but Decision Day is still 11th February
Please look at the Forums to see whether suggestions for Questions have been added - and please think about making some suggestions yourself, especially on any issues you feel haven't been raised properly.
Information on how to give advance notice to the Cabinet secretary are in the What To Do Now section (see top 'button bar ' link above).

On 26th October the East Beach Residents Association committee met the Hon. Nick Gibb, MP for Bognor and Littlehampton.

 He fully supported the view that both the Swimming & Sports  Centre and the Windmill Theatre should remain on their present sites.   He undertook to write to ADC asking them to co-operate fully with the Leisure Action Group and provide them with all the necessary information and support.

We need everyone to actively continue to raise their voices in the lead up to the decision 11 February.
We now need everyone to write to their own Arun District Councillor.
HOW? - Look at the 'WHAT TO DO NOW' page (click the text in the 'button' row near the top of this page) and look for the 'Keep on Persuading' item (scroll down as necessary)

You should ask for assurance that they will support the views of residents, Littlehampton Town Council, Rustington Parish Council and Nick Gibb our local MP, that the Swimming and Sports Centre should remain on its present site, with no sale of any of the land, and grant funding be sought to refurbish the complex.

Further, the Windmill Theatre should be supported, remain on its present site, perhaps as a free standing Trust and available grant funding be sort to upgrade the facility to provide digital projection.   This would improve the range of programmes available by giving option of live streaming of Opera, Ballet and concerts and even sport venues from world renowned venues.

26th October Circulated Update
We report on the meeting of the full ARUN DISTRICT COUNCIL held this Wednesday, 24 October in the Council Chamber of the Arun Civic Centre in Littlehampton.

First the good bits of news:
The date for District Council Cabinet to decide on the Leisure Strategy was put back from November to 11 February 2013.  

• The Community Working Group empowered by the Public Meeting 2nd October had its formation meeting this past Tuesday, 23 October.
• Reportedly there were over 2,500 public responses to the District Council Survey on the Leisure Strategy (across the District), including the many written letters and emails from you!  
• Today East Beach Residents will meet the Hon. Nick Gibb, MP for Bognor and Littlehampton.
• Advice has been sought and received from Locality, the entity set up by the Department of Communities and Local Government to advise on Community Rights under the new Localism Act (http://mycommunityrights.org.uk/my-community-rights/)   

Second, the not so good bits of news:

• At the Council Meeting we heard our responses to the 19-day ADC Public Consultation (17 Sep - 5 Oct) were given to a consultant to digest, and then tell Council what we said.
• Most people at the Public Question session yesterday, said afterwards, Council responses to Public Questions on the fate of the Windmill and Leisure Centre remaining on the seafront, and the process to decide it, were not overly encouraging.
•   While the Arun Cabinet Member indicated that Council was open to further dialogue, like discussions with the Community Working Group, it was confirmed there will be no further public consultation on this matter before the decision at the 11 February District Cabinet meeting.
• Lastly, Council received only 4 written questions from the whole of the public of Littlehampton, Rustington, East Preston and surrounding areas at this Council Meeting.  We suggest that small number of questions sends an unfortunate message to Council.

As Littlehampton Councillors so clearly said, it is important for everybody to get their views across to Arun District Council where this decision will be made.  The number of your letters and responses during the formal Public Consultation Period on the Leisure Strategy Sept 17 and Oct 5th was fantastic!    However, it is now decision time – the last laps so to speak.  Unless everyone actively continues to raise their voices in the lead up to the decision 11 February, we fear the outcome.  

First in an expected chain of events is the Windmill Cinema will go dark this January.   As you heard in the Public Meeting 2nd October, UK film distributors switch over to digital-only film shortly.  

Again please feel free to circulate this message more widely in the community - and our apologies for any cross-posting.

