Minutes of the Extraordinary Council Meeting Fulking Parish Council held on Monday 21st July 2025 at 6.30pm via TEAMS 

Present 

Chairman:                                           Cllr Mark Hind
Fulking Parish Council (FPC):           Cllrs Tom Kardos and Karen Healy 

There were no members of the public present . The meeting opened at 6.30pm 

25/047/PM.          Apologies for Absence. 

Received from Cllrs Mehta and Comber 

25/048/PM.          Declaration of Members’ Interests. 

None declared 

25/049/PM       Playground Inspections 

Following confirmation from the Council’s Insurance broker (Clear Insurance) advising that weekly checks of North Town Field and playground are required to comply with the liability cover, councillors agreed to continue with Trevor Cox on a bi-weekly basis and cover the alternate weeks themselves on a rota basis. 

Action: clerk to email Trevor Cox to confirm this decision and to provide a new rota to Councillors 

25/050/PM.          Planning matters – SDNP/25/02836 

Proposal: Creation of new access from Clappers Lane to maintain the field and support livestock  

Location: Land to The rear of, Pippins, Poynings Road, Fulking. 

Grid Ref: Eastings: 524966, Northings: 111631 

Councillors supported the application and recommended a restriction to agricultural use. 

Next Scheduled Meeting: Ordinary Council Meeting on Thursday 9th October 2025 

Minutes of the Ordinary Council Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held Thursday 9th October 2025 at 7.30pm at Fulking Village Hall.

Present

Chair: Cllr Mark Hind

Fulking Parish Council (FPC) Cllr Lucy Metha, Cllr Karen Healy and Cllr Linda Comber.

Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC) Cllr Geoff Zeidler

Clerk Trevor Parsons

There were five members of the public present. The meeting started at 7.30pm.

Public Participation: General questions were raised by the public for the first 10 minutes.

25/051/OM. – Apologies for Absence.

Cllr Tom Kardos and Cllr Joy Dennis (WSCC)

25/052/OM. – Councillor Resignation

Cllr Linda Comber is moving out of the area and will be leaving the Council. Cllr Hind spoke for the Council in thanking Linda for all her work and support during her time in office.

25/053/OM. – Declaration of Members’ Interests.

Cllr Mark Hind declared that he is a trustee of Fulking Village Hall Trust CIO.

25/054/OM. – Approve the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of 3rd July 2025 and Planning meeting 21st July 2025 The minutes, subject to any amendments, to be approved and signed as a true record of the meeting.

Councillors read the minutes of the meeting which were approved unanimously.

25/055/OM. – Matters Arising & Outstanding Actions – To clarify and report on actions brought forward from the last meeting.

Councillors met with Alison Bennett MP our former MSDC Councillor for an hour to discuss various topics affecting the area. Alison also gave an insight into her experiences at Westminster.

25/056/OM. – Abandoned Car

Cllr Hind reported that he has been in email contact with Tristan Mitchell, Civil Enforcement Supervisor at MSDC regarding the abandoned car. Since collaboration with the Police in Operation Crackdown ceased in July 2025 Civil Enforcement Team are still working out their processes to remove abandoned cars. All parties agreed this is far from satisfactory. Cllr Zeidler (MSDC) has been working with FPC and MSDC to move the manner forward.

Action: Cllr Zeidler to report back on MSDC abandoned car process

25/057/OM – Reports from District and County Councillors.

Cllr Zeidler reported that at the last MSDC Council meeting on 24th September the Council voted to support the establishment of a smaller Unitary authority comprising only Crawley, Horsham and Mid Sussex; rather than the whole of West Sussex which would be the second largest Unitary Authority in the UK. Under either option Council Tax is likely to rise by 10%. This smaller option would have £6m higher implementation costs and £30m lower savings which, at the “base case” of forecasts, would be negligible. It would require the disaggregation of Education; Health and Social Care; and Transport Services. Its benefits would be that is has a higher density of Councillors to residents and may be based more locally. The Government will consult on the options in November and make a decision, heavily influenced by the Treasury, in Q1 2026. The next MSDC Council meeting is 10th December.

25/058/OM – Village Hall Grant Request

The Fulking Village Hall CIO charity set up to purchase the hall from the local Church PCC are very close to raising their target of £85,000 and are looking to complete on the purchase by end November 2025. Once the hall is purchased, the CIO will be exploring all avenues of grant funding to assist with maintenance and improvement of the facilities.

Jen Green (on behalf of the Trustees) presented a grant application for £2,500 to assist with running costs of the village hall during the period 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2027. A detailed income and expenditure statement evidenced £5,000 running costs each year and support is sought to fund 50% of the costs from the Parish Council. The CIO is aware that should further assistance from the Parish Council be sought in the following years, then separate applications will need to be applied for.

