Minutes of the meeting of Maresfield Parish Council held on

 Tuesday 16 March 2004 in the Memorial Hall Nutley

Present:  Cllr W King (Chairman), Cllr P Tester, Cllr T Sparrow, Cllr H Fry,

Cllr J Gutteridge, Cllr K Ogden, Cllr R Street, Cllr R Tester, Cllr Miss M Thomas,

Cllr R Woodgate. DCllr F Brown, DCllr J Hollins. Mr B Morley Chairman TEWP.

Clerk: Tony Allen. 

1.             Apologies for absence - Cllr Mrs S Weekes (unwell), Cllr G Hardy (holiday),

 Cllr S Leaney (holiday), CCllr T Reid, DCllr Mrs S Martin, DCllr Mrs P Kennedy.

2.            Declarations of interest – None.

3.            Minutes:-

3.1            Minutes of last meeting for approval – The following amendments were agreed:-

·         P.5 – Cllr Sparrow’s report on Items 6.5 – 6.8 had not been appended. ACTION: Clerk to append and circulate this report.

·         P.6 – Item 8 – Last sentence to read “The Chairman will ask the Clerk to show changes to Version 5 and on any future versions.”

·         P.7 – replace “DCllr Brown left the meeting.” with “DCllr Buck left the meeting.”

·         P.3 - replace “DCllr Buck and Mr & Mrs Maynard left the mtg.” with “Mr & Mrs Maynard left the meeting.”

The minutes were Approved, as amended.

3.2            Matters arising from those minutes – The following points were raised/noted:-

·         Item 9 – It was noted that some grants/donations had still not been paid. The Clerk stated that all grants/donations were now accounted for, with the final payments to be made listed for approval at Agenda Item 9.

·         Item 5.5 – Mr Morley stated that there was no further news regarding the repositioning of the pavement near the Nutley Post Office/Shop. ACTION: Mr Morley to obtain an update from ESCC.

·         Item 13 – A special F&GP meeting to discuss the Village Plan project had not been called. The F&GP meeting scheduled for 8 April 2004 would cover this issue sufficiently, taking into account possible remit changes to the way this project is to be handled in Council.

4.            Reports by and questions to:-

            4.1            County councillor – No report.

            4.2            District councillors - The following points were raised/noted:-

·         The effect of the proposed Government relocation of 20,000 Civil Service jobs from London to the Midlands and The North had not yet been quantified with regard to housing impact in Wealden.

·         WDC scored ‘Very Good’ in the CPA and was commended for managing its finances well.

·         The CPA had some criticism of the lengthy time taken to process planning applications, which had been caused by a shortage of officers. An office reorganisation, plus delegation of around 90% of applications had rectified this. The possibility of having one WDC Planning Committee of 12 Members, to cover both North and South regions was being considered.

·         ODPM had assumed that WDC were already getting up to £1m in revenue from car parking charges.

·         The Council Tax increase had been set at 5.9%.

·         DCllr Hollins will provide the Clerk with promotional literature regarding replacement fridges for people on income support and Lifeline alarm systems for the elderly.

·         Hartfield PC had expressed great thanks to Cllr Sparrow for his presentation to them on Village Plans and surveys.

Council Meeting minutes 16 March 2004                                                    Page 2

·         The Melbourne development in Crowborough Road, Nutley, had been approved at the last WDC DCN Planning Committee meeting, in order that it could be referred to the WDC Regulatory Committee for investigation, during which the approval would be set aside. Cllr Fry indicated that he would be asking DCllr Mrs S Martin why she voted for Approval, contrary to the position of MPC’s Planning Committee.

·         DCllr Hollins would advise on whether there had been any changes to Council Tax relief for single occupancy houses.

5.         Committee & Working Party minutes and reports; Reports by and questions to         Chairmen:-

5.1            Planning - The following points were raised/noted:-

·         Plans for the Affordable housing development at Old Forge Lane, Fairwarp, should be available within 4 weeks for display and discussion at a Village meeting. The site access road is to be made permanent possibly requiring a total of 8 dwellings to be built to cover the costs.

·         Maresfield Villagers will be meeting to raise objections to the possible use of the bottom of Field End for Local Plan housing, in advance of the WDC Special Review Committee meeting to be held on 29 March. This objection had mostly arisen due to the possibility that MPC’s alternative proposed sites would be ignored.

5.2            Finance & General Purposes - Adoption of 2002/03 Accounts to be discussed at Agenda Item 10. No other reports.

