A new Hunston Parish Council Chair is elected after a death and resignations

By HILARY GAVIN

A NEW Hunston Parish Council Chair was elected yesterday evening after it was revealed that the council has lost three parish councillors since they last met in July 2026.

Cllr Becky Davis has taken up the role until May 2027 when full parish council elections are due to be held. She was nominated by Cllr Sue Lucas and seconded by Cllr Forbes Coleman, who were the only other councillors at yesterday’s meeting until Cllr Amit Jani arrived later as you can see from my video footage.

During the meeting councillors heard that Cllr Martin Simms resigned** (please see note below about the sad news that Cllr Simms has passed away) in August 2026, Chair Wendy Gray has stepped down, and Cllr Benedict Targett has moved away.

The Parish Clerk Carol Smith later told the meeting that the statutory notices asking the public if they would like to request a by-election had been posted and the 14-day Notice to co-opt was published on Wednesday 23rd September 2026.

Mrs Smith told councillors that it looked as though there would be “just four” parish councillors until a “push in February or March” next year to get candidates to “come onboard for election in May”.

Cllr Davis had been the Hunston Parish Council Vice Chair before her election to Chair and the meeting heard that there was no need to vote in a new Vice Chair at yesterday’s meeting.

Later in the meeting Chair Davis led the council by giving a vote of thanks to Cllr Simms, Cllr Targett and her predecessor Wendy Gray who she said had been “a fabulous Chair”.

Early in the meeting, one member of the public asked whether a public bin could be installed on the canal between Orchard Side and St Leodegar’s because there was only a dog bin there and “the fishermen leave so much c**p”.

Parish Chair Carol Smith said Chichester District Council (CDC) hadn’t agreed any new bins since COVID, and she had raised the possibility of replacing a dog bin with a general waste bin, but she would chase the matter up again.

WSCC Cllr Nicholas Russell gave his update to the parish councillors when he said the key issues locally were potholes which cost £120 each to repair. He told councillors that there had been “a new zeal” at WSCC as 12,689 potholes had been repaired since April 1st, 2026, compared to 6,535 in the same timeframe last year.

Cllr Russell also revealed that WSCC will be holding “briefings” on Highways issues across the county so officers will be coming back with a date for Hunston.

The Hunston parish councillors went on to speak at some length about the Stockbridge Road closure scheduled for October 5th* (10th), 2026. Chair Davis asked WSCC Cllr Russell if there were any measures in place to prevent congestion at the A27 roundabout at Whyke Road (see footage).

Cllr Russell told councillors that steps are being taken to stop the spread of the oak progressionary moth, which infests trees and had reached Crawley and Horsham from London before touching on fire safety by disposing of vapes and batteries safely.

Apart from the usual business, parish council discussed road safety signage and conservation matters. Parish Clerk Mrs Smith said the rife had been cleared and an oak tree overhanging an elderly lady’s garden around the Foxbridge alleyway was causing a Japanese acer “to expire” and needed investigating.

A resident had raised the issue of the poplar trees nearby and parish clerk Carol Smith said she would like to see the poplar trees at the playing fields replaced “with something nicer”.

Cllr Jani raised the issue of visitors parking on grass at Chestnuts on football match days as this led to “a blind spot” for residents driving out and said it was “an accident just waiting to happen”.

The parish council’s next meeting was moved to Tuesday, November 24th, 2026, and councillors heard that staff had been awarded a contractual 3.3% pay increase.

Mrs Smith told councillors that the parish council audit had “come back clean” but the council had been asked for clarification on other matters.

During the meeting Mrs Smith announced that Brenda, a long-time Hunston villager, had sadly passed away a couple of weeks ago and said there will be a small obituary on her in the November edition of the parish newsletter The Hunston Voice alongside articles on the outgoing parish councillors Wendy Gray, Martin Simms and Benedict Targett.

Chair Becky Davis ended the open session of the parish council meeting after around 41 minutes when the councillors went on to discuss matters in private.
By Hilary Gavin

Copyrighted Monday September 28th, 2026
Excuse typos

* Please note that WSCC Cllr Russell told the meeting that the planned Stockbridge Road closures were due to commence on October 5th, 2026, but other notices posted online say October 10th.

** Please note that I have heard on the grapevine that former Cllr Martin Simms might have sadly passed away. As yet, I have not seen any official notice but you can check with the HPC website. My apologies to former Cllr Simms if the hear’say is incorrect. I will, of course, be making my own enquiries as both an elector and freelance journalist.

*** Please note that I have visited the official HPC website where the parish council has published the sad news that Cllr Martin Simms has indeed passed away. My apologies for the initial misunderstanding but I must have missed the news during the September Hunston Parish Council meeting. Of course, I have embedded the footage of this meeting in this blog if you would like to watch it.

Hilary Gavin

A freelance journalist who wants to see a return to public accountability in the local press

Hilary Gavin

Freelance Journalist & Writer

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Tel: 07940 444664

Email: Grumpywoman@hilarygavin.blog

Hilary Gavin

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