Fiddling while Worthing burns

Recession looms, key developments in the town centre start to look less certain, and there's a bit of a hole in the forthcoming budget.

And what are the senior management team (or Partnership Management Board, as they like to be known) of Worthing Borough Council spending their time on?:

it was agreed that the recently issued joint letterhead could be used for straightforward letters. All relevant staff to be made aware of those instances where the joint letterhead should not be used – e.g. payment requests/some legal matters. In the case of any doubts as to which letterhead should be used, staff to seek guidance from their managers

A joint letterhead, for councils that 'aren't really merging, no not at all'.  And now between them, the councils have three letterheads, and officers have to check which one to use with their manager.

You couldn't make it up, really, could you?

Worthing – home of the (quality) arts

A good week for the arts in Worthing, with news that the Desert Quartet will keep its listing, and hence will be (hopefully, almost) impossible for Humphrey Avon to move. The campaign to get the Elizabeth Frink sculptures listed (at their current site) was an impressive, and non-political, effort, which drew in a lot of heavyweight support, and they deserve a lot of credit. Now, to find some way to raise the profile of the old 'goggle heads' for visitors to the town...

Also a good week as the chances of the abominably dull 'Suncloud' being installed at Splash Point receded a bit, as CABE rejected a bid for funding under the Sea Change project. Although Jack would like to see the area regenerated, he always thought that Suncloud was a waste of a good space that could be better utilised for other artistic endeavours, like musicians and performances.

And finally, Jack has heard that of a newly discovered document that sheds light on the visit of an extremely well-known literary figure to Worthing. I've promised not to reveal more until this is published next year, but it seems to be quite exciting.