Colgate Parish Council Meeting 8th July Colgate School at 7:30pm

Present

Councillors: Mrs. S Marley, D. Stillwell, Mrs. Calvert (left at 9:00), J Sired, B Knight, Mrs. D Luxford, Mrs. C Crosdil, K Johnson

In Attendance: Mrs. B. Clayden (Parish Clerk), Cllr Kitchen (arrived at 7:55 and left at 8:50), 4 members of the public, PCSO Bicknell, PC Stoner and one other PCSO (left at 8:00)

Minutes

1. Apologies for absence.

None

2. Agree the minutes of the previous council meeting held on 13th May and planning minutes from 15th May.

Councillor Calvert proposed and Councillor Stillwell seconded that the minutes reflected the meetings as stated above and the Chairman signed both sets of minutes accordingly.

3. Declarations of Interest by Councillors on any matter on this Agenda.

None declared

4. Any urgent matters to be included on this agenda at the Chair’s discretion.

Horsham District Council (HDC) requested a reply with regards to the proposed street names for the Kilnwood Vale development. Several names were rejected by the council and the Clerk will advise HDC accordingly. The rejected names were the ones connected to Crawley’s 14th borough as the development is in Horsham district and Colgate Parish at this time.

5. Members of the public-invited to speak to the Council on any other matters of concern included in the agenda.

Community 21 distributed an e mail updating the council on the website. Thanks are given for the support Community 21 gives the Parish council.

A member of the public reported the state of the road sign on Park Road in Faygate. Councillor Knight to investigate appropriate action and advise the clerk.

The Faygate notice board’s glass needs to be cleaned so the notices can be read with ease. Councillor Luxford to action.

A fly tipped mattress was reported to the Council. The Clerk to contact HDC for removal.

Robert Lawlor, owner of the garage in Faygate accepts that there is an issue with parking and wants to work with residents and the council to resolve the matter. Several solutions were discussed and Mr Lawlor will contact Faygate Village Hall for further discussions. Mr Lawlor urged the residents to discuss the issues with him so they can resolve any problems directly.

Mrs Taylor stated that she and her husband were gravely concerned about the speed of traffic along Forest Road. Councillor Knight explained that the Council has a meeting with WSCC on 18th July to discuss these concerns. Councillor Knight also confirmed that he has requested more police presence along this stretch of road.

6. Updates from the local PCSO, County and District Councillors if they are able to attend.

No updates from the County or District councillors.

PCSO Bicknell reported that crime figures up to April 2013 had dropped. A full set of crime figures can be accessed on the Sussex Police website.

There was no update on the bin stickers.

PCSO Bicknell was asked about Speed Indicator Device (SID) and she asked for dates when SID could be brought to the Parish. Councillor Knight and Marley to provide the Clerk with dates.

All Councillors advised PCSO Bicknell that the Panel Meetings were missed as they all agreed these were worthwhile. PC Stoner agreed to pass this information to the new Inspector.

7. Adoption of risk assessment.

Councillor Crosdil asked for one amendment. She felt that it should be noted that the Clerk’s place of work should be risked assessed to ensure health and safety was meet whilst the Clerk worked from home. Clerk to amend the risk assessment accordingly and adopt it at the next council meeting in September.

8. Affordable housing.

Councillor Knight and Marley met with Andrew Smith from HDC to discuss affordable housing within the Parish. Mr Smith to investigate whether Crawley Borough Council would sell the land on Tower Road for this purpose.

9. Update on the meeting about traffic speeds and parking throughout the Parish, including nuisance parking in Faygate and discuss a visit from Inspector Jim Stobart.

18th July the councillors will be meeting with WSCC to discuss traffic calming measures.

Councillors to request the use of SID from the police.

Inspector J Stobart will be visiting the Parish at the next meeting to discuss changes to Op Crackdown (anti social driving scheme)

10. WSCC

a) Colgate School Safety Zone

Completed and working.

b) Winter maintenance plans to be reviewed including salt bins.

WSCC require the completed maintenance plan by 1st August. Councillor Luxford and Stillwell have been reviewing the plans and will attend a meeting on 18th July to complete the plan. The Clerk has provided the council with three quotes for the grit bins.

11. Finance

a) Bills paid since last meeting

M Mulberry Int audit £ 138.24

B Clayden (stamps) £ 13.20

Grant village halls and church (450x3) £1350.00

GACC grant £ 30.00

Insurance (Came and Co) £ 304.18

B Clayden (postage) £ 7.12

Clerk’s salary-May £ 374.05

Mr Molesworth salary April-May £ 123.33

WSCC and fee £ 63.18

Total £2403.30

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b) Bills to pay

Councillor Crosdil proposed the payment of the bills and this was seconded by Councillor Luxford.

