Category Archives: Public Footpath

Cross the A283 and live! [update]

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Bridleway crosses A283
The Shoreham Herald reports:

A new bridleway designed to make the Downs Link at Bramber safer is receiving wide support. West Sussex County Council is consulting on plans to create a new route, parallel to and under the A283, to avoid crossing the busy main road. Jon Perks, principal rights of way officer, has written to residents and landowners for comments on the £77,000 scheme, which should be returned by February 20. .. The new route would pass under the bridge that carries the A283 over the River Adur, 500m south-east of the existing crossing point. It would add about 970m to the route but it is thought the safety benefits outweigh the extra distance to travel, plus, the existing crossing point will remain open for ‘confident’ cyclists and others who wish to take a more direct route. Part of the land is owned by the Crown Estate, which has said it will not raise objection. The track on the south side of the A283 is shared by the county council and a private landowner and both are willing to dedicate it as a bridleway.

The Masterplan

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Map of Stanmer Park
A free concert in which a reformed 0asis perform their old B-sides in Stanmer Park? No, sorry. More like an exercise in which B&HCC attempts to get external funding for all those tasks that have been left undone since Brighton Corporation took the estate over back in 1947. However they are providing an excellent large-scale PDF map of the park which may prove useful next time you visit.

Bank Holiday Walks

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Walking the Downs above Fulking
The May bank holiday looms and you face the problem of ensuring that your weekend visitors are kept both entertained and exhausted. Walks provide a tried and tested solution to this problem. Over this past winter, the Local Walks page (in the sidebar, under “About Our Village”) has been greatly expanded. There are links to over forty walks as well as a dozen or so walking maps available for download.

GJMG

Miscommunication from SDNPA

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SDNPA miscommunication
“There are several important points that we would like to highlight:

  • Information about the closure cannot be found on the SDNPA website, even through a search;
  • We have seen no evidence that the SDNPA want to engage with local businesses on a practical or proactive level, to promote them or work with them – this is a good example;
  • Surely the the SDNPA should consider this their responsibility to inform those affected – local residents, visitors, businesses?
  • The period of notice (6th March) was in any case far too short;
  • The period of closure spans the Easter weekend (could be fairly busy on the Downs at this time). What do walkers do when they come across a barrier on the South Downs Way with no alternative signposted? Where would they have found out about this closure?”

Click the diversion signs above to see the SDNPA response and other commentary.

GJMG

Fulking Public Path 4f – Part Diversion Order

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footpath-4f-thumbWest Sussex County Council (Fulking)

Public Path (No.4f) Part Diversion Order 2013

The above Order was made on 23rd January 2013 under Section 119 of the Highways Act 1980.

The effect of the Order will be to divert part of public path No.4f in the Parish of Fulking in the vicinity of Perching Sands House and substituting it with a new length of path East of Perching Sands House as shown on the order plan.

A copy of the Order and the Order map have been placed and may be seen free of charge at the offices of Legal Services, West Sussex County Council, County Hall, West Street, Chichester, West Sussex, P019 1RQ and at the office of Mid Sussex District Council, Oaklands Road, Haywards Heath RH16 1SS on Mondays to Fridays between 9.00am and 4.00pm. A copy of the Order and Map may be purchased from Legal Services at the price of £5.

Any legal representations about or objections to the Order may be sent in writing to Legal Services (Ref CC3/7349/AMS) County Hall, Chichester, P019 1RQ or legal.services@westsussex.gov.uk and may be received not later than 28th February 2013. Please state the grounds on which they are made. Please note that any representations or objections to this Order will be kept on a file that is open to the public and while personal details will be omitted on request, they will become publicly available if and when the Order is sent to the Secretary of State.

If no such representations or objections are duly made, or if any so made are withdrawn, the West Sussex County Council may confirm the Order as an unopposed Order. If the order is sent to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for confirmation any representations and objections which have not been withdrawn will be sent with the Order.

