Category Archives: Play Area

Children’s play area in the North Town Field

2011 01 13 PC Minutes

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Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 13 January 2011 at 8.00pm

Present: Chairman Mr Tony Brooks, Councillors Mr Richard Corner, Ms Jo Hudek and Clerk to the Council Mrs Paula Hazard.

Apologies for Absence: Vice Chairman Mrs Pamela Rowland, Councillor Mrs Jennifer Parmar

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

County Council update — County Councillor Peter Griffiths addressed the meeting. He talked about Highways covering Fulking’s Local Winter Management Plan and local flooding problems. He gave an update on the implications of the reduced budget for West Sussex. He was asked if there was something that could be done about a kissing gate that had been very badly damaged by a vehicle. This was outside 45 Clappers Lane. He agreed to report this to the Head of the Rights of Way team.

Minutes — The minutes of the meeting held on 14 October 2010, as previously circulated, were approved, accepted and signed by the Chairman.

Highways: Flooding problem by the Shepherd and Dog stream culvert — The PC had agreed at the previous PC meeting to monitor how badly this part of the road flooded in the winter. As suspected, there was still a flooding problem caused by water flowing down the hill on to the northern side of the road. The drain still blocked easily during heavy rain. The PC planned to request that WSCC clear the drain more frequently and press again for a more permanent solution such as a gully.

Flooding by The Sands in Clappers Lane — The stream was running over the road again by The Sands. This was proving lethal when the temperature dropped and the water iced over. WSCC had been notified that the pipe needed to be unblocked. Rubbish that had been dumped in the ditch was also aggravating the problem. This had been reported as fly tipping to Mid Sussex District Council in early November but it had still not been removed.

Flooding by the junction of Clappers Lane and Holmbush Lane — This has been reported to WSCC with photographs to illustrate the issue particularly the problem that one of the ditches does not get cleared.

Flooding by Four Acres on Poynings Road — This flooded badly with the recent heavy rain. It had been reported to WSCC stressing that the flooding on a blind bend caused a danger to traffic. The drain needed to be blasted through.

The Chairman said that he would compile a summary of all the recurring flooding problems in the area and submit this to WSCC Highways and enlist the support of CC Peter Griffiths.

North Town Field Play Area Surface — The PC s grant application to Viridor had been successful. 5000 had been awarded to the cost of the new play surface. The new wetpour surface to replace the old barkpit had been put in. The surrounding area needed to be turfed which was planned to be done soon.

Public Liability Insurance — NTF Trust had advised that the new lease contract had been completed and it would now be circulated to the PC for signature.

Rights of Way: Diverted Footpath 4dF — There was no further news from the Rights of Way Way Committee.

Reopening of Bridleway 11F — There was no further news from West Sussex Rights of Way.

Permissive Path near Paythorne Farm — It was planned that this path would be opened by 31 January.

Bridleway 5/3F — This path runs alongside West Dean to Cabbage Patch and suffers from very poor drainage. It was discussed whether this problem could be addressed. Previously the South Downs Joint Committee had carried out some work to improve the drainage. However only a small part of the path had been worked on. The Chairman said that he would contact the South Downs Joint Committee to see if they improve drainage on the rest of the path.

Local Winter Management Plan: WSCC had approved the arrangement for the local farmer, David Ellin, to clear snow from local lanes. To support this, WSCC had lent the farm a snow plough attachment which required some modification for it to work.

The PC had looked into ordering bulk bags of salt but had decided to go for a permanent solution so five grit bins had been purchased. Three of these had been installed in Clappers Lane and two in The Street. All the bins had been filled by WSCC with a salt mix. Each bin has a nominated keyholder. It was agreed that details about the grit bins should be posted to the village website.

Village Plan: A draft Village Action Plan had been circulated to all households in December. Following a consultation period due to end on 15 January, a revised draft would be presented to the village at a meeting on 10 February.

Ram House: The National Trust had carried out the repair work to the Ram House. This involved removing branches from the nearby trees which were damaging the roof tiles and fitting the replacement roof tiles. The work was carried out at no cost to the PC.

Lower Kents: The PC had written to MSDC Development Control at the end of October stressing local concerns about the sheer length of time it was taking for the landowner to submit a retrospective planning application. The PC had proposed that a time limit be set by which plans must be submitted with the alternative being that the half finished unapproved building be taken down. No response had been received. It was decided that the PC should contact Susanna Kemp (District Councillor) about this matter as well as writing a follow up letter to Development Control.

Powered Microlights: The South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) had not responded about their view on policy on powered microlights/hang gliders/paragliders etc. in the National Park area. It was agreed that the Chairman and Councillor Corner would raise this issue at the upcoming SDNPA meeting.

Offshore Wind Farm: A planning application was expected to be submitted to the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) on 2 January 2012. The IPC has 28 days from the day after submission to review the application and decide whether or not to accept it. If the application was accepted, IPC will advise the timescales when interested parties can register to make a representation .

Information had been received which indicated that it was likely that the cables would be laid underground at Truleigh Hill. This would require very large trenches to be dug over the Downs. The PC planned to contact the South Downs National Park Authority to assess their view.

Electricity Power Cuts: An article had been put in November Pigeon Post to make residents aware that in order to get power cuts fixed, it was necessary for residents to phone EDF. There had been a long power cut on Christmas eve for part of village which had proved again that action was only taken by EDF if enough people rung them. A reminder would be put in PP again as some residents said that they still didn’t know that they had to ring EDF. The larger issue of improving the electricity service to the village was discussed and it was agreed that this issue should be added to the Village Plan.

Market Garden Site: MSDC had made little progress with setting up a new site due to widespread objections to any proposed new sites that had been identified. At the last PC meeting the query was raised as to whether a site in another District Council area within in West Sussex could be offered. The Clerk had discussed this issue with District Councillor Susanna Kemp who had confirmed that the family could be offered a site in another District Council within West Sussex. It was noted that the family had previously lived in Horsham and before that in Adur District Council. The PC had now raised this issue at a senior level by writing to Claire Tester, Head of Planning.

Private Airstrip: The PC had been made aware that a local resident had written to the Directorate of Airspace Policy about a private airstrip that has been set up at Folly Farm. The matter was discussed in terms of the nuisance caused to local residents by the very frequent use of the airstrip.

Parish Council Elections: It was announced that the current Parish Council was coming to the end of its four year term at the beginning of May. The public was advised that any prospective candidates should get in touch with the current Parish Councillors to find out more details. The Clerk to put an article about this in the next edition of Pigeon Post.

Financial Matters: The Chairman signed off the interim audit, cheque list and cheque stubs. The precept for 2011/12 had been set at 6144, an increase of 2.7%.

AOB: The Chairman advised that the PC had successfully applied for a grant from West Sussex County Council to repair the fingerpost at the junction of The Street and Clappers Lane. The repair work was planned to be carried out soon.

Councillor Corner talked about problem with rats getting close to or actually into houses. He advised the meeting that Mid Sussex District Councill offered a free service to treat rat problems. It was agreed that Councillor Hudek would put an article in Pigeon Post about things that can be done to deter rats from residences.

The Chairman said that he had been asked if PC meetings could start half an hour earlier at 7.30. The PC agreed that this would not be a problem and the next meeting will start at 7.30.

The meeting was then opened up for local residents to raise any issues.

There was a discussion about the selection and prominence of articles in Pigeon Post. Also the issue of keeping the village website up to date was raised. The point was made that both these village resources relied solely on volunteers who did a good job and fitted this work around their own jobs.

The issue of the purchase by Preston Nomads of the ground that the garages are on was raised. The process was still ongoing.

The issue of whether the village needed an emergency contact was raised. This followed on from part of the village having no electricity for over 18 hours and whether there was a need for coordination of support services. Apparently there had been an emergency contact in the past. It was agreed that this would be added to the Village Action Plan.

Date of Next Meeting: 14 April 2011.

The meeting closed at 9.45

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2010 07 08 PC Minutes

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Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 8 July 2010 at 8.00pm

Present: Chairman Mr Tony Brook, Vice Chairman Mrs Pamela Rowland, Councillors Mr Richard Corner, Ms Jo Hudek, Mrs Jennifer Parmar and Clerk to the Council Mrs Paula Hazard.

Apologies for Absence: None

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

Minutes — The minutes of the meeting held on 8 April 2010, as previously circulated, were approved, accepted and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman introduced Jo Hudek who had been co-opted to the Parish Council at an Extraordinary Parish Council meeting held on 1 July, 2010. This was following the resignation of Jenny Vaughan at the Annual Parish Meeting.

Highways: Non-skid surface Clappers Lane — The recent re-surfacing work of Clappers Lane had included adjusting the gradient of the northern entrance. This had meant that the problem of wheel-spin had been cured. Therefore there was no longer such a pressing need for a non-skid surface.

