| Minutes Dec 05
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| Minutes Dec 05
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At this level              beneath this item |
Minutes of the meeting of Maresfield Parish Council held on Tuesday 20th December 2005, in the Village Hall, Fairwarp
Present:
Cllr R Street, Cllr R Tester, Cllr G Hardy, Cllr C Stevenson,
Cllr T Sparrow, Cllr Hardy proposed Cllr Sparrow be elected as Chairman for the duration of the meeting. This was seconded by Cllr Street and Agreed by all. 1015 Public Session – No specific interests declared. However, it was recognised that some Councillors had several and various interests relating to the proposed budget/precept, e.g. grants, and this was taken into account in discussions.
1016 Apologies for absence –
Cllr W King, Cllr P Tester, Cllr K Ogden, Cllr C Stephens, 1017 Declarations of interest – None. 1018 Minutes:- 1. Minutes of the Council meeting (15 November 2005) for adoption The minutes were Adopted. 2. Matters arising from these minutes i. Traffic & Transport Committee position re. SpeedWatch The Clerk had submitted a report on this matter. Cllr Fry stated that he was happy with the Clerk’s assessment and plans to take no further action; however, he is disappointed by the lamentable delay resulting from the T&T Committee not following the Standing Orders. ii. Sussex Police position re. Police Community Support Officers The Clerk referred to a copy of a letter from Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Yeo, as circulated with the papers. It was noted that a reduction in the current levels of PCSO’s is unlikely. iii. Other matters arising · Councillors’ Surgeries – The Clerk referred to Cllr Fry’s note as circulated with the additional papers at the beginning of the meeting. Cllr Fry added that in view of the fact that the Parish Office is open most of the time and that Councillors telephone numbers are included in The Parish Matters (TPM), which is distributed regularly to all Parishioners, there is no need for the reinstatement of Councillors Surgeries. Cllr Fry’s paper summarises the comments of those Councillors he has consulted on this issue. It was noted that if Councillors wish to hold surgeries on an individual basis, then they should feel free to do so e.g. Cllr Stephens and Cllr Leaney regularly attend the Fairwarp Pop-In. It was Agreed by all that there is no need to progress Councillors’ surgeries. ACTION: Clerk to include a clear and explicit regular item in TPM as to how Parishioners can contact Councillors.
·
The Clerk asked Councillors to note the correspondence relating
to
1019 Reports by and questions to:- 1. County Councillors The Clerk reported that CCllr Reid had sent his apologies and referred to an email (as circulated in the papers) from Cllr King to CCllr Reid relating to various issues. CCllr Reid having spoken with the Clerk earlier in the day, confirmed that he will respond to these items early in the New Year. 2. District Councillors DCllr Mrs Martin provided details of the Revised Draft Local Plan process as follows: Approval of the Non-Statutory Local Plan at last Wednesday’s meeting of Full District Council means that it will now be used as an interim guide in all planning decisions made by the Wealden District and referred to in any resulting planning appeals that may take place. Preliminary work on the Local Development Framework, the new overall district guidelines for planning, will begin in the spring of 2006, and this will eventually supersede the non-statutory local plan. Council Minutes 20 December 2005 Page 2 As it has not undergone the final stage of a public inquiry, the local plan can not be treated as a statutory plan for the purposes of Section 54A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. However, in view of the extensive work undertaken in both the first deposit draft plan and the revised draft plan; and the consultations and consideration involved in allocating sites for future development, this non-statutory local plan will be given appropriate weight in the planning decision-making process in Wealden, along with policies which have been retained unchanged from the 1998 Wealden Local Plan and the County Structure Plan as well as Government guidance and other material planning considerations. DCllr Martin also outlined the history leading up to the adoption of the RDLP. DCllr Brown reported that there are Management and staff changes under discussion relating to the planned move of the District Council offices to Hailsham, which have not been received well. With reference to the Statement of Community Involvement for the Local Development Framework, it was noted Parish Councils will be highly involved in developing this in the New Year. 1020 Council bodies: Actions, minutes and reports by, and questions to, Chairmen:- 1. Environment & Maintenance i. Access to Maresfield Recreation Ground – latest position