WEST CHILTINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

 

A meeting of West Chiltington Parish Council was held at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 13th November 2007 in the Parish Office at the Reading Room, Church Street, West Chiltington.

 

Present: Harvie Steele (Chairman), Simon Booth, Isabel Glenister, Michael Jackson, Ken Line, Neil Longson, Pietro di Marino, Paul Royce, Ruth Simmonds, Jonathan Trees and Roger Watts.

 

 

 

Also in attendance: Tony Thomas (Clerk), Pat Arculus (County Councillor), Philip Circus (District Councillor) and 11 members of the public.

 

 

 

The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.

 

 

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

 

Apologies received from Dennis Tyler (Vice-Chairmen) and Amanda Apps

 

2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

 

It was proposed by Ken Line, seconded by Roger Watts and resolved to approve the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 11th September 2007 as a correct record of the meeting. The Chairman signed the minutes.

 

 

3. MATTERS ARISING

 

a)      Speeding & Road Safety – Concerned local residents by way of a letter have requested the council appoint a councillor to take specific responsibility for the co-ordination and promotion of road safety issues.

 

Before the members considered the request the Chairman adjourned the meeting to allow members of the public to address the meeting.

 

Mr Simon Griffin, acting as spokesman for the group, said the council had not done enough to reduce speeding in the parish and requested the appointment of a councillor to take responsibility for road safety and speeding and presented a petition of 200 signatures in support of the request. He also requested the council should obtain use of the Speed Indicating Device (SID) to inform motorists of their speed, in the hope that it would curb speeding.  He presented a graph of data compiled by Mr Christopher Heap from Monkmead Lane showing, estimated using cameras, that 80% of vehicles were exceeding the speed limit.

 

The Chairman reconvened the meeting to allow members to discuss the proposal.

 

The members did not accept the council had not done enough to promote road safety and curb speeding, several members had been in contact with the Chief Constable and other high ranking police officers requesting they take action but all had met with the response that the low accident rate did not warrant special attention, the police had to concentrate the limited resources in the areas of most need. The council was also in discussion with West Sussex County Council to find ways of making the crossroads at the Common and Old Village safer using Section 106 transport Contributions. The members thought that the existing arrangement of the Clerk co-ordinating action with the police and other bodies should continue rather than one councillor being responsible.

 

It was proposed by Ken Line and seconded by Simon Booth and agreed by all members to contribute £100 to allow the use of the Speed Indicating Device (SID) and the group was asked to provide the volunteers to man the device. The police would be asked to approve sites for its use and provide training for the volunteers.

 

The Chairman introduced Alison Tate, WSCC Senior Engineer in Accident Prevention Team. She briefly explained what the team does, what effect the measures implemented in West Chiltington have had and listened to the concerns raised and answered questions.

She reported that there had been 13 accidents in 3 years in the parish according to data supplied by the police. It was important to educate people on the dangers of speeding and suggested the school be requested to include an article in their newsletter and the parish newsletter should include a paragraph. She agreed to provide the data of previous speed monitoring exercises and to carry out further monitoring at the same sites for comparison.

 

 

b)      Museum Refurbishment – The Clerk informed the members that the quotations for the work had been sent to our Architects, Morefield Everest, for evaluation. Peter Longley, on behalf of St. Mary’s Church, has requested that a survey of levels between the Museum and the sewer and water connections to the Church Hall be carried out before he will be able to make a decision on whether to allow the connection. Once a suitable contractor has been identified by Morfield Everest they will be instructed to undertake the survey and quote for the cost of making the connections.

 

As there appeared to be some confusion with members regarding the access between the museum and office i.e. whole wall removed, archway, large double doorway or normal doorway a discussion took place to finalise the plans to instruct the builders. It was decided for reasons of security, heating and to maximise wall space to install a large double doorway between the rooms.

 

The Clerk requested authority to be given for the Planning Committee, following advice from Morfield Everest, to evaluate quotes and issue contracts for the work to avoid further delay. It was proposed by Ken Line and seconded by Neil Longson and agreed that the Planning Committee be authorised, following advice from Morfield Everest, to issue contracts for the work and to report to the Parish Council at each meeting the contracts issued and progress of the work.

