| Minutes May 04
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| Minutes May 04
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Minutes of the Meeting of Maresfield Parish Council held on Tuesday 18 May 2004 in Maresfield Village Hall
Present: Cllr W King, Cllr P Tester, Cllr T Sparrow, Cllr G Hardy, Cllr J Gutteridge, Cllr K Ogden, Cllr R Street, Cllr R Tester, Cllr H Fry, Cllr C Stephens, Cllr Ms M Thomas, Cllr S Leaney, Cllr Mrs S Weekes. Clerk: Tony Allen.
1. Apologies for absence - Cllr R Woodgate, DCllr F Brown, DCllr Mrs S Martin, DCllr N Buck, DCllr J Hollins, DCllr Mrs P Kennedy, CCllr A Reid.
2. Declarations of interest – None.
3. Minutes:- 3.1 Minutes of last meeting for approval – Item 10 - It was agreed to amend “The Clerk’s appointment was confirmed” to read “The Clerk’s appointment was unanimously confirmed with congratulations from all present”. Item 11 - It was agreed to amend “It was agreed that a Policy and Strategy Committee…..” to read “It was agreed that a Policy and Strategy Sub-Committee….”. The minutes were Approved as amended. 3.2 Matters arising from those minutes – It was agreed that the ESCC Traffic and Freight Strategy consultations should be followed up by the Traffic & Transport Committee.
4. Reports by and questions to:- 4.1 County councillor – No report. 4.2 District councillors – No report.
5. Committee & Working Party minutes and reports; Reports by and questions to Chairmen:- 5.1 Planning – Cllr Ogden had nothing to report in addition to the minutes previously circulated. 5.2 Finance & General Purposes – Cllr Sparrow had nothing to report in addition to the items appearing later on the Agenda. 5.3 Environment & Maintenance – Cllr R Tester reported that the replacement fingerposts were being painted and that it was hoped that ESCC would erect them as part of their Village Maintenance initiative. Cllr R Tester stated that he would be meeting with the Clerk to allocate Cllrs to footpaths for inspections. Cllr R Tester stated that some of the Maresfield Recreation Ground boundary fencing would need repairing/replacing over the next few years. Cllr R Tester sought Council’s approval for the Maresfield Recreation Ground Committee Lease to be updated to reflect the current practice of MPC paying the costs of grass cutting by contractors. The change was Proposed by Cllr P Tester, Seconded by Cllr Sparrow and agreed unanimously. 5.4 Civil Protection – Cllr Street reported that he had managed to recruit one new Assistant Radio Operator and would be seeking more volunteers in Parish Matters. 5.5 Ashdown Business Park Working Group – The Chairman reported that the next meeting was being arranged by the Clerk and that he has made contact with a prominent local Estate Agent who might be able to give advice on the ABP.5.6 Parklands Play Area Sub-Committee – Cllr Gutteridge stated that he had met with the Chairman of the New Parklands Recreation Committee. Cllr Gutteridge stated that he had expected Southdown Fencing to currently be on site to erect the play area fencing and would be chasing them up to start this work. The Clerk stated that Toni Birkbeck had confirmed that the Local Network Fund grant of £7K, arranged via AIRS, had been approved, and that £3K of the budgeted grant from the Parish Council was now needed in order for the first equipment to be purchased. It was unanimously agreed that the amount of £3,000 should be paid on receipt of a pro-forma invoice by the Clerk. ACTION: Clerk.
Council Meeting minutes 18 May 2004 Page 2
6. Outside bodies’ reports:- 6.1 Ford's Green Committee – The Clerk confirmed that he had received the balance of money for the Play Area fund from the Fords Green Management Committee. 6.2 Maresfield Conservation Group – Cllr Gutteridge stated that the next meeting would be held on 25 May 2004, at which the Village of the Year competition would be discussed. 6.3 Maresfield Recreation Ground Committee – Cllr R Tester stated that the next meeting would be held on 26 May 2004. 6.4 Wealden District Association of Local Councils – Cllr Sparrow stated that the next meeting would be on 26 May 2004 and that Cllrs should advise him if they have any particular points or issues that need to be raised. 6.5 Action in rural Sussex – In reference to Parish Plans, Cllr Sparrow stated that the demise of the Countryside Agency as we know it was starkly underlined by the sudden closure of the Vital Villages Programme on 31 March 2004, but he was pleased to report that by then, over £80K had been claimed by East Sussex villages for their Parish Plans, (and over £90K in West Sussex). Cllr Sparrow reported that, with the increasing shift of central government resources for local activities to voluntary organisations, AIRS had been consulting these bodies with a view to ensuring that the real needs of communities are addressed and that resources are made available. Cllr Sparrow stated that Parish Councils had an increasingly important role to play as the interface between these bodies and higher local authorities. 6.6 Wealden Local Strategic Partnership – Cllr Sparrow stated that , following the recent Stakeholders meeting in Uckfield, the Wealden LSP were now gearing up to ensure Partners deliver their agreed strategy. 6.7 Sussex Association of Local Councils – Cllr Sparrow had no major topics to report. 6.8 Community Rail Partnership – Cllr Sparrow reported that there had been 20 applications for the post of Development Officer for the Uckfield Line and that interviews would be held shortly. Cllr Sparrow encouraged all present to use the Line and via himself, or DCllr Buck, to feed in ideas for better use of buildings, better access to services/stations and improved services on the Line. 7. Chairman's Report – The Chairman stated that he had nothing to add to his reported that had been circulated prior to the meeting. 8. Clerk's Report – The Clerk referred to the need to respond to WDC’s paper on Tourism Strategy and an Action Plan for the next 5 years. It was agreed that the Policy Committee should lead on this and report back to Council at its July 2004 meeting. ACTION: Policy Committee. ACTION: Clerk to send a holding reply to WDC. The Clerk circulated the latest report from Sussex Police. Cllr Street noted that PC Cathy Cole had not attended any Council meetings since her first visit several months ago. The Chairman stated that Insp. Allum had informed him that the Sussex Police Neighbourhood Policing Policy is subject to further review and this may account for PC Cole's absences, that the review is anticipated to be completed in the autumn of 2004 and that, as Portfolio holders, he and Cllr Fry would give a full report to Council at its July 2004 meeting. It was agreed that the Clerk should attend the SALC Legal training day to be held on * June 2004. ACTION: Cllrs interested in attending this event to contact the Clerk urgently. The Clerk informed Cllr Fry that SALC advice had been received regarding the setting of meeting agendas. ACTION: Clerk to copy this correspondence to Cllr Fry.