The Clerk reported that the minutes for the last Maresfield Recreation Ground (MRG) Sub-Committee meeting were circulated with the papers. Solicitors have been enlisted to look at the problem and advise the Parish Council accordingly – which they have now done. The solicitors have suggested sending a strong legally worded letter to Mr Watts’ solicitors setting out the Parish Council’s position and asking him to withdraw, however, Cllr King feels that the suggested wording could be perceived as confrontational and that a less confrontational letter should be sent at this stage – this may have to come from the Parish Council rather than the solicitors. It was Agreed that the MRG Sub-Committee should meet as soon as possible and take a decision as to how to proceed. ACTION: Clerk. ii. Nutley Memorial Hall car park light – authority for expenditure for secondary electrical works
The Clerk referred to an estimate from Mr Deverill, included in
the meeting papers, for secondary electrical work required to
connect the EDF supply into a timer and into the top of the
light. Once this has been done the light will be fully
operational. Mr Deverill is the electrician for the Village
Hall and has dealt with the EDF contractors and he fully
understands the work required. Mr Deverill’s is the only
estimate sought for this work, but Financial Regulations do say
that if the amount is less than £500 this process is
acceptable. It was
Agreed
to approve the quotation as provided by Mr Deverill, which
Councillors considered was very reasonable. 2. Finance & Administration i. Month 8 Financial Reports · It was noted that at 66% of the year, the Parish Council has spent 60.1% of the budget. However, there is a big bill imminent which will put salaries slightly over budget. The recent interim internal audit found a slight miscounting in the NI payments which are going through this month and will subsequently add £2000 to this figure, however, this overspend had been predicted earlier this year, as a result of the Clerk’s pay award. · Generally, the auditors were more than happy with the way the Parish Council is running its affairs. · The Auditors also looked at the Council’s Risk Assessment and they are very happy with it. A system is in place whereby the Risk Assessment will be updated each year. ii. 2006/07 Budget/Precept report · In keeping with the Council’s commitment to become a Quality Council a written report was circulated prior to the meeting outlining justification for the budget and precept level for 2006/07.
·
The total budget will be set at £83,645 which is an increase of
4.75% over the 05/06 budget, resulting in a Precept increase
from £65,390 to £76,443 (16.9%). Council Minutes 20 December 2005 Page 3 · The auditors noted that current reserves are too low (enough to operate for 3 months), and should be increased from £15,000 to £30,000. This amount is too large for a small budget to sustain in one year, so a £5,000 increase has been set aside for this year and for the next 3 years, (enough to cover operating costs for 6 months). · The Chairman thanked Cllr Street for all his hard work with reference to the budgeting work for which the Council is extremely grateful. · Cllr Street proposed the approval of the overall budget and Precept for 2006/07, this was seconded by Cllr Gutteridge and Approved by all. iii. Confirmation of Chairman’s Allowance – It was noted that this currently stands at £200. iv. Confirmation of Clerk’s salary point – It was noted that this is LC2-24. 3. Planning · The draft minutes of the Planning Committee meeting on Monday 19th December were circulated with the additional papers at the beginning of the Council meeting. · It was noted that ESCC’s review of the application by Onyx has been deferred until the 25th January 2006, due to further proposed changes by Onyx, this time to the way the travellers access their site i.e. a completely new access route. Details of these changes will be reviewed by members of the Parish Council Planning Committee and the Maresfield Conservation Group, and will be discussed at the Planning Committee meeting on Tuesday on 3rd January. Finally, the Clerk noted that there is little in the revised submission that changes the view and position of the Parish Council with regard to this application. i. Proposal to ‘call-in’ the WDC decision to include the housing allocation at Park Farm, Maresfield, in the Revised Draft Local Plan The Clerk referred to Cllr Kings memo as circulated with the meeting papers and discussed by the Committee on 19th December 2005. The Clerk read the relevant details from these minutes noting that Planning Committee agreed to refer this issue to Full Council. It was Agreed that in the absence of Cllr King and Cllr Ogden the issue should be deferred until the next Full Council meeting. ACTION: Clerk to explore the process of calling in and add item to the Agenda for the next Full Council meeting.