Dated this day 31st January 2013

Tony Kershaw
Head of Law and Governance

Please note: Upon confirmation of the above Order a public path creation agreement will take effect creating a link on foot between the new route of footpath 4f and footpath 10f.

footpath 4f notice
New Notice of Order
Order for footpath 4f part 1
Oder for footpath 4f part 2
Map of changes to footpath 4f

2012 10 11 PC Minutes

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Minutes of Ordinary Parish Council Meeting at 7.30pm on 11 October 2012 held at the Village Hall

Present: Chairman Ms K. Watson, Vice Chairman Mr M Trist Councillors Ms L. Dyos, Mrs P. Rowland and Clerk to the Council Mrs Andrea Dickson. Chairman of Mid Sussex Council Mandy Thomas-Atkins, MSDC Councillor Colin Trumble, West Sussex District Councillor Peter Griffiths and 12 members of the public

1. Chairman welcomed the members of the public and introduced Chairman of Mid Sussex Council — Councillor Mandy Thomas-Atkins

2. Apologies: None

3. Declaration of Interest: None

4. The minutes of the previous meeting held 12 July 2012 having been previously circulated, were taken as read and approved and signed by the Chairman.

5. Matters Arising.
Planning: Old Pump House — In July 2012 enforcement order that was lodged in October 2011 was upheld by the planning inspector. A period of 9 months has been given to cease residential use and one extra month to remove the caravan and tidy up the land.

Market Garden — The PC met with Nick Rogers (Development Manager) and Steven King (Team Leader) planning investigation and enforcement, both Mid Sussex planning, at the end of August. Market Garden and other general planning queries were discussed. Progress with Mid Sussex planning will be monitored. The PC will be writing to MP Nick Herbert to ask for his help in addressing various issues relating to travellers. The PC was disappointed to hear that some residents did not feel that it had pulled its weight over the Market Garden issue. The councillors felt it needed to go on record that a large amount of work goes on behind the scenes and that they felt very frustrated over the issue. The public could comment on this matter at the end of the evening when comments are invited from the floor.

Preston Nomads — Only 4 (possibly 2) of the initial 6 people are still interested in the parking spaces. Residents who wish to take up the parking spaces need to collect padlock keys, those who do not intend taking up the spaces need to return the post keys. If anybody knows of anybody else that may be interested in a space please contact the Clerk. The car park area will be planted this month with indigenous plants. The possibility of filling in the potholes in the bridleway immediately outside the entrance is being looked into by Preston Nomads. The PC wish to thank Paul Hird for his work on this matter. (Clerk) A reminder that planning applications which fall within the SDNP are now posted on the South Downs website rather than Mid Sussex.

Highways: A meeting was held with highways on the 25 September to discuss ongoing problems.

Shepherd & Dog — A temporary cure is in place; however with autumn approaching it is felt that more work needs to be carried out. WSCC have investigated and will submit a request for further works, after which the PC will look at turfing the banks to complete the works. Stones have been washed down from the bridleway onto the highway by The Shepherd & Dog. Highways are going to discuss this with the bridleway owner and public rights of way.

Lady Brook Spring — A works order has been raised by WSCC to fence the spring. As a temporary solution the bollards will be replaced with a fibreglass plate over the entrance. A notice will be placed in Pigeon Post to gauge interest in making a feature of the spring. (Clerk)

Four Acres Corner — The drain & pipe have been flushed through. The size of the sump should have been increased at the same time — this was not done. Tim Boxall WSCC will chase this up. Once this work has completed the PC will monitor the situation.

Clappers Lane banking — The condition of the banking is the responsibility of the adjoining landowners. Highways have written to them but received no response. Highways suggested that the PC write to the Landowner & the person responsible for the damage Grange Farm and Badgerswood respectively. (Clerk).

Clappers Lane road surface — Highways will write to the landowner opposite The Sands to request that the ditches be cleared/kept clear. Highways were on site earlier today with Drainage Strategy team to look at the north end of the road. Contrary to what the PC had previously been told, it appears that no works order had been placed for the road surface to be repaired prior to that meeting. Highways suggested that all landowners be reminded to cut back hedges as winter approaches- this should be a request in Pigeon Post. A suggestion was made at the Village Plan meeting that signs could be placed at the north end of Clappers Lane saying something like “do not follow SatNav – unsuitable for large vehicles” Highways and PC will look for suitable signage for each end of the village.

Footpath 4f — This is still with the legal department; the order is expected to be made in the near future. The PC will be advised and then there will be a 28 day statutory objection period.

Stiles & Gates — The repair and maintenance of stiles and gate on public rights of way are the responsibility of the landowner over which the route crosses. This is also the case for trees, hedges, side vegetation and fences. The only exception are bridges which are the responsibility of Highways.

Ram Pump House — The National Trust have completed the work on the door and lock. Kate Watson and the National Trust are the key holders.

North Town Field — This will be addressed as a separate agenda item.

Councillor Vacancy — There is still a vacancy so please ask around.

