Shirley Fay, who has been a Bepton Parish Councillor for over 20 years, stepped down at the recent Annual Meetings of the Parish Council.

Shirley had previously served as Chairman (for eight years – 1996 to 2004) and Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council. Throughout her time on the Council Shirley made a great contribution to Bepton.

Among her many achievements, Shirley was instrumental in protecting Minching Lane from the County Council’s proposal to make it a Byway Open to All Traffic (BOAT). This would have meant that it would be open to motorised vehicles, such as 4x4s and motor bikes. Shirley successfully challenged this all the way to an enquiry which required huge amount of effort and employment of expertise. As a result, it was designated a bridleway and the result had implications for other proposals to create BOATs in our Parish.

Shirley was the Council’s representative on the Midhurst Area Cycle group, who have worked to lobby for safe cycle routes around Bepton and on the A272 between Stedham and Midhurst. And she was also the council’s representative on Pathwatch, an organisation which has close liaison with the police to alert improper use of Bridleways by motorised vehicles.

The Parish Council presented Shirley with a rose bush and thanked her for her service.

The Clerk to the Council has notified Chichester DC that we have a casual vacancy and formal notices of the vacancy were posted on the village notice boards on 22nd May. If, after 14 days of the notice being posted, there has been no request for an election (10 electors need to request this) the Council would propose to co-opt a new member. A copy of the notice is below for information.