Minutes of the Ordinary Council Meeting Fulking Parish Council held Thursday 9th January 2020 at 7.30pm at Fulking Village Hall. 

Present 

Chairman:                                        Cllr Firth
Fulking Parish Council (FPC):              Cllrs Hind, Dyos, Healy and Leader
Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC):   Cllr Alison Bennett
West Sussex County Council (WSCC): Cllr Joy Dennis
Parish Clerk:                                     Trevor Parsons 

There were 12 members of the public present who were invited to ask questions and make comments prior to the meeting. The meeting opened at 7.30pm. 

20/001/OM.    Apologies for Absence were received from: 

Cllr Colin Trumble (MSDC) 

Cllr Rodney Jackson (MSDC) 

20/002/OM     Declaration of Members’ Interests. 

There were no declarations of interest declared. 

20/003/OM.    Approve the Minutes of the Ordinary Council Planning Meeting of 10th October 2020. 

The minutes, subject to any amendments, to be approved and signed as a true record of the meeting. 

20/004/OM.            Reports from District and County Councillors.  

Cllr Dennis (WSCC) reported: 

• The decision to cease gritting Edburton Road and Poynings Road has been reversed following pressure from Parish councillors  

• Poynings Road will be closed on 21st January for one day for emergency repairs 
• Bridleway 53F will be closed for three days in July for overhead power cable maintenance 
• WSCC are still offering small grants up to £750 for village projects. 
• Cllr Dennis has been appointed chair of the Performance and Finance Scrutiny Committee 
• Cllr Dennis is looking to arrange a surgery for Pyecombe, Poynings and Fulking for the new MP.  

Cllr Bennett (MSDC) reported: 

• Cllr Gary Marsh (MSDC) is now the SDNPA representative for MSDC and he will arrange a meeting with SDNPA, Pyecombe, Poynings and Fulking to discuss planning matters and opportunities. 
• Council Tax Support for low income families is still available. 

• The MSDC budget to be approved at their meeting of 4th March 2020. 
• MSDC to run a pilot scheme for food waste recycling. Small electrical goods waste collection will commence from April 2020. 

 20/005/OM.             Winter Plan Update 

The Parish Council expressed their thanks to Cllr Dennis (WSCC) and the vice chairman, Mark Hind for their hard work to reinstate the gritting of Edburton Road and Poynings Road which had previously been removed from the County’s Plan. 

ACTION – Cllr Hind to email WSCC about the unfilled grit bin. 

20/006/OM.             Operation Watershed Update 

Cllr Firth reported that whilst Phase Two of Operation Watershed had been a success in that flooding in Clappers Lane had significantly reduced, flood water had collected in the bottom field. This is caused by the collapse of a 150mm pipe which will be replaced by the landowner with 300mm pipe by the end of March 2020. 

Cllr Firth also reported that an application for Phase Three funding of £7,604 for further repairs to Clappers Lane had been turned down. Cllr Joy Dennis offered her assistance and asked the Clerk to forward the application form to her for a review. 

ACTION – Clerk to email Phase 3 application to Cllr Dennis. 

20/007/PM.             Planning Matters   

To comment on planning applications received from South Downs National Park being SDNP/19/05563/LIS Refurbishment of barn to include replacement of existing conversion with new fit-out, doors and windows at Perching Barn Edburton Road Fulking BN5 9LR. 

The owners of Perching Barn attended the meeting and provided some clarity on their plans for the Barn. 

It was noted that: 

FPC requested that the applicants include as part of their Construction Management Plan a ban on contractor parking in the Edburton Road. Contractor parking should only be allowed on the site or (by agreement with the owners) on Perching Drove. 

That access to site should only be from the west via A2037. 

The reason for this stipulation is: 

1. Historic problems with access and safety due to parking at peak times for the Shepherd and Dog pub. This occurs during weekdays (not just weekends) 

1. Contractor parking and delivery issues related to access, safety and damage to verges on the Poynings Road over the last four years as a result of major refurbishment/building projects which were concurrent at Hillside, Downside, The Dales, and Barn Cottage. 

With no increase in the size of the property and the improvements to the character of the building the Parish Council voted its UNANIMOUS SUPPORT. 

20/008/PM.              Planning Applications Update. 

20/009/OM.      Matters Arising & Outstanding Actions To clarify and report on actions brought forward from the last meeting.  

1 Dark Night Skies – Cllr Firth advised residents had been mailed to promote SDNPA’s dark night skies policy  

2 Village Signs – Cllr Firth to propose refurbishment/replacement ideas to present to Council with a view to polling residents to see which option is the most popular. 

3 Ram Pump Noticeboard – progress is being made and Cllr Hind is resourcing a photo of John Ruskin. 

4 Yellow Lines – no progress since last meeting 

5 Fulking to Henfield Bridlepath – A meeting was held between Fulking and Woodmancote Councillors and the Head of Highways West Sussex who will establish whether a fixed crossing would be allowable under Highway rules. We are awaiting the results of the initial desktop survey from WSCC. 

6 Visionary Exercise – Clerk to email Trevor Leggo, Chairman of Sussex & Surrey ALC to suggest suitable dates for a meeting with Councillors to move the exercise forward. 

7 Mayfield – The next Inter Parish Meeting is set for 6th February in Albourne where a Fulking Councillor will be present. 

8 Village Hall Lease Update – Cllr Firth advised that he had had no replies to his recent chaser email to the PCC. 

9 Exercise Equipment – Cllr Firth suggested this should become an item for the next Parish Meeting.  

 20/010/OM.         Reports from Outside Bodies.  

Preparations for The Fulking Fair are progressing well. 

20/011/OM.              Information Items.  To receive information and items for the agenda at future meetings. 

Email correspondence from Michael Scammell from SDNPA advising that the new Conversation Plan for Fulking was nearing completion and that a draft report will be sent to the Clerk. 

20/012/OM.              2019 – 2020 Precept 

Councillors reviewed the spending so far for 2019/2020 and the planned spending to end of the financial year which is in line with expectations. 

The clerk presented the budget for 2020 / 2021 and proposed a 6% increase in precept to £9,450 bearing in mind the additional expenditure of the village hall once the new lease is agreed, planned improvements to NTF and potential cost to the Council of white / yellow lines.  

Increase proposed by Chairman, seconded by Cllr Healy and carried unanimously. 

20/013/OM.              Correspondence.  To discuss correspondence and respond to correspondence received. 

There was no correspondence. 

20/014/OM.              Financial Matters. To receive the report on the Council’s income and to approve future expenditure. 

It was noted that several of the topics raised in Matters Arising and the Precept discussion may require grant funding. Parish Clerk to investigate general grant funding availability. 

Payments debited from Fulking Parish Council current account at Barclays Bank 50052760 issued from 11th October 2018 to 18th December 2018 agreed at Parish Council meeting 17th January 2019 were: 

 On 31st October 2019 £1,390 was received from SDNPA being distribution of CIL monies and on 24th December 2019 a VAT refund of £3,067.25 was credited to the current account by BACS.      

As at 31st December 2018, the Current Account balance was £9,758.03, the Pemium Account £10,448.64. 

20/015/OM.               To set a date of Annual General Meeting of the Council and Annual Parish Meeting:  

Date of the next Ordinary Meeting: Thursday 2nd April 2019 

The date for the Annual Parish Meeting will be Wednesday 6th May 2020 where Rev Tim Harford will be the main speaker.