Friday afternoon July 13th and off to the Friary in the town centre to speak and listen at the Annual General Meeting of the Crawley branch of the University of the Third Age (U3A). U3A is ‘an organisation providing opportunities for education and interest for mature people’. Nationally, membership is growing and Crawley has a thriving and growing membership of over 500. The very informative website is www.crawleyu3a.org.uk.
The meeting was well-attended and after the AGM formalities were completed, I had 30 minutes in which to say a little about ‘being a councillor’ and - to me, more importantly - to listen to comments from U3A members. Some were complimentary about aspects of Crawley: a relative newcomer to Crawley commented enthusiastically on our beautiful parks and public footpaths and the links with the past conserved especially in the High Street. However, people during the meeting and afterwards expressed a number of concerns: for instance, for the future of Tilgate Park with charging for use of present and planned future facilities deterring some residents; for the Hawth under new commercial management; as well as the need for more bins in badly-littered areas of the town. Traffic congestion and parking figured prominently, with views voiced about speed humps being ineffective and possibly dangerous; about obstructive commuter parking in Pound Hill and the need for a multi-storey car park at Three Bridges Station; parking problems in Barnfield Road, Northgate; parking on grass verges in Gossops Green; and the need for a bus shelter on the Snooty Fox side of Three Bridges Station.
Concern was also expressed about the town centre and the high cost of parking deterring shoppers from nearby towns. Uneven pavements, notably in the Boulevard, were mentioned. A positive suggestion made was to bring back the tea room in the Memorial Gardens.
One speaker spoke passionately about the threat to open spaces within Crawley from house building and concern was expressed specifically about the continued possibility of ‘tower block’ flats between the ‘squareabout’ and railway line in Three Bridges. A question was asked why use was not being made of redundant school sites for house building, notably in Tilgate and Ifield.
U3A members felt that some elected representatives were not as responsive as they should be to concerns expressed by constituents. Many did not know of the existence of the West Sussex County Council Local Committees where a ‘Speak with Us’ item is always an agenda item so that residents can directly raise concerns with the county councillors present, who represent the various Crawley divisions. The next West Crawley Local Committee is on Thursday 25th October, with the East Crawley Local Committee on Thursday 8th November. Both start at 7pm in Crawley Library.
For those with an urgent concern, why not attend Public Question Time at Crawley Borough Council meeting tonight (Wednesday) at the Town Hall starting at 7.30pm?