Flooding problem by the Shepherd and Dog stream culvert — The PC had sent County Councillor Peter Griffith a copy of the correspondence between the PC and WSCC Highways concerning the PC’s request for a more permanent solution. Clerk to follow up with Peter Griffiths.

Tree problem at Stammers Hill — Jamie Thompson, a local Tree Surgeon, had taken down the potentially dangerous sycamore tree that had been identified earlier on in the year. He had saved the village a lot of money by asking that his fee be donated to the Playground Appeal. The PC expressed their thanks to him and his team.

North Town: New Play Equipment — The new play equipment had been installed and the project had now been completed. The Chairman expressed his thanks to everyone involved with the project, particularly Councillor Pam Rowland. Thanks were also given to everyone that donated to the Playground Appeal.

Play Area Surface — The merits of four costed options were debated. The options ranged from upgrading the current barkpit to three other types of surface. It was agreed that the best option would be to replace the current surface with the wet pour surface. This would require a grant. Councillor Hudek to investigate the possibility of obtaining a grant from Viridor. If it was not possible to obtain a grant then the current bark surface would need to be topped up and maintained.

Mowing and Maintenance of field — The field was being maintained by a new person, Mark Stepney, who was doing an excellent job.

Public Liability Insurance — No further update from the NTF Trust.

Diverted Footpath 4dF: There was no further news from the Rights of Way Committee.

Reopening of Bridleway 11F: There was no further news from West Sussex Rights of Way.

Local provision of grit: Jenny Vaughan had kindly donated the money for the village to buy a grit bin for the Clappers Lane/The Street junction. The grit bin had been ordered and grit delivered. The Chairman was working on agreeing a precise location with householders.

Village Plan: Action in Rural Sussex (AirS) had given a talk about the Village Action Plan process at the Annual Parish Meeting. The last two issues of Pigeon Post contained articles requesting volunteers to come forward to join the Village Action Plan team. Several villagers had expressed an interest in joining the team. The Chairman reiterated the request for volunteers at the meeting. AirS had recommended that ideally two members of the PC would be represented on the Village Action Plan team. It was agreed that the two members would be Tony Brooks and Jo Hudek. The next step was for a kick-off Village Plan team meeting to be arranged.

Ram House: The PC had formally written to CC Peter Griffiths, as requested at the previous PC meeting. The letter detailed the need for the roof repair and asked whether a grant would be possible. The PC had also written to the National Trust asking if they would consider taking over ownership. This was on the basis that the National Trust would have the resources to look after this historical structure for future generations. Clerk to follow up.

Lower Kents: The Chairman had spoken to the landowner who had given an assurance that a planning application would be submitted by the end of July. The Clerk had also spoken to MSDC Development Control asking them to chase up the landowner.

Henfield Medical Centre Link: The PC had decided to donate 100 to the Henfield Medical Centre Link. The service provides transport to hospital, dental and medical centre appointments Centre for people in the Henfield area, including Fulking, who do not have other transport available to them. A significant number of clients are Fulking residents. Users of this service pay a small fee but there is a small shortfall. The PC had agreed that they hoped to make this an annual donation.

Motorbikes on South Downs: Motorbikes had been reported riding on the top of the Downs and across Fulking Escarpment. The problem had been reported to the South Downs Joint Downs Committee who advised that they had set up an initiative called Sussex Pathwatch to address this problem. People could either ring the non-emergency Police telephone number quoting Sussex Pathwatch or report it via the on-line Sussex Pathwatch website. In order to give weight to the problem and support the police in prioritising it, they recommended that as many people as possible registered incidents using this method. The problem was also reported to the National Trust who also advised that more people needed to report the problem in order for the police to give it sufficient priority. Councillor Parmar to alert Farm Manager of issue which could affect the herd of cows on the Escarpment.

Powered Microlights: The issue of the growing number of powered microlights flying over Fulking was discussed. The South Downs Joint Committee had advised that they were not aware of any specific policy on this. Chairman to speak to Mid Sussex District Council about its policy concerning the private use of runways.

Financial Matters: The Chairman and Vice Chairman signed off the interim audit, cheque list and Matters cheque stubs. The Annual Accounts for 2009/2010 had been signed off by the PC and Responsible Financial Officer. The internal audit was being carried out.

AOB: The Chairman and Councillor Corner paid tribute to Gina Field who had sadly died recently. They both spoke of her service and commitment to the village in her role as District Councillor.

Mr Goodridge had raised a concern before the meeting about dog fouling and dogs being out of control along The Backway and asked whether signs could be installed there to address these issues. The Chairman felt that as this was private land it was a private matter that needed to be dealt with by the parties involved and did not fall under the remit of the PC. It was also noted that there was a desire to keep signs in the village to a minimum. However, the PC did understand the general issues raised and agreed to post an article in the Pigeon Post.

The meeting was opened up for local residents to raise any issues.

The location of the sound stage in Small Acres during Fulking Fair was raised as a concern because it had caused a noise nuisance to residents who lived directly next to the stage last year. The Chairman said that he would see if it could be sited in a different position but he thought that the location could be constrained by the wiring.

It was queried as to why the issue of parking in Clappers Lane was not on the Agenda. The Chairman explained that as the purchase of the garages by Preston Nomads was still not complete, it was not possible to progress further with the creation and allocation of parking spaces for residents of Clappers Lane. It was discussed that other solutions to the parking problem had been explored. This had included the involvement of Peter Griffiths, particularly looking at using the banked area on the west side of Clappers Lane which had been viewed as prohibitively expensive.

The issue of external lighting at the Market Garden site was raised. The PC reiterated that they can pursue this as soon as they are provided with photographic evidence by residents which they can then supply to MSDC Development Control

Date of Next Meeting: 14 October.

The meeting closed at 8.55

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2010 04 08 PC Minutes

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Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 8 April 2010 at 8.00pm

Present: Chairman Mrs Jenny Vaughan, Vice Chairman Mr Tony Brooks, Councillors Mr Richard Corner, Mrs Jennifer Parmar, Mrs Pamela Rowland and Clerk to the Council Mrs Paula Hazard.

Apologies for Absence: None

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

Minutes — The minutes of the meeting held on 14 January 2010, as previously circulated, were approved, accepted and signed by the Chairman.

County Council Update — County Councillor Peter Griffiths gave an update to the meeting on Highways, Schools and the National Park. The issue of whether the Planning Authority will lie with the District Council or the National Parks Authority had not been resolved yet. In response to Councillor Brooks query about returning to the method of the County Council paying local farmers to clear the snow, he advised the PC to write to Derek Whittington who is Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport. The PC had already requested a return to this method to the recent WSCC snow summit by writing to WSCC and SALC. Clerk to write to Derek Whittington reiterating this view.

Highways: Flooding problem near The Sands the stream had been cleared out and water was flowing through the pipes.

There was no further information about the request for a non-skid surface at the northern entrance to Clappers Lane. County Councillor Peter Griffiths said that he was chasing up this issue.

Flooding problem by the Shepherd and Dog stream culvert: The owner of the Shepherd and Dog, Geoff Moseley, had had a meeting with WSCC Highways and it was understood that the outcome was that he was going to fit a larger overflow pipe. He expressed at the meeting that there was a problem with clearing the gulley and felt that not enough maintenance had been carried out by Highways in the past. It was agreed that the PC should send CC Peter Griffiths the correspondence between the PC and Highways about this issue so that he could look into the matter.

Tree problem at Stammers Hill: A tree surgeon who had carried out previous work in the North Town Field had identified a potentially dangerous sycamore tree. The local tree warden, Barry Leppard, also agreed there was a problem and had reported this to WSCC Highways. The Arboriculturalist Southern Area WSCC had inspected the tree in March and had concluded that it was not a health and safety risk. He also stated that the tree was not on Highways land. An independent tree surgeon was asked to quote for the required work as the PC would have to pay the bill. The quote was around 700 which was not an immediately manageable sum. As the WSCC Inspector had judged it not to be of any immediate danger, the PC had decided to monitor the situation and ask for another assessment by WSCC at the end of the summer. It was agreed that the PC should ask for the opinion of another tree surgeon as soon as possible.

North Town Field: Cost of Maintaining Play Area — It was noted that the costs of maintaining the Field play area were escalating and were becoming beyond the budget of the PC. The costs included maintenance of the play equipment, tree work around the playground and a replacement surface for the barkpit. A quote for wetpour rubber had been received of 8500. Geoff Moseley was able to recommend a company that could provide a better value rubber surface that would comply with Health and Safety Guidelines as he had experience in this area.

New Play Equipment — The PC had submitted an application for a grant from WSCC County Local Committee who would be meeting on 27 April. Fund raising was under way in the village. An appeal flyer had been sent to every household in the village. The PC had also approached local businesses and applied for a grant from West Sussex Community Chest (run by Hall and Woodhouse) with a decision due before July.

