Minutes of the Maresfield Parish Council meeting held on Tuesday 15^th January 2008

 at 7.30pm in the Memorial Hall, Nutley

Present:         Cllr K Ogden (Chairman), Cllr R Street, Cllr J Handley, Cllr R Galley, Cllr Mrs V Taylor,

Cllr D Finch, Cllr A Clarke, Cllr H Fry, Cllr C Stevenson, DCllr Mrs S Martin, DCllr M Hoy, CCllr A Reid,

CCllr F Whetstone and Clerk T Allen.

A1.      Visit from PCSO Karen Juniper – PCSO Juniper was unable to be present as she was on stand-by duties due to the bad weather conditions.

A2.      Public Session – None.       

1363.   To approve apologies for absence and to note other non-attendance – Cllr D Barlow,

Cllr J Gutteridge, Cllr P Harris, Cllr W King, DCllr N Buck. The Clerk reported that he had not received apologies for absence from Cllr Mrs J penfold.

1364.   Declarations of Interests – None.

1365.   Minutes of the previous meeting held on 18^th December 2007:-

1.          For adoption – The minutes were adopted.

2.            Matters arising from these minutes – Re. Item 1354.2.III, the Clerk reported that there had been one expression of interest in the temporary post of minutes secretary to date, and that he would finalise the matter at the end of the month.

1366.   Reports by and questions to:-

1. County Councillors – CCllr Reid gave the following report:-

·    The County Council has finalised its budget for 2008/09 with its proportion of council tax set to increase by 3.9%.

·    The proportion of the Government grant has increased to 3.2% giving more money to distribute than originally thought. This could enable a reduction in the council tax increase to 3.7% or allow £0.5m to be allocated to additional spending. In a straw poll those present agreed that this additional amount should be spent on services, but in a carefully controlled way.

·    The Government has indicated that it will respond this month to the housing numbers proposed in the South East Plan; it is expected that housing growth required will be higher than that set out in the Plan.

CCllr Whetstone gave the following report:-

·     Work on road safety measures on the A26 around Herons Ghyll was ongoing with the 50mph speed restriction signs now in place. It was noted that Sussex Police is now much more supportive with speed reduction measures.

·     The programme of winter work for the Forest is ongoing; a progress report was circulated to Councillors.

(In response to a question from Cllr Ogden); ACTION: County Councillors to ascertain the County Councils position on turning off streetlights between the hours of 01:00 and 05:00.

Cllr Stevenson joined the meeting.

2. District Councillors – DCllr Galley gave the following report:-

·         The Climate Change Working Party is developing a Local Action Plan and will be discussing its proposals with the County Council in due course.

·         Details of local flood warnings were noted.

·         The WDC Corporate Plan is being updated.

·         WDC’s proportion of Council Tax for 2008/09 will increase by 4.2%; the level of Government funding was slightly higher than expected.

·         An outline assessment is to be made for introducing car parking charges and charges for green waste that is not recycled

·         (In response to a question from Cllr Finch); the new WDC corporate logo is to be introduced gradually and the cost of this is minimal.

DCllr Hoy gave the following report:-

·         In order to restrict the level of Council Tax increase, WDC had to make savings of £650k, with further savings of £2.2m required over the next two years.

·         The views of Parish Councillors would be welcomed on the recent press releases from the Conservators concerning deer on the Forest.

DCllr Ogden gave the following report:-

·         The WDC Committee looking at affordable housing is considering policy changes to help deliver homes more quickly.

·         WDC is looking at leisure facilities in Parishes and it wants to know if people are satisfied with what’s available to them.

Cllr Fry proposed that the Parish Council should take a view on the introduction of car parking charges when the WDC consultation is in process; this was agreed.

1367.   Council bodies:  Actions, minutes and reports by, and questions to, Chairmen:-
1. Environment – The Clerk stated that the Committee had not met since the last meeting of Council and reported that all actions are being progressed with no major issues to raise.

            The Chairman stated that Sussex Police is actively patrolling the Fords Green and Maresfield recreation grounds to deal with the recent incidents of vandalism.

            2. Finance & Administration – The Clerk noted that the Interim internal Audit is to be conducted on 28^th January 2008.

                        I.          Month 9 Financial reports – Cllr Street stated that the Committee had not met since the last meeting of Council and reported that expenditure was on course, with no major issues to raise.

            3. Planning – Cllr Stevenson raised the matter of the planning applications for development at Mallards and Coppins in Maresfield Park that had recently been approved by WDC. Cllr Stevenson stated that the Parish Council had put forward strong grounds for refusal, as had ESCC originally, and felt that these had been ignored, similar to some other recent applications; and questioned the need for a Parish Council Planning Committee if it is disregarded.