'Dear All' email circulated 22nd October 2012
If anyone can make the 6:00 PM Question Period at the full Arun District Council Meeting at the Council Chamber of the Civic Centre this Wednesday,  and plan to ask a question, please email your question to Council tomorrow. The address is committees@arun.gov.uk .  Please cc ltc@littlehampton-tc.gov.uk to ensure the Community Working Group coordinated by the Town Clerk gets a copy.   Unfortunately on this matter - silence is not golden.   Please note the meeting is a 6:00 not the normal 6:30 for some reason.  The Town Clerk also says the Working Group has its formation meeting tomorrow (Tuesday evening).  EBRA will hand over all coordination tasks to them.    

If some of you feel it helpful to coordinate questions, or prompt ideas, a few thoughts are noted below.  

Possible questions:

Only 3 as a sample - if anyone wants to claim these as is, or adopt and alter please do so! There are many questions we could ask.

Q1 – Question about the fate of the Windmill in the Leisure Strategy for Littlehampton and Area: 

Statement:  Closing the Windmill will increase transport and personal costs for everyone. We will all have to go to Bognor and further a field – or go without.  People of all ages will have to travel evenings for cinema, theatre and culture.  Amateur groups including children will have to travel outside the community for practice time, be on stage and present live theatre. We have heard from our amateur groups how facilities at the Local Academy are not at all adequate and conflict over access time.  When one factors in all the direct and indirect costs, does it still make sense to close the Windmill?  

Question:  Will District Council taken note of the many direct and hidden costs that closing the Windmill will impose on the community of Littlehampton and area when it decides the fate of the Windmill?   Will Council provide additional travel assistance such as for for handicapped and the elderly who will loose their access to culture and entertainment due to these cost plus many any special burdens that kind of travel will place on them?    

Q2 – Question about the fate of the Swimming, Sport and Aqua Centre on the Leisure Strategy for Littlehampton and Area: 

Statement:   Splitting off the Sport and Aqua Centre from the Leisure Centre and Swimming Pool will reduce fitness and recreation provision in our area.  Any facilities that are relocated to the Academy site will suffer from reduced day time access for all area residents. We heard clearly in the Public Meeting that many sport and leisure activities now run from the Sport Dome and Aqua Centre will either dramatically reduce or simply have to shut down.  Town and Parish Councils voted to say the current location of the Leisure Center is ideal. User group representatives endorsed that.  The current location also allows future expansion in better times.  

Question:  How will District Council take account of the unanimous views of the Town and Parish Councils to keep the Leisure Centre intact and located where it is now on the Littlehampton seafront providing the best access now and in the future?  

Q3 -     Question about plans for Norfolk Gardens in the Leisure Strategy for Littlehampton and Area: 

Statements:   There is little information about the impact of PROJECT 3A: (Waterfront) PARK ENHANCEMENT PLAN on the Littlehampton seafront, or indeed details of what is planned to change and "revitalize" our local recreation and fitness. We read the conceptual plan is to sell the Windmill, and part of our existing sport & fitness facilities, “to invest in a range of improvements that create a waterfront park that is branded, managed and marketed as a destination in its own right, one which encompasses a variety of different destinations of different type to integrate the East Bank, the Green, Norfolk Gardens, and Mewsbrook Park into a park with a name, while retaining distinctive component parts.” 

Norfolk gardens is an important part of current leisure provision and home to beautiful gardens that make it distinctive and a great place to live.   It is important not to repeat “after the fact consultations” we witnessed in developing the options for the Leisure Strategy. And otherwise to balance between local recreation / fitness provision and attracting tourist to the seafront in the summer. Question:  Will District Council therefore ensure there is a genuine mechanism, this time, that enables Norfolk Gardens recreation users to join with conservation interests and area residents to discuss the detailed plans for Norfolk Gardens and its recreation provision arising from the Water Front Park Project 3A proposal.