Play Area Surface — quotes were being obtained for replacing the barkpit as a surface. The PC has looked at an ecomulch and wetpour rubber surface. It would be necessary to apply for a further grant to cover these costs.

Mowing and Maintenance of field — The first mow of the year had been done. Some tree work had also been carried out.

Public Liability Insurance: No further update from the NTF Trust.

Fly-Tipping at the Bostal: There was no further update about the ownership of the entrance area.

Phone Box: The Clerk had written to BT and they had confirmed that they did not currently have any plans to remove the telephone service.

Diverted Footpath 4dF: There was no further news from the Rights of Way Committee.

Reopening of Bridleway 11F: There was no further news from West Sussex Rights of Way.

Local provision of grit: The PC discussed the problem of where to locate grit bins. The eastern bank of Clappers Lane near The Street junction had been looked at but it was agreed that it would mean the grit bin would be placed too high and be difficult to access. Other suggestions were by the bus stop. Precise locations for the bins remain to be decided.

Village Plan: There had been a good response to Councillor Brooks’s discussion document in the Pigeon Post. All the replies would be kept and used to formulate the Village Action Plan. A talk would be given at the APM by a representative from Action in Rural Sussex about the process. The next stage would be to form a committee of representatives from the village to produce the Village Action Plan.

Market Garden Site: The PC had not been able to write to MSDC Enforcement as no evidence had been forthcoming that there was another family living on the site.

Ram House: The PC had asked the National Trust to carry out the repairs to the roof of the Ram House. However they had responded that they did not own it and therefore did not bear any responsibility for it. It appeared that this was borne out by historical documents and that ownership did rest with the Parish Council. The previous PC had asked the National Trust to take over ownership of the Ram House but they had not responded. As it is a historical structure the PC agreed that ownership of the Ram House by the National Trust fell within their remit. It was agreed that the PC should write to the National Trust again asking that they take over ownership.

The fountain had been repaired in 1995 with the aid of grants from West Sussex County Council, Mid Sussex District Council and Sussex Rural Community Council. The Chairman asked CC Peter Griffiths if there was a possibility of grant aid for the Ram House.. He advised that the PC should put this request in writing explaining the problems caused by the damaged roof.

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

AOB: Councillor Brooks updated the meeting about the goal of improving broadband access with a fibre optic system. Whereas previously it was envisaged that this would cause huge disruption with road digging and replacing the telegraph poles, it appeared that there were now new methods of installing fibre optic cables involving the use of existing sewer networks which would greatly reduce disruption.

The meeting was opened up for local residents to raise any issues.

The issue of affordable housing was raised. It was discussed that Mid Sussex District Council had in the past identified the need for 4 houses but this had not been followed up in detail and there were no concrete plans.

Date of Next Meeting: 8 July 2010, 14 October. APM 13 May.

The meeting closed at 8.50.

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2010 01 14 PC Minutes

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Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 14 January 2010 at 8.00pm

Present: Chairman Mrs Jenny Vaughan, Vice Chairman Mr Tony Brooks, Councillors Mr Richard Corner, Mrs Jennifer Parmar, Mrs Pamela Rowland and Clerk to the Council Mrs Paula Hazard.

Apologies for Absence: None

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

Minutes — The minutes of the meeting held on 8 October 2010, as previously circulated, were approved, accepted and signed by the Chairman.

Highways: Various problems in Clappers Lane had been reported. The large potholes had been fixed. However there was still a flooding problem near The Sands. Low overhanging trees had been reported and removed.

There was no further information about the request for a non-skid surface at the northern entrance to Clappers Lane.

WSCC Highways had responded to the report about the flooding on Poynings Road at Four Acres by cleaning out the gully. The situation there had improved but Highways also proposed to investigate why surface water is draining away slower than it should be.

With regards to the flooding problem by the Shepherd and Dog stream culvert, WSCC Highways had reported that they have previously removed silt from gullies on the north side of bend and jetted the pipe connection. However, the serious flooding problem remains. Highways believed that the northern ditch needed digging out and proposed to investigate ownership. However as the flooding problem occurs every year, the PC thought that a more permanent solution was needed and had written to WSCC explaining why they believed that the ditch was owned by WSCC and proposed a permanent solution by building a wide brick and concrete gully on the northern road side. The proposed solution was also an improvement on the current underground pipe as it had the advantage that the blockage could be easily identified and easily cleared. A letter from WSCC responding to this request had just been received and the Chairman read it out. Highways had rejected the request. It was agreed that the PC should write again to argue the case for the permanent solution.

Preston Nomads: Linda Dyos had canvassed local opinion about the proposed parking spaces. There had not been a huge response and some people expressed concerns about the distance and security. Currently only one person was definitely interested in taking up the parking spaces.

The garages were no longer owned by the Downlands Housing Association but were now owned by a new Housing Association called Affinity. The change had resulted in the area needing to be surveyed again which meant that PNCC could not go ahead with their plans until this was done. Six parking places were still definitely allocated on their plans.

North Town Field: Mowing and Maintenance — The PC had found someone (David Marshall) who could do the maintenance of the play area equipment and could also do the mowing of the field. Clerk to write to David Marshall to confirm contract for this year.

Work was required on the steps to the climbing frame in the playground. Foster Playscapes had quoted 101 (+ VAT) to do this work. Councillor Brooks suggested that it would be worth looking at doing this repair with David Marshall. A meeting will be arranged so that he can quote for this work

New Play Equipment — The PC had looked at the suppliers for the play equipment for Buckingham Park, however it was very expensive. Following further discussions with Hollie Trist, a piece of equipment had been identified which suited a wide range of ages. The cost was roughly about 3000 but there were no extra costs for the surface as it could stand on grass and did not require a special surface. The PC is waiting for a precise quotation.

New Play Surface — Cut-up tyres will be used in future for topping up the bark pit instead of bark as although the tyre surface was dearer it was believed that it lasted a great deal longer.

Public Liability Insurance — The NTF Trust had found a lawyer who was working on this.

Councillor Rowland had received a quote of 100 from Francis Mnich for tree work that needed to be done. It was agreed that this work should proceed as soon as possible. Councillor Rowland to arrange.

Fly-Tipping at the Bostal: There was no further update about the ownership of the entrance area believed to be owned by the National Trust

Phone Box: The Clerk had looked further into the issue of the removal of the phone service and had contacted OFCOM. They had advised that as there is only one phone box in the village, BT could not remove the phone service without applying to the Local Planning Authority and consulting with the local residents. There may be a good case for retaining it where there is a poor mobile phone signal or overhead cables are vulnerable. MSDC had advised that they do not currently have an application by BT to remove the service. The invitation to buy the box implied that the phone service would be removed imminently. However it appeared that currently it would only be removed if the PC were to buy the box, as this was a condition imposed by BT. It was agreed that the Clerk should write a formal letter to confirm that BT does not currently have any plans to remove the phone service.

Diverted Footpath 4dF: There was no further news from the Rights of Way Committee.

Reopening of Bridleway 11F: The Joint Committee had been originally hopeful that the Bridleway landowner would open up the bridleway or apply for a diversion order. However the landowner had now decided to continue holding out against the reopening of the bridleway. Therefore the case had now been passed to West Sussex Rights of Way as an enforcement issue.

Development opposite 45 Clappers Lane (Lower Kents): The PC had not received a retrospective planning application for this work. No at land further development activity had been seen at the site.

South Downs National Park Authority: The election for parish members for the West Sussex area was due to be held at the end of January. Thirteen members had been nominated and each Parish Council could vote for two members. The PC agreed to vote for Mark Lee from Poynings and Rodney Jackson from Hurstpierpoint

Local provision of grit: In the past Fulking used to have two grit bins. One in the Street outside Fulking Cottage and the other in Clappers Lane near Sunnyacres. Because of the recent severe snow the PC had investigated the possibility of the village having grit bins again. WSCC do not pay for grit bins so the PC would have to buy and maintain them. However, WSCC would fill the bins with rock salt free of charge provided it was used on the public highway. WSCC have said they will contact the PC about range and cost of grit bins.

The PC agreed that it would be a good idea to have two grit bins and discussed where they could be located. It was agreed that it would be a good idea to have one located on the junction of The Street and Clappers Lane. However, the bank outside Fulking Cottage, where it was previously located, may not be possible as this is now privately owned. It was agreed that a good location would be on the eastern bank of Clappers Lane as near to the junction with The Street as possible. It would be necessary to find out where the boundary of Yew Cottage was in relation to this bank. It was agreed that the other grit bin should be located further down in Clappers Lane with the precise location to be discussed further.