4. Policy Committee Cllr Leaney, Chairman of the Policy Committee having given his apologies is therefore unable to provide an update. i. Proposal for a single agenda item to cover outside bodies reports It was noted that there are three categories of outside bodies reports. i. Where Council has direct and/or legal involvement e.g. Maresfield Recreation Ground Committee ii. Outside Bodies on which the Parish Council has a representative who can report back to Council e.g. AIRS iii. Outside Bodies for which the Parish Council has no control or representation. It was Agreed that those bodies falling into category i. above, would be best handled by the relevant committee i.e. Environment & Maintenance Committee. ACTION: E&M Committee to ratify this at its next meeting. It was Agreed that the other two categories of Outside Bodies should be presented as Agenda items to Council and that in the interim, awaiting ratification by E&M, the first category will also be presented, all under “Outside Bodies reports.” ii. Proposal for an amendment to Standing Order 3.1.1 – exclusion of public and press from meetings Cllr Street proposed that the amended wording to Standing Order 3.1.1 adopted, this was seconded by Cllr Stevenson, and Agreed. Council Minutes 20 December 2005 Page 4 5. Strategy Sub-Committee
The minutes from the last two meetings were circulated with the
meeting papers. i. Web site development Training sessions for the Clerk and Assistant Clerk are up and running and have been a great success to date. Instruction has been received in the basics of the FrontPage software package which is used to design and construct the website. A further two sessions will take place early in the New Year. The current hosting company Namesco, has technical problems once our website exceeds 20 pages, and we will therefore be changing our hosting company to Easyspace, a company which has been used widely by both Mr Coxon and Cllr Stevenson successfully in the past. There will be little difference in the cost to the Parish Council. Handover will run slightly over the 31st December 2005 deadline, but is expected to be complete by the end of January 2006, mainly due to the technical problems with the service provider, It was suggested that it might be wise for the Parish Council to have a privacy policy stating that it would not trace anyone who enters our website. ACTION: Clerk / Cllr Stevenson to investigate via SALC / other channels.
Cllr Sparrow highlighted item 4.5 on the minutes of the Strategy Sub-Committee meeting on 12th December 2005, stating that Wealden District Council produced and printed 5000 copies of a pamphlet advertising the Easylink service. It was noted that this was very valuable input for which Maresfield Parish Council is extremely grateful are very grateful. The minutes of the last Easylink meeting were circulated and clearly state the current position. Cllr Sparrow and the Clerk have meeting on Wednesday 21st December 2006, with a representative from Wealden District Council, to discuss the possibility of future financial assistance from the WDC Community Fund. There is a longer term funding requirement of approximately £37,000 per annum. 6. Traffic & Transport Committee Cllr R Tester referred Council to the minutes as circulated prior to the meeting and stated that he had nothing further to add. The status with regard to volunteers amongst Fairwarp residents for the B2026 exercise was questioned. Cllr Hardy said that he would very much like something to happen in this regard. However, it was noted that the Parish Council is still awaiting clarification from Chief Inspector Blaker as to safety issues at Ringmer and the status of Speedwatch in general. It was noted that in asking for volunteers the Parish Council can assure Parishioners that they will only be put into the Speedwatch exercise if both the police and the Parish Council are fully satisfied that they are safe. If there are volunteers lined up it adds weight when the Parish Council approaches the Police with a view to progressing the exercises. Although The Parish Matters has previously asked for volunteers it would be a good idea for Councillors speak with people when out and about and suggest that they might like to volunteer. 1021 Outside bodies’ reports:- 1. Ford's Green Management Committee – No meeting since last Full Council. 2. Maresfield Conservation Group – No meeting since last Council. However, it was noted that on some issues, the Parish Council and MCG are in co-operating – e.g. there is a joint working party dealing with Onyx application.
Council Minutes 20 December 2005 Page 5
3.
Maresfield Recreation Ground Committee –
Cllr R Tester reported that there has been no meeting since last
Full Council. However, he continued by reporting that the hedge
planting has been done along boundary with Mr Watts’ land.
