Minutes of the Maresfield Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday 15^th September 2009 at 7.30pm in Fairwarp Village Hall

Present:       Cllr W King (Chairman), Cllr K Ogden, Cllr Mrs G Brady, Cllr D Finch, Cllr P Harris,

Cllr J Gutteridge, Cllr Mrs V Taylor, Cllr C Stevenson, Cllr A Clarke, Cllr R Galley, Cllr R Street, Cllr H Fry, DCllr Mrs S Martin, CCllr Whetstone, CCllr A Reid, Clerk T Allen, Asst. Clerk Mrs J Bradford.

A.        Public Session – In attendance, Mr F Taylor, Mr F Thorogood, and Mrs R Fry.

Mr Thorogood and Mrs Fry were observing the meeting.

Mr Fred Taylor spoke to Councillors, as acting Chairman of the Maresfield Renaissance Group and on behalf of Maresfield Conservation Group, concerning the impending Park Farm development, specifically with regard to ensuring the fair and proper allocation of the Section 106 benefits for Maresfield Village.

Mr Taylor related the history of the development of this matter within WDC and ESCC, noting that in some cases correct procedure was not followed resulting in a restriction of public awareness and contributions, and a response from ESCC not being available to WDC members at the DC(N) Committee meeting held on 10th August 2009.

Further discussion covered ODPM guidelines; allocation of S.106 monies to a non existent Uckfield Scheme; how the S.106 considerations for the Grampian site were approached very differently to the Park Farm site.

Mr Taylor concluded by saying that this is a very important issue for Maresfield Village and the Parish Council is now being asked to pursue this matter to a satisfactory conclusion.

The Chairman summarised the three key factors:-

·                     No proper public consultation has taken place; ODPM guidelines state that this must happen.

·                     Uckfield Town is to receive monies from S106 agreement (£3,000/dwelling), which should be allocated to Maresfield Village instead.

·                     The uncompleted element of the ESCC LSAIC has not been included for Maresfield. 

CCllr Reid spoke about ESCC’s position in such matters, noting that he thought the current S.106 procedure to be cumbersome, and that ESCC has no statutory role in such matters and only acts as a consultee to WDC. 

Cllr Ogden noted that the developers must first comply with the ‘safe route to school’ Condition imposed by WDC on the Park Farm development, and that he has been liaising with Lawrence Stringer at ESCC on this matter.

Cllr Galley stated that the matter of S.106 procedures is to be looked at by the WDC Planning Improvement Working Party on 16th October 2009, at which he will take forward the Park Farm issues.

Cllr Stevenson reiterated that ODPM Circulars refer to public participation regarding the form of S.106 setting, and that advice he had received from a senior Planning Officer is that S.106 agreements can be varied if all parties are in agreement.

The Chairman closed this item by asking Councillors to focus on the specifics in this matter, i.e. maximising the benefits to Maresfield Village from the Park Farm development, and that he is looking particularly at CCllrs and DCllrs to ensure that the right result is obtained.

(The Chairman closed the public session and opened the meeting).

1636.   To approve apologies for absence and to note other non-attendance – DCllr M Hoy,

DCllr N Buck, Cllr J Handley and Cllr D Barlow.

1637.   Declarations of Interests - Cllr Mrs V Taylor as member of the Maresfield Conservation Group and as a member of MRGC.

1638.   Minutes of the previous meetings held on 21st July 2009 & 20th August 2009:-

1.            For adoption – Re. minutes from meeting held on 21^st July 2009,  Item 6, the proposed amendments from Cllr Finch circulated with the meeting papers were agreed.  It was resolved to adopt the minutes as amended. 

It was resolved to adopt the minutes of the meeting held on 20^th August 2009 Re. Item 1634, Page 2, 3^rd bullet point, Cllr Galley noted that there are inaccuracies of fact, i.e. that it is incorrect that there is no national minimum for built homes from which S106 benefits can be derived; the national guidelines suggest a threshold of 15 homes, and also that WDC does in fact have a threshold of 10 homes in towns and 5 homes in rural areas.

2.    Matters arising from these minutes – None.

1639.   Reports by and questions to:-

1.            County Councillors – CCllr Whetstone spoke about the ‘Deer Group’ that has been set up which deals with road collisions with deer on the Ashdown Forest.  He also noted that the ‘deer warning signs’ sited around the Forest are to be rearranged to be sited at the main danger areas.

CCllr Reid reported on the new Assistant Director of Transport, Carl Taylor, who joined ESCC on the 7^th September 2009 and expressed his hopes of raising standards in the division.

2.            District Councillors – Cllr Ogden spoke about the need for the exception policy for affordable homes to be more effective and expressed the need to incorporate Members in site visits.

1640.   Council bodies - To receive minutes and decisions, followed by reports from Chairmen and any questions:-

1. Environment:-

                        I.          Minutes of the meeting held on 30th June 2009.

II.         Draft minutes of the meeting held on 25th August 2009.

Cllr Taylor stated that she had nothing to report in addition to the items contained in the circulated minutes.

            2. Finance & Administration:-

I.          Month 5 - 2009/10 Financial Reports – The Chairman noted that the monthly financial reports were “non contentious”. The Clerk noted that Cllr Handley had previously discussed the Month 5 reports with him, and that Cllr Handley had no issues to raise.

            3. Planning:-

I.          Minutes of the meetings held on 27^th July 2009, 10th & 24th August 2009 – A report from Cllr Harris was circulated prior to the meeting. In addition, Cllr Harris noted that he is currently arranging a meeting with the Clerk to discuss the Parish Councils planning application review procedures, with a view to discussing ideas with WDC, including the possibility of the Planning Committee meeting at three-weekly intervals.  Cllr Harris stated that he hopes to have a formal report on theses matters available at  the next Council meeting in October 2009.