-----------------------------

And for the Community Working Group to decide whether to pose this broader question.
On the Leisure Strategy for Littlehampton and Area: 

Statement:       By unanimous vote Littlehampton Town and Rustington Parish Councillors rejected proposals in the draft Leisure Strategy for this area and they instead voted to keep the Windmill and Leisure Centre where they are. the position of our Local Councillors was overwhelmingly endorsed by the Public Meeting  2nd October, reportedly the largest public meeting of its kind in the Littlehampton area since 1982. The Public Meeting endorsed a community /working group to sit down with local authorities to develop a richer set of options concerning these facilities which the community can support.  

Question:  In view of the fact the Working Group has been formed, and more to the point, in view of the aims of the Localism Act and its purpose to give local communities greater control over local decisions like housing and planning, will District Council adjust their decision timeframe on the Leisure Strategy to ensure our Community User Working Group has time to do its work , and report back to the community on the Littlehamption components of that Strategy.

'Dear All' email 19th October 2012
We alert you to the next chance to “raise our collective voices” to help keep the Windmill Theatre and Cinema, and the Swimming and Sport Centre where they are.

A meeting of the full ARUN DISTRICT COUNCIL is to be held this coming Wednesday, 24 October 2012 at 6: 00 pm in the Council Chamber at the Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton.

It is the last full Council Meeting before Arun District Cabinet is scheduled to take its decision in late November - less than 6 weeks time - on the draft Leisure Strategy proposals to permanently close the Windmill, and sell off and relocate part, or all of the Leisure Centre.

While this Council Meeting is not specifically about the Leisure Strategy, it is a good opportunity to remind Council Members of your concerns.

There is a 15 minute Public Question Time at the beginning.

-        Council requests those who want to ask a question, to kindly send an email with their question in advance to committees@arun.gov.uk . We suggest you also copy ltc@littlehampton-tc.gov.uk to ensure the Community Working Group gets a copy.

-        Otherwise, if you wish a member of the Community Working Group to ask a question on your behalf, email it to ltc@littlehampton-tc.gov.uk with a copy to committees@arun.gov.uk

It would be helpful if you and friends could come for the Question Time at the start of the meeting.  We look forward to seeing you there.

The full Council Meeting agenda is at http://www.arun.gov.uk/main.cfm?

We note further:

1.     Thirty-five people attended public Question Time at the Littlehampton Town Committee meeting on planning and transport Monday 15 October. We again thank all who were able to attend.

There was considerable interaction between the Committee Members and Public on what the new Localism Act may offer on this issue, including the two new Community Rights that came into effect July and September of this year.

-        One outcome was Committee will recommend that Littlehampton Town Council nominates the land and buildings of the Windmill and Leisure Centre as “assets of community value”, as provided under the Localism Act.  Committee Members encouraged qualifying community organisations to also consider nominating them.

-        Council cautioned it is not necessarily a solution. This is one path the Community may consider in response to the draft proposals to sell these community assets to build flats and a hotel on the seafront, should District Council decide to take that course.  There is a Moratorium of 6 months during which time the assets cannot be sold, if the Community Rights are exercised.

-        In parallel, contact was initiated with the Department of Communities and Local Government to seek guidance on these and other measures.

2.     The Community Working Group consisting of user group representatives and area residents set up by the Public Meeting October 2 has its formation meeting next week.  The role of the Working Group is noted in the Report on the Public Meeting.  The East Beach Residents Association (EBRA) will hand over to the Community / User Working Group as it becomes fully functional, including this email-alert role.

3.     The Hon. Nick Gibb MP for Bognor and Littlehampton has agreed to meet with the EBRA Committee members next week to better understand how the proposals in the draft Leisure Strategy would affect Littlehampton and area residents.

While the 19-day period that Arun District Council allowed for formal public consultation (17 Sept to 5 October) is over, do not forget that you, your family members, friends and members of your organisation can write to give your views about the Windmill and Leisure Centre – at any time.  

For your convenience, we include email contact addresses from previous Alert messages (below).

This email is sent to user groups of the Windmill and Leisure Centres, interested parties and residents of Littlehampton and area.  Please feel free to circulate this message more widely within your community and to members of your organisation - and our apologies for any cross-posting.