The general issue of clearing the snow from the roads was discussed. In the past the County Council had paid local farmers to clear the snow. It was agreed that it would be worthwhile exploring this issue further to see if it was possible to reinstate this arrangement.

Village Plan: It was planned that the next Pigeon Post would contain a questionnaire regarding the village plan and what people would like to see happening in the future in the village. If there were enough responses, a speaker from Action in Rural Sussex would be invited to speak at one of the next meetings.

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

AOB: County Council Update — The Chairman read out a report from County Councillor Peter Griffiths who was unable to attend due to the severe weather. The report covered the impact of the recent heavy snow on the County Council’s stock of grit and Highway’s ability to be able to continue gritting of the roads.

Councillor Brooks raised the subject of a current planning application to install a mobile telephone mast in Bramlands Lane. It was agreed that the PC should write to Horsham District Council to request that the location be changed to north of the Henfield Road.

The meeting was opened up for local residents to raise any issues.

The PC was given an update about the dog at the Market Garden site. The Dog Warden had visited but as the dog was in a kennel it could not be impounded.

The issue of another family living on the Market Garden site was raised. It was agreed that MSDC Enforcement should be advised of this matter as temporary planning permission had only been given for one family to live on the site.

Date of Next Meeting: 8 April 2010, 8 July 2010.

The meeting closed at 9.

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2009 10 08 PC Minutes

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Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 8 October 2009 at 8.00pm

Present: Chairman Mrs Jenny Vaughan, Vice Chairman Mr Tony Brooks, Councillors Mr Richard Corner, Mrs Jennifer Parmar, Mrs Pamela Rowland and Clerk to the Council Mrs Paula Hazard.

Apologies for Absence: None

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

Minutes — The minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2009, as previously circulated, were approved, accepted and signed by the Chairman.

Highways: An update on the status on outstanding issues previously reported to WSCC Highways was given. These were:-

Blocked stream pipe near The Sands – Works completed.

Blocked gullies at Old Wood/Holmbush Lane junction Works completed.

There was no further information about the request for a non-skid surface at the northern entrance to Clappers Lane.

The recurring flooding problems at the Shepherd and Dog stream culvert and at the bend opposite Four Acres had been reported to WSCC Highways.

The street light at Stammers Hill had often been on during the day due to overhanging branches. This had been reported to EDF but they had advised that they were no longer responsible for street lighting maintenance. Therefore tree work would need to be arranged. It was agreed to find out when NTF have any tree work planned and try to do all this work at the same time to save on costs.

Preston Nomads: The PC had received a response to their letter about speeding and the large size of coaches being used. The letter from PNCC was read out which Cricket Club acknowledged these concerns and agreed to advise drivers to adhere to the speed limit. The club also said it would also raise the issue of large coaches but thought that resolving this may be constrained by economic factors.

PNCC had announced that they were planning to provide six parking spaces for residents of Clappers Lane. Councillor Brooks explained the details of the proposed plans which were still under negotiation and were seen as providing a solution to the parking problem there. It was discussed how it was envisaged that the parking spaces would be charged for but the exact details remained to be finalised. The PC took questions from the floor and Councillor Brooks said that it was important to gauge the number of residents interested in using the parking spaces. Linda Dyos offered to canvass local opinion.

North Town Field: Ongoing maintenance The possibility of being given help by the Hurstpierpoint maintenance team had been explored but it transpired that they were overstretched. Therefore it was still hoped that somebody could be found to do this work at a reasonable cost. A working party took place in September to clear the sprayed nettles, brambles and to carry out general gardening and tidying work.

Permanent play surface and play equipment: Chairman Jenny Vaughan and Councillor Pam Rowland had met with Hollie Trist and Anna and Lily Frost to discuss the type of play equipment that their age group would like. The equipment that they are interested in can be found at Buckingham Park and the Clerk will contact Adur District Council to find out who the suppliers are and the issue will be researched further. A new type of surface to replace the barkpit will also be looked into. It was suggested that it would be worth contacting Slaugham Parish Council as they had recently had a new play surface installed. It had become clear from discussions that fund raising would be necessary as the cost would be quite substantial.

Mowing: The mowing had now been carried out on a more regular basis by Danny Flynn. He had also sprayed the nettles around the edges of the field in time for the working party to clear the nettles.

Public Liability Insurance: The NTF Trust were now looking at this and were trying to find a property solicitor who could give both bodies legal advice about the insurance position.

Fly-Tipping at the Bostal: The farm manager had established that the land at the entrance area to the Bostal was not part of the private farm land and would now be speaking to the National Trust about ownership of the land.

Phone Box: BT planned to remove the telephone connection unless the village was prepared to pay 300 per annum to keep it going. The Parish Council could buy the phone box itself for the nominal sum of 1 but that would mean that the telephone connection would be removed with no possibility of reinstatement and the PC would be responsible for maintaining and insuring it. The PC canvassed opinion as to whether the PC should fund the annual telephone costs and how this could be achieved. This was in light of the fact that mobile phone coverage is poor in parts of the village and the village is often subject to power cuts. There was support from the meeting but subject to the view that the village did not think they should fund it. County Councillor Peter Griffiths recommended that the PC contact Action in Rural Sussex to see if they knew of any funding initiatives.

Diverted Footpath 4dF: It had been brought to the PC’s attention that footpath 4dF had been diverted. It was reported to WSCC Rights of Way and they were now handling the situation with the owner of the land. WSCC had advised the PC that there was an outstanding diversion application in Fulking but said that they could not confirm whether it related to this footpath until the application came up before the Rights of Way Committee at which time the PC would be consulted.

Reopening of Bridleway 11F: The PC had been asked if it could help with getting this bridleway reopened as it had been blocked for some time. The PC had contacted WSCC Rights of Way and the South Downs Joint Committee. SDJC had now formally advised the landowner that he had two options. These were to either allow SDJC to install 2 hunt gates and appropriate way marking on the line of the legal right of way or to apply to WSCC Rights of Way for a diversion order.

Development at land opposite 45 Clappers Lane (Lower Kents): The PC had been in touch with MSDC Enforcement Officer John Arnold about the ongoing and obvious development at this site. The latest letter from John was read out which stated that the owner had been invited to either cease the breach of planning control or make a retrospective planning application.

South Downs National Park: Councillor Corner talked about proposals for how the South Downs National Park Authority membership will be organised with a particular focus on representation by Parish Councillors. He had attended a recent meeting which had discussed this. It currently looked like there would be between 6-8 Parish Councillors that would be elected to serve as part of the board to represent the entire Park area. DEFRA had asked for submissions on how representation should be set up at the Parish Council level. Councillor Corner had detailed his submission and sent this to DEFRA. The PC supported this view and it was agreed that the Clerk should write to DEFRA to formally support this view on behalf of the PC.

Overhead Power Lines: Councillor Brooks had been in contact with EDF who had clarified the issue of putting power lines underground. It was very unlikely that power lines on the pylons in Fulking would be buried underground as it would be prohibitively expensive. Councillor Corner said that he had been advised a couple of years ago by the South Downs Joint Committee that it would cost EDF at least 500,000 per kilometre. The power lines in the Cuckmere Valley that had been buried underground were not the lines on pylons but the lines on the wooden poles.

Crimestoppers: Carolyn Randall, Area Manager of Sussex Crimestoppers, gave a talk about its background and operations. She gave examples of cases that had been helped by Crimestoppers and stressed that one of the key features of the service is the guarantee of anonymity for callers.

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

AOB: County Council Update – County Councillor Peter Griffiths gave an update to the meeting about Highways, the recent County Local Committee meeting and his work on the organisation of special schools in Mid Sussex. He said that he would follow up the PC’s request for a non-skid surface at the northern entrance to Clappers Lane.

District Council Update District Councillor Gina Field talked about her work on the Better Lives initiative with a focus on demonstrating that current licensing legislation is inappropriate for large outdoor events. The Better Lives committee has agreed to go to Full Council with the proposal that they put a request to the Secretary of State for separate legislation. She also talked about Core Strategy, Heritage Planning Policy, and Community Hub initiative.

The meeting was opened up for local residents to raise any issues.

The PC was advised that the dog at the Market Garden site had been continually reported to the Dog Warden who had advised that as there were outstanding fines, they had the powers to impound the dog.

The PC was asked what it was doing about the damage to the tiles of the Pump House which had previously been reported to the PC. Councillor Brooks thought that this should be the responsibility of the National Trust. Clerk to follow up with Charlie Cain of the National Trust

The problem of dog fouling along the footpath alongside 45 Clappers Lane was reported. CC Peter Griffiths said that he would investigate whether it was possible to have an official sign installed to try to address this problem.

Date of Next Meeting: 14 January 2010, 8 April 2010, 8 July 2010.

