Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 10 January 2008 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 Sheena Trist.
Apologies for Absence : None
Declarations of Interest by Members (if any) are shown against the relevant items in the minutes.
The Chairman welcomed the Chairman of Mid Sussex District Council Mrs Hersey and her husband Councillor Mr Hersey.
The minutes of the meeting held on 11 October 2007 were read, approved and signed by the Chairman.
Rights of Way: DDMO 07/01 Perching Drove. An e-mail was sent by the Chairman to the Landowner but a response had not been received.
Highways: There was no further news or developments regarding parking by The Shepherd and Dog. A planning application had been lodged with MSDC but this did not include provision for extra parking.
The hedges in Clappers Lane had been cut back. The faulty street lamp had been reported to EDF Energy and it had been repaired. Councillor Corner agreed to speak to Highways about the possibility of a ‘Unsuitable for Heavy Traffic’ sign at either ends of Clappers Lane.
Market Garden: District Councillor Gina Field had been in contact with MSDC Planning who had advised that the Hearns had been served with a Breach of Condition Notice (BCN) on 3 Clappers Lane December 2007. This required them to remove the old Huet caravan on the site and to provide details of the laying out and landscaping of the site (including lighting) and to then implement the approved details within 56 days. If the BCN is not complied with then MSDC can move to a prosecution in the magistrate’s court. This would be at the end of January and Mrs Field agreed to pursue this with Planning at that time.
Preston Nomads: Two meetings had been held with representative from the cricket club. There were still some matters outstanding but it was hoped that these would be resolved shortly. The Cricket Club lights that had been approved by Planning were now in place and felt to be much better than the ones there previously. Noise was still a problem and it would be suggested to Preston Nomads that they consider sound baffles on their equipment and intensive planting on the boundary to try to muffle any noise.
North Town Field: It was agreed to ask Danny Flynn to carry on with the grass cutting for the 2008 season and the Clerk was asked to contact him to ask for a quotation and schedule of cutting.
Further to the Rospa report, a site meeting had been held and various actions agreed. Councillor Corner agreed to speak to Highways about road signs. Councillor Brooks had removed the moss from the surfaces and built up and turfed the levels. He had also been quoted 35 for an engraved sign to say any children using the playground were to be supervised and it was agreed that this quotation should be accepted. A quotation of 240 (4 x 60 bags) had been received to replace the bark pit and it was agreed to wait until the weather improved to do this work.
Village website: Richard Linford was progressing with the website.
Conservation Area: A presentation was held in the village hall in November 2007 and questionnaires handed out. These were currently being assessed and a report/recommendation would be available in the Spring.
Parish Clerk: Two local residents had approached the Clerk regarding the forthcoming vacancy and she had explained what the role involved. Formal applications were awaited.
Financial Matters: The Chairman and Vice Chairman signed off the interim audit, cheque list and cheque stubs.
Indemnity cover for officials was now in place and the increased fee will be included in the 2008 premium.
It was agreed that the Clerk’s salary be increased to 8.04 per hour, in line with the NALC published payscales.
The precept for 2008/09 was set at 4,980, an increase of 5%
APM: The date for the Annual Parish Meeting was set for Thursday 1 May 2008. County and District Councillors would be invited to attend, along with Neighbourhood Watch, the Social Committee and Poynings Parish Council. The Clerk to ask Ed Lancaster if he would like to give a talk on the Conservation Area.
AOB: A complaint had been received about a noisy bird scarer and although this was not a PC matter Councillor Brooks said he would speak to the owner to try to resolve the problem.
It was asked if money could be included in the precept to cover the cost of tree surgery etc in the North Town Field as at present money was raised by locals for this. As the precept for 08/09 had been set it was agreed to look at this for the following year.
Affordable Housing. The Chairman agreed to follow up about the survey.
A grant of 1,000 is available from MSDC to go towards anything needed in the village. A note to be put in Pigeon Post to ask for any suggestions.
District Councillor Mrs Field advised that they were still fighting for the Princess Royal Hospital. Mrs Hersey, Chairman MSDC, also spoke about the Princess Royal with particular reference to the Maternity Unit.
Dates of Next Meetings: 10 April, 10 July and 9 October 2008 and 8 January 2009. The meeting closed at 8.50, followed by a public meeting to propose and vote new member(s) onto the North Town Field Trust.
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