News/Blog

Next Talk

Our next talk will be on Friday 21st February 2025, when Marcus Rayner-Ward, the Head Winemaker at Wiston, will talk to us about wine making at Wiston.  He has worked at Wiston since 2018 and took over as Head Winemaker in 2022.

The talk will take place at the Steyning Centre and will start at 7.30 pm. Liquid refreshments will be served from 7 pm. Guests at our talks are always very welcome at our talks, subject to an admission charge of £5 each.

Change of date for the AGM and Steyning Bowl Awards

Please note that the AGM will be held on Wednesday, 16th April 2025, and not on Friday, 18th April, as advertised in our programme.  This is because of the Easter Bank Holiday.

This year’s Steyning Bowl Awards will be presented after the AGM.  The awards will focus on people and organisations which have made significant contributions to Steyning through voluntary work with the older generation.  Nominations can be made by people who are not members of the Society and should be made on the nomination form which can be found by following this link.  nomination-form (1)  The closing date for nominations is 2nd March 2025.  After the presentation, Catherine Mant and Nick Bennett will share some of their memories in a light-hearted way about growing up in Steyning in the 1950s and 1960s.

Photographic Competition and Calendar for 2026

We invite members to submit recent photographs of Steyning and the surrounding area through the various seasons of the year for inclusion in a Steyning Society Calendar for 2026, which will be published by the Society. You may submit as many photographs as you like (within reason!) and you may make more than one submission..  Please send your submissions to our Treasurer, Adrian Gobat, whose email address is adriangobat@hotmail.co.uk..  There will be a prize for the best photograph which will consist of a bottle of Smock Alley sparkling wine and a tasting at the vineyard, both kindly donated by Sarah Lavery..

Capture the beauty of Steyning through the seasons and have your photo featured in our printed calendar! Whether you’re using a smartphone or camera. Click Competition information sheet to find out  how to take part:

Horsham Local Plan Review Examination – Inspector’s suspension

The Horsham Local Plan 2023 – 2040 Examination was due to take place during December 2024 and January 2025 with a series of hearings about specific topics. These included the allocation of housing at Glebe Farm.

However, the Examination Inspector wrote to Horsham District Council on 16th December stating he had “significant concerns about the soundness and legal compliance of the Plan in a number of areas” and that given the “seriousness of these concerns it would not be efficient to hold these hearings.”

We understand that the Council has now submitted extra information to the Inspector and argues that it will be able to carry out any updates within the Government’s preferred six-month timescale, opening a pathway to resume the hearings and progress the current plan.

The Council’s response to the Inspector also notes that the Government’s proposals for devolution would result in local government reorganization, which could impact any requirement to prepare a new plan. This would, it warns, create a “planning policy vacuum” that could last several years and is contrary to the Government’s aspirations for plan-led development while creating “considerable uncertainty and potential harm” to communities from prolonged speculative developments.  The District’s housing target rose from 917 homes to 1,357 a year after the National Planning Policy Framework was revised in December.

We do not know what is likely to happen next but obviously the suspension could have serious implications for future planning in the District and the way housing allocations are progressed.

Glebe Farm

Outline planning permission, subject to conditions, was granted for the erection of 265 dwellings on the site at Glebe Farm on 28th September.2024.

Quiz Evening

We held a Quiz Evening on 12th July 2024 which was attended by about fifty people and included a curry supper.  Please see this link for a description and photographs of this very enjoyable event.

The Local Heritage List

The Local Heritage  List has been adopted by Steyning Parish Council and by Horsham District Council.  A limited number of copies of the list has been printed and are available at £10 each.  They can be bought at the Society’s meetings or copies can be ordered by contacting the Society on cmantsteyningsoc@gmail.com.

For  the latest newsletter, please click: February 2025