Councillors discussed the requirement to increase the precept in 2026 by £2,500 to fund this grant request. All voted in favour of granting the full £2,500 with 50% paid in April 2026 and 50% in October after the precept has been received – subject to the required increase in precept being implemented.

25/059/OM. – Fulking Parish Council Budget 2026/2027

The Clerk present his budget plan for the next financial year. There is a projected budget deficit of £1,595 for the current year due to the decision in July 2025 to outsource playground and NTF safety inspections at a cost of £100.00 per month.

In addition to our fixed costs for the Clerk and other expenditure, the Clerk recommended that an amount of £2,000 be set aside each year towards funding the eventual replacement of the playground equipment.

The grant of £2,5000 to FVH CIO will also need to be taken into account when calculating the MSDC funding requirement for 2026/2027.

The budget showed revenues of £1,250 from the Community Infrastructure Levy, Interest and VAT recovery against costs of £20,000 and therefore a Precept request of £18,750 will be required for a balanced budget. The Parish Council is aware that this represents a rise of 56% from 2025/2026 however all the extra Precept is committed to the village hall and playground which has been and will be used by all villagers.

Councillors agreed to consider all the above information and then vote on the matter at the meeting on 15th January 2026.

25/060/OM. – Reports from Outside Bodies, Information Items & Correspondence

The Clerk reported that Councillors email addresses will be migrated from @fulking.net to @fulking-pc.go.uk as part of a national strategy to better secure communication against cyber-attack.

The new address has been set up, the Clerk and Chairman have migrated to it, and the remaining councillors will be switched over in the next month or so.

25/061/OM. – Financial Matters: To receive the report on the Council’s income and to approve future expenditure.

Fulking Parish Council Payments 1st July to 30th September 2025

03/07/2025 Playsafety Ltd £120.00 RoSPA Inspection

15/07/2025 Fulking NTF Trust £50.00

15/07/2025 Sigma Partners £34.10 Payroll Services

21/07/2025 Clerk Salary £426.08

21/07/2025 HMRC £123.72

05/08/2025 Trevor Cox £100.00 Playground and NTF Inspection

15/08/2025 Sigma Partners £34.10 Payroll Services

18/08/2025 Host 4U Ltd £119.99 .gov.uk purchase.

18/08/2025 Clerk Salary £506.96

18/08/2025 HMRC £129.90

02/09/2025 Trevor Cox £100.00 Playground and NTF Inspection

26/09/2025 Clerk Salary £439.64

26/09/2025 HMRC £129.90

Meeting closed at 8.55pm

Date of the next Ordinary Meeting: Thursday 15th January 2026

Minutes of the Ordinary Council Meeting of Fulking Parish Council held Thursday 14th April 2025 at 7.30pm at Fulking Village Hall.

Present

Chair: Cllr Mark Hind

Fulking Parish Council (FPC) Cllr Linda Comber, Cllr Lucy Mehta, Cllr Tom Kardos & Cllr Karen Healy

Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC) Cllr Geoff Zeidler

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) Cllr Joy Dennis

Clerk Trevor Parsons

There was one member of the public present. MoP raised a concern regarding vandalised 40mph signs and ongoing planning issues.

The meeting started at 7.30pm.

25/015/OM. Apologies for Absence.

None – all councillors present

25/016/OM. Declaration of Members’ Interests.

Reference agenda item 25/022/OM Cllr Hind is a trustee of Fulking Village Hall CIO and would not partake in any decision-making.

25/017/OM. Approve the Minutes of Ordinary Council Meeting of 10th January 2025

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

The minutes of the January meeting were unanimously approved by Councillors

25/018/OM. Reports from District and County Councillors.

Cllr Dennis (WSCC) reported:

That West Sussex County Council and Mid Sussex District Council would disappear under devolution plans and a new unitary authority would be created which would cover Fulking. Should plans proceed an election for the mayor of the new authority would be held in May 2026. This would be followed by shadow unitary elections in 2027 with the authority to start formally in May 2028.

Fulking Parish Council would like to thank Cllr Dennis for her support which enabled the 40 mph speed limits along Poynings and Edburton Roads to be implemented.

There have been 14 road closures in Clappers Lane for repairs since 2023, 5 of which were emergency closures.

School places – intake to secondary schools has started, pupil number continue to decrease.

Speed reduction measures have been approved on A281 around the Ginger Fox junction.

Riperian Team are still active where Operation Watershed grant monies are still available.

ACTION: Clerk to investigate grant funding for repairs to blocked piping to the stream by Shepherd & Dog.

