Category Archives: Drainage

Drainage, drains, ditches, culverts, gullies, etc.

2011 07 11 PC Minutes

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Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting Held on Thursday 7th July 2011 at 7.30pm

MT, PR, KW, LD & DS. Clerk to the Council. Apologies from MSDC & WSCC representatives. 20 Members of the public present.

The minutes from the last Ordinary Parish Council meeting held on 14th April 2011 were approved.

Tony Brooks wrote to SDNP re: operation of the 28 days rule for the flight strip, however has no response to date. Pump House adjacent to the public house — SDNP were to take over responsibility for this issue, however no further correspondence has been received. Bus Services Cuts: No 17 from A281. WSCC have not jetted the drains outside the Old Thatch. This issue is in need of attention,

Fulking Village Hall: The Chairman gave a brief update on the VH. The Chairman then introduced Rev Currer to brief the meeting in more detail. Rev Currer reported that the Hall belongs to the Parochial Church Council. The hall has been in disrepair for many years. Discussions have taken place regarding selling the site, or demolishing the building and rebuilding. The PCC were reluctant to sell the site commercially. A letter of intent was received by the PCC from residents proposing to develop the site and build a hall for the use in the village. It would be agreed that should this option there would be an agreement that the use is non-commercial gain and for development for the village. This is the current position and still under discussion. The Big Society encourages this type of work with communities. There would be a village trust in place should this option be chosen in order to ensure there are no commercial sales in the future. The ownership was registered without the deeds for the VH therefore whoever purchases the site would take out insurance in order to cover any Covenants issues. Suggestions took place regarding the possibility of the Church considering leasehold for the VH site. The PCC will aim to keep the village informed of the progress on this issue. The next steps are for the PCC to meet with the proposing group to discuss further. The next step should this proceed would be for a surveyor to come and inspect the site for advice. A proposal then goes to the dioceses of Finance for approval before going to solicitors. It was felt it was important to ensure the village have been consulted as part of this proposal. Discussions took place regarding historic ownership. The PC could not afford this in the past due to the costs involved. Thanks extended to Caroline Currer for attending the meeting this evening.

Local Planning: Lower Kents — Cllr Rowland updated: 2 buildings – one achieved retrospective planning. The second building required full planning permission; however there had been delays due to Elections and neighbourhood issues with consultation. MSDC thought there was no need for this application to go to committee, however, following lengthy discussions with our MSDC Cllrs we have managed to get this to go to committee. No date set yet.

Market Garden — The 5-year agreement expires on 26th Sept 2011 in order to give MSDC time to establish further information. Martin Small and Mike Bleakley from SDNP are the Link Officers for MSDC, and have been involved in this issue. It would be key to continue with Mike Bleakley with this issue as the SDNP are not happy with the current situation. The owner is thought to be registered at the Withey Patch, so the 5 year agreement was due to the lack of availability to re-homing them. CLAG asked for support from the PC to work with MSDC to establish what has been worked on in the 5 years since this 5 year temporary planning was granted. The PC agreed this issue will be supported and will work with CLAG where required. The land is understood to be owned by the Hearne family. Cllr Dyos updated that the SDNP felt this was of significant issue, therefore will require further investigation.

Old Pump House — Previously known as smugglers walk. A mobile home was placed in situ in April, and subsequently the Enforcement Officers from MSDC completed a site visit. There is a 6-8 week timescale currently for the removal of the mobile home, along with various building materials. There has been a history of Enforcement issues with this property.

Backway: It was noted there are more vehicles using the backway. Access for 3 vehicles only had been agreed. This is a Bridleway, and should be 1 metre wide. The Chairman informed members that this issue was not for the Parish Council and this should be discussed between the residents in the area.

The Village Action Plan: to be delivered with this week’s Pigeon Post. Thanks to all those who have worked on the Action Plan.

Notice Board: Cllr Dyos stated that the current notice board is in need of repair and is too small. Clerk to look into the costs of a new notice board.

Concerns have been mentioned to Cllr Watson regarding the control of dogs around the access land in order to protect nesting birds. 1st of March to 31st July. Information is on the National England Website.

Next Meeting Date: Thursday 6th October 2011 at 7.30pm.

