Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 11 January 2007 at 8.00pm
Present : Chairman Mr Robert Rowland, Councillors Mr Nicholas Bremer, Mr Tony Brooks, Dr Jen Green, Mrs Carolyn Loveless and Clerk to the Council, Mrs Sheena Trist
Apologies for Absence: none
The minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2006 were read, approved and signed by the Chairman.
Declarations of Interest by Members (if any) are shown against the relevant items in the minutes.
Peter Griffiths, County Councillor for our area, gave a brief update on subjects he was dealing with at present, including reinstatement of Best Practice within the NHS, landfill sites and speed restrictions.
Rights of Way Bollards on Bridleway 6B the Backway. Despite a strong letter from the Chairman to Andy Gatticker for an update no response had been received. The Clerk was requested to write to the Head Office at the South Downs Conservation Board. According to the parish minutes, it was noted that problems with vehicles on the Backway had been in existence since 1975.
Highways DDMO 07/01 – Perching Drove. The Planning Inspectorate advised that the Public Inquiry would take place at Springwells in Steyning on 27 February 2007. The Planning Inspectorate would like a written statement of the case that the Parish Council intended to present at the inquiry and this had to be with them at least three weeks before the inquiry date. Chairman Robert Rowland advised that he would attend.
Re parking on the bend by the pub, Councillor Loveless had not had a suitable opportunity to speak to the Landlady, but would continue to try.
The culvert at the bottom of the hill by the pub had been cleared and at present it was still clear.
Peter Griffiths offered to speak to Highways regarding a recently blown down tree in Clappers Land and various blocked drains.
The Sheds, Clappers Lane: it would appear that little activity is taking place on this site but it was agreed to keep it on the agenda.
Market Garden, Clappers Lane: the outcome of the appeal had been formally advised to the Parish Council. The Hearn family are allowed to stay on the site for a period of five years and the PC had written to MSDC to ensure that conditions were complied with in the timeframes stated, however, since then, the caravan had been burnt down and this was being investigated by the Police.
Huet Caravan: although the dilapidated caravan had been removed, a lot of rubbish was still on the site. It was agreed to hold the annual village ‘clear up’ on 4 March 2007 and this site would be included in this. The Clerk to write to Mr Tucker to request his permission.
Planning Meetings: no planning meetings had been held in the previous three months, but the Chairman expressed his dismay at the PC’s comments being totally ignored in relation to the planning application at Downside. The Clerk was asked to write to the Planning Department.
North Town Field: quotes for mowing the NTF and playground area had been sought from Sussex Field Landscapes and D.J. Flynn. These were awaited.
Discussion took place on the need for more proactive members of the Trustees of the North Town Field. Nick Bremer proposed Pam Rowland, seconded by Tony Brooks and Jen Green was proposed by Robert Rowland and seconded by Carolyn Loveless. It was thought that it was not in the best interests of the village for a Councillor to be a Trustee, but Jen Green advised that she would not be standing for election. The Clerk to find out what the process is for voting on new Trustees.
Financial Matters: the Chairman and Vice Chairman signed off the external audit paperwork, interim audit, cheque list and cheque stubs.
The precept for 2007/8 was set at £4,705.
The Ram House: no response from Glynn Jones to the Chairman’s letter regarding the National Trust taking over the Ram House. According to the Parish minutes, in 1988 Brian Harris said that the National Trust had agreed to take over ownership of The Ram. It was noted that the finial on the top was askew and Councillors Brooks and Green offered to put this back in place, as it could not wait for the National Trust and it was in danger of falling off.
Garages in Clappers Lane: MSDC had been contacted by e-mail to request that they inspect the dead elms on the site. The Clerk was asked to contact the Parish Tree Warden (Barry Leppard) to see if he could put some pressure on MSDC.
Village website: due to work commitments by the Parishioner who had volunteered to look into the village website, no further details were available at the time of the meeting.
Preston Nomads: an application from Preston Nomads Cricket Club was expected shortly and it was agreed that this would be discussed at a Planning Meeting. However, Councillors Rowland and Bremer had visited the site to inspect external lighting and roller shutters that did not appear to have planning permission and which they felt were unacceptable. The Clerk to write to MSDC to express the PC’s concerns. It was also noted that the roller shutters sometimes remained down whilst people were using the clubhouse and it was felt that this was a health and safety concern with regards to fire risk. Noise from the turf rollers was also still a problem and Councillor Brooks offered to speak to Paul Hird to see if something could be done.
Resignation of Clerk: the Chairman read out a letter of resignation from Mrs Sheena Trist, Clerk. A job vacancy would be posted in the next edition of Pigeon Post, along with calls for new Councillors to come forward for the election in May. Mrs Trist agreed to stay in the post until after the elections in May, or for one further year if no suitable applicants came forward.
AOB: There was no any other business.
Date of Next Meeting 12 April 2007.
The meeting closed at 9.00 p.m.
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