Cllr Zeidler’s monthly report has been distributed to Councillors, he also understands that Project Crackdown for the removal of abandoned vehicles has been withdrawn

25/019/OM. Matters Arising & Outstanding Actions To clarify and report on actions brought forward from the last meeting

Ram Pump Roof – On receipt of confirmation from SDNPA that planning permission was not required for the repairs to the Ram Pump house roof, the repairs were satisfactorily completed with reclaimed tiles.

Notice Board – The new noticeboard was purchased and is installed in front of the village hall.

Campsite at Spring – Lawful development is yet to be determined with changes being made to the application.

25/020/OM. Financial Matters. To receive the report on the Council’s income and to approve future expenditure.

To ratify the following payments made since the last council meeting.

15th January £28.45 Sigma Accountants Payroll Services

22nd January £375.00 Owl Structural Ltd Report on Ram Pump Roof

22nd January £2,017.41 Greenbarnes New Noticeboard

27th January £162.31 N Power Streetlights

7th February £100 D Lindfield To clear sediment from out of the Ram Pump House

10th February £918 P W Beard Village sign posts

19th February £463.68 M365 Microsoft

19th February £8.52 Action Rural Sussex Fee for March

17th March £1,597.44 Clerk Q4 salary Q4 Salary

17th March £240 FPC Village Hall Hire Hall Hire

17th March £923.52 MSDC 2 x Dog bin collection (12 months)

31st March £1,020 R A Walker Repair of Ram Pump Roof

The clerk reported that the balances at Barclays Bank were current account £1774.32 and £12,000 in the deposit account.

25/021/OM. Year-end review of Income & Expenditure 2024 – 2025

Cllr Hind confirmed to councillors that FPC income for the year to March 2025 was £13,417, being the precept of £12,000 plus interest, VAT refund and CIL grant. Outgoings for the same period totalled £17,492 which included capital items including the new village signs and noticeboard, together with the repair of the Ram Pump House roof. The deficit of £4,075 was caused by the unplanned capital expenditure required to replace items damaged in the winter storms and was met from reserves.

A balanced budget has been prepared for the financial year to March 2026 which includes provision for a new laptop for the clerk (last replaced in 2015), some new grit bins and some playground repairs.

25/022/OM. Fulking Village Hall Funding Request.

The Fulking Village Hall CIO are raising funds to purchase the Village Hall from the Church. The Village Hall & Chapel 2025 – 2028 Business Plan has been produced by the CIO following community engagement, community survey and the Open Day in January 2025.

The survey produced 88% support for a more active community hub, 99% concerned by the loss of the hall and 55% support to increase the council precept.

Within revenue funding item 14.0 the CIO states that a grant will be sought from Fulking Parish Council from 2026 amounting to £2,500 pa.

Councillors would need to approval the grant funding before November 2025 to request additional district council precept for financial year April 2026 – March 2027.

Councillors raise concern that only a small amount for funds were available for capital improvements and maintenance.

25/023/OM. Reports from Outside Bodies.

Non

25/024/OM. Information Items. To receive information and items for the agenda at future meetings.

None discussed

25/025/OM. Correspondence. To discuss correspondence and respond to correspondence received.

None discussed

Meeting closed at 9.15pm

Dateof the Annual Meeting is Wednesday 14th May 2025.

Next Ordinary Meeting scheduled for Thursday 3rd July 2025.

You are cordially invited to the Ordinary Meeting of Fulking Parish Council on Thursday 10th April 2025 at 7.30pm to be held at Fulking Village Hall. The meeting will consider the items set out below. 

Trevor Parsons – Parish Clerk  

AGENDA 

Public Participation: There will be a period of 15 minutes set aside at the beginning of the meeting for the public to ask questions or make comments on items on the Agenda. Comments on items not appearing on the agenda can be made at the chairman’s discretion.  

25/015/OM.         Apologies for Absence. 

25/016/OM.         Declaration of Members’ Interests. 

25/017/OM.         Approve the Minutes of Ordinary Council Meeting of 10th January 2025 

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

25/018/OM.         Reports from District and County Councillors.   

25/019/OM.         Matters Arising & Outstanding Actions To clarify and report on actions brought forward from the last meeting 

• Ram Pump Roof 

• Notice Board 

• Campsite at Spring. 

25/020/OM.        Financial Matters. To receive the report on the Council’s income and to approve future expenditure. 

25/021/OM.         Year-end review of Income & Expenditure 2024 – 2025 

25/022/OM.         Fulking Village Hall Funding Request. 

25/023/OM.        Reports from Outside Bodies. 

25/024/OM.       Information Items.  To receive information and items for the agenda at future meetings. 

• Inter parish meeting report. 

25/025/OM.       Correspondence.  To discuss correspondence and respond to correspondence received. 

Date of the Annual Meeting of the Parish is Thursday 15th May 2025.  

Next Ordinary Meeting scheduled for Thursday 17th July 2025.