Minutes of the meeting of Maresfield Parish Council held on Tuesday 16 September 2003

in the Fairwarp Village Hall

Present.  Cllr H Fry, Cllr J Gutteridge, Cllr W King (Chairman), Cllr S Leaney, Cllr K Ogden, Cllr T Sparrow, Cllr C Stephens, Cllr R Street, Cllr P Tester,  Cllr Miss M Thomas, Cllr Mrs S Weekes.  District Cllr J Hollins, District Cllr Mrs P Kennedy, District Cllr Mrs S Martin.  County Cllr A G Reid.  Clerk: Sue Wilson.

Public questions.  Mr R Warren attended on behalf of the Traffic & Environment Working Party to make a report.

1.1            Apologies for absence had been received from Cllr G Hardy, Cllr R Tester, Cllr R Woodgate and District Cllrs F Brown and N Buck.

1.2            Declarations of interest.  There were none.

1.3       Any other personal matters.  There were none.

2.1            Minutes of last meeting for approval.  Cllr Sparrow referred to Item 7 on page 3 of the minutes for the 15 July 2003 meeting and requested that the words "one of the criteria" be substituted for "the criterion".  No further amendments were requested and the Chairman signed the minutes.

2.2            Matters arising from those minutes.  Cllr P Tester enquired whether the bank mandates were through yet and the Clerk was able to reply in the affirmative. 

The Chairman reiterated the importance of keeping agendas for meetings with the minutes and the other documents referred to as noted in Item 2.1 of the minutes. 

Item 4.1.1 of the minutes could not be followed up as Cllr R Tester was not present.  This would be deferred until the next Council meeting, but it was noted that the field adjacent to the Maresfield Recreation Ground had been lined up as a football pitch.  Cllr Mrs Kennedy said she understood that a condition of the grant for the refurbishment of the Pavilion was that there were two football pitches available.

3            Reports by and questions to:

            3.1 & 3.2  County and District councillors.  County Cllr Reid said he had attended a meeting with the Treasurer and warned that this would be another tight year with pressure for reductions in expenditure. 

On the subject of traffic speed management, County Cllr Reid said that policy in the County was to take account of quality of life issues.  Initiatives will be trialled to impress upon the public their social and legal responsibility to drive within speed limits.  More static SIDs will be installed as those at Five Ashes had proved very effective.  Volunteers will be taught to use the laser camera speed guns and the police will take action after a third offence.  The County Council is reviewing speed limits but the police need self-enforcing traffic calming measures as they have insufficient manpower to take enforcement action.

SEERA was considering a report on the East Sussex Central Rail Corridor (Newhaven to London via Lewes/Uckfield/Oxted, ie. reopening the Lewes to Uckfield line).  A major new initiative was to seek ways of raising revenue for the line by capitalising on the increased property values.

County Cllr Reid will be meeting his opposite number in West Sussex to discuss the proposed East Grinstead Bypass and its effect on traffic levels on the A22.

In answer to a question from Cllr Miss Thomas, County Cllr Reid explained that there are very stringent requirements for speed cameras.  Only 18 have been allocated to the area and these must be used for accident reduction.  Nutley does not have a sufficiently serious record to qualify.

Cllr Fry asked whether East Sussex County Council (ESCC) and the Police Authority were going to recognise that speeding was a crime and should be recorded as such.  County Cllr Reid replied that the Chief Constable was encouraging his staff to take an interest.  However police targets are set by central government and do not include speeding.

Cllr P Tester asked whether it would be possible for the ESCC, when putting up road closure signs, to indicate the distance of the closure, with particular reference to the pending closure of the Sheffield Park road.

The Chairman invited Mr R Warren to join the meeting, but he had no further questions for County Cllr Reid.

Cllr Ogden asked whether Onyx Aurora were still interested in siting a waste transit station at the Ashdown Business Park.  County Cllr Reid replied that he believed a contract would be awarded in March.

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District Cllr Mrs Martin raised the possibility of the introduction of car parking charges in the Wealden District Council (WDC) area.  County Cllr Reid said WDC had signalled they would take a positive view of the need to introduce parking charges as there was pressure from central government.  Cllr Sparrow said that in Lewes, the funds raised from parking charges were hypothecated back to improve local transport.

