Minutes of Maresfield Parish Council’s Strategy Committee Meeting held on Thursday 13^TH January 2011 at 7.30pm in the Parish Office, Nutley.

Present: Cllr Mrs G Brady (Chairman), Cllr W King, Cllr K Ogden, Cllr Mrs C Reynolds, Cllr Mis A Bergan-Gander, Cllr Mrs C Flittner, Clerk A Allen.

1. Public Session – no members of the public were present.

2. Apologies for Absence – Cllr D Barlow, Cllr R Street, Cllr R Galley, Cllr J Handley.

It was resolved that Cllr Mrs C Flittner and Cllr Mis A Bergan-Gander be co-opted onto the Committee.

3. Declarations of Interest – None

4. Minutes of Previous Meeting (7^th October 2010):-

            a. Adoption – The minutes were adopted as a true record.

            b. Matters Arising – Re. Item 5.a.iii, Cllr King stated that he will shortly produce his memo. regarding the experiences of Hartfield PC in realizing affordable housing in that Parish.

5.a.i.1 SpeedWatch – The Clerk reported that no exercises had been carried out in the last couple of months due to the bad weather. The Clerk noted that Sussex Police had proposed to implement a registration and vetting system for volunteers, but this had subsequently been scrapped. Bookings for the speed detecting device will soon be able to be made on-line using Google Doc’s.

It is expected that the next SpeedWatch exercise will take place at the end of January/early February 2011.

5.a.ii.1 NWCTP – Cllr King reported that Cllr Barlow continues to be extremely busy in developing this CTP and is currently engaged in discussions to secure its first bus. It was agreed that Cllr Barlow’s hard work should be applauded. It is expected that Cllr Barlow will give a full report to Council at its meeting on 18^th January 2011.

5.b.i Carers, the Elderly & Infirm – Cllr Mrs Brady reported on a recent visit by PCSO Mark Carter to a WI meeting at which he spoke about the desire of Sussex Police to be more aware of the elderly and vulnerable people in the parishes; PCSO Carter gave out leaflets and front door stickers. Cllr Mrs Brady stated that she will speak further with PCSO Carter on these matters.

Cllr Mrs Reynolds stated that she does work with the elderly and vulnerable as part of her Red Cross duties, noting that there was scope for linking in with the Sussex Police initiative.

Cllr King referred to recent press reports concerning the impending withdrawal of the Mobility Allowance by the Government, noting that it would be useful to be aware of the potential impact on Parishioners affected and to be able to alert local groups. ACTION: Cllr Mrs Reynolds to obtain details of the Mobility Allowance.

5.b.ii Development of Play Areas – The Clerk reported that Mr Stevenson should hear soon from Veolia regarding his application for a grant to replace the festival whirl at Fords Green play area.

The Clerk reported that the development works at the Parklands Play area had been held up due to bad weather, noting that he has chased Visible Changes Ltd regarding the date for the transfer of two items of equipment to the MRG play area, and an estimate of the associated cost.

5.c.i Youth – It was noted that the grant request from the Youth Groups, relating to the funding remaining in the current budget, will be reviewed by Council at its meeting on 18^th January 2011.

5.c.ii.1 Health profiles 2010 – Cllr King related the background to this matter for the benefit of the new Councillors, noting that he has chased up Lisa Compton at the PCT regarding what is being done following the identification of health inequality ‘hot spots’, one of which is in Maresfield.

Cllr Ogden spoke about the collapse of the Meads Surgery and the re-distribution of Doctors, noting that the Buxted surgery now runs three sites and may be a better partner regarding having a surgery in the Parish.

6. Communications – The Clerk noted that a new edition of the YPB e-newsletter is due out and will be discussed by Council at its meeting on 18^th January 2011.

7. Date of Next Meeting – It was resolved that, due to the current light workload of the Committee, this should be 10^th March 2011.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 20:05.