Present: Harvie Steele (Chairman), Dennis Tyler (Vice-Chairmen), Isabel Butcher, Peter Knowles, Ken Line, Neil Longson, Pietro di Marino, Celia Rayner, Jonathan Trees and Estelle Warriner

Also in attendance: Liz Kitchen (Leader HDC), Tom Crowley (Chief Executive HDC) , David Jenkins (Cabinet Member HDC), Tony Thomas (Clerk), Pat Arculus (County Councillor), 7 members of the public and 1 member of the press.

The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed everyone, especially our guests Liz Kitchen (Leader) and Tom Crowley (Chief Executive) of Horsham District Council.

The Chairman adjourned the meeting to allow Cllr Liz Kitchen and Tom Crowley to address the meeting and answer any questions.

Cllr Liz Kitchen gave a brief introduction of her role as Leader of Horsham District Council and then handed over to Tom Crowley as Chief Executive, a role he has been occupying for the last 18 months. He explained they were to attend all 32 parishes meetings, and were currently about half way through the list. He opened his talk with some details of the recently published White Paper: Strong and Prosperous Communities. It was hoped this would devolve more powers to District and Parish Councils, but it did not contain the measures that were expected, although some of the central government targets placed on District Councils had been reduced. The expected two tier unitary authority system was not mentioned at all. A meeting would be arranged by Horsham Association of Local Councils (HALC) in the New Year to provide more details of the White Paper and its effect on the District and Parish Councils and councillors were urged to attend.

He then invited questions, the first of which concerned the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA), and why Horsham District Council was involved with it. Cllr Liz Kitchen explained that it was necessary to attend the meetings and vote on the measures proposed in the hope that they could influence the decisions, otherwise decisions would be forced on them. One of the main decisions was concerning planning for future development, where it was felt that it was better to take part and attempt to shape the plans rather than have them foisted upon the council. Another question was concerning the fast disappearing public toilets in the district, it was explained that the best use had to be made of the limited resources and that maintaining the public conveniences was very expensive and that alternative private facilities were being looked at to provide the service. With the current search for alternative ‘Green’ sources of energy what was the council’s policy on the installation of wind turbines and roof panels which if unregulated could blight the area. This was an issue to be addressed by the Planning and Building Control Departments and they would provide guidance to householders. The provision of a second Tree Warden to assist Will Jones was requested as his workload prevented him from attending when notified of the felling of trees prior to planning applications being submitted, Tom Crowley said this was being discussed as part of the review of staffing of the planning department. The issue of the maintenance of Monkmead Woods was raised as the wood had been neglected for many years and Tom Crowley was able to report that work was to start in the New Year to clear and tidy the woods particularly around the trees planted in 1987 following the destruction by the high winds. A question was asked as to why the council did not offer recycling of paper and envelopes, which at the moment had to be put into the general waste, he said the council was at the moment trialling a new type of side loading collection vehicle which if successful could lead to more items being recycled, but it may also mean another bin.

As there were no further questions the Chairman thanked Cllr Liz Kitchen, Tom Crowley and Cllr David Jenkins for attending the meeting and reconvened the meeting.

Michael Jackson, Paul Royce and Roger Watts

It was proposed by Dennis Tyler, seconded by Ken Line and resolved to approve the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 12th September 2006 as a correct record of the meeting. The Chairman signed the minutes.

1. Track to Tennis Club – to consider the quotation from Edburton Contractors Ltd for resurfacing the track and car park. The Tennis Club have offered to pay half of the cost of resurfacing the car park. It was agreed further quotations would be sought but that s106 funding would be used to cover the cost.
2. Museum Refurbishment – Emerald Construction have still not submitted a quotation for the work and more quotations would be sought.
3. Willets Farm DC/04/2650 – An appeal has been lodged against the refusal of planning permission, and has been linked to the enforcement notice issued by HDC against the unlawful use of the site. A Public Enquiry will be held on a date to be announced.

The Clerk reported payments and receipts for the period 1st September to 31st October 2006.

It was proposed by Dennis Tyler, seconded by Ken Line and agreed to approve the list of payments made from 1^st September to 31st October totalling £11,283.90, and receipts of £25575.10.

1. Solicitors Fees re Playground in Church Meadow – Thomas Eggar, acting for the PCC, have refunded £250 plus VAT of the fees paid by the Parish Council of £1450 plus VAT in respect of the cost to draw up a lease and licence for the proposed playground. The actual cost according to their time records works out at £1902.50, but as a goodwill gesture they have limited the fee to £1200 plus VAT.
2. WSCC – Bus Shelters – a number of used shelters are available for approx. £2000 including installation.
3. WSCC – Rights of Way Improvement Plan for West Sussex – Consultation document on the draft plan to be returned by 12^th January 2007.
4. Minutes of the Annual HDC and HALC meeting on the 16^th October are available from the Clerk.
5. Sussex County Playing Fields Assoc. – Requesting a donation of £15 per annum, to be discussed at the Finance Committee meeting.
6. West Sussex Rural Mobile Youth Trust – Purple Bus – requesting contribution, to be discussed at the Finance Committee meeting.
7. HDC – Minutes of the Standards Committee Mtg 18^th October, copy available from the Clerk
8. HDC – Consultation documents on the following:

i) The Clerk requested a date for the Finance Committee to meet and it was agreed for the 13^th December 2006.

ii) Dennis Tyler gave an update on CHART, which now has 18 responders on call with another 4 having completed the training and awaiting CRB checks. Cover was provided 8.00 pm to 8.00 am during the week and 24 hours at the weekend. Because calls were being received to cover parts of Storrington and Pulborough satellite navigation system were being provided to enable the responders to find the addresses.

iii) Estelle Warriner asked if there had been any progress with the stop signs at the cross roads at the end of Church Street. The Clerk reported that he had passed on the request for a traffic scheme to WSCC Highways Department and a reply was awaited.

i) Reg Slater expressed concern at the proposal to use part of the current Silver Band store to provide a disabled toilet as part of the museum refurbishment. He was informed that the decision to use the area was made after all alternatives had been considered and that the council was convinced that with proper shelving adequate storage can be provided in the reduced area to meet the band’s needs.

Next Parish Council meeting – Tuesday 9^th January 2007 at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room,

Future meetings –, 13^th March 2007, 8^th May 2007, 10^th July 2007, 11^th September 2007 and 13^th November 2007.