The Chairman advised that he had spent several hours on the WDC Comprehensive Performance Assessment and that Maresfield was one of only two Parish Councils which had been consulted.

Approval of minutes of Emergency Council Meeting.  The minutes of the Emergency Council meeting held on 3 September 2003 were approved.

4.1            Committee reports and minutes: Report, questions and issues:

            1            Environment and Maintenance.  The Chairman said reporting would be difficult as Cllr R Tester was not present and it was agreed this matter should be covered under Ashdown Business Park later on the agenda.

Cllr Sparrow raised the matter of manorial waste which he felt the Parish Council should investigate as a definitive view was needed.  County Cllr Reid advised that Richard Rattle at ESCC has the relevant maps and information.  Cllr Stephens said that the Commons Registration Act could be a useful reference.  Cllr Leaney said this was a matter which interested him and kindly volunteered to investigate and prepare a report.  Cllr Miss Thomas said she had had dealings with ESCC who did not seem clear where manorial waste was located; she thought it was being managed by the Conservators of the Ashdown Forest.                                                                         Action: Cllr Leaney

The Chairman expressed concern about the need to get on with work due to be done at the playgrounds.  The Clerk will speak to Cllr R Tester.                                                 Action: Clerk

            2            Finance & General Purposes.  There were no questions on the minutes of the meeting held on 29 July 2003.  Cllr Sparrow referred to the meeting on 9 September 2003 and the note of agreed actions and proposals which had been circulated.  He referred to Items 6 to 10 and explained that the book-keeping and preparation of accounts had been poor in the past.  However, the new computer accounts system was up and running and management accounts had been circulated to Councillors.   Cllr Street had kindly volunteered to prepare claims for previous years' VAT.  The internal auditors would be returning shortly to agree the accounts for 2002/03.  Cllr Sparrow had worked on the Annual Return for 2001/02 and the figures had been agreed with the auditors.  The timetable for the Parish Council's budget would be published in Parish Matters and the parish magazines so that local organisations could apply for grants and donations.  These would be assessed on the basis of the priorities of the Village Plan.

Cllr P Tester expressed thanks to Cllr Sparrow for all the hard work he had done on the accounts.

Cllr Fry referred to Item 17 – Quality Council – and said that he felt it was important for the Parish Council to bear the criteria in mind in all its dealings, although application for qualification would not be made until the new clerk was in post.

The Chairman referred to the figures on the Annual Returns for 2001/02 and 2002/03.  Cllr Sparrow explained that the precept was lower in 2002/03 as the Council was drawing on its reserves accumulated in 2001/02 when some planned items were not undertaken.

            3            Planning and Issues regarding consultation.  Cllr Ogden reported that the Planning Committee had been very busy.  The planned meeting at Fairwarp on affordable housing at Old Forge Lane had been held back because of the need to repeat the affordable housing survey.  He referred to his report of the WDALC meeting and said the committee was still pushing for an allocation of twelve affordable houses by March 2004 as Mr Oldham had advised him to keep trying.  In answer to a question from Cllr Mrs Martin, Cllr Ogden said that six would be built at Old Forge Lane.  Other possible sites had been suggested to WDC, but had been refused.  Cllrs Ogden, King and Leaney had looked at the possibilities with Action in rural Sussex (AirS).  Cllr Mrs Martin asked whether the Italian Camp was being considered and Cllr Ogden said that Cllr Stephens had tried to make contact with the owner, who was believed to be in Australia, through an intermediary.

Cllr Fry said he felt that the Planning Committee should in future consult Parish organisations if an issue arises.  Sixteen letters of objection had been sent to WDC on one particular application in the Parish.  He took the view that organisations such as Maresfield Conservation Group and Crowborough Road Residents Association should be consulted.  Cllr Ogden replied that notification had been carried out correctly with agendas for the meeting being posted on village noticeboards. 

