Present: Harvie Steele (Chairman), Dennis Tyler (Vice-Chairmen), Estelle Warriner, Michael Jackson, Peter Knowles, Ken Line, Neil Longson, Paul Royce, and Roger Watts.

Also in attendance: Tony Thomas (Clerk), PCSO’s Neville Warner and Louisa Tilley and 8 members of the public.

The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed everyone and then adjourned the meeting to allow the two PCSO’s to address the meeting.

1. The Chairman welcomed Police Community Support Officers Neville Warner and Louisa Tilley. They gave a brief description of their roles, numbers and location and explained how they cover the parishes of Coldwaltham, Pulborough, West Chiltington, Thakeham and Ashington. They urge anyone who notices a problem to telephone the non emergency number 0845-60-70-999 in order that the incident can be logged into the system and they are informed of the incident and will respond as soon as possible. Emergency calls, when urgent police attention is required, should continue to be made using 999. The main problems encountered in West Chiltington are peddlers, distraction burglaries and people offering to tarmac drives etc. Householders are requested to contact the police using the non-emergency number if approached by anyone suspicious and not to allow anyone entry into their home unless they have proper identity badges, if necessary contacts the organisation to check.

The members asked questions about levels of cover, hours etc. and how problems that face the parishioners can be tackled including speeding, anti social behaviour and farm thefts. They explained there are various initiatives which the police are running, from SID (Speed Indicating Device) in collaboration with Parish Councils, efforts to curb Anti Social Behaviour in collaboration with the District Council and Farmwatch to enable farmers to report suspicious vehicles or people which is then forwarded to all local participants so they are on their guard.

The Chairman thanked the two PCSO’s for attending and reconvened the meeting.

Isabel Butcher (Family Commitment), Celia Rayner (Broken Leg), Pietro di Marino (Business Commitment), Jonathan Trees (Holiday) and Pat Arculus (Holiday)

It was proposed by Michael Jackson, seconded by Ken Line and resolved to approve the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 9th May 2006 as a correct record of the meeting. The Chairman signed the minutes.

a) West Chiltington Youth Football Team, request for funding of £350 to provide numbered kit for each player.

The Chairman adjourned the meeting to allow Alex Banfield and Ben Van Nes, the manager, to address the meeting. Alex explained how the team was formed two and a half years ago and last year they came 11^th out of 12 teams in the under 14 league. They currently play in donated old adult kit and would like to purchase numbered junior kit. He had obtained a quotation of £350 to purchase 19 numbered kits and requested the council to make a donation towards the cost. Ben Van Nes had recently been appointed as manager and the prospects for the coming season looked promising.

The Chairman reconvened the meeting for members to discuss the request. Michael Jackson said Horsham District Council might be able to make a donation and that Alex should make an application. It was proposed by Michael Jackson, and seconded by Ken Line, to make a donation of £100 towards the cost with the proviso that if the application to HDC was unsuccessful or only partially successful the Parish Council would make up the shortfall to the full amount required. The members thanked Alex for coming and wished him and the team every success in the new season.

The Clerk proposed that consideration be given to abandoning the scheme to build the playground in Church Meadow for the following reasons:

i). The Playgroup are moving from the Church Hall at end of year.

ii) Vandalism of equipment – Youth Hut has had all the windows on west side broken by footballs kicked by youths.

iii) Site hidden from View.

iv) Better value for money can be obtained by combining/ expanding existing playground in the recreation ground – considerable money can be saved on site works etc. which are likely to take up more than half of the project cost.

v) Could perhaps add equipment in the recreation ground for older children to use, only two old swings currently available.

The members discussed the proposal and requested the Clerk to officially ask Horsham District Council if the grant currently earmarked for the playground in Church Meadow would still be available if the project was switched to the recreation ground. The Chairman was requested to make enquiries at the school to establish how many toddlers there were at the school from the area surrounding Church Meadow. If the grant would still be available the members gave their approval to the proposal. The Clerk would like to involve toddler groups in the village in choosing equipment, together with Anna Chapman from HDC Parks & Leisure Dept.

