Cuckfield walks the Cuck-stye site

Large numbers of villagers jumped at the chance to join a guided countryside tour of the Cuck-stye site, where a local company is planning to build a giant new settlement in the face of widespread opposition. Despite the controversial plan by developer Fairfax to build 1,600 houses merging Cuckfield and Ansty being dropped from the latest District Plan, it could be back within months. It would come on top of 3,500 houses now under construction in the huge Northern Arc development less than a mile from Ansty and in the same rural parish.

“We have been given a detailed briefing by Mid Sussex District Council that the developer Fairfax will put up a very determined fight to get this controversial plan back on track, which is not surprising since there are millions of pounds at stake,” said parish Councillor Simon Stokes, who is also Co-Chair of the Stop Cuck-sty Action Group. “It was great to see so many local residents and dogwalkers come on the tour, which will help the campaign to build even more momentum and comes on the back of three other well-attended community events in the past seven months,” he added.

A six-week public consultation is now underway and Mid Sussex District Council Leader Jonathan Ash-Edwards wants everyone to have their say. “The decision to exclude the Ansty Farms site from the latest draft of the plan will be heavily challenged by the site promoter at all stages of the plan making process,” said Jonathan, in a letter to parish councils.

And he went on to warn: “They will of course present their own transport modelling and other studies seeking to justify inclusion of the site.” Four initial studies have already been commissioned by Stop Cuck-stye Action Group, covering Landscape assessment, ecology, traffic and planning issues. Whilst a legal scoping strategy is also underway. “We are gearing up for a long battle, but at the same time Fairfax will try to stay one step ahead of us as we move towards a planning inquiry. But there is every chance our community will win in the end,” added SCAG Co-chair, Simon Stokes.

Cuckfield welcomes Marc Pearl Hairdressing to the High Street

Marc Pearl Hairdressing

Marc Pearl Hairdressing, in Cuckfield, is the second salon to open by business owners Marc Ranson, Adam Pearl and Ross Lambert, who launched their first in Haywards Heath over five years ago. The trio who met while working at Toni and Guy have joined heads to open their new salon where they will be based above Jimmy’s Barbers at the top of the high street. “We currently have 12 members of staff members that will work across both salons. We chose Cuckfield as a location as we have always really liked the village and felt we could bring something different to our customers; high level hairdressing at a reasonable price,” said Marc. “The fit out of the Cuckfield salon took about three months to complete but now we’re here we’re really looking forward to welcoming our customers and hoping to maybe pick up a few more along the way.” Marc Pearl Hairdressing is open Tuesday to Friday, from 9am until 6pm, and on Saturdays from 8am until 4pm.

Greener Cuckfield's Small Steps, Big Changes this November 2022

Greener Cuckfield

Earlier this year our local sustainability group Greener Cuckfield had their first annual general meeting. In retrospect, it was a good event and the results of the election saw the committee retain their seats for another year. There was a lot of positivity in all of the annual reports. Highlights included news of our first grant award and an expansion for our recycling hub at The Queen’s Hall. The hub is now collecting four different plastic waste streams.

Since our annual general meeting, our recycling team has created posters to display all of the sorts of plastic waste that they will now collect from the bins at The Queen’s Hall. They have also launched an information page on our website that can be accessed here: www.greenercuckfield.org/recycling One item that will no longer be accepted is milk bottle tops from 1st December. This might sound like bad news but actually it is happening because you can now put milk top bottles in your blue recycling bins at home as long as they are screwed onto the empty bottle.

We also want to share our most exciting news. Greener Cuckfield are hosting a great event this month called Small Steps, Big Changes. This will be held on 17th November at the Village Hall on London Lane (aka Cuckfield pre-School). Doors will open at 7.15pm and will run from 7.30pm to 9pm. The talks will be short but informative and there will be something for everyone. Speakers include an expert in the field of culinary medicine and a Cuckfield-based sustainable energy specialist. Although entry is completely free, we would ask that you reserve your seats so we can get a good idea of how many people are coming. If this interests you, please go to www.bit.ly/3FLtRI2 to save your seat.