Meeting closed at 9pm.

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2011 04 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 April 2011 at 7.30pm

Present: Chairman Mr Tony Brook, Vice Chairman Mrs Pamela Rowland, Councillors Mr Richard Corner, Ms Jo Hudek and Mrs Jennifer Parmar.

Apologies for Absence: Clerk to the Council Mrs Paula Hazard

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

County Council update: None (no County Council representatives attending).

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2011, as previously circulated, were approved, accepted and signed by the Chairman.

Highways: Flooding — The Chairman has compiled a Flooding Report detailing all recurring flooding problems in the area and submitted this to WSCC Highways and Peter Griffiths. This has resulted in a successful site meeting between the Highway Officer, Chairman and Clerk resulting in: jetting of drains by corner of Kent Cottage, Four Acres corner, and Shepherd & Dog corner; plan to stop soil erosion on northern bank of Shepherd & Dog corner; a ditch dug at the Four Acres corner for water to soak away. Highways confirmed that WSCC is responsible only for the first metre of the ditch off the road so the ditch has only been dug for that length. We ideally need a longer ditch to cope with heavy rain.

The Highways representative also stressed the responsibility of landowners to drain their land properly. Highways believe the main source of the problem in Clappers Lane is water coming off the land and ditches not being maintained adequately. The landowners need to ensure that their ditches are kept clear and free running. Ditches on the land running on the eastern side of Clappers Lane need digging out and maintaining in order to reduce water on the lane. WSCC Highways has written to the landowner to this effect. No action has been taken by the landowner to date.

Correct Signposting for Roadworks: WSCC and Peter Griffiths have been advised about a problem with incorrect road closed signposting at the Shepherd & Dog pub. When Highways plans to carry out roadworks where the road is still available for access, they must put up access to business signs. On 14 Feb the access open to business sign was not put up, only road closed only sign up. (Ref 557735). This has impacted both the pubs and Springs on a number of occasions.

North Town Field Play Area: The grand opening of the improved Children’s Play Area will take place on 22 April at 11am as part of a wider celebration including an Easter Egg hunt. Representatives from Viridor and WSCC have been invited.

NTF lease: The PC is arranging to register the lease with the Land Registry (which is an obligation of the tenant). This will reduce the insurance costs with one policy covering both the play area and NTF.

Field tidy-up: A major tidy up of the southern bank of the field was held in February. Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped out.

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

Reopening of Bridleway11F — There was no further news from West Sussex Rights of Way.

Bridleway 5/3F — The PC has contacted the South Downs Joint Committee as they had previously carried out some work to improve the drainage. They advise that responsibility for the maintenance of rights of way within the South Downs National Park will pass to the local authority (i.e. West Sussex County st Council) on April 1. This means that the PC will need to look to them to fund the maintenance of this type of work. The SDJC advised that on a previous project to do this type of work, the local PC requested support from the Mid Sussex Bridleways Group. MSBG has been contacted to seek support. Awaiting response.

Village Plan: The draft Village Action Plan was discussed and final comments taken at a meeting on 10 February. The Plan booklet is now in production and should be ready for printing shortly.

Ram House: Further to the repairs to the Ram House, undertaken and paid for by the National Trust, there is no further news on the NT taking ownership of the House. A reminder letter will be sent to the NT.

Lower Kents: The planning application was received by MSDC in October and has now been passed to the PC and is available to residents for public for consultation. The PC has passed on its objections and concerns and those expressed by local residents at the Planning meeting. We are now waiting to be informed of the date of the MSDC Planning Committee meeting which is likely to be in May or June due to the local elections.

Powered Microlights: The Chairman raised the issue of noise and nuisance caused by powered microlights at the South Downs National Park Authority February meeting. The SDNPA are looking into it.

Market Garden Site: The Chairman read out to the meeting the letter received from Claire Tester, Head of Planning at MSDC in response to the PC’s letter. Copies of both letters were made available to attendees. The MSDC letter did not address the issues and concerns raised by the PC in respect of dealing with the expiry of planning permission. The letter merely states that there are no plans to offer additional sites for travellers and offers information for the family occupying the Market Garden site and advises them to contact the Housing Needs Team.

