A meeting of West Chiltington Parish Council was held at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 30th August 2005 in the Parish Office at the Reading Room, Church Street, West Chiltington.
Present: Harvie Steele (Chairman), Michael Jackson, Estelle Warriner, Celia Rayner, Ken Line, Roger Watts, Dennis Tyler, Paul Royce, Jonathan Trees and Isabel Butcher
Also in Attendance: Tony Thomas (Clerk) and 15 members of the public
1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Neil Longson, Pietro di Marino, Peter Knowles and Pat Arculus (County Councillor)
2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
i) It was proposed by Roger Watts, seconded by Dennis Tyler and resolved to approve the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 12th July 2005 as a correct record of the meeting. The Chairman signed the minutes.
ii) The meeting approved the minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting on the 19th July 2005, and the chairman welcomed Isabel Butcher who was co-opted at the meeting, the chairman signed the minutes.
3. MATTERS ARISING
i) County Highways are planning to install the Dolly Posts in East Street next week.
ii) Childrens Playground in Church Meadow Thomas Eggar solicitors for the PCC have said the renewal of the lease at the expiry of the ten-year term is at the discretion of the landlord. The council debated whether they should appoint solicitors to act on their behalf in this matter but it was decided to ask Thomas Eggar to correspond directly with the Parish Council
iii) It was reported that Hot Air Balloons had been using Church Meadow for launching which would be reported to the PCC.
4. LICENSING APPLICATIONS
To allow members of the public to speak the meeting was adjourned.
i) Queens Head Terry Allen and several other residents spoke of their experiences of anti social behaviour suffered by them currently; including noise late at night, urinating in the street and glasses and trays being thrown into adjoining gardens. They claimed that extending the licensing hours and allowing live entertainment would only exacerbate the problems. Michael Jackson explained that objections to the proposals have to be on certain grounds and that protesters should write to the Licensing Authority listing their objections strictly in accordance with those grounds. The Parish Council would also write to object and send a representative to the meeting to speak in person.
ii) The Elephant & Castle David Lusted the landlord spoke of his intention to maintain the premises as very much food oriented and that he had no intention of extending his opening hours on a regular basis. The application was made by the brewery and applied to all their public houses to save the expense of obtaining licenses for special occasions. Although letters of objection had been received from neighbouring properties the Parish Council accepted the landlords statement regarding extended opening and would only ask for the hours to be reduced to midnight.
iii) West Chiltington Golf Club No objections had been received by the Parish Council and it was thought because of the location that extended hours would not cause a problem and no action would be taken.
5. PLANNING MATTERS
i) WILLETS FARM
a) Following research by Mr Carpenter, a Broadford Bridge Road resident, County Highways have agreed to carry out a new traffic survey as the information and figures on which the previous report was based have been proved to be incorrect.
b) Following limited enforcement action against Wealden Grain regarding the illegal use of the buildings, HDC and Wealden Grain have entered into a Section 106 Agreement limiting the use of part of the building, section 7 and 8, to B8 Storage purposes, only if the roller shutter door is kept permanently sealed. The current B2 Heavy Industrial activity must cease within 28 days.
ii) PLANNING DECISIONS -
a) As the planning committee will meet next week all applications will be discussed then.
b) A Section 106 Agreement has been entered into in respect of Harborough, Harborough Hill with a payment of £2500 for Community Facilities and £2400 for Transport Projects.
6. COMMITTEE REPORTS
(i) Finance Committee
(a) Payments and Receipts: The Clerk reported payments and receipts since the previous meeting covering the period 9th July 2005 to the 26th August 2005.
It was proposed by Roger Watts, seconded by Neil Longson and agreed to approve the list of payments made from 9th July to the 26th August 2005 totalling £2274.85.
ii) Open Spaces Committee: The minutes of the meeting held on the recreation ground on the 19th July 2005 were discussed and Jonathan requested certain changes, which the Clerk agreed to make, the meeting approved the minutes and revisions and the chairman would sign the revised minutes.
7. MUSEUM REFURBISHMENT
i) Morfield Everest hopes to have the tender documents available in early September.
ii) Minutes of the Museum Committee meeting on the 20th July were approved by the meeting and the chairman signed the minutes.
iii) Now that Gina Wilmshurst has declined to carry out the conservation work another conservationist must be sought and new storage will be needed when Gina needs the space in her house. Michael Jackson suggested writing to the curator of Horsham Museum to see if they were able to help, the Clerk would make enquiries.
8. CORRESPONDENCE
i) The West Chiltington Sports Association have requested a meeting with the Parish Council representatives to discuss issues regarding the pavilion and surroundings. Dates will be provided by the representatives to arrange a meeting in the near future.
ii) HDC Local Development Framework Parish Council Seminar Invitations to a briefing on Thursday 15th September. Isobel would try to attend.
iii) Repairs to Tractor Shed The repairs are scheduled to be carried out in the second week in September and the cost recovered from the driver.
iv) Dog Bin in Church Meadow Amanda Drenan says that the Parish Council agreed to put a dog bin in Church Meadow but members said that they did not own the land and that the PCC should be asked. Estelle agreed to pass on the request to the PCC.
v) SALC Advanced training courses are to be held in Midhurst 28,29 & 30th October 2005 if anyone wants to attend notify the Clerk.
vi) Horsham District Crime & Disorder Reduction A copy of the strategy objectives, targets and action plans is available for members to read.
vii) Saxon Weald Shared Ownership - 4 new 2 bed flats are available in Storrington on a shared ownership basis, notices have been put on the notice boards, if members know of anyone who might be interested please pass the information on.
viii) County Local Committees The first meeting of the CLC will be held on Monday 21st September, the chairman has been invited to attend. Leaflets are available for those interested.
ix) Bridleway 2300 Diversion The diversion order of the bridleway around Gay Street Farm has now been made and the public have until 30th September to object, notices will be put on the PC notice boards.
10. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
i) CCTV The installation of a CCTV system to monitor the Village Hall, Pavilion and the Recreation Ground was discussed to combat the isolated instances of vandalism and anti-social behaviour that occur in the area. It was proposed by Paul and seconded by Roger that s106 could perhaps be used and Roger said he would obtain cost from Ashington where the installation of CCTV had been most effective.
ii) Gate for Allotment It was proposed by Michael and seconded by Celia that Roger should supply and fit a metal gate as discussed.
iii) Leaves Blocking Drains - Roger mentioned the build up of leaves blocking the drains and gullies in Broadford Bridge Road and The Hollows and that heavy rain could cause flooding if not cleared, the Clerk was asked to contact Highways to attend to the problem.
iv) Chippings Dump Southlands Lane Michael Jackson said County Highways intend to fill in the lay-by.
v) Smythe Trust Estelle asked if Peter Evans could stop on as a trustee, but the Clerk explained that the limit was six trustees and it was therefore not possible.
vi) Mini Motor Cycles Estelle reported that she had been present when two mini motorcycles had been ridden round the recreation ground and sports field and even out on to the road over the weekend. The Clerk had received separate reports from nearby residents and the police had been informed and were ready to take enforcement action against the riders if they returned.
11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Tuesday 8th November 2005 at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room.
There being no further business the Chairman thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 10.15 pm.