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There had only been one objection to the application in question before the meeting.  Cllr P Tester said he was disappointed that Councillors were not bothering to check the village noticeboards, particularly those who represent other Parish organisations.  He added that WDC posts notices on

properties where an application has been made.  Cllr Sparrow suggested the planning agenda might in future be circulated to other societies and organisations as, in his experience, WDC consult with fewer owners of adjoining properties than in the past.  He had not been notified of an application on land adjoining his own.  Cllr Miss Thomas said, in her view, it would be unfair favouritism if Crowborough Road Residents Association received notification which was not circulated to Nether Lane/Down Street.  She asked that her dissent be noted and said the Council needed to be more generally accountable rather than favouring one group.  Cllr Fry said that the WDC notice had been hidden and was hard to find.  In his view, putting agendas on the noticeboards was doing the legal minimum and the Council should do better.  Cllr Ogden suggested that agendas for Planning Committee meetings should be circulated, for information, to Councillors who are not on the Committee.  Agreed this, and no more, should be the policy.                                      Action: Clerk

Cllr Street raised the matter of the Italian Camp and said this had not been referred to in the minutes.  Parishioners were suspicious that the Council was pursuing some agenda of its own and was not being clear and open.  He thought such matters could be handled better and that sites should be named, rather than minutes containing oblique references.  He urged Councillors to take the parishioners along with them, rather than risking antagonising them.  The Chairman pointed out that some discussions could be commercially sensitive.  Cllr Ogden replied that nothing underhand had been done.  Representatives of AirS had chosen to visit the site, and had asked him to accompany them, because they were puzzled as to why it had been refused by WDC as a possible site for affordable housing.

District Cllr Mrs P Kennedy left the meeting.

            4            Civil Emergency.  Cllr King, the chairman of this Committee, apologised that he had not had time to prepare a report and said he hoped to catch up during the following week.

            5            Parklands Play Area Sub-Committee – Lease of play area to The New Parklands Residents Association.  Payment by Council for fencing of play area.  The Chairman said that the Lease had not yet been agreed because WDC required an indemnity from the Parish Council which could not be insured.  He thought the problem could be bridged.  Cllr Gutteridge reported that Toni Birkbeck was doing well with the fundraising.  The estimated cost of £20,000 included about £3,000 for labour and the New Parklands Residents Association were planning to do some of the work.  It was possible that equipment for two of the areas could qualify for a £7,000 grant from AirS.  An application had been made to BTCB for a grant of £5,000 bring the total to about £30,000, although this might be optimistic.  The quotations for fencing were being checked as the specifications did not appear to be identical.  Cllr Sparrow said he would advise on completion of the application form but could not speak to it as he is on the grant awarding body.  Fairwarp had recently received a grant of £6,995.99 towards £25,000 worth of play equipment.

            6            Traffic & Environment Working Party (TEWP).  The agreed minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2003 had been circulated with the Council papers, together with the draft minutes of the meeting held on 21 August 2003.  Mr Warren distributed a further set of papers showing TEWP's current action plan and a second page showing matters under investigation.  TEWP is trying to involve the Ashdown Forest Conservators who have the same interests in traffic issues.  TEWP is still fighting for the speed camera and the papers included a copy of a letter sent to ESCC on 22 August 2003.  Although Mr Smart had advised that the accident statistics in Nutley do not warrant a camera, this was thought to be a matter of will instead of hiding behind guidelines.  There was reference to the use of speed guns; Mr Warren said that this will raise questions as to who should man them and create a lot of work for parishioners.  They will not have the same effect as a fixed camera. 

Cllr Fry said he was almost speechless with irritation that the minutes referred to the Batts Bridge roundabout as TEWP had agreed to tackle the dangerous condition of the whole of the Maresfield Bypass. 

Cllr Sparrow said leaflets for cars parked on pavements were being prepared.  The Safety Officer at ESCC would endorse them.

Cllr Leaney raised the matter of the junction of Old Forge Lane and the B2026 and was advised that the figures proved the speed case for all three junctions. 

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Cllr Gutteridge said he did not think the bypass was under-used at peak times, but he could foresee accidents unless the layout was improved.

Cllr Ogden was advised that calculations had not taken into account the proposed building of 1,000 houses in the vicinity.