PC Official documentation — The Standing orders, Financial Regulations, Code of Conduct and Declaration of Interest are all available via the Website, or as a hard copy from the Clerk.

Training Courses — The Clerk is half way through the first module of the Working with your Council Course. The clerk is also attending a networking day in November.

Joint Parish Meeting — This was held at Albourne in September. Councillors were present from Albourne, Poynings, Twineham and Woodmancote. Disappointingly nobody from MSDC planning attended the meeting, even though they were invited as a large part of the meeting revolved around planning. Councillor Sue Seward has asked to be copied in on any planning issues, and she will try and arrange a meeting with the planning dept to discuss concerns. All councils will review in six months and decide the way forward. Faster Broadband was discussed at the meeting; Fulking had a good response with 66 households expressing an interest in faster broadband. Please encourage anybody who has not already signed up to the scheme to do so. Suppliers are being invited to tender by the summer of 2013 with the faster broadband being in place by 2015.

Website — The new website is up and running and very easy to use. The new website address is fulking.net.

WSCC Councillor Peter Griffiths gave a brief report. He apologised for his absence from recent meeting; this is due to a clash of duties. In the future the two main costs to West Sussex will be care of the elderly and the cost of waste disposal. Providing these services will mean that other services will need to be reduced. It was suggested that an article be placed in the Pigeon Post with regards to the mobile library service. (Clerk)

6. Councillor Colin Trumble MSDC gave a brief report: Council Tax changes to benefits consultation will be completed by December. Auditing of single occupancy claims will be carried out to ensure it is fair. E-bills will be available to those who wish to pay that way, it is envisaged that this will save a lot of money. Grants to community groups that do not need matched funding. Money may still be available, but would have to be spent within the current financial year. Colin to provide more information on this. Budget Work has started on this for 2013/2014. Travellers were mentioned briefly and Councillor Linda Dyos said that he would be hearing from the PC shortly on the matter. Councillor Colin Trumble left the meeting 7.45pm for other commitments.

7. Financial Matters. The following payments were agreed and cheques signed: 100582 SALC Clerk’s networking day 60.00; 100583 Clerk’s salary & expenses 934.77; 100584 Councillor expenses 11.20. Cheque stubs were cross checked with the cheque list and both signed. The quarterly bank reconciliation was checked and signed. It was agreed that the Financial Regulations would be changed to state Internal audits would be carried out Annually rather than regularly as previously stated. (Clerk) It was agreed that the PC would look into setting up E banking (Chair)

8. Winter Management: The winter management plan is well underway. A meeting will be held in the next few weeks with WSCC to discuss the plan. Once it has been finalised a copy will be posted on the website and on the parish notice board. (Clerk) Farmer David Ellin still has an agreement with WSCC for the loan and use of the snow plough .(Michael Trist will contact the farmer when it is necessary to use the snow plough ). The clerk attended the Mid Sussex Emergency Planning liaison Group meeting in September and had nothing to report back from the meeting. It was felt that as Fulking is a small parish, the meeting would not have much relevance and therefore apologies would be sent for future meetings.

9. Risk Assessments: The Financial risk assessment and risk assessment having previously circulated were agreed and adopted. They will be placed on the website or hard copies available via the clerk. (Clerk)

10. Playground inspection review: The annual Rospa inspection was carried out in June; this highlighted a low risk of entrapment in the gate. The PC asked if anybody had any ideas how this risk could be eliminated? Mark Stepney will carry out the remedial work on the trip hazard and the moss which were also highlighted in the annual inspection. The weekly inspection rota needs to be updated. (Clerk). New inners for the bins in the playground need to be purchased (Clerk)

11. Community Bus: Has provided a service to Fulking for 20 years two days per week. It is free to bus pass holders, otherwise journeys will cost between 1-2 depending on the length of the journey. The PC agreed to give a contribution of 100 for this financial year. This will be reviewed annually. An article will be put in Pigeon Post to give details of the service provided. (Clerk) A thank you letter is to be sent to the providers (Clerk).

12. Fountain: The PC will arrange for the bollard in front of the fountain opposite Laurel House, to be fixed. Paula Hazard has the bollard. (Pam Rowland to contact Mark Stepney).