            4. Strategy:-

I.          Minutes of the meeting held on 6^th August 2009 – A report from Cllr Barlow was circulated prior to the meeting. Committee Vice Chairman Cllr Mrs Brady had nothing to report in addition to the circulated minutes.  At this point Cllr Finch requested that it be minuted that he had questions to ask Cllr Barlow, and would wait until the next Council meeting on the 20^th October 2009 to do so.

The Chairman made a request for a Councillor to join the Strategy Committee, as at a previous meeting it was nearly not quorate.  It was noted that this Committee frequently has members of the public in attendance; therefore it is vital that a suitable number of Members are present.

            5. Maresfield Recreation Ground Access Sub-Committee – Cllr Mrs Taylor noted that she will be meeting with Mrs Watts on the 21^st September 2009 and that the outcome will be reported at the next Council meeting in October 2009.

            6. Working Party on development of the Parish Office – Cllr Finch expressed his anger with regards to the delay in the issuing of a cheque to Nutley Social Club Ltd for the additional rent payment due up to 31^st December 2009 for the Council’s acquisition of the meeting room as an extension to the Parish Office.

In an outburst aimed at Cllr Ogden, Cllr Finch stated that he believes his “integrity, honour and standing in the Nutley community has been called into question”.  He accused Cllr Ogden of being “dishonest” and a “liar” as he (Cllr Ogden) had promised to pay a cheque to the Social Club for the additional rent due, but had not done so. Cllr Finch demanded an apology from Cllr Ogden.

[CLERK’S NOTE: At this point the Chairman of Council, Cllr King, asked me as Clerk whether I thought that Cllr Finch should be ruled out of order, to which I replied “Yes – I think so”].

Cllr Ogden stated that he was upset at these accusations and apologised for “letting people down”, and noted that he had subsequently told Cllr Finch that the correct procedure when raising any cheque is that it has to go through Council for approval before it can be signed and this is what he was waiting to do; and in fact the cheque in question was on the list of payments for approval at the meeting.

The Chairman referred to the personal attack on Cllr Ogden’s character made by Cllr Finch, and the inflammatory language used and asked Cllr Finch to withdraw his accusations and to apologise. Cllr Finch refused to do so.

The following points were noted in discussion:-

·                     Cllr Fry stated that the situation is unsatisfactory and reprehensible, stating that the matter of signing the cheque was a formality, as the amount had previously been agreed, and that he felt the cheque should have been ready to hand over to the Social Club once the agreement was signed. 

·                     The Clerk noted that Cllr Ogden was quite correct and that the issuing of a cheque must follow Council procedures, and certainly not issued before any written agreement had been approved by Council and signed by its authorised representative. The Clerk also noted his concern that Council was being asked to ratify a document that it had not seen and approved.

·                     The new signed agreement is an interim document which extends the lease until the end of December 2009.  It was noted that a new lease document is required for the period from 1^st January 2010 onwards, which will need to be assessed and agreed by Council. ACTION: Clerk to draft this lease. The Clerk noted that it is standard procedure to seek expert advice as required in such matters to protect his own position and that of Council when drawing up legal documents.

The Chairman noted that the minutes of the previous meeting gave no authority for the signing of this interim document, nor did it reflect Cllr Fry’s position regarding the signing of the cheque in question; in fact the minutes were as if the start date and amount to be paid had not been agreed.

Cllr Finch read out the details from the new interim agreement that he had developed with Cllr Fry, and which they had both signed along with two Members of the Social Club Committee. Cllr Finch referred to the fact that there are different ways of calculating the rent, gave examples and proposed that the additional amount of £204.18 per calendar month be agreed and paid.

The Chairman put it to the meeting as to whether to ratify the interim signed agreement, and to arrange for payment to be authorised to the Social Club.  It was resolved by majority that this should be done.

The Chairman again requested that Cllr Finch retract the accusations made against Cllr Ogden and apologise.  Cllr Finch again refused to do so, stating once more that his “position in the community was in question”.

(The Chairman, Cllr Clarke and the Clerk left the meeting).

At this point a short general discussion took place between the remaining Councillors on the matters that had just transpired, with many Councillors expressing their dissatisfaction.

Under the circumstances, Cllr Ogden nominated Cllr Street to Chair the remaining part of the meeting, as it was felt inappropriate for him (Cllr Ogden) to do so.  It was resolved that Cllr Street should take the Chair.

Cllr Street again requested that Cllr Finch retract the accusations made against Cllr Ogden and apologise.  Cllr Finch again refused to do so, stating that he would go away and think about it.

Cllr Street requested that the meeting moves move straight to item 1643. This was resolved.

            7. Working party on community interaction; to discuss its proposals – Item deferred.

1641.   To receive a report from, and put questions to the Chairman; to discuss his suggestions – Item deferred.

1642.   To receive reports from, and put questions to the Clerk – Item deferred.

1643.   Payments to be made - for approval - It was resolved to approve the scheduled payments amounting to £5283.36.

1644.   Handling of complaints against Councillors – Item deferred.

1645.   Communications – Item deferred.

1646.   Correspondence – Item deferred.

            1. WDC re. District/Parish Conference – 4th November 2009.

            2. AiRS/SALC re. 2009 AGM’s.

1647.   Date of next meeting - 20th October 2009 (Maresfield).

There being no further business the meeting closed at 20.52.