18 Feb to 21 April 2012

With the support of the Public Catalogue Foundation and linked to the BBC project www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/  the new Your Paintings exhibition at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery is your chance to discover some of the hidden gems from the museum’s collection.

Find out about stories and memories inspired by the Art Store as told by museum staff, members of the Friends of Worthing Museum, and other volunteers, pupils of Davison Church of England High School and a wide range of other community groups. In all thirty-five people were asked to choose their favourite paintings in the Museum collection.

Each person was also asked to give their thoughts about the painting they chose and their comments have been made into museum labels with a difference, as cartoon speech bubbles.

Hamish MacGillivray, exhibition curator, said: “It’s been a chance to ask Worthing residents to cast a fresh eye over our collections, and choose things they like. What has been very interesting is that the most popular paintings chosen are portraits and pictures that show extreme weather such as flooding in Worthing. This exhibition also shows the strong Sussex links that the collection has showing scenes from the Downs to the Coast.“

For those unable to visit the exhibition or wanting to add their own comments images of all theWorthingMuseumoil paintings are now available on the BBC Your Paintings website, making the collection accessible to a national and international audience.

To see more examples there is also a video of interviews on the exhibition on You Tube.

We have made the official announcement that the Olympic Torch Flame is coming through Worthing and Lancing on Monday 16 July and now we want local organisations to get in touch with us to let us know what they are planning for the 2012 Olympics.

“We have some ideas and know some of what is planned by others across Adur and Worthing,” says Clare Mangan Regeneration Manager for both councils “but we would love to hear from you about your plans! Celebrations don’t have to be on the Torch Relay day itself as there are lots of opportunities to celebrate including, during the Olympic Games itself from 27 July to 12 August, the Flame Festival from 24 to 28 August, leading to the Paralympic Games from 29 August through to the 9 September; in fact all summer!”

Both councils will coordinate the information, whether from schools, community organisations and clubs and see where it can offer help and advice i.e. road closures, health and safety, insurance etc.

So if you want to line the streets for the Flame, plant for 2012, hold a sports quiz or light a lantern for the Flame Festival we want to know! All you need to do is contact Clare Mangan (Regeneration Manager) on 01273 263066 or email on clare.mangan@adur-worthing.gov.uk.

London 2012 has issued some guidance to help people get ready to celebrate and make the Games local – just visit www.London2012.com/localleaders to find out more and become a local leader yourself!

Paul Yallop, Leader of the Council, said: “A big thank you to everyone who took part in our ‘Your Chance to be the Chancellor’ exercise last summer. This was the most successful consultation exercise the Council has run for some time and we had a great response to our request for ideas to help us balance our budget. It important to recognise the partnership with neighbouring Adur District Council and the hard work of staff at both Councils in continuing to deliver savings of over £2m per year to help protect frontline services. This has also meant that our residents will continue to benefit from the lowest average Council Tax in West Sussex.”

The final decision on the council tax will be made at the full Council Meeting on Tuesday 21 February 2012.

The Farmers' market is celebrating 10 years since the first market in July 2001 and boasts over 70 stalls selling a wide range of local produce and products and is probably the largest in Sussex. In addition it provides an opportunity as a great social gathering place where friends and acquaintances can meet and chat.

Shoreham's award winning Farmers' market recently returned to East Street following a £600,000 facelift to the street which has created a more pedestrian friendly and a continental style area for visitors to enjoy. 

David Steadman says: “It is great news that Shoreham Farmers' market is once again a winner in this prestigious event, celebrating local food”

The success of Shoreham Farmers' market is its wide variety of local produce, the support of the traders and the hundreds of visitors and shoppers that regularly support the market every month. Many thanks again to all those who have made the market so successful.”

Shoreham Farmers' market takes place on the second Saturday of every month in East Street Shoreham 9am to 1pm.

18 Feb to 21 April 2012

With the support of the Public Catalogue Foundation and linked to the BBC project www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/  the new Your Paintings exhibition at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery is your chance to discover some of the hidden gems from the museum’s collection.

Find out about stories and memories inspired by the Art Store as told by museum staff, members of the Friends of Worthing Museum, and other volunteers, pupils of Davison Church of England High School and a wide range of other community groups. In all thirty-five people were asked to choose their favourite paintings in the Museum collection.

Each person was also asked to give their thoughts about the painting they chose and their comments have been made into museum labels with a difference, as cartoon speech bubbles.

Hamish MacGillivray, exhibition curator, said: “It’s been a chance to ask Worthing residents to cast a fresh eye over our collections, and choose things they like. What has been very interesting is that the most popular paintings chosen are portraits and pictures that show extreme weather such as flooding in Worthing. This exhibition also shows the strong Sussex links that the collection has showing scenes from the Downs to the Coast.“

For those unable to visit the exhibition or wanting to add their own comments images of all the Worthing Museum oil paintings are now available on the BBC Your Paintings website, making the collection accessible to a national and international audience.

To see more examples there is also a video of interviews on the exhibition on You Tube.

Tony Seabrook of 1 The Haven, Lancing pleaded guilty to three offences at Worthing Magistrates’ court.  He was fined £450 for each offence and ordered to pay £245 Council costs and £15 victim surcharge (total £1610 amount to pay).  He was originally offered fixed penalty notices of £100 for each offence to avoid prosecution but now faces a bigger bill and a criminal conviction for not paying the notices.

The Council has received many complaints about vehicle sales on Brighton Road and Grinstead Lane over the past two years from residents that have had difficulty parking near their own homes and are fed up with the road being treated as an unofficial showroom. 