The meeting closed at 9.30

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2009 07 09 PC Minutes

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Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 9 July 2009 at 8.00pm

Present: Chairman Mrs Jenny Vaughan, Vice Chairman Mr Tony Brooks, Councillors Mr Richard Corner, Mrs Jennifer Parmar, Mrs Pamela Rowland and Clerk to the Council Mrs Paula Hazard.

Apologies for Absence: None

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

County Council Update — County Councillor Peter Griffiths gave an update to the meeting on Highways Drainage, County Local Committee and Education Policy. He also commented on the issue of potentially providing parking on part of the bank on the west side of Clappers Lane. This issue had been raised by local residents and he was going to investigate whether the land was owned by WSCC. He also commented upon policy for school transport for Horsham District residents which had affected residents living in Edburton. He explained that he raised this issue because although Edburton does not fall within Fulking Parish, he understands that the two villages are closely linked.

Minutes — There had not been any objections to the current arrangements for publishing the minutes. Therefore it had been decided to continue with the arrangement of posting the draft minutes on the notice board and the website in place of reading them out at the PC meeting. The minutes would then be formally signed off at the following PC meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 April 2009, as previously circulated, were approved, accepted and signed by the Chairman.

Highways An update on the status on issues previously reported to WSCC Highways was given. These were:-

Flooding at Brook House and Hillbrook Nursery Works completed to rectify this problem.

Blocked stream pipe near The Sands — Work had just started on rectifying this problem.

Blocked gullies at Old Wood/Holmbush Lane junction Work had just started on rectifying this problem.

Preston Nomads: Communication with PNCC was improving. Residents had expressed concerns about the high speed of traffic visiting the Cricket Club club along Clappers Lane and the large size of the coaches being used to transport people to the club. The PC will write a letter to PNCC asking them to point out the 20mph speed limit and to respect the quiet and unspoilt nature of the area. PNCC will also be asked whether smaller coaches can be used bearing in mind the unsuitability of the large coaches being used in such a narrow lane and the damage that is being done to the verges and hedgerows.

North Town Field: Ongoing maintenance — A working party took place in June covering the maintenance, painting, cleaning and gardening of the play area. This covered outstanding tasks but the long-term problem of maintenance still remained.

Permanent play surface and play equipment: The PC planned to have a meeting about the playground equipment and play surface with representatives from the younger generation. When the requirements had been defined then the PC would apply for funding. The PC had asked Foster Playscapes for play equipment recommendations and information and was waiting to hear back from them.

Mowing: A meeting had been held with Danny Flynn to discuss the issue of the inadequate and late mowing. It had been agreed that there should be more frequent mowing in the early season if required, which should be balanced out by less mowing later in the season. It was hoped that this would prevent the problem of the poor appearance of the field reoccurring.

The problem with the spreading nettles had also been discussed. It had been agreed that Danny would spray the nettles to clear the edge of the field back to the boundary. A two week period would be needed before the field could be cleared of large debris such as logs in order to allow mowing up to the edges. It was agreed that the spraying should be done at the end of July so that a working party could be organised for mid-August. The date for the working party would be announced in Pigeon Post.

Public Liability Insurance: The PC were trying to find a solicitor that could help draft up a legal agreement.

Diseased trees in Clappers Lane: Work had been completed on clearing the diseased trees on public land.

Fly-Tipping at the Bostal: The issue of establishing which land at the entrance area to the Bostal was public and which was private was being looked at. Councillor Brooks planned to speak to the manager of the private land.

Beachdown: It had been decided that the precept money would not be used to help fund the independent noise level monitoring. It was felt that there were more appropriate ways of allocating precept money for the general benefit of the village.

Village Plan: The PC now had a contact to help take the village plan forward. Clerk to pursue this.

Financial Matters: The Chairman and Vice Chairman signed off the interim audit, cheque list and cheque stubs. The 2008/2009 Annual Accounts had been prepared and the Audit Return had been signed off. In previous years it had been signed at the July meeting, however the Audit Commission had brought forward the deadline by which the accounts had to be signed to the end of June. Therefore a meeting had been held between the Chairman and the Responsible Financial Officer on 19 June to sign off the accounts. The PC meeting may need to be brought forward to before the end of June next year so that the accounts can be signed at the PC meeting. Clerk to check with the Audit Commission. The internal audit had been carried out by Nick Hughes and the PC expressed thanks for his services and time.

AOB: The PC had been contacted before the meeting to raise the subject of the problem of parking in Clappers Lane. One potential solution of utilising a banked area on the west side of Clappers Lane had been discussed with County Councillor Peter Griffiths at the beginning of the meeting. One drawback was that it could be prohibitively expensive because of the work that would be required on the steep bank. The PC said that another potential solution was being investigated and that they were in delicate negotiations with someone at present but were not at liberty to disclose the details. If anything did come out of the negotiations it would not be until next year and would almost certainly involve a charge for the parking rights.

District Councillor Susannah Kemp addressed the meeting about her work. This covered canvassing for resurfacing the A23 between Handcross and the Pillars with a new quieter surface, flooding problems which would be alleviated if Southern Water met its responsibility of jetting the drains annually and changing licensing law for large events such as the Beachdown Festival which would more appropriately be dealt with by the Magistrates system. In terms of organising support against such festivals, she recommended that residents form a Residents Association which would be taken more seriously by local authorities and could gain charitable status. She also noted her concern that MSDC officials did not have the capability to adequately monitor the Beachdown Festivals from a number of angles including noise monitoring. She noted the issue of the maintenance of the play area and said that Hurstpierpoint Parish Council employed a maintenance person who might be able to help. Clerk to investigate.

The meeting was opened up for local residents to raise any issues.

The PC was asked to elaborate on their decision not to fund the noise monitoring equipment for Beachdown.

The issue of the very large size coaches used by Preston Nomads was raised and it was requested that this point be emphasized in the PC s letter to the club.

Concerns were raised about the amount of development activity and land clearing at two sites in Clappers Lane. One site was the corner plot of Clappers Lane (referred to previously as two sheds). The second site was the Market Garden Site. District Councillor Susannah Kemp said she would take this up with Development Control.

Date of Next Meeting: 8 October 2009.

The meeting closed at 9.10

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2009 05 07 PC Minutes

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Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held at the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 7 May 2009 at 8.00 pm

Present: Chairman: Mrs Jennifer Vaughan, Vice-Chairman: Mr Tony Brooks, Councillors: Mrs Jennifer Parmar, Mrs Pamela Rowland and Clerk to the Council Mrs Paula Hazard.

The clerk asked for nominations for Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the Planning Committee.

Mrs Jennifer Vaughan was nominated as Chairman by Mrs Pamela Rowland and seconded by Mr Tony Brooks. The vote was unanimous and Mrs Vaughan was duly elected Chairman.

Mr Tony Brooks was nominated as Vice-Chairman by Mrs Jennifer Vaughan and seconded by Mrs Jennifer Parmar. The vote was unanimous and Mr Brooks was duly elected Vice-Chairman.

Mrs Pamela Rowland was nominated as Chairman of the Planning Committee by Mr Tony Brooks and seconded by Mrs Jenny Vaughan. The vote was unanimous and Mrs Rowland was duly elected Chairman of the planning Committee

Apologies for Absence: Richard Corner

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 May 2008 were read, approved and signed by the Chairman. The PC proposed that in future the current arrangement for the publication of the minutes would continue unless there were any strong opinions against doing so. This arrangement involved not reading out the minutes at the meeting but posting draft minutes on the notice board and the website before the meeting where the minutes were approved.

Matters Arising: None

AOB: None

Chairman’s Report

Planning: During the period May 2008 to April 2009, 15 applications were received. Of these 9 were granted, 2 were refused and 1 withdrawn. 3 were under consideration.

Market Garden Site: The case came to court and Mrs Hearn pleaded guilty and was fined for failing to comply with the Breach of Condition notice. The PC chased up Development Control to ensure specific requirements for outstanding conditions were complied with. MSDC advised towards the end of last year that they regarded all conditions as having been complied with and discharged. It seemed that external light pollution was still an issue for residents in Clappers Lane. The PC had suggested if photographic evidence could be provided to the PC then this should make a more powerful case so that the PC could pursue the issue again.

Finance: The Parish precept for 2009/10 has been set at 5,776. The accounts for 2008/09 were currently being prepared. The PC thanked Nick Hughes for doing the internal audit last year.

Highways and rights of way: DDMO Perching Drove. The matter of the Permissive Path Agreement had now been concluded. Communications with the landowner had shown that the situation could not be taken any further formally but he had agreed that continued use of the path would be permitted for villagers.

‘Unsuitable for HGV’ signs had been placed at northern end of Clappers Lane.

The PC had requested a non-slip surface at exit of Clappers Lane onto A281. This was still under consideration by WSCC.

New fittings had been fitted to the street lights at the bottom of Stammers Hill and Fulking Cottage.

