House call to John Prescott

Thousands of new houses will have to be built each year in Sussex for the foreseeable future by order of the Government.

Already this is one of the most crowded parts of one of the most crowded countries in the world.

Yet targets for increased housebuilding have been imposed on Sussex councils by John Prescott with orders they must be implemented.

The population of Britain is not growing fast and what need there is in Sussex is for low-cost social housing.

Yet as Chris Bowers points out in the Argus today, most of the homes being built are expensive because that's what makes money for developers.

The houses are usually built on the edge of towns and villages, encouraging dependency on cars when traffic on Sussex roads is already twice the national average.

They are taking away acres of green fields and are being planned in a haphazard way with amenities such as schools and leisure centres tagged on as afterthoughts.

Of all the problems facing Sussex, this huge housing expansion is the most serious.

Councils of all political complexion must join together and say to John Prescott - enough is enough.

The alternative is the destruction of much beautiful countryside and the ruination of many lovely villages.

Inconvenienced

People who want to use the post office in Newhaven now visit a tiny temporary building in a car park that looks like a temporary loo.

It is a constant reminder of how much postal services have declined.

Yet the old post office building, which served the town well for many years, stands empty in Newhaven High Street.

It would make perfect sense for the service to move back there and postal chiefs should do it as soon as possible.

In the doghouse

Former children's TV presenter Michaela Strachan was on the South Downs at Cissbury Ring drawing attention to an unpleasant problem.

So many dogs foul the historic site every day the National Trust is appealing to owners to keep it clean.

Every dog has its day but Michaela and the trust would rather it wasn't at Cissbury Ring.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.