Parish Council: Two people have submitted nomination forms to MSDC to become councillors. As the PC needs 3 Councillors to be quorate, there aren’t enough councillors to Elections form a PC. The Clerk is in discussion with Returning Officer about how to deal with this. It may be possible for MSDC to extend the deadline for nominations and for a new election date to be set probably for mid June. However, the Clerk is waiting for confirmation from MSDC.

Finger post: The main post of the sign at the junction of Clappers Lane and The Street has been painted and new, painted finger boards have been fitted. Temporary lettering has been put on the finger boards, with final lettering now being manufactured. It was noted that Clappers Lane has been misspelt. The Chairman will report this to the contractor to ensure that all spellings are correct for the final version.

Parish Clerk: The current Parish Clerk is standing down at the end of April so the position was advertised in two editions of Pigeon Post. There were general enquiries from four local people but no formal applications received. A formal application was received from Jenny Hartley who acts as Clerk for 3 neighbouring parishes and she has been offered and accepted the post.

Annual Parish Meeting: Because there will be no new Parish Council to hand over to in May, the APM is being postponed until such time as a new PC has been formed. This is dependent on the outcome of discussions with MSDC. The APM should hopefully be held in June. The new date will be publicised in the Pigeon Post. A speaker from SDNPA has been requested.

Litter Bins: Bins are not emptied by Mid Sussex. 3 bins in NTF are being regularly emptied by 2 volunteers. The Chairman asked for a volunteer to empty the bin in the bus shelter.

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

AOB: Councillor Corner informed the meeting that EDF are in the process of changing electricity meters for some residents. This is a routine operation. Any resident affected by this will receive a letter from EDF. All electrical appliances should be disconnected when this work is taking place to avoid damage to appliances.

Councillor Corner informed the meeting that he is submitting a funding application to MSDC to get funding for the village fair.

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

A resident has written to and emailed Susannah Kemp with regard to Lower Kents. She has received no reply other than to say that Ms Kemp is stepping down.

A discussion took place to clarify PC issues in respect of the fact that the current Councillors lose their powers as of 9 May. The information provided earlier in the meeting was reiterated. Jenny Hartley said that she will email her details to residents.

A resident objected to Councillor Corner’s intention to apply for funds for the village fair on the grounds that the fair generates funds for the village and therefore it was not appropriate to apply for public funds to support this venture.

The issue of how WSCC deal with road closures was raised. A resident stated that official procedures are not being followed, leading to problems for businesses and residents. The key problem is that when road closure signs are put in place it is not made clear that people are still able to access businesses (Springs, Coles, Shepherd & Dog, etc.) and houses. The PC will make WSCC aware of this problem.

A discussion about the temporary airstrip at Folly Farm took place. The matter was discussed in terms of the nuisance caused to local residents by the very frequent use of the airstrip. In reply to a question from the owner of Folly Farm, the Chairman confirmed that it is the PC’s intention to enforce the 28 day rule in respect of this airstrip and that this would be monitored by residents living close to the airstrip. The owner of Folly Farm raised concerns about possible errors in recording flight frequency since there are other aircraft and motorised hang gliders using the area. The Chairman stated that the residents monitoring usage could tell where the craft are taking off and landing because of their close proximity to the airstrip. The Chairman also raised the issue of horses being disturbed by the noise. The owner of Folly Farm undertook to give warning when the airstrip was being used so that horses could be moved but maintained his right to keep a temporary airstrip and indicated that enforcing the 28 day rule will mean that a greater concentration of flights will take place which will increase the nuisance. Two pilots who use the airstrip also attended the meeting and made clear their intentions to minimise the nuisance to residents. The issue remains unresolved in as much as those residents living close to the airstrip will still experience noise disturbance from the temporary airstrip. The PC and some residents commented that the airstrip does not appear in keeping with the ethos of the new National Park with the emphasis on peace and quiet. The Chairman reported that the PC was waiting to hear from the SDNP with regard to the policy on motorised hang gliders and small aircraft in the National Park.

Date of Next Meeting: TBA once arrangements for the new PC are in place.

The meeting closed at 8.15pm

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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