13. Crime Update: Crime in Fulking was low over the summer. Please stay vigilant. A notice about cheap shed alarms from MSDC will be placed in the noticeboard, website & Pigeon Post. (Clerk)

14. Comments from the floor: Card making day on 13 October. The Police Authority Elections were mentioned. Where is the Polling Station? This is to be looked into & published on website and noticeboard.The Polling Station is Playing Field Pavilion, Poynings BN45 7BH (Clerk)

15. Dates of the next meeting: The next Parish Council meeting will be held on 10 January 2013

Meeting closed at 9.05pm

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2012 07 12 PC Minutes

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Minutes of Ordinary Parish Council Meeting at 7.30pm on 12 July held at the Village Hall

Present: Chairman Ms K. Watson, Vice Chairman Mr M Trist Councillors Ms L. Dyos, Mrs P. Rowland and Clerk to the Council Mrs Andrea Dickson. MSDC Councillor Colin Trumble and 6 members of the public

1. Apologies: None

2. Declaration of Interest: None

3. The minutes of the previous meeting held 12 April 2012 having been previously circulated, were taken as read and approved and signed by the Chairman. The minutes of the Extraordinary meeting of the Parish Council to Accept Internal Audit and Annual accounts were read out, approved and signed by the Chairman.

Report from Councillor MSDC:

District Plan Will need to be agreed by Autumn. This is planned from the bottom up,with all local areas having a say in the amount of housing that can be sustained in their area. Local areas need to agree to the District plan if no ideas are put forward then new housing will be forced on the District.
National Park is separate planning should meet stringent conditions that compliment the South Downs National Park. (SDNP)
This led on to questions about Market Garden — Councillor Trumble stated that he should be kept informed about the situation. It was agreed that Councillor Trumble would put some points in writing and attend the proposed meeting with MSDC to discuss the policies and procedures with regard to Market Garden planning application.
Council Tax — April 2013 will see a change in the way Council Tax will be distributed. Councils will only be reimbursed 90p for every 1 collected. This is to encourage people to return to work. PC should comment on information that will be provided in August (who will benefit and by how much).
Polling Stations — Fulking Village Hall was assessed and it was felt it did not reach the criteria to be a Polling Station. Poynings will be the area Polling Station. Councillor Colin Trumble left the meeting 8.00pm

4. Matters Arising
Planning: Just to reiterate, approval of Market Garden was not unanimous. It was approved with conditions. The Parish Council (PC) is currently trying to arrange a meeting with Mid Sussex planning department regarding policy/procedures mid August onwards. (Clerk)
Old Pump House: An enforcement order was placed Oct 2011 for unauthorised development on the land. The applicant appealed against the enforcement order. A site visit has been carried out and a decision will be made in around 6 weeks.
Preston Nomads Work has started to improve the entrance and provide 6 parking spaces for villagers. The PC has approached the villagers and 6 people have expressed an interest. (subject to terms & conditions)
Planning applications now need to be lodged with SDNP not MSDC.
Highways: Speeding — It was agreed to take no further action would be taken as all the 20mph signs may be put at risk. Vegetation around the sign on Clappers Lane would be cut back (this is the responsibility of the residents) Lee Holden
Flooding on the corner by the Shepherd and Dog has been cured by West Sussex highways. West Sussex will monitor the situation over the next few months, any problems in this area, please let the Highways Department at Chichester and the PC know. PC agreed to get a quote to lay turf to prevent further erosion (Clerk to contact Mark Stepney) A work order has been submitted to fence the inlet on the opposite side of the road.
The Parish Council met with Tim Boxall and residents immediately affected by the flooding on Four Acres corner. Highways submitted a work order to increase the size of the sump at the top corner of the bridleway and also to clear the water and clean the existing pipe which runs under the road. After this has been carried out residents will further increase the size of this sump, which hopefully will allow a free run from the pipe outlet and will disperse the water more easily.
Banking on Clappers Lane is the responsibility of the adjoining property owners. Highways have written to the landowner asking to respond within 28 days (Clerk to chase response at end of July).
Footpath 4f — The proposed is currently with legal services to make the order. Prior to that there will be a consultation period with notices displayed on site and the PC will be notified.
Chalk run off from the Bostal — David Ellin, farm manager, has done loads of work digging drain off points, diverting chalk run so problem virtually fixed many thanks to David for this.

APM: The Annual Parish Meeting took place on 3 May. SDNP attended and gave a presentation on neighbourhood planning. Following on from this, the Parish Council called a meeting to discuss whether or not the village wished to submit a neighbourhood plan. After discussion, it was unanimously agreed that a neighbourhood plan was not needed, due to the likely (unbudgeted) large expense, the time it would take and Fulking’s situation within a national park (hopefully protected)

Ram Pump House: National Trust have visited the property and have agreed to carry out the work on the door and lock, hopefully within the next month. When the work is completed the PC will be given a key to the lock.

