Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 10 April 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 Paula Hazard.
Apologies for Absence : None
Declarations of Interest by Members (if any) are shown against the relevant items in the minutes.
The Chairman and Vice-Chairman signed the Appointment Letter for the new Parish Clerk.
The minutes of the meeting held on 10 January 2008 were read, approved and signed by the Chairman.
Rights of Way: DDMO 07/01 Perching Drove. No further news had been received from the Landowner so it was proposed that the Council now write to the Landowner to get an update on the legal situation regarding the Permissive Path Agreement.
Highways: The Clerk had reported potholes on the hill down to the Shepherd and Dog pub. Councillor Corner had reported a pothole at the northern end of Clappers Lane. Councillor Corner had spoken to Highways requesting Unsuitable for Heavy Goods Vehicles signs at both ends of Clappers Lane and the Council said that they needed this request in writing from the Clerk. The Clerk to make a written request.
Market Garden: The Breach of Condition Notice was not complied with. John Arnold (Enforcement Officer MSDC) had advised There is a file with legal for a prosecution in relation to the breach of the Breach of Condition Notice for the conditions imposed by the Planning Inspector. The patio that has been constructed also needs permission and I am waiting a response from their agent in relation to that .
Preston Nomads: There had been no further progress on communication between the club and the village. Meetings that were planned had been cancelled due to illness and Cricket Club holidays. District Councillor Gina Field advised that she had contacted David Laing to arrange another meeting but had not yet received any response. It was proposed that District Councillor Gina Field and Councillor Tony Brooks should arrange a meeting with the PNCC for an informal talk.
Gina Field advised that the PNCC were still in negotiation to purchase the garages for storage facilities.
North Town Field: Danny Flynn had verbally quoted to carry on cutting the grass for the same price as last year. He would start the cutting as and when it was needed. He had also taken away the rubbish from the last clear-up.
Replacement toddler swings were installed by Fosters Playscapes. Second- hand swings were chosen because they were so much cheaper. Councillor Brooks confirmed that the sign to say that any children using the playground were to be supervised had been installed. He also advised that he needed to wait for better weather before he could fill up the bark pit.
The cost of Foster Playscape Inspections were going to increase to 32.50 from 30. It was agreed that this was acceptable.
A request from the NTF Trust had been received asking if the Parish Council would rent the whole of the field for insurance purposes. The implications of this would need to be checked in terms of the future security of tenure. There is an amount allowed in the precept for the insurance.
Village website: The website was planned to be up and running in May together with the necessary email addresses.
Conservation Area: Ed Lancaster had produced a set of draft proposals and asked the Parish Council for their comments which needed to be returned to him by 27 March. The Chairman read out a summary of the draft proposals and the Parish Council s views on each proposal.
APM: A guest speaker from West Sussex County Council has been arranged to talk about recyling. Arrangements for the food and wine needed to be confirmed.
Bird Scarer: Councillor Brooks had spoken to the farmer/landowner who has since addressed the issue and is happy to take suggestions for improvements to the noise level and siting.
Affordable Housing: The Chairman advised that MSDC are assessing sites for potential housing and the timescales of when they are likely to be developed.
MSDC Community Grant: The details and conditions of this grant were to be investigated before a note was put in the Pigeon Post asking for suggestions.
Financial Matters The Chairman and Vice Chairman signed off the interim audit, cheque list and cheque stubs.
A renewal quote from Allianz Cornhill for the village insurance for 817 had AOB been received. Councillor Corner was seeking an alternative quote from another company.
County Councillor Mr Peter Griffiths addressed the meeting about Highways, Health and Adult Services. District Councillor Mrs Gina Field addressed the meeting with an update about Health, Core Strategy, Leisure Division and Planning Hearings.
Mr Goodridge commented on the MSDC’s Conservation Area proposal to put the overhead telephone and electric cables underground in terms of the disruption and upheaval of the work. The Parish Council felt that it was a good proposal but in reality the prohibitive cost of the work would mean that it would be a very long way off actually happening.
Mr Linford strongly expressed his concern that the residents of the Market Garden site had not complied with one single condition imposed by the Planning. The Council agreed to write to Mr Arnold (Enforcement Officer MSDC) to also strongly express this unsatisfactory situation.
Mr Linford also raised concerns about the upcoming auction of the land at Small Acres because it had a history of planning applications to develop the site.
Mr Rowland requested that the letter to the Perching Drove Landowner about the Permissive Path agreement should ask for a speedy response as this matter had taken a long time.
Ms Dyos informed the Council that a generator had been running in one of large wooden sheds on the corner plot of land owned by Michael Cox. As planning permission has only been given for using these sheds for storage she requested that the Council pursue this matter.
Mr Sapsted asked why MSDC had not notified objectors about a planning decision to a recent planning application. Councillor Rowland explained that there had not been a public planning meeting for this application.
Dates of Next Meetings: 10 July and 9 October 2008 and 8 January 2009.
The meeting closed at 8.45 followed by a public meeting to discuss the proposed Beachdown music festival.
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