Meeting of Maresfield Parish Council Civil Protection Committee

held on 20^th October 2005 in the Parish Office, Nutley

Present:  Cllr J Gutteridge (Chairman), Cllr R Street (Vice-Chairman), Mr P Easton,

Mr G Davies, Mr D Endacott, Clerk T Allen.

1.         Public Questions – None.

2.            Apologies for absence - Mr T Cottingham, Cllr Mrs S Weekes, Cllr W King,

Mr T Wallis.

3.            Declarations of interest – None.

4.            Minutes of the meeting held on 1 July 2005

            4.1            Adoption – These were Adopted.

            4.2            Matters arising from these minutes not on the Agenda – Re. Item 7.2 – Emergency Boxes. ACTION: Chairman and Cllr Street to make arrangements and deliver the boxes to Fairwarp and Maresfield Village Halls. ACTION: Chairman and Clerk to make an inventory of the items to be contained in these boxes and kit out the boxes once they are in situ at the Village Halls. ACTION: Chairman and Clerk to identify what other items are needed for the emergency boxes.

Re. Item 7.2 – walkie-talkies, the Clerk stated that Mr Cottingham had tested them in Maresfield making the following observations in a written statement:-

            “I carried out with a friend in Maresfield and over the forest: Comms between my house and outside Maresfield Church were just readable but not good enough for relaible message exchange. (About 1/3 mile with many trees in the way.) From the top of the tower it was very good. Across the forest comms were good within visual range but quickly became unusable at a range of only 1/4 mile if trees or a hillock got in the way. In brief, the walkie-talkies appear to be of little use unless in almost clear line of sight. Maximum range with good line of sight was not tested.”

ACTION: Mr Easton to carry out walkie-talkie tests in Nutley. It was noted that a second pair of walkie-talkies would be purchased in the next financial year.

Re. Item 8.2 – Emergency Plan – It was agreed that a copy of the Plan should also be held by Cllr King, as Chairman of the Council, and also by John Wood, WDC, (ex. Appendix D).

5.            Progress Reports:-

            5.1            Generator – installation at Parish Office – It was noted that the generator housing had been built. The Clerk stated that 3 padlocks were required to secure the door and the generator inside the housing. Mr Easton stated that Mr D Deverill, local electrician, was to quote for a professional installation of the power cabling from the Parish Office to the generator, and that if this proved too expensive, Mr Easton has some cable that can be used for an in-house installation.

            5.2            Emergency Plan updating – The Clerk stated that the Emergency Plan was being incorporated into the Parish Office’s electronic filing system, prior to being copied out to agreed parties. ACTION: Cllr Street to assist the Asst Clerk in finalising this task. It was noted that sequential page numbers and Version numbers needed to be created to allow loose leaf updating.

The Clerk stated that a revised Civil Emergency Questionnaire would be circulated with the autumn edition of The Parish Matters. ACTION: All to suggest updates to the last questionnaire by 27^th October 2005.

            5.3            Exercise Summer Fete – The Chairman stated that John Wood, WDC, had stated that this exercise was ‘quite good’ but that no detailed reports or analysis had been received so far. It was noted that in a real situation most of the important decisions covered in the exercise would in fact be taken out of the hands of local Parishes, with locals supporting the emergency services. It was noted that these areas of responsibility needed to be defined.

It was agreed to hold a Parish exercise in Summer 2006 based on the ‘Exercise Local Volunteer’ model. ACTION: Chairman and Cllr Street to design this exercise in early 2006.

It was agreed that training for non Radio Operators was needed on the radio equipment and its protocols, etc. ACTION: Clerk to arrange with Mr Tim Wallis.

Civil Protection Committee minutes – 20 October 2005                                     Page 2

6.            Contingencies in the event of an epidemic e.g. Avian flu – The Clerk stated that he was looking into this issue and its likely effects on the operation of the Council. It was noted that the most important local considerations should be looking after those living alone (‘good neighbour’) and assisting with any mass vaccination exercises.

7.            Communication - a revised Civil Emergency Questionnaire to be circulated with the autumn edition of The Parish Matters.

8.         Date of Next Meeting – End January 2006. ACTION: Clerk to arrange.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 20:20.