WEST CHILTINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

 

A meeting of West Chiltington Parish Council was held at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 9th January 2007 in the Parish Office at the Reading Room, Church Street, West Chiltington.

 

Present: Harvie Steele (Chairman), Dennis Tyler (Vice-Chairmen), Michael Jackson, Peter Knowles, Pietro di Marino, Celia Rayner, Jonathan Trees, Estelle Warriner and Roger Watts.

 

 

Also in attendance: Tony Thomas (Clerk), Pat Arculus (County Councillor), 3 members of the public

 

The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.

 

 

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

 

Paul Royce, Ken Line, Isabel Butcher and Neil Longson.

 

 

2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

 

It was proposed by Dennis Tyler, seconded by Celia Rayner and resolved to approve the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 14th November 2006 as a correct record of the meeting. The Chairman signed the minutes.

 

 

3. MATTERS ARISING

 

 

a)      Track to Tennis Club – Two quotations have now been received for the track re-surfacing but due to the constraint of available s106 funding at present it was proposed that this is left until latter in the year.

 

 

b)      Museum Refurbishment – With a provision for extras and architects fees the Clerk proposed applying for £25,000 of s106 funding for the project. The Clerk was authorised to prepare and submit the application form for £25,000 of s106 funding to complete the refurbishment.

 

c)       Children’s Playground Refurbishment - The Clerk proposed to apply for £11,250 of s106 funding to match the grant from HDC, which with the £3,750 of funding from parish funds will give an overall budget of £26,250. The Clerk was authorised to prepare and submit the application form for £11,250 of s106 funding to complete the project. Funding of up to £10,000 will also be sought from National Lottery “Awards for All” Fund. Proposals are still coming in from playground equipment suppliers and contractors for schemes and the Clerk proposed a meeting of the ‘Open Spaces Committee’ and possibly other groups to discuss the schemes and make a selection, a meeting would be arranged as soon as all proposals were received.

 

 

 

 

4. COMMITTEE REPORTS

 

a). Finance Committee:  Payments and Receipts:

 

The Clerk reported payments and receipts for the period 1st November to 31st December 2006.

 

It was proposed by Estelle Warriner, seconded by Dennis Tyler and agreed to approve the list of payments made from 1st November to 31st December totalling £7,435.36, and receipts of £324.19.

 

b). Budget 2007/8

 

To approve the minutes of the Finance Committee meeting held on the 15th December 2006 to consider the current expenditure and approve the budget for 2007/8.

 

The expected net actual income and expenditure for 2006/7 is expected to be £223 lower than budgeted and the Finance Committee are recommending a budget for 2007/8 showing expenditure of £57,622 and income of £6,352, leaving a shortfall of £51,270. Included in the expenses is a provision for the forthcoming parish elections to be held on the 3rd May 2007 of £3,820, without which the expenses would be lower than 2006/7.

 

It was proposed by Celia Rayner and seconded by Pietro di Marino and agreed by all members to approve the budget for the year 2007/8.

 

5. PARISH PRECEPT 2007/8

 

To balance the budget for 2007/8 will require a Precept of £51,270, equivalent to £23.50

for a Band D property, an increase of £0.90 over 2006/7.

 

To Chairman adjourned the meeting to allow members of the public to speak.

 

Mr Pat Tinworth was pleased that the increase in the budget was kept to a minimum and noted that without the provision for election expenses there would have been a reduction in expenditure. His also enquired if the Chairman had been able to satisfy himself that the level of expenditure on administration was consistent with other local parish councils as he requested at the Finance Committee meeting, and the Chairman reported that he had contacted the Chairman of three adjacent parishes who confirmed that their administration costs were a similar percentage of total expenditure.

 

The Chairman reconvened the meeting and following unanimous acceptance of the figures the Clerk was authorised to notify the Precept figure of £51,270 to Horsham District Council for 2007/8.

 

 

6. CORRESPONDENCE

 

None received

                                

 

 

 

 

 

7. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

 

i). Estelle Warriner raised the following points:-

a). A cheque for £100 from the Theatre Arts Club as a donation for the use of the car park at the recreation ground was given to the Clerk, who asked her to thank the club for their generosity.

b). Keith Rushton of the Mary Howe Trust had written to her regarding the parking problems that had been experienced when holding events at the Village Hall. The Clerk agreed to write to all parties using the car park to ask them to notify him of dates when they would be using the car park and the number of cars expected so he was aware of potential problems dates and open the overflow car park.

c). As there was no footpath along The Hollows she asked what had become of the ‘Safer Routes to School’ initiative with West Sussex County Council. The Chairman agreed to make enquiries at the school to find out the current position.

 

ii). Peter Knowles said the flood relief scheme work carried out at Heathmill Corner on West Chiltington Road appeared to have been successful following the recent heavy rains.

 

iii). Roger Watts informed the meeting that it was now possible to report pot holes in the road direct on the WSCC website, and action was promised within three days.

 

 

8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

 

Next Parish Council meeting – Tuesday 13th March 2007 at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room,

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

 

 

There being no further business the Chairman thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 9.30 pm.