Welcome pack letters

On behalf of the Residents’ Association I would like to warmly welcome you to your new home in East Dean and Friston. You have chosen to live in a thriving village set in the heart of the beautiful South Downs Park and I hope you will be very happy here

East Dean and Friston is a vibrant community and this Welcome Pack provides details of the activities and resources available in the village: we hope it will help you make the most of what the village has to offer and to find your way around. It explains how you can get involved and how to raise issues of wider concern in the village. It gives advise on how to be a good neighbour and information on things like rubbish disposal and building work. Most of this information and much more is available on the village website at www.eastdeanvillage.org.uk

In particular we would like to encourage you to join the Residents’ Association (RA). The RA exists for the benefit of everyone who lives in the area and works closely with other local organisations and particularly the Parish Council, to serve the interests of local people. I hope you will decide to join us; further details of what the RA does, together with an application form, are enclosed in this pack.

You can contact the RA for general enquiries at edfresidentsassociation@gmail.com. If you have a specific enquiry regarding membership fees and/or email addresses you should email edfra.treasuryandmembership@gmail.com.

Finally, I hope you will enjoy living in this beautiful location and the committee look forward to meeting you.

Best Wishes.

Yours Sincerely.

Chair

About the Residents’ Association

As a new resident, we hope you will join the Residents’ Association (RA). It exists for the benefit of everybody who live in the area. It works closely with other local organisations, particularly the Parish Council, to serve the interests of local people.

The RA provides for residents:

• A voice: The RA speaks for the village on matters of importance, where common problems are identified. We have successfully campaigned to improve services, for example installation of Super-Fast Broadband in the Village (although we still have further to go, in that regard). The RA is also in regular contact with our MP and has raised issues such as traffic problems and mobile phone reception.

• Information: RA members are kept in touch via regular emails, covering local issues and alerts about criminal activity in the area (of which we have little). The RA also funds and delivers the Welcome Pack for new residents and has produced a Code of Practice for builders working in the village. It also issues guidelines about being a good neighbour.

• Support: The RA keeps a list of volunteers willing to help with village events and of 4x4 drivers who will give help in snowy weather. It also organises the annual Village Fete. The RA have also made donations to some local organisations including the East Dean and Friston Cricket Club to help towards the cost of moving the square away from the new housing development, and to the Bowls Club to help in maintaining the rink.

• An improved Environment: The RA funds and manages a road gritting scheme on the Downland Estate. It provided and now maintains enhanced Estate entrances. It also raised funds to purchase the Greensward, a registered Village Green on Deneside, which it also maintains. It periodically organises volunteers for various village tasks, such as helping set up the Village Fete and occasionally a litter pick around the Village. It also replaced all the street name plates throughout the village. The RA has also donated funds towards the purchase of troughs and plants to improve the area around the local shops