Councillors were advised that TEWP did not require the Parish Council to support any specific actions at present.

The Chairman called for a short break in the meeting.  County Cllr Reid, District Cllr Hollins and

Mr Warren left the meeting.

4.2            Outside bodies reports:

            1            Ford's Green Committee.  The Parish Council is to take over responsibility for the play area from the Ford's Green Committee.  The quotation for fencing has been accepted and Penfolds are to carry out the work.  Cllr R Tester is organising new woodchips for the play area.

                                                                                                                        Action: Cllr R Tester

            2            Maresfield Conservation Group.  Cllr Gutteridge reported that the Group has 385 members and the Chairman and Treasurer were recently re-elected.  The Group is still working to obtain charity status.  An event is being planned to celebrate illumination of the lamp which was the Group's Jubilee project.  He said that Cllr Ogden had put in a lot of time and effort to achieve the successful outcome of the project at far less cost than originally quoted by Seeboard.  An Antiques Roadshow event is being planned.  A litter clear is planned for 25 October 2003 and all volunteers will be welcome at 10.00am at The Chequers.

            3            Maresfield Recreation Ground Committee.  Cllr King and Cllr R Tester had attended a meeting with Mr and Mrs Watts, the owners of the adjacent field, who have been requested to let the field to the Football Club.  An issue raised by Mr and Mrs Watts was extra parking required for the footballers; he said that this can be provided without further recourse to the Watts.

            4            Wealden District Association of Local Councils.  Cllr Ogden's report of the meeting held on 23 July 2003 had been circulated with the papers for Councillors' information. 

Mr Oldham of WDC had updated the meeting as to progress on the Local Plan Review, affordable housing had been discussed and also the withdrawal of support by the government for the A27 scheme and housing in Polegate.

            5            Action in rural Sussex – Future Strategy.  Cllr Sparrow said that if Councillors would fill in the questionnaire attached to the circulated papers, he would add their responses to his own.                                                                                                                                   Action: All

            6            Wealden Local Strategic Partnership.  Cllr Sparrow said the LSP would be meeting the following week.  A fund of £10,000 is being distributed to Wealden Parishes who can claim £500 each for work connected with their Village Plan.  As Cllr Sparrow is on the granting team, he would like a volunteer from Maresfield Parish Council to help make a claim for £500 for research purposes.

            7            Sussex Association of Local Councils.  Cllr Sparrow reported that he had attended a valuable meeting the previous week.  Trevor Leggo, the new Executive Officer was in position.  Bob Tidy and Becky Shaw had given an update on help to parishes.  A positive response had been received from the County Council on road safety and ESCC was also helping to achieve broadband enablement for Nutley.

            8            Gift to Nutley War Memorial Hall.  Cllr Fry reported that negotiations were proceeding between the Uckfield Film Society, of which he is a committee member, and District Cllr Brown and Peter Easton for the donation of a free 35mm projector to the Nutley War Memorial Hall.

5            Chairman's Report.  The Chairman referred to his report and said that spending three days per week on Council work was unsupportable.  However this was a result of exceptional circumstances. 

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He drew Councillors' attention to the matter of insurance referred to at the bottom of page one and asked anyone with concerns to contact him or the Clerk.  The Finance & General Purposes Committee had the matter in hand.

Councillors agreed that the previous team should be assembled to complete the work on the remits and produce a clear working paper for Council.  The new model standing orders had been obtained from NALC.  The Chairman had studied them and said they were a shoddy piece of work.  It was agreed the Remits Committee should sort these out too.

The Chairman had attached a portfolios list to the end of his report and asked Councillors to choose individual roles.  Cllr Leaney said it was a good idea to split the duties and suggested that committees should elect vice-chairman to assist and cover for the chairmen in their absence.  Cllr Sparrow thought the principle was fine but said that some matters, e.g. phone masts, were better with committees to keep a watching brief.  He also said a team was needed to produce Parish Matters; in his view this was not the responsibility of the Chairman.

6          Clerk's Report.  The Clerk raised one matter in addition to her tabled report.  A letter had recently been circulated to all Councillors which asked two questions that required replies.  Only one reply had been received – from the Chairman.  The Clerk said it did not help her to do her job properly if Councillors did not respond when asked for specific information.