Culvert work was carried out outside Hillbrook in September 2008.

Several issues of flooding and blocked gullies had been reported to WSCC. The work to rectify these problems was scheduled to be carried out.

North Town Field: The grass cutting contractor, Danny Flynn, had continued to cut the grass in the North Town Field (NTF). Foster Playscapes were again hired to do the monthly safety checks, and ROSPA to do the annual check.

A new entrance to the field had been proposed and the works for this had been completed. A grant was received from West Sussex County Council for half the cost and the remainder was funded from NTF Trust, Social Committee and the precept.

There was a possibility of a grant being available for new playground equipment but this issue needed further meetings to define what was needed and to liaise with the NTF Trustees.

The barkpit in the play area had been topped up

Following a survey, major tree work had been carried out on trees particularly around the play area for safety reasons.

Working Parties from the PC, NTF and the residents had been carried out, clearing areas of undergrowth which were encroaching on the field.

Preston Nomads: No further news, developments or meetings had occurred but there was now a new Chairman and the PC were hoping for better communications.

National Park: The decision had been made to create a South Downs National Park which would include Fulking. There was no detailed information as yet but our County Councillor would press for full democratically elected decision-makers particularly in respect of planning.

Village website: James Lightfoot had now taken over the website. He had updated it and it was running smoothly. The PC minutes were now published within a month of PC meetings. The Annual Return was also posted.

Pigeon Post: Thanks were given to Aidan Walker for taking over and running this. The PC also gave thanks to Tony Brooks for organising the printing of hard copies, the people who distributed it and Bob Rowland for funding the printing for this year.

Action in Rural Sussex: A survey had been placed in Pigeon Post for the top three priorities for the village. The themes chosen were Allotments, Community Shop and Community Transport. Allotment garden sharing was suggested as no land was available for allotments. Community Transport – The possibility of no 17 bus being re-routed via Fulking connecting Horsham to Brighton had been raised by Chris Gildersleeve. It was a very good idea but needed village support for it to be implemented. Community shop at present no progress.

Fly Tipping at Bostal: This was being monitored and the possibility of installing a gate was being looked into.

Freedom of Information Act: The Freedom of Information Publication Scheme had been adopted.

Village Plan: This was under discussion.

Local Reports and Guest Speaker

The Chairman read out a report from the Tree Warden Barry Leppard.

The Police Community Support Officer for Fulking, Eve Todhunter, gave a short talk about her role supporting Fulking and several other surrounding villages.

The Chairman read out the Neighbourhood Watch report from Richard Corner.

David Fletcher, Leader of the Henfield Area Response Team (HART), gave a presentation about the work of the HART team and how they supported the Ambulance service by responding early to serious medical conditions particularly those that benefitted from treatment by a defibrillator. He explained what would be involved if Fulking wanted to keep its own defibrillator and provide a similar service.

National Trust warden Charlie Cain gave a talk about the work of the Trust in the Devil’s Dyke Estate area and talked about particular issues concerning management of the land.

The Chairman read out a report from County Councillor Mr Peter Griffiths. District Councillor Mrs Gina Field talked about the origins and functions of Mid Sussex District Council and the role of a District Councillor.

The meeting was opened up to the floor and a reminder was given that if issues were raised at the APM then they could not be discussed until the following APM. Therefore the best forum to deal with issues was at the ordinary Parish Council meetings. The issue of parking in Clappers Lane was raised and it was requested that this was dealt with as part of the regular Parish Council process.

Date of the next meeting to be arranged. The meeting closed at 9.25 pm and refreshments were served afterwards.

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2009 04 09 PC Minutes

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Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 9 April 2009 at 8.00pm

Present: Chairman Mrs Jenny Vaughan, Vice Chairman Mr Tony Brooks, Councillors Mr Richard Corner, Mrs Jennifer Parmar and Clerk to the Council, Mrs Paula Hazard.

Apologies for Absence: Mrs Pamela Rowland

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

The Chairman reminded the meeting about the current arrangement regarding publication of the minutes. The trial arrangement of not reading out the minutes but posting draft minutes on the notice board and the website would continue until the next Annual Parish Meeting, at which point public opinion would be re-canvassed.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 January 2009, as previously circulated, were approved, accepted and signed by the Chairman.

Rights of Way: DMMO 07/01 Perching Drove. A response had been received from the landowner to the PC s request to review whether a Permissive Path agreement could be put in place. The landowner cited the judge’s ruling from the Hearing which stated that the Drove had always been a private road and once the matter had been referred to the Secretary of State, the PC were not in a position to make any separate contracts or agreements. He reassured the PC that he had no intention of revoking his verbal agreement which allowed villagers continued use of the path during daylight hours and he would endeavour to ensure this informal agreement would continue if he were ever to sell his property. The PC therefore intended to let the matter rest.

Highways: The PC had reported a number of issues to WSCC Highways. These were:-

Flooding at Brook House and Hillbrook Nursery — WSCC Highways had responded that a contractor will dig a drainage grip in the west verge leading to the existing pipe running into the new culvert. This should help to clear any standing water from the causeway.

Blocked stream pipe near The Sands — WSCC Highways had responded that a contractor will clean out the sand from the ditch to allow the covered pipe to be cleaned out, which they thought should prevent surface water from flowing across the causeway.

Blocked gullies at Old Wood/Holmbush Lane junction — WSCC Highways had responded that a contractor will dig out the existing grip into the culvert at the junction to improve drainage. The damaged barrier adjacent to the culvert will also be repaired.

The PC had also written to WSCC Highways to chase up its request for a non- skid surface at the northern junction of Clappers Lane. Highways had now responded that the Accident Investigation & Prevention Section at County Hall will investigate the accident pattern at this junction with regard to any remedial measures that may be considered. The problem with the surface of the road at Clappers Lane breaking up in parts had also been reported.

The ‘Unsuitable for HGVs’ sign was in place at the northern end of Clappers Lane. The sign at the village end had not been accepted by nearby residents. These residents no longer lived in the village.

The new fittings for the streetlight at Stammers Hill had now been sourced and fitted. The streetlight outside Fulking Cottage also now had new fittings.

The streetlight in Clappers Lane had been badly damaged by a recycling truck. This had been fixed by EDF and the PC had claimed back the money for the repair from MSDC’s re cycling contractor SERCO.

A problem with tree branches breaking off at the village end of Clappers Lane had been reported. Councillor Brooks had spoken to the main landowner, however not all the land was owned by him. Councillor Brooks said he would speak to the Tree Warden to assess the condition of the trees.

Market Garden: There had been no further developments.

Preston Nomads: Councillor Brooks reported that the Club had a new Chairman. He would follow this up in the future with a view to arranging a meeting together with District Councillor Gina Field.

North Town Field: The issue of ongoing maintenance of the play area was discussed. Councillor Brooks had potentially found someone to carry this out at a reasonable cost. However, he said that it was necessary to define the tasks that needed to be carried out in order to properly assess this.

The work on the entrance to the NTF had now been completed. A grant for half the cost of the work had been received from WSCC. The outstanding amount had been covered by contributions from the Social Committee, the NTF Trust and the precept. The PC thanked the Social Committee and the NTF Trust for their generous contribution.

The PC was looking into the possibility of a permanent soft surface to replace the barkpit surface. This would save money in the long run due to the high cost of replacing the barkpit on an ongoing basis. WSCC were inviting applications for their Playbuilder fund and the PC were going to investigate whether they would qualify for any money which could cover the cost of a permanent play surface. It was thought that the grant may only be available for completely new projects. County Councillor Peter Griffiths suggested that the PC should also consider applying for funding for this from the Community Initiative Fund.

The idea of new play equipment was also discussed. A suggestion had been received from Hollie Trist about the need for new play equipment and using fund-raising (e.g. sponsored walk) for this. The PC was asked whether they would match whatever money was raised by fund-raising. Other issues would be how to choose the equipment and the problem of how it would be maintained given the current problems of on-going maintenance with the existing equipment. It was agreed that a separate meeting should be arranged with interested parties to explore these issues further.

Foster Playscapes were due to inspect the play area in April. It was a concern that they thought that the barkpit levels needed to be topped up again given that it was done recently at a cost 360. This would have been more costly had Councillor Brooks not sourced a cheaper supplier and helped out with the work. It was agreed that a meeting would be arranged to discuss the barkpit levels. Foster Playscapes confirmed that they would continue to do the monthly inspections at the same cost as the previous year.

The mowing of the North Town Field would continue to be carried out by Danny Flynn. He had confirmed that this would be at the same cost as the previous year.

Both the PC and the NTF Trust had agreed on the proposal for a legal agreement in order to avoid the cost of taking out two Public Liability Insurance policies. However, the savings could be outweighed by any legal costs. The NTF Trust had asked the PC if they knew of anyone that could help draft up a legal agreement. A possible suggestion was made and this person would be contacted.