Furthermore, the fence along School Hill is now in place and the
contractors are currently working on the section of fence by
play area. Cllr Hardy noted that the fence renewal has been
done very well.
A written report by Cllr Sparrow on Items 1021/4-7 was circulated. This is reproduced in the relevant sections below in italics for completeness. 4. Wealden District Association of Local Councils 5. Action in rural Sussex 6. Wealden Local Strategic Partnership · Work of the LSP, particularly the community projects which I reported on at the last Council meeting, are in serious danger of being curtailed following the decision by ESCC Cabinet to halve this year and completely cut next year its "second home" fund monies to all East Sussex LSPs. 7. Sussex Association of Local Councils · Police Sussex Police Authority has, alongside most other Police Authorities, declined to commit to a preferred reorganisation scenario, as required by the Home Office in its rushed consultation. Forces of 4,000 are deemed the optimum for the future so Sussex would be too small but amalgamation, on the face of it, with neighbours is not an easy option. Hampshire has set its face against community policing – a development which has taken off in Sussex with, generally, much improved and welcomed liaison and activity at the local level. Kent, which is already near the optimum size, regards itself as big enough and, with its port and immigration work, very different from the more rural policing of Sussex. That leaves Surrey which may well look mergeable on paper but would probably still not create a 'viable' force. · Local Authority reorganisation The National Association of Local Councils is giving clear messages to Parish Councils – they will be one of two democratically elected levels of local government before long. Most Districts will disappear, or become Unitaries by merging. Most Shire Counties will also disappear or become Unitaries, so leaving Cities or Unitaries and Town and Parish Councils. This in turn means that Town and Parish Councils will need to be prepared to handle a greater proportion of local services than at present. Obviously the question of finance will have to be sorted but whatever happens, those Parishes and Towns that are alive and alert and serving their populations (and indeed are probably also Quality Councils) will be better placed to survive. Those that are not could be bypassed by direct action community groups, with all the longer term problems of loss of really local democratic representation and support. · AirS and SALC AGM The full day at Ardingly was largely taken up by presentations from the two County Councils or the Local Area Agreements and then round table discussions on the role of rural communities, especially Parish Councils in assisting in the delivery of the LAAs. As the presentations left most people still very poorly informed on the LAA and its real purpose, the discussions largely focused on the usual rural problems and how they could be solved. The next AirS newsletter will attempt to summarise that discussion and I will report more fully at the next Parish Council meeting.
1022 Chairman’s Report · Cllr Fry referred to Item 3 on Cllr King’s report, and stated that he was unable to add further information at this stage but that he is keen to investigate further as to how Cllr King came to the conclusion that the Parish Council may not succeed in altering the Policing plan for this year. Council Minutes 20 December 2005 Page 6
·
Cllr Fry referred to Cllr King’s letter to Nigel Coltman and
questioned the significance of his reference to
“…..councillors, all of whom are Conservatives.” In the
penultimate paragraph. It was
Agreed
that this issue would be referred to Cllr King. The Clerk
reported that Nigel Coltman had responded to Cllr King and asked
for a meeting, furthermore, it is Cllr King’s intention to also
invite other Parish Council Chairmen to attend.
Cllr Sparrow stated that SALC have arranged a meeting on 22nd December 2005 with the Chief Constable. ACTION: Clerk to send email to Trevor Leggo stating that the Policing of rural communities should be separately addressed in the Policing Plan.
1023 Clerk's Report - As circulated with the meeting papers.
1024 Payments to be made for approval Payments totalling £5726.68 were Approved.
1025 Quality Council submission – progress update A copy of the schedule as it stands was circulated with the meeting papers. Due to the Clerk’s recent illness and having to work on other urgent projects the timetable has slipped slightly. However, with only two items outstanding the Clerk expects his draft submission to be completed in early January 2006, ready for final submission by the end of January 2006.
The Clerk will produce a new schedule prior to the next Council meeting referring to the Council’s timetable for its submission.
1026 Communications
1.
The Parish Matters – winter edition
ACTION: Add all District Councillors and
County
Councillorrs to the distribution list for The Parish Matters
Date of next meeting,
17 January 2006
(Maresfield)
There being no further business the meeting closed at 21.10 |
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