Cllr Sparrow drew Councillors' attention to the list of information referred to in the Clerk's report saying it was important to be aware of the throughput of information to the Parish Office, some of which could be useful to parishioners.

7            Payments to be made: for approval.  Councillors studied the list.  Cllr Sparrow proposed the payments should be made.  This was seconded by Cllr Miss M Thomas and agreed.

8          Other items

            1            Appointment of new Clerk – progress report.  The Chairman reported that there had been 17 expressions of interest from the advertisement.  Eight applications had been received from which three people had been shortlisted with a fourth on standby.  In his opinion there was one strong, experienced applicant, two good ones and a possible.

            2            Lease of Maresfield Recreation Ground to the Recreation Ground Committee – to ratify/authorise its signing and to authorise completion.  The Chairman explained that no resolution for the execution of the Lease had been previously minuted and asked Councillors to ratify the execution by Cllr Bruce Morley and the previous clerk, Lyn Longbottom.  The Lease should then be swapped with a Counterpart copy signed by the Trustees of the Maresfield Recreation Ground Committee.  In answer to his question, Cllr Sparrow was advised that the rent would be reviewed five years after the start of the Lease which had been dated 1 June 2002 when signed.  Cllr Ogden thought the rent seemed low at £60 per annum but it was pointed out that the land was a gift to the village and the Parish Council could not make a profit from it.

            3            Ashdown Business Park.  The Clerk had written on behalf of the Environment & Maintenance Committee to all three owners of the Business Park, deploring the derelict appearance of the site due to the mess on the adjacent verges and the poor condition of the advertising boards.  She had also written on behalf of the Finance & General Purposes Committee to all three owners to express Councillors' concern at the delay in setting up the Business Park and bringing negotiations to a satisfactory, positive conclusion.  The agent for Summerthorne Estates had replied by telephone stating that he did not think there would be Cambridge-style high tech business.  He said two acres had been allocated to Onyx Aurora for a waste site and also talked about the onerous conditions being imposed under the S.106 Agreement.   WDC had responded in a letter and an acknowledgment had been received from ESCC.  Cllr Gutteridge felt it was important to get the business park going.  In his opinion the waste site should be excluded as it would be unhealthy for the 80 houses across the road.  It will also be easier to develop the site and attract business without the waste site.  Cllr Ogden said the waste site could be quite clean and tidy if it was a public amenity site, although it would increase traffic with lorry and dustcart movements.  District Cllr Mrs S Martin said WDC had closed a vehicle maintenance operation in Uckfield which was close to houses.  It was agreed that any proposed waste site was a major issue.  Cllr P Tester suggested planners should be asked to remove the onerous conditions in the S.106 Agreement to enable progress to be

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made.  It was agreed that a working group should be formed made up of Cllr Ogden, Cllr Sparrow, Cllr P Tester, Cllr R Tester and Cllr Miss Thomas and that the working group will report to Council  regularly on a two-monthly basis.

            4            Wealden District Council – District/Parish Conference on 29 October 2003. 

Cllr Gutteridge and Cllr Ogden kindly volunteered to attend the Conference.

                        Wealden District Council – Expenditure survey.  Cllr Sparrow suggested Councillors should send their comments to the Clerk and kindly offered to help collate them for onward transmission to WDC.

            5            Sussex Rural Community Council AGM – 11 November 2003.  Cllr Gutteridge and Cllr Ogden kindly volunteered to attend the AGM.

            6            Information to parishioners; Issues as to its adequacy.  It was agreed to defer this matter to the next meeting.

            7            Community Support Officers – possible sponsorship of additional officers.  Cllr Sparrow questioned whether these people fulfilled the same role as Neighbourhood Wardens.  The Clerk is to enquire.                                                                                                           Action: Clerk

            9            Any other business.  Cllr Stephens had, that evening, received a letter regarding the identity of one of the owners of a piece of land at Fairwarp.  It was agreed to defer the matter to a forthcoming Planning Committee meeting.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 10.35pm.