North Town Field: The annual inspection with ROSPA has been carried out and we are awaiting the report.

5. Councillor Vacancy: Nobody has come forward to fill the vacancy . Please ask anybody you think may be interested to come forward and speak to a member of the PC. (Everybody)

6. Financial Matters: Financial Regulations having been previously circulated, were agreed and adopted. They will be placed on the website. (Clerk) The cheque list and cheque counterfoils were checked and signed. Clerk’s timesheet having previously been circulated was agreed, cheque raised and signed.

7. Insurance Policy/Fixed Asset List: A weekly inspection of the playground will be carried out by Councillors to conform with the insurance policy. A notice will be placed in Pigeon Post and on the Parish notice board asking Villagers to report any damage to the Clerk. (Councillors & Clerk) The fixed assets list was passed around to see if anybody had anything to add. As this differs from the information the insurance company has, they will be asked to re evaluate the assets. (Clerk)

8. Acceptance of Standing Orders: Standing orders having been previously circulated, were agreed andadopted. They will be placed on the website .(Clerk) The following procedures having been previously circulated, were agreed and adopted as part of the Standing Orders: A. Complaints Procedure B. Sickness Procedure C. Disciplinary Procedure D. Grievance Procedure

9. Acceptance of New Code of Conduct: 1. New Code of Conduct having been previously circulated , was agreed and adopted. It will be placed on the Website. (Clerk) 2. New Register of Interest Forms were distributed to Councillors. They need to be returned to the Clerk by 2 August 2012 to enable them to be placed on the website within 28 days of acceptance of the New Code. (Councillors & Clerk) 3. The Chairman & Clerk were thanked for the work that they had put into the documents prior to the meeting.

10. Training Courses: A brief report was given on the training courses attended by The Chairman Councillor Dyos and Clerk. The Clerk reported on Society Of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) with regards to joining and studying by distance learning for the course Working With Your Council Course. The PC agreed to cover this cost. (Clerk) The PC agreed to the Clerk attending and covering the cost of Sussex Association Of Local Councils (SALC) Networking Day in November 2012 and covering the cost. (Clerk)

11. Joint Parish Meeting: These meetings have proved very useful in the past, Councillors and Clerks to attend. Details of the meeting to be chased up (Clerk)

12. Website: Thanks to James Lightfoot for running the website in the past. Thanks to John Hazard for taking over the running of the website. All Parish Council information is to be published on the website . (Clerk) PC would like a permanent section in Pigeon Post to help create interest and give access to all. (Clerk)

13. Comments from the Floor: The fair is cancelled due to bad weather.
A Planning meeting will be held on 18 July short notice due to the change over to SDNP.
A discussion took place with regards to the Bridleway, who is responsible for keeping the path way clear of brambles Tim Boxall or Public Rights of Way. (Clerk)
Kissing gate at end of Lee Holden s property is in need of repair/replacement . Peter Griffiths was looking into this, it needs to be followed up. (Clerk)
Road surface in Clappers Lane is bald email Tim Boxall (Clerk)
A member of the public would like to have a vote of no confidence in MSDC planning, but will wait to see what happens at the meeting August.

14. Dates of the next meetings: The next Parish Council meetings will be held on 11 October 2012 and 10 January 2013

Meeting closed at 8.50pm

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2012 04 12 PC Minutes

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Minutes of the Fulking Parish Council Ordinary Meeting held in the Village Hall, Fulking on Thursday 12 April 2012 at 7.30pm.

Present: Vice Chairman Ms K. Watson, Councillors Ms L. Dyos, Mrs P. Rowland and Mr M. Trist and Temporary Clerk to the Council Mrs Sheena Trist. Nine members of the public were present. Apologies for Absence: Dr D. Slavin.

The minutes of the PC meeting held on 12 January 2012 were approved and signed off.

Lower Kents: Councillors Ms Watson and Mrs Rowland attended the south area planning committee meeting and Mrs Rowland spoke on behalf of the PC objecting to the application. It was approved by Mid Sussex, subject to certain conditions (storage only/no distribution from the site/no increase in hard standing area).