Jonathan unable to find previous photographs and has no time to take new ones. Can members supply the Clerk with suitable photos to put on board at show?

The Clerk reported that following the discussion at the Planning Committee meeting on the 4^th July a number of members had asked him to investigate the possibility of converting part of the band storage room into a toilet with the entrance into the museum area, with storage for band to be provided in the remaining area using the current access door. The architects had confirmed that this was a possibility but would require the partition between the museum and storage area to be moved by around 40mm to comply with minimum size requirements for disabled toilets. It was proposed by Paul Royce, and seconded by Estelle Warriner and received the support of all members to authorise the Clerk to contact the architects, Morefield Everest, to proceed with drawing up revised plans and obtaining costings for the project.

Following a review by the Clerk of the cost of damage and vandalism suffered by the village hall and in the recreation ground it was felt the cost of installing a CCTV System at a cost of £15,000 was not cost effective. It was proposed by Dennis Tyler and seconded by Ken Line that application for s106 funding for a CCTV System be withdrawn in order that the funds could be used elsewhere. The Clerk was asked to inform the Planning Obligations Committee of the decision.

Dennis Tyler (Vice Chairman) requested he be taken off the Finance and Open Spaces Committees due to other commitments, but would cover for the Chairman if he was unavailable.

The Clerk reported payments and receipts for the period 1st May to 30th June 2006

It was proposed by Estelle Warriner, seconded by Ken Line and agreed to approve the list of payments made from 1^st May to 30^th June totalling £6736.65.

It was proposed by Michael Jackson, seconded by Dennis Tyler, and unanimously agreed by members to support the application.

The application states the changes are required due to the increase in junior membership causing extra use of current square. The costs are split 50/50 between square and mower.

Following discussion it was proposed that Thakeham Parish Council should be asked to contribute 50% of the cost of the pitch alterations from their s106 funds, and the mower should be funded by 50% from the club with the remainder split equally between West Chiltington and Thakeham PC from s106 funds. The Clerk was asked to inform the Cricket Club and Thakeham PC of our views.

Subsequent to the meeting when the Clerk contacted the Chairman of the Cricket Club and Thakeham Parish Clerk he was informed that the Cricket Club were contributing 50% of all costs from their own funds and that Thakeham had no s106 funds available, but had donated directly to the Cricket Club during the past year and would continue to do so. Due to the imminent Obligations Panel Meeting the Clerk informed all the members of these facts and it was agreed to support the application.

i) Meeting of South Horsham County Local Committee, Monday 17^th July at Rydon Community College at 7.00 pm. Agenda available from the Clerk

In view of the fact that a lot of West Chiltington people are treated there it was agreed we would write in support of the protest group.

Isabel Butcher and Estelle Warriner agreed to attend on behalf of the council.

i) Denis Tyler informed the members that CHART would be holding a fund raising evening on Saturday after the Fayre & Flower Show.

ii) Paul Royce reported that the remains of a fire behind the skate ramps contained fibreglass matting, presumably from one of the plant containers, which he had picked up and removed. He had also noticed that the electricity box behind the hut next to the pavilion was missing. The Clerk was aware of this and the cricket club had agreed to make a cover during their conversion of the hut to a score hut which was due to commence in the near future.

iii) Roger Watts would cut the branches from the oak tree that was obstructing the view when exiting the village hall car park this week.

iv) Estelle Warriner asked whether we had received any feed back on the visits by the mobile café to the recreation ground. The Clerk agreed to obtain the information once the visits were finished.

v) Peter Knowles reported that the stile at the far end of the recreation ground near the stream into the field was broken. The Clerk would inform the Footpath Ranger.

Next Parish Council meeting – Tuesday 12th September at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room.