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Mid Sussex wins accolade as the best place to live in Sussex
Mid Sussex is the best area to live in Sussex, according to a study into quality of life.
The district is ranked 41st in Britain by the annual Halifax Quality of Life Survey which includes a study of all 405 local authority districts in Britain.
The survey looked at performances across key areas including jobs, housing, amount of public open space, access to local services, educational performance, quality of healthcare, crime rates, as well as the weather, traffic and broadband access.
Authorities in the South East dominate the top of the quality of life league table, with 27 of the top 50 based in the area.
The survey found that 94 per cent of people in Mid Sussex are in good or fairly good health, the rate of employment is high and crime in the area is low - with Mid Sussex residents experiencing less than 12 burglaries for every 10,000 people.
“I’m delighted that Mid Sussex continues to be recognised as one of the best places to live in Britain,” said Councillor Garry Wall, Leader of Mid Sussex District Council. “We are fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the world that provides residents with a good quality of life and as a Council, we like to feel that we play our part.
“Our well maintained parks and open spaces, including Beech Hurst Gardens which retained the Green Flag award for yet another year, provide residents with relaxing areas for fun and recreation.
“In the last year, we have improved facilities for local people with new playground equipment installed at Lingfield Road Recreation Ground, a new water play feature built in Victoria Park (Haywards Heath) and our new community toilets planned for East Grinstead town centre.”
Cllr Wall said a lot of council work went on behind the scenes as well.
“Our street sweeping and litter picking teams are out early to keep our streets clear of rubbish and their efforts provide us with some of the cleanest streets in Sussex.
“We also do a lot of work to support the local economy, staging business events like ‘Open 4 Business’ to create networking and new business opportunities for local firms and the ‘Meet the Buyers’ event to put local businesses in contact with major companies that were looking to buy goods and services. Alongside our free directory of local businesses, these events help to support local firms and create a favourable environment for business growth and success.”
Cllr Wall said the tough economic times meant local authorities have faced a significant reduction in Central Government funding, which could have led to a reduction in services for local people and affected the quality of life.
But he added: “I’m pleased that, as a Council, we have been able to minimise the impact on our residents during these tough times by achieving over £4 million of efficiency savings.
“Mid Sussex District Council has experienced a 15 per cent reduction in Government funding in each of the last two years but our aim remains to support the local economy, protect taxpayers, ensure value for money and to deliver the highest possible quality services to the public.
“I have no doubt that, with national debt remaining high, the need to make significant savings will continue in future years but we will continue to work with other local organisations to minimise the impact of budget cuts on our residents.
“As a Council, we have recently published our draft budget proposals for 2012/13 and, despite the cuts, our proposals safeguard voluntary sector grant money, ‘freeze’ Council Tax and protect key frontline services.”
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Weather for Haywards Heath
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
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