Council Meeting minutes 18 May 2004 Page 3
9. Payments to be made: for approval – The Clerk circulated revised payments schedules which now included cheque numbers and dates, a requirement identified by the recent internal audit. The Chairman, as a Governor of Bonners School, declared an interest in the payment to it. The payments were Approved.
10. Adoption of 2003/04 Accounts – Cllr Sparrow reported that the Internal Audit had been completed and signed off and that the Annual return was now ready for the Chairman to sign. Cllr Sparrow stated that the Internal Auditors had recommended some improvements in procedures and records, but that they had found no major issues to prevent their Approval of the accounts. Cllr Sparrow expressed thanks to the Clerk for his hard work in getting the accounts to this stage in record time and for having already implemented some of the Internal Auditors recommendations. Cllr Sparrow stated that the balance carried forward at 31/03/2004 was as expected and that a full Asset Register was being constructed. The Accounts for 2003/04 were unanimously Approved and Adopted.
11. Code of Conduct for non-Councillor members of Committees – Cllr Fry introduced this new Code which had been put together by himself and the Chairman, noting that non-Councillors did not need to formally register their interests and that there was no recognition of Prejudicial Interests. It was unanimously agreed that this Code should be adopted. ACTION: Clerk to copy the Code to SALC for information.
12. To decide what, if any, work be allocated to Policy Committee and Strategy Sub-Committee 12.1 It was agreed that the Policy Committee should report/recommend to Council by July on: · Compensation to Cllrs who have to take time off work. · How to identify targets for committees for the year, and to tie this into budgeting for the following year. · WDC Tourism paper. 12.2 It was agreed that the Strategy Sub-Committee should report/recommend to Council by June on: · Which elements of Village Plan require review; what to be added; how and when.
13. Any Other Business:- 13.1 Post TEWP – It was agreed that a factual report of the TEWP School Hill meeting held on 23 April 2004 should be included in Parish Matters along with a mention of the new T&T Committee and its aims/objectives. It was agreed to let the new T&T Committee advise on the most appropriate form of future consultation with Parishioners, based on the programme of work to be agreed at its first meeting, with a report to Council at its next meeting. The Clerk stated that it would be polite to let Sue Wilson know the current position, as she was the Secretary to TEWP. ACTION: Chairman. 13.2 Request to ESCC for funding for Speed Indicator Devices and Crossings – The Clerk circulated papers from Cllr Sparrow (SID’s) and Cllr Ms M Thomas (Crossings). Cllr Sparrow stated that his paper sought 4 additional SID’s in addition to the 2 currently being installed in Nutley on the A22, as follows:-
Council Meeting minutes 18 May 2004 Page 4
Cllr Thomas stated that her paper sought 4 new crossing sites, as follows:-
It was agreed to add the following 2 additional sites for proposed crossings to the paper:-
It was agreed that the application for the 4 new SID’s and 6 new crossing points should be submitted to ESCC by the Clerk. It was agreed that the two papers should be combined into one submission, with more detail provided for each proposal, and the comprehensive detail for the Nutley crossing put in an appendix to the submission. ACTION: Cllr Sparrow and Cllr Thomas to produce final submission for the Clerk to submit to ESCC.
14. Date of next meeting – 22 June 2004
The Chairman concluded the meeting by thanking the Councillors for their hard work in the past year, noting that an unusual amount of internal organisation had occurred in the last year and hoping for less of that in future, and stating that in the coming year more hard work was needed to deliver results to Parishioners. The Chairman stated that it was important to get meetings of Committees arranged as quickly as possible, so that Chairmen can be elected and work programmes agreed. ACTION: Clerk.
There being no further business, the meeting ended at 22:45.
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