Affordable Housing: No further information directly affecting Fulking had been received. It was noted that Fulking would fall within the South Downs National Park and that there would be stringent criteria for new development.

Community Transport: An informal poll on whether there would be enough support to reroute no 17 bus through Fulking to Brighton/Horsham had been conducted by Chris Gildersleeve. This had been done via Pigeon Post and the Website. The PC was interested in the outcome of this. Clerk to contact Chris to find out response and to offer survey to be posted on the noticeboard.

Beachdown Festival: The PC was asked to support the idea of having independent noise level monitoring of the festival. Clive Goodridge had proposed to do this and had asked for the formal and financial support of the Parish Council. The details of how this could be achieved were discussed in terms of the purpose, the location and the cost. The main purpose of the monitoring was to define a more representative Background Noise Level than the one currently being used. The Clerk would contact Susanna Kemp to find out more details about Background Noise Level . The PC agreed that the whole issue needed further investigation and discussion before deciding whether it should spend funds from the precept on this.

Councillor Corner updated the meeting about the 2009 Licensing Hearing, highlighting the commitment from the festival organisers to re-measure the Background Noise Level.

Fly-Tipping at the Bostal: Councillor Brooks advised that one of the issues surrounding installing a gate as a solution to fly-tipping had been establishing which land at the entrance area to the Bostal was public and which was private. He was currently discussing this with the landowner of the surrounding private land.

Village Plan: The PC was looking into defining a village plan. Once drafted this would be published in Pigeon Post and posted to the website for feedback from villagers.

APM: The date of the Annual Parish Meeting was 7 May. Two speakers had been arranged, one speaker from Henfield Area Response Team to talk about the defibrillator and one speaker from the National Trust.

District County Councillor Mr Peter Griffiths addressed the meeting about Education and Council Schools, Community Transport and the forthcoming County Local Committee Update meeting. He also advised that if a bridle gate were to be installed at the Bostal it must meet the legal condition of being kept unlocked.

Financial Matters: The Chairman signed off the interim audit, cheque list and cheque stubs.

AOB: The meeting was opened up for local residents to raise any issues.

The problem of overhanging tree branches particularly near the Market Garden site was raised. Councillor Brooks said he would speak to the Tree Warden to look at this area. Also the problem was raised of big tree trunks on the bank of the east side of Clappers Lane near the village end. The landowner explained that constant traffic driving up the bank was eroding the bank and exposing more of the tree trunks.

The problem of the external lighting at the Market Garden site being on all night was raised. The PC reiterated the point made at the previous meeting that if photographic evidence could be provided to the PC then this should make a more powerful case so the PC could pursue the issue again.

Two issues concerning the support of the police were raised. One was that an illegal rave had been held at Saddlescombe the previous weekend and it was queried about how the police could deal with these situations more effectively. The other issue was that a car had been broken into and the owner had not received an effective response from the police. It was suggested that these matters could be directly addressed to the Community Police Officer who would be attending the Annual Parish Meeting.

It was requested whether a more detailed financial breakdown than the Annual Return could be published. The Clerk confirmed that a more detailed financial summary that was produced as part of the Audit Commission process was available. Clerk to ask for this to be posted to the village website.

The planning decision concerning a house that had recently been extended was queried in terms of how such an extension could be passed particularly in a AONB. The planning application had been made a couple of years back and the PC advised that that they did not consider that there had been any planning criteria that could constitute grounds for objection, which was borne out by the Local Planning Authority’s decision to grant planning consent. There was also discussion about cases where final building works changed from the original plans granted consent.

Date of Next Meeting: 9 July, 8 October 2009.

The meeting closed at 9.10

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2009 01 08 PC Minutes

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Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 8 January 2009 at 8.00pm

Present : Chairman Mrs Jenny Vaughan, Vice Chairman Mr Tony Brooks, Councillors Mr Richard Corner, Mrs Jennifer Parmar and Mrs Pamela Rowland and Clerk to the Council, Mrs Paula Hazard.

Apologies for Absence : None

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

County Councillor Peter Griffiths addressed the meeting with an update about Highways, the grant for the North Town Field and the Health Service review. District Councillor Gina Field had sent her apologies as she was unable to attend the meeting due to illness.

The Chairman reminded the meeting about the current arrangement regarding publication of the minutes. The previous meeting s minutes would not be read out but draft minutes of the previous meeting had been posted on the notice board within a month of the meeting and had also been posted to the website. This trial arrangement would continue until the next Annual Parish Meeting at which point public opinion would be re-canvassed. It was confirmed that in future the agenda would be posted on the notice board five working days before the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 October 2009, as previously circulated, were approved, accepted and signed by the Chairman.

Rights of Way: DMMO 07/01 Perching Drove. The Chairman read out the letter from Mr Gort-Barten of 6 October 2008, received shortly before the previous PC meeting, which laid out the legal judgement that this was private land. The PC’s reply of 12 December was also read out which asked whether consideration could be given again to putting a Permissive Path agreement in place.

Highways: WSCC Highways had installed ‘Unsuitable for HGVs’ signs at each end of Clappers Lane. However the sign at the southern end was not located in an acceptable place for nearby residents and had been removed. County Councillor Peter Griffiths said he would see if there was any nearby WSCC land that would enable an acceptable location.

The PC had not received any news from WSCC Safety Engineering about the PC’s request to authorise a section of non-skid surface across half of the Clappers Lane northern junction. County Councillor Peter Griffiths said he would chase this up.

EDF were still trying to source suitable street light fittings to replace the worn and damaged ones for the street light at the bottom of Stammers Hill. These would be fitted when EDF was able to source fittings to match the style of the street light.

The fixed rate agreement for the street lights had now expired. EDF had advised that the new fixed rate would be 350 p.a. instead of 100 p.a. As this was such a vast increase, the PC decided that for the time being the street lights would be billed at the variable rate which was currently 160 p.a. This would be reviewed if it was necessary to switch back to a fixed rate.

Market Garden: MSDC Development Control had advised that they had received a landscaping scheme which had been approved and now regarded all conditions in relation to the site as having been complied with and discharged.

Preston Nomads: No further progress.

North Town Field: The problem of the maintenance of the play area was discussed. Councillor Brooks agreed to continue investigating finding someone to help with the ongoing maintenance at a cost that was affordable.

Quotations had been obtained for improving the entrance to the NTF and to better secure the gate. On the basis of these quotations, the PC had applied to WSCC for a grant of 1693. The grant was approved but for only half the amount (850), therefore the outstanding funds would need to be found. Clerk to contact NTF Trust to see if the original quotations could be looked at again with the contractors to see if the quotations could be reduced. If this did not prove possible, the possibility of holding a fund-raising event was suggested.

The NTF Trust had reported that all major tree work had been completed. There needed to be an on-going programme to ensure safety of trees. Councillor Brooks advised that EDF had arranged for a company to assess trees that interfered with the power lines and to carry out any necessary work. EDF would be responsible for the cost of this.

The issue of the PC and NTF Trust trying to avoid taking out two Public Liability Insurance policies to cover the same risk was discussed. The NTF Trust had investigated this and had been advised by the PC s insurance broker that if the PC were to sign a legal agreement stating that they are responsible for looking after the field then the PC’s existing policy would provide Public Liability Insurance cover for the whole field at no extra cost. The PC agreed that they would be happy to do this. Clerk to advise NTF Trust.

The November report from Foster Playscapes suggested that the barkpit in the play area needed to be topped up again. This was a surprise as it had only been topped up last year and was previously thought only to be required every 3-4 years. It was queried as to why it needed to be so high. The PC agreed that if the following month’s report still reported the same problem then a meeting should be arranged with Foster Playscapes.

Village website: Wherever possible Planning Meeting dates were to be posted to the website. However there was not always sufficient notice as Planning Meetings had to be arranged soon after MSDC advised the PC of planning applications.

Affordable Housing: No further information directly affecting Fulking had been received.

Pigeon Post Printing: Pigeon Post was now being distributed both as a hardcopy version and by email.

Diseased Trees on Clappers Lane: Councillor Brooks advised that the Tree Warden had received a definitive map from WSCC which enabled him to work out whether any problem trees were on public or private land. The Tree Warden was now speaking to landowners Lane about the diseased trees and advising them of their legal responsibility.

Action in Rural Sussex: A survey had been placed in the December issue of Pigeon Post asking for residents to choose the top three priorities for the AiRs Community Planning Network to focus on. The detailed results of the survey were read out. The top three priorites chosen were Allotments, Community/Public Transport and Community Shop. Clerk to advise AiRs of results. Because of the problem of finding one plot of land for allotments and the old allotments now being farmland, it was suggested that a garden-share scheme may be a solution. It was agreed that this suggestion should be put in the next edition of Pigeon Post to gauge interest. With reference to the bus service it was suggested that a bus service to Henfield would be useful. A request for any specific ideas from residents concerning these themes was to be put in Pigeon Post. These themes would also be explored further with AiRs.

