Minutes of Maresfield Parish Council’s Strategy Committee Meeting held on Thursday 9^th September 2010 at 7.30pm in the Parish Office, Nutley

Present: Cllr Mrs G Brady (Chairman), Cllr R Street, Cllr Mrs Carol Reynolds,

Cllr R Galley, Cllr K Ogden, Cllr W King, Cllr D Barlow. Clerk T Allen.

1. Public Session – None.

2. Apologies for Absence – Cllr J Handley, Cllr Mrs P Palmer.

3. Declarations of Interest – None.

It was resolved unanimously that Cllr Mrs C Reynolds be co-opted onto the Committee.

4. Minutes of Previous Meeting (8^th July 2010):-

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

            b.         Matters arising from these minutes not elsewhere on the agenda – Re. Item 7(b), Cllr King asked if there had been any further developments concerning the matter of cycling being permitted on the Forest. Cllr Street stated that the Conservators are looking favourably at the possibility of having designated areas on the Forest for this, and that safety concerns raised are being looked into. Cllr Galley stated that nearly a year ago the Conservators held a meeting with a cyclists group from Crowborough to look at the possibility of making a designated area near Gills Lap; the cyclists were to come back with detailed proposals, but nothing has been received to date.

The Clerk reported that he had made contact with Mr Buchanan, the new owner of Funnels Wood, and that he will be meeting Mr Buchanan soon, along with Samuel Pennington, to discuss ideas for youth activities on this land.

5.a.i.1  SpeedWatch – The Clerk reported that two exercises in each village were held over the two days 2^nd & 3^rd September 2010 and that the details of speeding vehicles had been passed on to Sussex Police.

5.a.ii.1 NWCTP Report – Cllr Street reported that Cllr Barlow and Mrs Linda Graham had today been in London to make a presentation to the Community Transport Association to try to secure a Regional Social Enterprise Grant of around £80K. If successful, this would allow NWCTP to obtain its own bus and become a provider of Community Transport.

Cllr Street stated that the current operator for the WealdLink service, CTLA, had given notice that it wants to concentrate more on providing services in its own area and therefore will likely stop running the WealdLink service.

5.a.iii   Affordable Housing – Cllr Ogden reported that the WDC Scrutiny Committee had agreed to examine the reasons for the non delivery of affordable housing. Cllr Galley noted that some delivery will be coming through soon and that he will shortly be replying in full to Cllr King’s letter to him on the matter of identifying unmet need.        

Cllr Street noted that the next meeting of WDALC on 6^th October will include a presentation by the Chairman of Hartfield PC on its experiences of delivering affordable housing locally.

5.b.i     Carers, the Elderly & Infirm – Cllr Mrs Brady reported that she is speaking to local WI groups regarding computer training on a more personal basis, e.g. small courses or run from individual’s homes. Cllr Mrs Reynolds stated that she is happy to help with this initiative and offered the use of her home for this purpose.

5.b.ii    Development of Play Areas - Cllr Mrs Brady reported that she had spoken to members of the New Parklands Residents Association, and to play area designers, at the turf cutting event at Parklands Play Area held on 4^th September 2010, noting that ‘rustic’ designs are currently favoured.

Cllr King noted that ex Cllr Charlie Stevenson has applied for grant funding for the improvement of the Fords Green play area.

(Cllr Barlow joined the meeting)

5.c.i     Youth – Cllr King reported that there had been some vandalism in Maresfield Village during the summer holidays, including at the Maresfield Recreation Ground play area where paint had been put over the equipment. Cllr King stated that the local PCSO, Katie Breeds, had agreed to make this issue a top priority, but nothing further has been heard. Cllr Mrs Brady noted that an increased Police presence had been seen in the Village, especially in the Parklands area.

5.c.ii.1 Satellite/Branch Doctors Surgery – Noted that Cllr Finch will be giving a full report to Council at its meeting on 21^st September 2010.

6.a       WDC Wealden Health Profile 2010 – Cllr King stated that a more detailed breakdown of this Profile had been seen at LSP meetings and noted that Maresfield Ward suffers health inequalities to a considerable extent compared with N Wealden. Cllr King stated that it is important to find out what’s being done about this; a joint approach is required involving ESCC, WDC, Schools, Sussex Police. PCT, Social Services, etc.

It was noted that a prevalence of nursing homes in the Parish was partly the cause for high mortality rates being indicated. ACTION: Cllr King to drill down into the available statistics and information available, to detail the profiles for the Parish Wards.

ACTION: Clerk to take this information from Cllr King and ask the originators of the Health Profile to explain what action is proposed to address the issues indicated.

5.a.ii.1 NWCTP Report – Cllr Barlow was able to give an update on this item, discussed earlier in the meeting.

Cllr Barlow noted that the small NWCTP team had to produce extensive documentation for today’s meeting with the Community Transport Association, where an application was made for a Rural Business Development Grant/Loan. Cllr Barlow reported that, subsequent to this meeting, he has been told that, subject to the application of certain constraints, a grant has been approved for a total value of c.£85K, which will enable NWCTP to move up to a more professional level of operation and become an operator of Community Transport.

Cllr Barlow explained that this grant would not directly allow the purchase of a vehicle, but that another benefactor was able to help with an interest free loan for this purchase. Cllr Barlow noted that additionally suitable garaging will have to be found for the vehicle and that NWCTP will probably have to find some small office accommodation.

Cllr Street noted that the Rural Business Development Grant could not be used for the existing WealdLink service, thus the current funding and revenue sources must remain in place.

7. Communications – No items.

8. Date of Next Meeting – Thursday 7^th October 2010 (Fairwarp Village Hall).

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