 

c)      Housing Needs Survey / Parish Plan – The Clerk will arrange a meeting with Action in Rural Sussex (AirS) to finalise the Housing Needs Survey Questionnaire and requests authority to be given to the Planning Committee to authorise the final questionnaire prior to it being sent out. It was proposed by Ken Line and seconded by Isabel Glenister and agreed that the Planning Committee be authorised to finalise the questionnaire to be sent out, and report to the next Parish Council meeting.

 

 

Parish Plan – The Clerk reported that the majority of parish councils in the Horsham District had either prepared or were in the process of preparing a Parish Plan. It is prepared by parishioners, guided by AirS and with help from the Parish Council, of the needs and aspirations of the residents of the parish, setting goals for their implementation.  Once completed the Parish Plan would incorporate the Housing Needs Survey results and would be used by Horsham District Council as supplementary planning guidance. The Clerk had distributed copies of the Parish Plan recently completed by the residents of Thakeham to illustrate the issues raised and covered.

 

After a discussion it was agreed to delay a decision on a Parish Plan until the Spring after the Housing Needs Survey had been completed.

 

d)      Security of Tenure for Cricket Club – The Cricket Club have been sent a letter offering security of tenure for 20 years to enable them to obtain Focus Club status which in turn will enable them to obtain grants and loans.

 

The Tennis Club are requesting a similar letter offering security of tenure to enable them to apply for loans for improvements to the facilities. This will be given once the National Playing Fields Association (NPFA) has given their approval.

 

 

4. COMMITTEE REPORTS

 

a). Finance Committee:  Payments and Receipts:

 

The Clerk reported payments and receipts for the period 1st September to 8th November 2007.

 

It was proposed by Michael Jackson, seconded by Ken Line and agreed to approve the list of payments made from 1st September to 8th November totalling £26928.32 and receipts totalling £50803.58.

 

 

 

5. CORRESPONDENCE

 

The Clerk reported the following correspondence had been received:

 

a)      West Sussex Tree Wardens – A new handbook and identity cards for our tree wardens have been received.

 

b)      Sussex County Playing Fields Association – Annual Subscription – We have been paying £5 although the subscription was raised to £10 in 1998. We are now requested to increase the sum to £15. The members agreed to increase the subscription to £15 with immediate effect.

 

c)      Horsham District Council - The Listing of Buildings – A guidance note on the process of Listing has been prepared by the council.

 

d)      Horsham District Council – A copy of the response to Primary Care Trust “Fit for the Future” proposals sent by the leader of the council.

 

 

6. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

 

a)      The Clerk requested a date be set for the Finance Committee to meet to discuss the budget for 2008/9.  It was agreed to hold the meeting after the Planning Meeting on the 4th December.

 

b)      Michael Jackson asked that the Parish Council start to make provision for a contribution for the repair of the Village Hall roof which will be required in 4/5 years time. The expected cost is £45000 of which the Parish Council should provide £15000. The Clerk reported that Section 106 funds were still available to meet part of the cost and that provision would be made.

 

c)      Pietro di Marino asked when the arrows and signs would be painted in the car park in Haglands Lane.       The Clerk had ordered some signs but they were too small and replacements would be obtained.

 

d)      Roger Watts asked that the council be asked to clean the drain tops in Broadford Bridge Road. The Clerk would contact the council to have the work carried out.

 

e)      Ken Line asked when the skateramp would be repaired. The Clerk said the contractor whose quotation for the work was accepted in May had, despite repeated requests, failed to respond and a new contractor was to quote for the work.

 

f)       Ruth Simmonds reported that the stile on the footpath in Nyetimber had been removed and she has notified WSCC.

 

 

7. ADJOURNMENT

 

            No one asked to speak.

 

8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

 

Next Parish Council meeting – Tuesday 15th January 2008 at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room,

Future meetings – 11th March 2008, 13th May 2008 & 9th September 2008.

 

 

There being no further business the Chairman thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 10.00 pm.