The offences were witnessed by a member of the public and an Adur District Council Officer, who saw Mr Seabrook expose vehicles for sale on three occasions despite numerous warnings not to carry out this practice.  Despite several attempts to offer Mr Seabrook a means of dealing with the cases without the need for prosecution, he ignored all correspondence and the Council therefore took further enforcement action.

Councillor Keith Dollemore, Adur’s Cabinet Member for a Clean and Green Environment, said:  “Residents who live along Brighton Road and Grinstead Lane in Lancing have repeatedly told the Council that they are thoroughly fed up with traders exposing their cars for sale outside their homes.  Selling vehicles on the public highway is a nuisance and an eyesore for those living and visiting the area. Traders who engage in this activity are misleading potential buyers into believing that they are dealing with a private individual.  The Council will therefore use enforcement action where appropriate to emphasise that this practice will not be tolerated.  Fixed penalty notices will be issued to those caught in the act, and if these are ignored the Council will prosecute offenders.”

Ms Garrison was served with an Abatement Notice under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in 2010 after a long history of complaints concerning loud music and vocal noise. However, the problems continued and council officers were called out on a number of occasions in 2011 to witness loud music which was audible in the street and in neighbouring properties, preventing neighbours from sleeping and was in breach of the notice.

Ms Garrison was fined £75 for each of the two offences and was ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and the Council’s costs of £659.20, a total of £824.20.  

Cabinet member for the environment, Clive Roberts, said: “Persistently noisy neighbours can make life intolerable for those living near-by and this is completely unacceptable. I hope this prosecution demonstrates that Worthing Borough Council takes the issue of noise nuisance seriously and is willing to take action against those that ignore warnings and continue to make the lives of their neighbours a misery.”

The Worthing Visitor guide for 2012 is out now, ready to promote the Worthing and Adur area as a great place to visit and stay. 

About 23,000 guides, full of information about the area including where to stay, visitor attractions and events will be sent around the country and abroad attracting visitors to Worthing and Adur.

Tourism is a major contributor to the economy of Adur and Worthing supporting more than 3,000 jobs.   In 2010 Worthing and Adur attracted just over three million holiday makers and day visitors who spent around £160 million pounds. 

Worthing and Adur continue to see visitor numbers growing each year with day visitors in particular seeing an increase. The popularity in the ‘staycation’, with people holidaying at home, looks set to continue and 2012 offers some really exciting opportunities for our tourism businesses.  

Adur and Worthing Councils are committed to supporting and developing the tourism sector. Promoting the destination is an important part of that work.

Worthing cabinet member for regeneration, Bryan Turner said: 

“Worthing is very much the traditional seaside town and it’s full of surprises too.  Tourism is a vital part of the town’s economy and this guide plays an important part in getting our beautiful town known around the UK and world as a great destination. There’s always plenty to see and do; 2012 will be really exciting and offer even more;  the Olympic Torch Relay, the Queens Diamond Jubilee, old favourites including the Worthing International Birdman Competition, Worthing Festival and the Bowls England International Bowls Championships and some brand new events are in the planning too including a Food & Drink Festival and a Kitesurfing Competition.” 

Adur cabinet member for regeneration, Jim Funnell added:

“The visitor guide shows off the delights of Adur too and helps to bring nearly 1million visitors to the district.”

The new guide is available from the brand new VisitWorthing Information Centre at the Dome: 22a Marine Parade, Worthing or at the Civic Centre, Shoreham-by-Sea.  It can be ordered by calling 01903 221066 or it can be viewed online at www.visitworthing.co.uk.

After months of agonising waiting for staff and theatre goers, Worthing council has decided that its three theatres will continue to be run from in-house as none of the other bidders' proposals offered the savings required.

The theatres' management team have been asked to prepare a business plan that will deliver substantial savings and stop the high subsidy levels currently necessary to keep the venues open.

The business plan will look into offering a substantially improved and more attractive theatre experience. This will include things such as upgrading the buildings (particularly the Connaught and Pavilion Theatres) using council funds and for example, introducing a small ticket levy, creating a more modern dining experience, offering more options to the customer such as buying tickets and booking meals online, and possibly installing 3D in the Connaught. It is anticipated that a substantial increase in income from running the theatres could be achieved which would be put towards any improvements.

“A great deal of work has been undertaken to ensure sufficient resources are available to continue current operations until 2013,”

says Paul Yallop, Leader of Worthing Council,

“Over the next few months we will be taking a hard look at the programming of the venues. The review has shown the Assembly Hall to be a great community asset which needs to be utilised in a more efficient way. It has always been our intention to maintain good theatre provision in Worthing but we can’t ignore the fact that the level of public subsidy necessary to do this is unaffordable in the medium to long term. I really look forward to working with the theatre staff over the next year or so to help bring their business plan to fruition. I also hope to involve local groups who have shown great commitment to saving the theatres. I am sure the public will show their support by enjoying the excellent upcoming shows including the Christmas Pantomimes.”

Councillor Mary Lermitte, member of the Theatres Working Group set up in March this year added,

“In May we asked for expressions of interest to run all or part of Worthing's theatres. Seventeen bids were received resulting in the detailed consideration of three serious proposals. And although the Group was impressed with the level of interest and standard of the three proposals it decided, after very careful analysis and deliberation, that none of them would both innovate the service and reduce the net cost to the council tax payer over the next few years. I would like to take this opportunity though to thank those shortlisted for their interest.”

The Theatres Working Group will remain in place to ensure the targets set out in the business plan are met.

The full report concerning the future of the Worthing Theatres operation/management will be considered by the Joint Strategic Committee which meets on the 29th November at 6.30pm at the Adur Civic Centre, Ham Road, Shoreham. The report can be found on Item 11 (PDF) of the 29 November 2011 meeting of the Joint Strategic Committee.