AMBERLEY PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes from Parish Council meeting held on 10th November 2016, 7.30pm at St Michael’s Church Hall.

PRESENT: Jason Charman (JC) Chairman for meeting, Geoff Conlon (GC), Tim Simpson (TS), Hazel Allinson (HA), Leigh Cresswell (LC), Peter Cozens (PJC) and Katie Ohno (KO)

Also present: Vicky Spiers (VS) Clerk, Jim Sanson - Horsham District Councillor, Philip Circus – County Councillor for part of meeting. One member of the public for part of meeting.

1. PUBLIC ADJOURMENT TO TAKE COMMENTS FROM THE FLOOR

Philip Circus commented on the Electoral Review of wards being undertaken by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. HDC will have three more Councillors. There is a proposal for Amberley to be linked with Pulborough rather than Storrington as the existing ward is too big. VS has sent info out to Councillors but we could not recall reading anything regarding Amberley, VS to review.

A member of the public raised a concern that residents of Newland Gardens pay an annual grounds maintenance of £200 per household however the maintenance work is not being done. He advised he has contacted Saxon Weald (SW) and they advise that the contractors (Burleys) are doing the work, which is not the case.

GC advised that we have been here before, where SW had been overcharging residents for work, APC resolved this issue for residents. GC had spoken to JC about the issue that morning and they agreed that due to the cuts in staff at SW that there is no supervision of contractors. SW will have given the contractors a schedule of work, but it appeared they are not adhering to it. GC said if residents could complain to SW ideally by letter, APC will then have evidence of complaints to take to SW. HA also suggested taking photos of the areas that were supposed to be maintained to present to SW as evidence.

JC said residents will be notified of 2017/18 ground maintenance in Feb 2017 so we need to have all evidence prior to then. The member of the public advised that since July to date the grass had been cut twice.

GC said that he will draft a letter to SW whilst the evidence is being collated, we need to be able to prove to SW that the work is not being done. Philip Circus asked to be copied into the letter.

2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Geoff Uren

3. DECLARATION OF INTEREST

None

4. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING HELD ON 15th September 2016

Were agreed by Councillors and signed by the Chairman as a true record.

5. MATTERS ARISING (a) Neighbourhood Plan – TS provided an update, the formal Regulation 16 closed on 18th October and SDNPA received 11 representations, at the last minute there were two challenges received. The first challenge was from Saville’s on behalf of Parham Estates who proposed that a small parcel of land that the Amberley Neighbourhood Plan (ANP) had allocated as a Local Green Space (LGS) was used to build three large houses and a car park on. TS advised that evidence from our Regulation 14 public consultations showed that many residents close to the field want it to remain a field – this is an open issue which will be looked at by the Examiner.

The other challenge was from HDC as a Landowner, they own three fields in the middle of the Parish adjacent to the conservation area, which are currently used for horse grazing. HDC official regulation 14 response made no comment on these fields and they did not mention any of the proposed housing sites. HDC have advised that the Government requires them to make the best use of land in their ownership. They have advised that the land maybe required for other uses to get the maximum use from it. TS said we assume that they are referring to building houses. He advised that in Regulation 14 consultation we received 100 votes against the HDC sites being used for housing. TS advised that HDC had previously put in a planning application in 2005 to build houses on these fields, but it was refused.

The Examiner will review ANP towards the end of Nov and she will decide whether to accept our proposals or make further challenges to our policies. We may end up with a hearing to review the evidence. SDNPA have said that they support our proposals.

TS advised that HDC had misrepresented some of the facts in their representation, for instance the proposed new community hall is going on the primary school’s land and not the bottom HDC field. TS also stated that the proposed car park would only take up approx. 5% of the bottom HDC field. Jim Sanson advised that HDC have recently sold some land to Storrington PC, it might be worth contacting the Clerk there to find out more. VS to action.

Philip Circus advised that the NP inspections are becoming more complicated and the Examiners are more rigid now requiring robust evidence for policies. TS stated that he feels we have the necessary evidence for our policies.

(b) Church Street Drain – HA advised Councillors that as they will know from previous meetings, Church Street flooded in January of this year and a CCTV investigation was carried out in February. The CCTV was not conclusive as the camera was not able to get along the section by the entrance to Drewitts Farm because of a blockage caused by a broken section of drainage pipe. HA proposed that APC use a local contractor to dig up the road to check the drain, get Clearflow to put the CCTV camera down, and then for the contractor to make any necessary repairs to the pipe and restore the road. The works have been penciled in for Saturday 26th November from 0830 which also includes the booking of Clearflow to do the CCTV work at 0930. The maximum cost should be no more than £800, for which the funds are available from the money APC have remaining from Operation Watershed Grant. All Councillors were in agreement. HA will do a leaflet drop to let the immediate neighbours know. VS to email Mr & Mrs Edge to let them know. JC advised that the contractor had said that access will still be possible for the Malthouse residents during the works.

6. COMMITTEE REPORTS

(a) Planning – PJC advised that there will be a planning meeting next week to discuss the new Drewitts Farm application. GU had advised residents via an email on Listserve of the application and had asked Councillors to decide whether the meeting should be open to the public. After some discussion agreed it should be just the planning committee. LC said we just needed to review the existing plan and compare to the new application, PJC advised the application only immediately effects one residents’ home and APC is keeping them informed.

