2007 04 12 PC Minutes

Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 12 April 2007 at 8.00pm

Present : Chairman Mr Robert Rowland, Councillors Mr Tony Brooks, Dr Jen Green, Mrs Carolyn Loveless and Clerk to the Council, Mrs Sheena Trist (late arrival).

Apologies for Absence : None

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 January 2007 were read, approved and signed by the Chairman.

Declarations of Interest by Members (if any) are shown against the relevant items in the minutes.

Due to the relocation to Devon of Councillor Nick Bremer and his subsequent resignation, Chairman Mr R. Rowland proposed Councillor Tony Brooks as Vice-Chairman. This was seconded by Mrs Carolyn Loveless.

Rights of Way Bollards on Bridleway 6B the Backway. No further problems had been reported with cars parking on the backway and no feedback from the South Downs Conservation Board. The PC agreed to let the subject lie unless there were further complaints.

DDMO 07/01 – Perching Drove. The Inquiry took place on 26/27 February and the PC were awaiting the decision of the Planning Inspectorate.

Highways: parking on the bend by the pub. Parking had been as bad as ever over the Easter weekend but it was agreed that without the cooperation of the owners of the pub there was little the PC could do to overcome this.

The Sheds Clappers Lane: a retrospective application for works on the site had been received and the PC had objected to this, with a request to the Local Planning Authority (LPA) that if it be passed an embargo be placed stopping the sheds being used for accommodation or office purpose. The LPA decision was awaited.

Market Garden: the LPA had received some further information regarding the landscaping of the site. It is partially acceptable as it shows some of the stones/gravel being removed from the site and replaced with lawn. However the landscaping condition also covers lighting at the site and the LPA still have not received details of this. It was being chased up with the applicant’s agents who are based in Malta.

The LPA believe that the Hearnes have now submitted a new planning application to retain the old Huet caravan on the site to be used for storage. The advice the LPA had received is that even though the Planning Inspector put a condition on requiring this old caravan to be removed, they will have to determine the new planning application that has been submitted to retain it.

It was noted that the big caravan had now been removed from site and there was speculation that this was to make room for a new caravan to replace the burnt one.

Huet Caravan: further to a letter to Mr Tucker asking that the site be cleared of remaining rubbish, he had replied stating that this would be done as soon as possible and someone had been seen on site on 12 April. The Clerk to chase-up with another letter at the end of the month if there was no improvement.

Preston Nomads: several planning applications had been received. Variation on conditions – refused. Retrospective lights – refused. Retrospective roller shutters – refused. Electronic scoreboard – refused. New practice nets – granted.
 
Two burglaries had taken place – BBQ and oil tank, but nothing from the interior.

North Town Field: D.J. Flynn had started mowing the field but the grass clippings were not being picked up. The Clerk advised that Mr Flynn had experienced problems with the first mowing as the grass was long but that he would be picking p the grass in the future.

Further to the discussions regarding proactive Trustees for the North Town Field, the Chairman proposed Jen Green, seconded by Carolyn Loveless, to take effect from 3 May when Jen would no longer be on the PC. It was agreed to wait until the new PC were in place to nominate another Trustee.

The Ram House: the Chairman thanked Tony Brooks and Jim Sapsted for re-siting the finial on the top of the Ram House and for cutting back the trees that had caused the problem. As no response had been received from the National Trust regarding ownership it was agreed to pass this onto the new PC if they wished to pursue it.

Garages in Clappers Lane: Barry Leppard, the Tree Warden was reporting any problems to WSCC but nothing had been heard back at the time of the meeting

Village website: No one had volunteered to take on the role of coordinating the village website.

Resignation of Clerk: further to the advertisement in Pigeon Post for a new Parish Clerk, no one had come forward. In the interest of continuity and to help the new PC settle in, Mrs Trist agreed to stay on in the post for at least another year. However, she was now going on holiday in July and would not be available for a meeting on 12 July. It was agreed that due to these exceptional circumstances the July meeting be held on the 5th.

Grant for defibrillator: Michael Trist had only received two responses from parishioners willing to be on the defibrillator rota for the defibrillator and this was not enough for it to be a viable proposition. The idea was therefore shelved.

APM: The date for the APM was set for 8.00pm 10 May. Richard Corner agreed to speak on behalf of Neighbourhood Watch and Bob Rowland for the Social Committee. MSDC had already been contacted by the Clerk to see if they would provide someone to speak about the new rubbish collection system. Carolyn Loveless agreed to organise refreshments and glasses.

Dates of next meetings: 5 July and 11 October 2007, 10 January and 10 April 2008.

Financial Matters: the Chairman and Vice Chairman signed off the external audit paperwork, interim audit, cheque list and cheque stubs.

Renewal paperwork had been received from Allianz Cornhill. The Clerk had made enquires about professional indemnity but they do not provide this cover. Their advice was that the PC was covered for Public Liability in case of error or omission and that as long as Councillors abided by the Code of Conduct then they were covered. It was agreed to carry on with renewal and for the new PC to take up further cover if they required it.

AOB There was no any other business.

Closing remarks: as this was the last meeting of the current PC, the Chairman thanked his fellow Councillors for being such a dedicated Council and also gave his thanks to Mrs Trist.

He went on to say that he had greatly enjoyed his time on the PC and as Chairman but expressed caution at the suggestion that the village be run by referenda as it is the duty of a PC to express the wishes of the parish and to decide what is best for the village as a whole. If a referenda route be followed the PC would be denied the very reasons for which it was elected and that this should be considered very carefully when voting on 3 May.

Date of Next Meeting 5 July 2007.

The meeting closed at 8.50 p.m.

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