B Knight-repay from community 21

Reserve money £ 21.00

WSCC lighting £ 926.32

Clerk’s salary June £ 374.05

Clerk’s Salary July £ 374.05

Clerk’s overtime (30 hrsx9.5) £ 285.00

Clerks expenses May/June/ July £ 127.45

Clerk’s salary August £ 374.05

Clerk’s expenses August approx £ 50.00

Mr Molesworth June/July £ 123.33

Playground inspection approx £ 100.00

Little johns ext audit approx £ 180.00

Total £2935.25

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c) Account Balances

The following payments were credited to the Reserve Account:

VAT refund £ 165.90

WSCC minor maintenance self help £2000.00

Interest £ 0.69

Cleansing grant £ 382.16

Total £2548.75

As at 7th July

Reserve account balance-£7941.50

Current account balance-£3530.60

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d) Clerk’s expenses.

Councillor Knight proposed the approval of the expenses and was seconded by Councillor Marley.

Clerk’s expenses 14th May – 8th July 2013

May

37 miles @.65p £24.05

Total £24.05

June

Office expenses £35.00

48 miles @.65p £31.20

Total £66.20

July (up to 8th July)

Office expenses £35.00

8 miles @.65p £5.20

Total £40.20

Grand Total £130.45

12. Planning

a) Review HDC application

Erection of new building to house biomass boiler and fuel store with stainless steel flue

Beechover House Springfield Lane Colgate Horsham

Dc/13/0943

There were no objections to ths application.

b) Reviewed HDC decisions

·  DC/13/0103 Application refused

Land South of Buchan Hill Reservoir Buchan Hill Pease Pottage West Sussex

Description: Erection of 52 new dwellings (including 26 affordable dwellings) comprising 12 x 1-bed flats, 6 x 2-bed flats, 9 x 2-bed houses, 17 x 3-bed houses and 8 x 4-bed houses and a community building including access, parking and landscaping (Outline Planning)

Date of Decision: 23/05/2013

·  DC/12/0178 Application Permitted

Site: Currants Drive Faygate West Sussex

Description: Erection of six retirement dwellings and a triple bay garage on land formerly known as Faygate Sawmills

Date of Decision: 09/05/2013

·  DC/11/0710 Appeal is allowed and planning permission is granted in respect of Forest Heights,Springfield Lane,Colgate.

c) Crawley Borough Council future planning consultation.

Councillor Marley was thanked for keeping the Council up to date on the gypsy site on Broadfield Kennels.

13. Durrants Village

a) Village Green

This item to be dropped from the agenda as it was decided that it was not a viable proposition.

b) New village gates at the north entrance and replace existing gates at the south entrance.

A formal letter to Durrants Village requesting details on the above

c) Durrant Village and facilities.

A formal letter to Durrants Village asking for an update on the above. This letter should include the bus service, library and re establishment of a public right of way.

14. Horsham District Council

a) Assets of the Parish

It was agreed that the Clerk would work on these over the summer holiday period and it was acknowledge that this would be time consuming and it was decided that Faygate Station would no longer be included and Councillor Crosdil to provide the clerk with details of the landowner of the blue bell field.

b) Freedom of Information

Councillor Marley proposed and Councillor Stillwell seconded that the council should charge members of the public 10p per photocopy.

Clerk to prepare the Freedom of Information document for adoption at the next meeting.

c) Forward planning for future development

Councillor Luxford noticed that the documentation the HDC provided did not match their website. Clerk to contact HDC to clarify the correct information.

d) Purple Bus Scheme

All Councillors agreed that the scheme should be applied for .The Clerk to complete the application for summer 2014. It was believed that the best position for the bus would be Faygate Village Hall car park.

e) Community Pay back scheme.

Councillors decided that there were no suitable jobs within the parish at this time. Clerk to advise Greg Charmer, HDC.

15. Co option of a new councillor.

All legal paperwork has been completed and time scales met. HDC advised the Clerk that co option process can now go ahead. Clerk to advertise the position on the website, noticeboards and the Parish magazine.

16. S106 monies.

The Clerk reminded councillors that anyone can apply for the community funds.

Councillor Crosdil offered to simplify the spread sheet that showed the S106 monies available to the Parish.

17. To do list update

a) Risk assessment

Amendments are required and then adopted at the next meeting.

b) Freedom of Information.

Work in progress

18. Neighbourhood plan (NHP).

Councillor Knight and Marley attended a meeting on the NHP. Several Parish Councils have begun their plan. There are grants available to help with the plan. It was noted that it would require interest from members of the public to help with the plan.

The Clerk was asked to contact Rusper and Lower Beeding to assess their interest in working with Colgate Parish Council on this project.

19. Safety check report- to include replacement hedge for Colgate Village Hall

Councillor Stillwell confirmed that there was nothing to report.

The playgrounds have also undergone an external safety check and the Clerk is currently waiting for the report.

Councillor Sired to carry out the next safety check for July and August.

It was agreed by all councillors that the Parish should make good the hedge surrounding the Colgate Village hall having been damaged by the salt deposit. Councillor Marley and Stillwell to obtain a quote from local gardeners. Clerk to also obtain a quote for this job.

20. Meetings attended /to be attended

a) Clerk’s meeting 9th July

Clerk to report back at the next meeting

b) Neighbourhood planning 20th June

See minute number 18.

c) 18th July WSCC.

Report at next meeting

21. Agree the date of the next meeting.

9th September at 7:30 at Faygate Village Hall.

With no further business the meeting closed at 9:20pm.

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