            5.3            Environment & Maintenance - The following points were raised/noted:-

·         Repair of finger posts was in hand with Toad Joinery.

·         It would not be possible to use the playing field near the Memorial Hall for a skateboard park, as the Head of Nutley CE School had confirmed that this area was fully utilised and featured in future plans for development of the area.

·         Sewage had collected on the footpath at the back of Park Farm Cottage, Maresfield, approx. 20 sq. ft. The problem had been cleared but this residue remained. The Clerk confirmed that this was being dealt with by WDC Environment Services.

            5.4            Civil Protection - The following points were raised/noted:-

·         MPC had no specific contingency brief for dealing with the effects of terrorist activity, e.g. long-term power outages and the need to provide drinking water. It was assumed that in such an event, MPC would support existing agencies by adapting its own CP Plan.

·         MPC have a generator so that the office can still function. Drinking well water without boiling it first should be discouraged.

·         There had been a very poor response to the MPC Civil Emergency survey.

·         MPC coped in the 1987 storm which caused great damage and long-term power outages.

·         It was difficult to ensure that all vulnerable people would be looked after in an emergency, and that there would be great reliance on neighbours, the Church and individuals for this.

5.5            Traffic & Environment Working Party - The following points were raised/noted:-

·         The next TEWP meeting was to be held on 25 March 2004.

·         ESCC were to install vehicle activated signs at the North and South of Nutley.

·         Ian Johnson, ESCC Highways, is reviewing road markings in Crowborough Road, Nutley.

·         Michael Oates, ESCC, has been asked to get traffic calming measures for the B 2026 at Fairwarp added to the ESCC schedule of works

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·         TEWP are to discuss proposals to implement measures to improve driver behaviour between the Blackdown and Lampool roundabouts, which will then be raised with ESCC.

·         The number of people who give out Pavement Parking leaflets should be restricted to avoid duplication. This matter to be discussed at the next TEWP meeting. There had been good coverage in the local press for this new initiative.

The following points were raised/noted with regard to the proposal for a trial closure of School Hill, Maresfield:-

·         The new TEWP proposal for the School Hill closure trial had been provided to the Clerk. The Clerk circulated this document to Councillors at the meeting. ACTION: Councillors to provide Mr Morley with comments on this document in advance of the next TEWP meeting to be held on 25 March 2004.

·         The issue of revised bus routes and timetables, due to the School Hill trial, had been addressed and it was considered that there would be an improvement to services as there would be more pick-up points.

·         The Proposal for the School Hill trial included consideration of the financial implications. It was estimated that the trial would cost approx. £9k, with subsequent costs of £1500 it the changes were made permanent, or £200 to remove barriers etc. if the trial was not made permanent. Costs would be an important part of the MPC decision to proceed or not.

·         TEWP had been looking at Parish wide initiatives and a whole range of schemes were being progressed, but the School Hill trial was the most ready for implementation.

·         Post Office Ltd had confirmed that the Maresfield Post Office was not under threat of closure.

·         Businesses had been consulted, but there was some concern that Mr Patel from the shop would need help to put his case across at the public meeting. Cllr Ogden agreed to liaise with Mr Patel and try to enlist the help of the AIRS Village Shop Adviser. ACTION: Cllr Ogden.

·         It was agreed by majority (Cllr’s Fry and Gutteridge Abstained), that the School Hill trial proposal should proceed to a public exhibition, public meeting and special Council meeting. ACTION: Clerk and Mr Morley to arrange venue(s). Action: Mr Morley/TEWP to arrange publicity for these meetings.

DCllr Hollins left the meeting.

5.6            Ashdown Business Park Working Group – Cllr Ogden noted the following points from a meeting he had with Chris Lawson who represented the Summerthorne interests in ABP:-

·         The WDC demand for no buildings to be under 10,000 sq. ft., and not to be just for storage, was unrealistic and restrictive. Smaller units are needed nowadays.

·         WDC’s conditions on planning gains of £500k had been reduced to £200k.

·         ESCC had agreed to sell the whole of their portion of the ABP and had agreed to no waste management facility being sited on the ABP. The Clerk stated that he was confirming this with ESCC.

5.7            Parklands Play Area Sub-Committee – The following points were raised/noted:-

·         The waste on the site had been removed.

·         Cllr R Tester was arranging the levelling of the site, following which the fencing could be installed.

