NEWS

The most recent news will go on this page.

Last update : 28th February

From 15th March , the NWCTP will be running an extended revised service. For more details about this , go to http://www.4weald.co.uk

Banner Homes is holding a  Public Display of plans at the Fairwarp Village Hall On Saturday 6^th March 2-30pm to 5-30pm in relation to Proposed residential development at ‘Fairmay’ and ‘Rock- a-Nore’,  The Street,  Fairwarp

What’s coming up……

·         The Maresfield Village Development Working Party will meet again soon to discuss feedback from the public exhibition of the ‘masterplan’ which was held in the Village Hall on the 5^th & 6^th February. The working party will then meet with the project team promoting this development, and it will also engage with WDC directly. If you were at the public exhibition, please send your comments to the Parish Office.

What’s happened……

·         You will have noticed that the new village gateways are now in place; the old signs will be removed soon.

·         WDC has published its Housing Needs Survey. It appears that this has been prepared very carefully. It shows a need for 812/21 households needing to be housed each year in the District/Parish respectively. This includes future need and a catching up with accumulated need from the past. Not all these households require new housing to be built. This is about people who can’t obtain a home of their own; there is nothing more important in local government.

What people are working on……

• Cllr King and Cllr Barlow have met with Dr Baxter at the Ashdown Forest Health Centre to try to start retrieving the project for having a branch surgery in Nutley. This follows the PCT’s bombshell delivered at the end of last year when Mr Graham Credland told us that it was no longer looking at this project as a priority. Dr Baxter is to speak with the AFHC’s project manager about how they want to take this matter forward and he is to look at the best way to raise this at a higher level in the PCT. We hope that Dr Baxter will be able to respond in a positive fashion so that a Project Team can be formed to get this back on track.
• The work on enlarging the Parish Office in Nutley continues. Electrical work to upgrade the heating and lighting is expected to start on 17^th February, following which the less dusty and disruptive work of making good and decorating can commence.
• The Parish Plan Development Working Party is putting together the questionnaire that

     will be sent to all households in the Parish, the results of which will form the new Community Led Parish Plan, which will give the Parish/Village priorities to be addressed over the next few years.

• The Parish Council and the Fairwarp Community Society are working with East Sussex County Council on a scheme of improvements for the B2026 at Fairwarp. ESCC is finalising the latest version of the scheme and will be meeting with Councillors and FCS representatives very soon.

Are there issues about ……

·         The Parish Council has had a number of enquiries about the new equipment pole that has been put up next to the speed camera in Nutley. It is in fact an extra flash light which is required for when this camera is converted to digital operation.

·         The Parish Council is actively encouraging the District Council and Natural England to fully get to grips with the European Habitats Regulations, so that specific advice can be give for the proposed development of affordable housing sites, rather than these two bodies maintaining their current cautious approach which is only stopping all potential development. These Regulations protect the habitats in areas such as the Ashdown Forest so that, for example, certain nesting birds, crested newts, etc. are not harmed from development within 400m of these special areas. Cat predation of the Dartford Warbler and the Nightjar birds is the most serious issue.

Could someone help with ……

·         Please remember to return the Civil Emergency questionnaire that was included with the recent ‘The Parish Matters’ newsletter. It can also be completed on-line; go to this link.  Many thanks to those who have already returned their questionnaire.

·         More volunteers are still needed to help with the monthly SpeedWatch exercises, so that we can deploy the speed gun on a more regular basis. Full training given.

·         Cllrs Charlie Stevenson and Peter Harris are looking at the upgrading of the Maresfield Rec. and Fords Green play areas. Success in such initiatives is best achieved by a group working outside the Parish Council (but supported by it), so we are keen to establish a project team of volunteer Parishioners and Councillors. Please let the Clerk know (714555) if you might consider helping with this.

·         Several people have applied for allotments. If you have suitable land, or can let us know if you think someone might have land available, please tell Jessica Bradford, the Assistant Clerk – 714555 or jessica.bradford@MaresfieldParish.org.uk.

Older news :

Maresfield Amenity site - there have been various reports about this new facility. Have you visited it? If you have any comments , please use the contact form to let us know.

The existing small parish council office in Nutley Social Club will be enlarged to make the area more suitable for the Clerk and Assistant Clerk to work in. A planning application has been submitted to Wealden District Council for the change of use of the extra room.

Maresfield Parish Council will be taking part in a trial with Wealden District Council and other parish councils of electronic consultation on planning applications. This should reduce costs and hopefully help speed up the planning process for Wealden District Council but would appear to put extra cost on the parish councils.

A parcel of land in Maresfield parish has been declared surplus to ESCC requirements, and if it is not found to be of use to any other sector of the authority will be disposed of by sale. For more details , click here.

WEBMASTER WANTED ! - The Parish Council is seeking someone to take over maintenance and perhaps upgrade of the current website to provide more functionality. Please contact the webmaster, details below, for further information.

The vacancy for a councillor to represent Maresfield ward has been filled by the co-option of Mrs Pat Palmer. Her contact details can be found on the page for your councillors.

The precept and budget for 2010/2011 has been set by the Finance and Admin Committee and was approved by Council.

Amongst the routine work of trying to keep the parish environment working as well as possible, the Environment Committee is examining options to take on the grass-cutting of verges in the parish from the County Council to ensure this is done more often and in a timely manner. The ESCC Rights of Way Volunteer Officer visited the committee with information regarding ESCC's scheme to support and encourage volunteers to keep the public footpaths in good order. More information about this can be found in this leaflet - this is a 3MB PDF file.

The Strategy committee has formed a working party to undertake a review of the existing Parish Plan with regard to bringing this up to date and to examine ways of communicating Parish Council matters better to parishioners.

Amongst other methods of getting feedback from parishioners, we will be putting a questionnaire on the website.

The information sheet on affordable housing is now available by clicking here. This is a 3 megabyte PDF file

The About The Parish page on this website provides some statistics about the parish , and a link on there also provides interim financial information for 2008 concerning income and expenditure.

If you have suggestions or would like something listed on this site ,please contact the Parish Office or the webmaster.