Apparently, two years ago this land was designated for community use; that a doctor's surgery, dentists or vets practice should be built there. Until very recently, a notice was pinned up there announcing that the land belonged to the NHS.

The sign is gone. And now Sunley Holdings has lodged an application to build a two-storey office block there. Councillor John Merrill argues that the land should have the office block built on it, since he believes councillors "can't restrict the use of the land to something that nobody wants."

Hey, wait a minute. What happened to the "dire need for a surgery"? The site is away from housing. It is served by the bus which runs through the Triangle and Tescos. But that would make things far too easy for the residents surrounding Sidney West.

And what about the money? MSDC won't make any money from the development of a site it doesn't own. Much better that they bang the surgery right on Leylands Road, with its resulting gridlock!

Visions
As per usual our councillors are being rather coy about their plans to rip up Burgess Hill's town centre. They have only just sent residents notices, and not even to all of them. Bob Draper speaks of how he found out what the developers had in store for his home in Queens Crescent: "When we went online to look at the plans we saw our house wasn't there."

The plans, if you can comprehend the rather strange looking drawings, will be in Burgess Hill town library from 13 February to 12 March. Only on two days will there be anybody to speak to regarding the plans - 17 and 18 February - in the foyer.

Exactly who will answer questions, I don't know. Perhaps Thornfield Properties? Surely not our councillors? I can't imagine they would want to fend off questions from people who have just found out their houses are now worthless. I note that the times at which these "experts" will be available are not specified. Is that because they think if too many people appear at once they might be ganged-up upon and lynched?

Burgess Hill Town Football Club
The council may have got themselves into a mess over planning, but one of their main proposals, to turn Burgess Hill Town's ground into housing, sadly seems to be becoming inevitable. The club has now resigned itself to a change of venue. I wish it would fight, and even sue the individuals who have made its life hell. But I can't blame them.

The thing that gets me is this "Bedelands Residents Association". I have never been to any of their meetings, but I know people who have. They went once, never to return. They were left with an impression of a group of people filled with their own self-importance - a bit like the council really - and made to feel unwelcome.

I now realise that they were unrepresentative of those living around the football ground, but made enough noise to get it fined. It suited both theirs and the council's purposes to cause trouble, since the council wanted to make money selling the land to developers.

I hope St Andrews Cricket Club has taken note of all this. They seem supremely indifferent to the fate of Sidney West. Why do they believe our local politicians when they assure them of their support for recreational facilities?

Recycling Award
I would like to make an award to Councillor David Shevels for his contribution to the environment. He has had a letter printed in the Leader, attacking those "relative newcomers" who oppose plans for Sidney West; like myself in fact. Actually, I have lived in the same house since October 1981, but that's by the by. Oddly enough, the exact same letter appeared in the Mid Sussex Times the week before. These new-fangled word processors, they are marvellous, aren't they? You can send the same letter to all and sundry, like confetti, can't you, Dave?