·         The fully signed copy of the Lease had still not been received. The Clerk confirmed that he was chasing Dawson Hart for this,

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6.            Outside bodies reports:-

6.1            Ford's Green Committee – No new reports. The next meeting to be held on 18 March 2004.

6.2            Maresfield Conservation Group - No new reports. The last meeting mainly discussed WDC Local Plan housing issues.

6.3            Maresfield Recreation Ground Committee – The following points were raised/noted:-

·         The discrepancies between the Lease provisions and the actual operation of the MRGC had to be addressed. The Clerk confirmed that the Chairman was actioned by the E&M Committee to produce a paper on this.

·         The football pitch surface was very poor, but was expected to improve.

·         The use of Mr Watt’s field for an additional football pitch was no longer a consideration, due to excessive conditions placed on the use of the field by Mr Watts.

            6.4            Wealden District Association of Local Councils            ) See separate

            6.5            Action in rural Sussex                                               ) report

            6.6            Wealden Local Strategic Partnership                ) appended to

            6.7            Sussex Association of Local Councils                     ) these minutes.

            6.8            Community Rail Partnership                                        )

Re. attainment of Quality Council status, Cllr Fry stated that previous advice had been that the 100% elected Members rule would be adopted. It was noted that SALC were trying to ensure that the current 80% elected rule was neither toughened nor strictly interpreted, e.g. if a small council scored 78%.

It was not clear whether the new Police powers to move travellers on after 6 hours applied to public and private land.

7.            Chairman's Report - Re. the process of setting meeting agendas, Cllr Fry noted that the advice given at the new Councillors course differed from that given at the Chairmans course, both these courses having been run by SALC. ACTION: Clerk to raise with T Leggo, SALC.

Cllr R Tester stated that the Parish notice boards were now being refurbished and that the bus shelters had been repaired.

8.         Clerk's Report – The following points were raised/noted:-

• A loss of earnings could be incurred due to attendance at training courses and other events. ACTION: Clerk to put on the agenda for the next F&GP meeting, so that the procedures for loss of earnings can be reviewed.
• The BCE proposed change from Wealden West Division to Ashdown Division was simply a name change, more suited to the area concerned.
• Discussions were in hand between the LSP and the Police for more ‘powerful’ meetings in Wealden. This would mean increased local forums, but less Police availability for attendance at ad-hoc meetings.
• On many occasions, it had proved difficult to contact Insp. Allum. ACTION Chairman and Cllr Fry, as Portfolio holders to report on Police issues at the next meeting.

9.            Payments to be made: for approval – The following interests were declared for this Agenda item:-

            Chairman as a member of the Ramblers Association.

            Cllr P Tester as Chairman of the Fords Green Management Committee.

            Cllr R Tester as a member of the Maresfield recreation Ground Committee.

            Cllr Woodgate as a member of the Maresfield Village Hall Committee.

The list of payments, circulated by the Clerk prior to the meeting, were Approved.

Council Meeting minutes 16 March 2004                                                    Page 5

10.            Adoption of 2002/03 Accounts – The following points were raised/noted:-

• On Page 2 of these accounts the word “Creditors” had been used for both sets of figures. ACTION: Clerk to change the word “Creditors” to “Debtors” for the second set of figures.
• Advice on retained reserves was that these should account for 3 months operational expenditure. Previous years reserves had been higher than this, but the 3 month rule was now being applied.
• Notices for public inspection of the 2002/03 Accounts had been posted.
• It was hoped that the draft Accounts for 2003/04 would be available for the Annual Assembly on 28 April 2004.
• The Accounts for 2002/03 and Statement Of Assurances were Approved. ACTION: Clerk to submit these Accounts for external audit.

11.       Any Other Business:-

            11.1            Update on Annual Assembly - The Chairman confirmed that, due to conflict with several other major meetings in the Parish on 23^rd April 2004, the date for the Annual Assembly had been changed to Wednesday 28^th April at 7.30 p.m. in Bonners School, Maresfield. ACTION: Committee Chairmen to supply their reports for the Annual Assembly to the Chairman by 26 March 2004.

The Chairman stated that in the second half of the Annual Assembly, DCllr J Hollins would talk on the pros and cons of tourism in the Parish, followed by Cllr Street stating the case for tourism and Cllr Hardy stating the case against tourism. It was noted that some visual aids would add interest.

            11.2            Meeting re. TEWP School Hill Proposal – Covered in Item 5.5 above.

12.       Date of next meeting – 20 April 2004

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 22:02.