A new plan for Graffham

Graffham Parish Council has published its new draft three-year plan for the village, setting out the aims and priorities it will focus on from 2026 to 2029. 

Published: 23 October 2025

It follows discussions with residents and organisations since the proposal was first unveiled at the annual meeting of the parish in May.

Comments from residents are being sought on this draft plan to enable it to be finalised for formal adoption before the end of this calendar year.  Please send them to clerk@graffham-pc.gov.uk

You can read the draft village plan in full here (PDF).

Introducing the first published plan for the village for some years, Graffham Parish Council Chairman Gillian Charlesworth said: “As a parish council, we want to ensure that we’re working on the village’s priorities and allocating our limited resources carefully and wisely.”

She stressed that the plan’s purpose was NOT about development and planning – for which the parish council’s only responsibility is as a consultee.

The plan is driven by a vision to ensure Graffham is “a vibrant, welcoming and well-run village with a sound future”.

Shaped by the council’s scope of responsibilities and financial resources, it covers seven main themes – all of which are raised regularly by villagers:

• Traffic volume and speed. The council will lobby West Sussex County Council (WSCC) to reduce the current 30 mph in the village to 20 mph, will install ‘gateways’ at each of the three road entrances to the village to highlight the speed restriction to motorists and will work with neighbouring parishes East Lavington, Heyshott and West Lavington to urge WSCC to designate all roads running through them as ‘Quiet Lanes’ with all the traffic calming measures that brings.
• Management of village assets like the Rec, Pavilion, Play Park and Empire Hall for long-term viability, to address the likely increases in maintenance costs they will face in the future given their age and condition and the difficulty in finding volunteers to manage them.
• Village amenity – working with land owners and other local authorities to ensure roads and other rights of way are kept safe and clear.
• Local environmental issues, in particular investigating the feasibility of providing allotments, creating a village resilience plan and pressing the relevant authorities to ensure local oil drilling sites are safe.
• Local government reorganisation, including a wish to merge with neighbouring East Lavington Parish Council.
• Local crime, inviting Sussex Police to meet villagers to advise on crime prevention.
• Community engagement – with the roll out of the new website for Graffham and its parish council and the intention to appoint a parish councillor to read community engagement and communication, to residents know how to raise concerns so the council can act on them.

In presenting this draft plan and launching the new village website, Graffham Parish Council thank Graffham Parish News editor Michael Blunt for his enormous help in getting these projects ready for publication.

You can read the final approved version of village plan in full here (PDF, 1 MB).