PJC advised that there had also been a Black Horse planning meeting, there had been a new application in, with the main change being turning some of the rooms for staff into extra bed and breakfast rooms but also the number of restaurant cover will be reduced from 100 to 70. The application was turned down by HDC as they concluded it was not a non-material amendment. PJC advised that APC are in the process of setting up a planning meeting with Hazel Cork from HDC to discuss the best way forward.

(b) Roads and Paths – JC advised that a white smelly substance was identified in the ditch by the Millennium Green, Southern Water were called and they traced it back to a property in Hurst Cottages and identified it as cement. Southern Water asked APC to notify Saxon Weald.

JC thanked KO for cutting the hedge back along Crofts Path.

JC advised that the white lines have been done in School Road but not at the Church Street junction.

JC also advised that the HDC hedge along Ruffs Path had still not be cut. VS to contact HDC again.

(c) Finance – VS advised that there is a finance meeting scheduled for Thursday 17th Nov.

(d) Assets and Amenities – HA advised that there was nothing to report

(e) Village Bus – GC advised all is going well with the new bus. They have a finance meeting in December. They currently have seven drivers but could do with a few more, any volunteers please contact Geoff Conlon.

8. FINANCIAL REPORT

All the necessary documents were approved and signed. The financial statement for the period up to 10th November 2016 was produced and agreed.

The financial statement is as follows;

8. WILLOWS TREES ROUND THE POND

VS advised that the tree wardens had advised APC that some work was required to the willows round the village pond. Mr & Mrs Airey had kindly agreed to pay for the works, the quote received was considered to be too expensive so the tree wardens are currently obtaining a further quote.

9. WINTER MAINTENANCE

HA advised that should the Parish get a lot of snow this winter APC have a winter maintenance plan in place - every salt bin in the Parish has a monitor to make sure if the salt supply runs low then they will arrange for it to be refilled. HA has agreed with Peter Strudwick that they will store the salt for the Parish. HA also advised that we have some 4x4 drivers, also a list of people that will clear snow and David Lyon has a chainsaw and we have a list of people who will help with fallen trees.

HA advised that B2139, East Street and Rackham Street will be gritted (as they are bus routes) if the Highways get short of grit then they will just focus on the B’s roads.

HA and JC are going to a Sussex resilience meeting in Brighton on Monday.

10. AGREEMENT OF 2017 PARISH COUNCIL MEETING DATES AND SATURDAY SURGERIES

Agreed the following dates 12th January, 9th March, 11th May, 13th July, 14th September and 10th November for the Parish Council meeting and 13th April for the Annual Parish meetings.

For the Saturday surgeries it was agreed 11th February –PJC to run , 8th April – GC to run, 10th June - LC to run and 14th October – JC to run.

PJC asked if any residents turned up for the Saturday surgery in October. HA advised yes they did and asked if going forward we can follow through on the issues, as these get passed to head of the committees but whoever runs the surgery may not be kept informed. LC suggested that we add the Saturday surgery comments/issues onto the parishioners correspondence list which is discussed at every PC meeting – all agreed a good idea.

11. EXTERNAL MEETING ATTENDED BY COUNCILLORS

PJC advised he attended a HALC meeting for which the Clerk has circulated the minutes. He said one of the items discussed was that the Government want to put a cap on precept increases to 2%, currently they are looking at Parish Councils with a turnover of above £500,000 but there is a proposal to extend it to smaller parish councils as the average increase in their precepts for 2016 was 6.5%. It is out to consultation at the moment.

PJC said the other main point discussed was that HDC may move to a fortnightly refuse collection – currently under discussion.

TS advised that he attended the Annual AGM for West Sussex Association of Local Councils. He advised there was a presentation from Jonathon Ulmer (Head of Highways) who said their budget had been cut hence why they are only doing hedge cutting every 15 months, they will cut more frequently is there is a genuine safety issue but not just for aesthetic reasons. There is a possibility that Public Rights of Way cutting may go, if we want any works done then APC will need to arrange for this.

12. PARISHIONERS CORRESPONDENCE AND REQUEST FOR DONATIONS

APC had made a donation of £20 to Royal British Legion for a poppy wreath.

The ongoing items relating to Parishioner queries are;

1.  Riverside mooring lights at Houghton Bridge – being dealt with by HDC Planning Compliance, no response still received, VS has emailed their new central email.

2.  On Network Rail parking vans in Church Street blocking the road and creating a disturbance (5 incidents in 2016), VS has collated all incidents since Aug 2014 and written a formal complaint to NR, no response received. VS raised a further complaint, after 2 months have received an unsatisfactory response. Waiting for further response. JC advised that next time this happens he will go and take photos (as long as it is not the middle of the night)

3.  Parishioner has asked for APC’s help with regard to address issue, properties along New Barn Road are shown as being in Station Road by Royal Mail. PJC provided full information, VS written to HDC and they are going to write to Amberley Museum asking them to accept a new postcode. VS still waiting to hear.

4.  Blocked gully at Station Road – WSCC have advised they could find no gully. JC is going to take some photos and establish the exact location so we can determine the landowner.

5.  Complaints over Bonfires, KO apologised, she advised the bonfires were supposed to be lit earlier when the wind was from the North so the smoke would not blow into the village centre.

6.  Parishioner has suggested that APC get the phone box that was by the Sportsman back and set it up as a mini book library for children, together with the telephone box in Rackham. TS advised that the First Responders were already looking at doing this for a defibrillator.

17. INFORMATION FOR COUNCILLORS

VS advised that the next meeting will be 12th January 2017.

JC closed the meeting at 8.55pm.

Vicky Spiers – Clerk to Amberley Parish Council - 15th November 2016

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