Market Garden: has not been called in by SDNP, but it has been called to committee by Mid Sussex, currently no date due to the introduction of the National Planning Policy Framework on 27 March, so certain things now have to be taken into account. The West Sussex Gypsy Liaison Officers were contacted to ask the availability of alternative traveller sites there are no spaces available anywhere in the area. As per correspondence relating to Market Garden, there are 50 traveller families waiting for vacancies in West Sussex and the Hearns are not on the current list. There are no vacancies in East Sussex, with a waiting list of 22 families.

Old Pump House: Mid Sussex are still waiting for a decision from the Planning Inspectorate. Councillors Ms Dyos, Ms Watson and Mrs Rowland, attended an informal meeting at the MSDC Planning offices. Although MSDC were unable to comment on any of the then current applications, they were able to give a general overview of their procedures.

Highways: Speeding in Clappers Lane. Tim Boxhall of WSCC advised that the legal procedures for the speeding signs had not been completed so, in effect, they were not legal. It was agreed to leave things as they are and for Mr Jason Holman to liaise with Mr Neil Cooper as this was part of the village action plan, in order to avoid duplication.

Tim Boxhall also asked the PC to bring to the attention of property owners in Clappers Lane that all verges and banks are the responsibility of the adjoining properties and tree damage is included in this.

Mr Brooks advised that the leak outside PNCC had been repaired by WSCC and the manhole cover outside Brook House had been repaired by BT. The kerb/double drain by the Shepherd and Dog was not scheduled to be done until 2013. The north end of Clappers Lane was due to be resurfaced once the problem of the leak/spring was solved. Mr Brooks had reported the flooding on the corner by Four Acres and was given a reference number of 767594, which should be quoted to Highways when reporting flooding. The PC thanked Mr Brooks for all of the time and work he had put into highway issues.

Chalk run-off from the Bostal had again become a problem during the recent wet weather, Mr Trist advised that he would have a look and see if he could rectify the problem.

Footpath 4df — One verbal objection to the re-routing of this path had been received by the PC. There would now be a consultation period during which time notices would be posted either end of the footpath.

Parish Clerk: Andrea Dickson had been appointed as new Clerk to the Council and Mrs Trist would be doing a handover to her shortly. She had been recruited through SALC and references taken up. The PC thanked Mrs Trist for her help during the intervening period.

Annual Parish Meeting: to be held on 3 May 2012. Representatives from SDNP were invited to attend but had not replied and MSDC Planning declined. The Clerk to ask Claire Tester, Head of MSDC Planning, to talk about the Local Bill and the new PCSO Anika Arnold officer to say a few words as well. A speaker from the EON offshore wind-farm proposal was suggested but it was thought that it would not have sufficient local interest.

Notice Board: The new notice board was now in place and the grant received. A letter of thanks had been sent to Peter Jones.

Ram Pump House: The National Trust had been chased to see when they would be looking at the door. It was on their list of items to do and they would be in touch shortly.

Financial Matters Interim Audit: cheque list and cheque stubs were signed off by Ms Watson and Ms Dyos and Mr Rowland advised that the VAT rebate had been received. The PC thanked Mr Rowland for his help with financial matters whilst a new Clerk was being recruited.

North Town Field: The contract with Foster Playscapes had been terminated and a letter sent to Mark Stepney to thank him for the mowing. Mrs Trist to hand over the RoSPA information to the new Clerk so that the annual inspection could be booked.

Local Plan: The PC were invited by MSDC to submit an outline plan showing potential building sites in the parish in order to help them attain the 10,000 sites they had to find to satisfy the numbers imposed on them by the Government (this was down from the 18,000 originally imposed). Mrs Rowland explained that this was a number crunching exercise and that 11 sites in Fulking had been identified and advised to MSDC. It was extremely unlikely that any of these sites would be built on in the future (being part of the SDNP and AONB) but that if the PC had not submitted sites then the MSDC would have identified their own which was not ideal.

Concessionary Fares: It was agreed that no fare subsidies would be offered by the PC, as in previous years.

AOB: There had been a spate of burglaries from sheds and outbuildings in the area and so Business people were advised to be aware and to warn neighbours.

Dates Next Meetings: 2012 12 July, 11 October. 2013 10 January. With a start time of 7.30pm. Note of new time to be put in Pigeon Post and on the website.

Members of the audience were invited to bring items to the attention of the PC. Work had commenced on the Village Hall and thanks were given to Mr Holden for refurbishing the surface of the floor and to Mrs Robinson for the curtains.

The meeting closed at 8.15pm.

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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