Freedom of Information Act: The PC had adopted the Freedom of Information Act Publication Scheme. The scheme had been published on the website.

APM: The date of the Annual Parish Meeting was set for 7 May. Speakers needed to be arranged and it was suggested that the National Trust was invited to talk about work in the area, Aidan Walker to talk about Pigeon Post and the local Tree Warden to talk about his responsibilities. County and District Councillors, local MP Nick Herbert, Poynings PC and police representative to be invited. Clerk to arrange speakers and issue invitations.

Financial Matters: The Chairman signed off the interim audit, cheque list and cheque stubs. The precept for 2009/10 was set at 5776 an increase of nearly 16%. The large increase was necessary as additional expenses had needed to be budgeted for. These items were the maintenance of the play area in the NTF, mowing of the NTF, street lighting and an increase in the Clerk s hours.

AOB: The meeting was opened up for local residents to raise any issues.

The issue of trees at the southern end of Clappers Lane presenting a danger was raised. This had been caused by very large trucks cutting into the trees.

The problem of the external lighting at the Market Garden site being on all night was raised. The PC had written to MSDC Development Control about this on numerous occasions but MSDC had said they had visited the site and were satisfied with the lighting. Partly because it was thought that their site visits were during the day, it was discussed that photographic evidence may make a more powerful case. It was suggested that if this could be provided to the PC then they could pursue the issue again. The positioning of the caravan had also been raised with MSDC but they had said that they were satisfied with the current caravan position.

The PC was asked why they seemed to be involved with many aspects concerning the NTF which gave the impression that the NTF Trust was not shouldering these responsibilities. It was explained that the NTF Trust received no funds and therefore were reliant on the PC or the Social Committee for funding. Because the PC had their meetings in public this publicised the work they were doing, but the PC and the NTF Trust were working closely together on issues concerning the NTF.

It was requested that the agenda give more detail than had historically been the case. It was agreed that in future the agenda would be issued with greater detail.

Date of Next Meeting: 9 April, 9 July, 8 October 2009.

The meeting closed at 9.05

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2008 10 09 PC Minutes

Posted on

Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 9 October 2008 at 8.00pm

Present : Vice Chairman Mr Tony Brooks, Councillors Mr Richard Corner, Mrs Jennifer Parmar and Mrs Pamela Rowland and Clerk to the Council, Mrs Paula Hazard.

Apologies for Absence : Chairman Mrs Jenny Vaughan

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

The Vice Chairman advised that the PC, in response to public feedback, had decided that the minutes would not be read out at the beginning of meetings. Instead printed copies would be available to read at the meeting and in future draft minutes would be posted to the website and on the notice board. The minutes would still be formally approved, accepted and signed at PC meetings. Concerns were raised by some members of the public that this was not democratic as draft minutes of the previous meeting had not been available before this meeting. Therefore it was decided that for this meeting the minutes of the previous meeting would be read out. The minutes of the meeting held on 10 July 2008 were, after having been read out, then approved and signed by the Vice Chairman.

Rights of Way: DMMO 07/01 Perching Drove. A further letter had been sent to Mr Gort-Barten on 17 September. The PC had just received a reply but had not read it yet but planned to review it as soon as possible.

Highways: WSCC Highways had agreed to the PC s request to place ‘Unsuitable for HGVs’ signs at each end of Clappers Lane. This was requested to try to reduce the heavy traffic some of which was being diverted along the lane by sat nav systems. The signs were scheduled to be in place by the end of October.

WSCC Safety Engineering was currently reviewing the PC s request to authorise a section of non-skid surface across half of the Clappers Lane northern junction.

The PC had ordered new street light fittings to replace the worn and damaged ones for the street light at the bottom of Stammers Hill. These will be fitted when EDF can source fittings to match the style of the street light.

Clappers Lane had been closed for work on a culvert from 15 September. The work had now been completed and the lane was now open.

Market Garden: As agreed at the last meeting the PC had written to Development Control again (11 July) to ensure that the specific requirements for conditions 7 and 8 were included in the layout schemes. As Development Control had not replied this was chased up again on 3 October.

Preston Nomads: District Councillor Gina Field was asked if there had been any response from PNCC. She confirmed that there continued to be no response and that for now Cricket Club it appeared that the situation had reached an impasse.

North Town Field: The Chestnut Tree which had partially fallen down turned out to be completely rotten and the whole tree had been felled. The fence which had been damaged by the fallen branches had been repaired by Councillor Brooks.

To address the problem of the need for ongoing maintenance in the play area, the PC were considering asking someone to do this if it was possible to do it at a reasonable cost.

An informal meeting was held with the NTF trustees in August. The suggestion about improving access to the field was revisited. It was agreed to investigate resurfacing and levelling the top of the entrance without extending the tarmac. Quotations would be obtained which would also include the need to better secure the main gate.

An NTF working party was held on the August Bank Holiday weekend. This included clearing the areas where the nettles were taking over the field. This meant that Danny Flynn was now able to mow these areas.

A quotation had been received from the NTF Trust for major tree work which was now needed as this had not been done for a long time. The quotation was for 429. Councillor Brooks thought it would be prudent to obtain another quotation.

The Clerk had investigated the request from the NTF Trust asking if the PC s Public Liability insurance could cover both the play area and the rest of the field. The position was that the NTF Trust as owners of the field had a strict liability that arose from their ownership of the land. This meant that although the PC’s insurance covered any activities that the PC was responsible for (e.g. mowing grass, play area) it did not cover any activities that were not organised by the PC and therefore the Trust did need a separate insurance policy. The NTF Trust had been informed about this.

Village website: Draft minutes of PC meetings were now to be posted on the website within a month of the meeting.

The PC also thought it was a good idea to post dates for NTF Working Parties on the website as well as being noted in Pigeon Post.

The PC wanted to be able to post dates for Planning Meetings on the website. One possible problem was that they often had to be arranged at short notice and therefore the update process would need to be quick.

Affordable Housing: No further information directly affecting Fulking had been received.

MSDC Community Grant: Councillor Brooks asked County Councillor Peter Griffiths if funding for the improvement to the NTF entrance was something that could be applied for from the WSCC grants scheme. Peter Griffiths confirmed that this was the case and that the next application deadline would be in November.

Pigeon Post: A black and white printed version of Pigeon Post was now available again which Printing would be distributed as before. This would be on an opt out basis meaning that people could choose not to receive the printed version if they wanted to print it themselves. A colour version would be available on the website. The question was raised as to whether it would still be emailed out. Councillor Parmar said that she would ask the new editor, Aidan Walker, about the current process.

Diseased Trees: Councillor Rowland had spoken to the Landowner about the trees on the field at side of the road and the Clerk had reported the trees on the road side of Clappers Lane to WSCC Highways. WSCC Highways were awaiting a report Lane from a Tree Specialist. The local Tree Warden was also waiting for the WSCC tree survey.

Action in Rural Sussex: The PC had agreed to join the Action in Rural Sussex Community Planning Rural Network group. The group wanted the PC to let them know the top three priorities to focus on. The PC was going to discuss this further and report back at the next PC meeting.

Fly Tipping at the Bostal: Problems with fly tipping at the entrance to the Bostal bridleway had been reported. The question was raised whether there was anything that could be done to prevent it. It would not be easy but it was something that could be looked into further. The fact that fly tipping can be reported directly to MSDC was noted.

Financial Matter: The Vice Chairman signed off the interim audit, cheque list and cheque stubs. The internal audit of the Annual Accounts 07/08 had been carried out by Nick Hughes and the Annual Return had been sent to Mazars, the external auditors. The PC thanked Nick Hughes for his services.

AOB: County Councillor Peter Griffiths addressed the meeting about Health (including the suspension of Fit for the Future proposals), Highways, the proposed South Downs National Park and the County Local Committee.

District Councillor Gina Field addressed the meeting about forthcoming events, next year’s County Council and European Elections. She also gave a personal view assessing the recent Beachdown Festival event.

Councillor Brooks who was chairing the meeting opened up a discussion with Mr Goodridge addressing points that he had written to the PC about. The discussion covered communication between the PC and the village, village website, minutes being read out at meetings, publication of draft minutes and publication of agendas. The PC supported the idea of publishing draft minutes and would be trialling minutes not being read out. Details about the agenda needed to be looked into further. It was noted that some suggestions regarding the website and general communication needed people to carry out the work and it was not always possible to find volunteers. Mr Sapted requested that the PC bear in mind that not everyone had access to the website or email.

Date of Next Meeting: 8 January 2009.

The meeting closed at 9.25.

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