Calls for churches, schools and public buildings in Chichester to be transformed into a 'Warm Network' to help cost with the cost of living

Councillor Sarah Sharp's proposal for a 'warm network' was recommended during the council meeting.

A plea has been made for churches, schools and public buildings to be used in the Chichester area to create a new ‘warm network’ to help residents struggling to with the cost of living and paying their energy bills.

The creation warm network was proposed at a Chichester City Council meeting on Monday (September 5) by Councillor Sarah Sharp in a bid to provide some practical help residents.

During the committee affairs meeting she suggested that a network be created using establishments such as public buildings, churches and schools, which would benefit the wider community as well as provide things such as heat, shelter or information about where to get help.

She suggested that initial enquires be made by city councillors about the use and availability of the buildings before working with both the district and county councils to set it up.

Cllr Sharp suggested in the meeting that the network be set up but also needed to give information to residents about all that the network could provide.

She said: “Volunteers have been used and can be used to inform the directory and other agencies what can be done at parish level.”

Cllr Sharp also recommended that the information about potential help be available on the Chichester City Council website so that it would be more easily viewed by the general public.

"People shouldn’t be expected to drive all the way to Selsey for the information about what we can provide and would be good to have the information on our website.

"The recommendation is to identify the gaps and help find out what we can do without the directory and what we are able to do over the next few weeks.”

Councillor Sarah Quail agreed with the proposal for the needs of the local people.

She said: “It would be a a good proposal, specifically to find people for volunteers for this specific purpose and I am prepared to look around and see what we can do at a local level.

"We should also look to see what we can do to find available facilities for this specific purpose.”

The initiative was roundly supported by the rest of the council following deliberations.

Chichester District Council have been contacted about the proposal.