            Other Parish Councillors views included the following:-

·         A Condition regarding the size of the dwellings was removed from the Outline planning permission but was ignored by WDC in the Reserved Matters applications.

·         The development totals 11 dwellings and should have been treated as a major application.

·         Surely it is scaremongering to suggest that a worse development would result if this case went to appeal and was turned down.

·         The Parish Council is a statutory consultee and thus must have a Planning Committee.

·         This is not an isolated case of WDC making questionable planning decisions.

·         These issues are raised over-and-over again, but nothing seems to change.

In response the District Councillors comments included the following:-

·         The general feeling of the DC(N) Committee was that the Outline planning permission had already been granted and that the proposed development was better than the likely alternative if these applications had been turned down.  

·         These objections to these applications had not been turned down out-of-hand.

·         Legal advice was that these applications were to be reviewed separately and not jointly as a major application.

·         The views of the Parish Council are always taken into account even when these differ to those of WDC Officers and/or Councillors.

·         The Parish council should raise its concerns at the WDC Planning Conference to be held on 4^th March 2008. ACTION: Clerk to get WDC to include this matter as a topic for discussion at this conference.

·         The Parish Council should give more detailed WDC policy references in its responses to consultation on planning applications.

            4. Strategy – Cllr Galley stated that the Committee had not met since the last meeting of Council and reported that the meeting with AiRS to progress the Parish Plan will take place on 21^st January 2008.

            Cllr Stevenson reported that the Sussex Safety Camera Partnership (SSCP) had informed him that it could not operate a speed check exercise recently at the agreed site in Nutley due to a lack of co-operation from the owners of adjacent properties, and that as there is no other approved site, it may have to withdraw these exercises. It was noted that SSCP’s position is poor and it is for it to find a more suitable location in Nutley. ACTION: Chairman and Clerk to release a press statement expressing the Council’s dissatisfaction.

            Cllr Stevenson reported that he had only had one volunteer come forward from the recent published requests for help with speed checks.

1368.   Outside bodies reports – No items.

1369.   Working Party report on renaming of Council and new logo competition – Due to his absence Cllr Harris will circulate a full report to go out with papers for the next meeting of Council.

1370.   Working Party report on development of the Parish Office – Cllr Finch referred to his report made at the last meeting of Council as minuted and made the following additional points:-

• Along with Cllr Fry, he had met recently with the Chairman of Nutley Social Club Ltd (NSC) and proposed that the Council’s rent should be £10/sq.ft or £14/sq.ft if this included rates and electricity.
• NSC is expecting at least £14/sq.ft. and will get an independent valuation from an estate agent.
• Informal advice from an estate agent suggests that the Council should only be paying around £8/sq.ft.
• The area of the current Office is 130 sq.ft, and this will increase to 307 sq.ft if the adjoining room is included.
• The question of any back rent due may also have to be addressed.
• The amount of rates that the Council is paying to WDC is also to be investigated.

The following points were noted in discussion:-

• This matter should be reviewed as the circumstances under which the terms were originally calculated are now past.
• The opportunity should be taken to look at the desirability of relocating the Parish Office and other possible locations should be investigated.
• If the relocation the Parish Office is not feasible then this must be considered as part of the negotiations with NSC.
• The expenditure of public money on the Parish Office needs to be justified.
• Both the Council and NSC should obtain written valuations of the office space.
• The Council should not pay above the going commercial rate if possible.

It was agreed that the Working party should continue along the above lines and report back to Council at its next meeting.

1371.   Chairman’s Report followed by questions to Chairman – the Chairman thanked all for their help and support over the last year, particularly during the recent period where he and the Vice-Chairman were both away on their holidays.

1372.   Clerk’s Report followed by questions to Clerk – The Clerk stated that he was pleased to announce that a baby boy had been born to the Assistant Clerk on 12^th January 2008. All present expressed their congratulations and best wishes to the Assistant Clerk.

1373.   Payments to be made: for approval – Payments amounting to £2470.13 were approved.

1374.   WDC Planning Conference 4^th March 2007 – to appoint two Members to attend – Cllr Ogden and Cllr Galley will be attending, but as they are DCllrs two other Parish Councillors could attend; there were no volunteers. ACTION: Clerk to ask absentees if they wish to attend.

1375.   Communications – The Clerk stated that articles were required by 31^st January 2007 for the next issue of The Parish Matters. It was agreed that an article on the Councils concerns with WDC on planning matters, and an article on Forest crime awareness should be included.

1376.   Date of next meeting – 19^th February 2008 (Fairwarp).

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 20:38.