Yapton Parish Council
Chairman’s
Report 2008/2009
Introduction
This report covers the period since the last Annual
Parish Meeting on 12th May 2008. It is my second report to you as Chairman of
the Council.
Over the last 12 months there have been six meetings of
the full Parish Council and a similar number of meetings of the Planning
Committee. The Planning Committee
normally meets to consider any planning applications on the same evening as the
Parish Council but on occasions special meetings may be called to deal with
important local or perhaps controversial issues.
At the Annual Parish Council meeting in May, I was re-elected
as Chairman with Andy Faulkner being re-appointed as
Vice-Chairman. There has just one
change in the membership of the Parish Council over the last 12 months: Des Mills was co-opted on to the
Council and joined us in September to
fill the casual vacancy following the death of Eunice Abbott.
Sadly I have to report this evening that Laura Wallbridge has just offered her
resignation from the Parish Council due to increasing personal commitments.
Over the last year we have had the continued support of Christina Freeman, our local County
Councillor and Emma Neno, who alongside
me is one of the two members representing the Yapton ward on the District
Council.
Last year’s
precept
The cost of running local services particularly in these
difficult times always figures prominently in everyone’s minds. I am pleased to report that the Council last
year kept the precept (this is the sum which is set aside in the Council tax to
pay for parish services) at £40,000 for the 5th year running. This was without any reduction in the quality of services
provided. Indeed by vigorously pursuing
grant applications and other sources of income, once again we were actually
able to spend significantly more than the precept on improving local services.
More about these improvements later. Just to add on the finances that in real
terms over the last few years the income we receive from various sources more
than equates to the salary we pay to our part-time Clerk – so he certainly
provides excellent value for money!
Planning
issues
The proposal by developers to build 5000+ houses at Ford
as part of the Government’s eco-town programme has naturally dominated the planning
scene and our minds over the past year with the risk that the villages of
Yapton and our neighbours at Ford and Clymping could all be swallowed up by
urban development if the proposed eco-town at Ford gets the Government’s go ahead.
The campaign group CAFÉ was quickly set up by residents
from Yapton, Clymping, Ford and Arundel, supported by our two MPs, Nick Herbert
and Nick Gibb, to lead the local opposition
to the proposal. Since then masses of paper has been churned
out by the government machine as part of the “democratic” consultation exercise.
A March and Rally on the playing field
was organised in June by CAFÉ attended by upwards of 2000 people. Caroline Flint, the then Housing Minister, paid a whistle-stop visit to
Yapton last July and heard for herself the strength of the local opposition. The District Council set up a Select Committee to consider the
proposal and hear evidence from all concerned
and throughout Andy Faulkner,
the Chairman of our Planning Committee,
has represented the views of the Parish Council attending numerous meetings set
up to consider and respond to the issues involved.
The Council is immensely grateful to Andy for his hard
work and continuing commitment to the campaign. We are also appreciative of the
work of CAFÉ and in particular the tremendous amount of work undertaken by local
residents, Terry Knott and latterly Vickie Newman, in co-chairing the local campaign
group alongside Nick Herbert MP.
Margaret Beckett MP has since taken over from Caroline
Flint as Housing Minister. She, together with Cabinet colleagues, will, we
understand, shortly be considering the Government’s response to the second
round of consultation currently taking place on the now 11 proposals for
eco-towns nationwide. In the interim of
course the country has been hit by the recession and the downturn in the housing
market but how far this will impact and influence the Government’s decision we
will obviously have to wait and see.
Last year I reported that the proposal to build 59
houses on the Bilsham Road Industrial Site was to be the subject of a public
enquiry following an appeal by the developers Glaydale against the District
Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for the development. The 3 day hearing held at the end of July
in the Bognor Regis Town Hall was well attended by local residents. Andrew
Knight spoke for the residents and Andy
Faulkner represented the Parish Council.
Unfortunately the Planning Inspector subsequently allowed the appeal
citing amongst the reasons for doing so the fact that the development would
help towards meeting the significant deficit in housing land supply and the
need for more affordable housing in the District.
More recently the Planning Committee has been involved
in preparing a response to the District Council’s widespread consultation
exercise on “Options for Growth” which is aimed at deciding the best way to
meet the expected demand for thousands of new homes in the future. In its reply the Parish Council has
stressed its reasons for rejecting Option 2, the proposal for an eco-town at
Ford, and supporting Option 1, urban extensions to Bognor Regis and
Littlehampton, albeit with some reservations.
Over and above all this, during the course of the year
the five members of the Planning Committee (Andy Faulkner, Mark Andrews, Frances Barnes, Peter Jones and Laura
Wallbridge) have carefully reviewed some 53 planning applications for
Yapton and where appropriate the Committee
has made comments to the District Council.
Our thanks to them all for their hard work.
Recreational
facilities for children and young people
The recreational facilities provided on the playing
field for our children and young people continue to be popular and well
used. This year the Council decided to
enhance the facilities for the older youngsters by installing floodlights for
the basketball/hardplay area so that it could be used on an all-the-year round
basis.
I am pleased to report that the floodlights have been a great
success. Yapton even saw its first
floodlit football tournament staged on the field just before Christmas! A keenly fought contest featuring five
4-a-side teams was organised by Hugh van Driel from Yapton Free Church with the
trophy being presented to the winning “Yapton Stars” team, by Andy Faulkner,
Vice Chairman of the Parish Council.
It is hoped that the tournament will now become a regular event with
perhaps some basketball teams competing next year for a separate trophy.
To help
discourage vandalism the Council also decided to install CCTV security cameras
to monitor the children’s play area particularly at night. The cameras installed on the two lampposts
are protected by anti-vandal paint, so if you come across someone plastered in
black paint, he/she will have some explaining to do!
Bus Shelter
in Bilsham Road
The Council decided that the well-used bus shelter at
Sparks Corner which was acquired second-hand some years ago had become shabby
and an eyesore and had outlived its useful life. With the help of a grant from West Sussex County Council we were
able last year to replace the shelter with one of a timber built construction
which is much more attractive and in keeping with its village setting.
Allotments
Our allotment site in Cinders Lane continues to be well
managed under the ever watchful eye of Mick
Caiger. Due to the recession it is
reported that over the whole country waiting lists for allotments have never
been longer and the situation is no different in Yapton. To deter the odd bit of poaching which
takes place from time to time, Mick has planted hedging around the perimeter of
the site, again with the aid of grants from WSCC.
Working with
the Neighbourhood Police Team
Regular liaison meetings continue to take place
involving representatives from the parishes of Yapton, Ford and Clymping. Neil Billingham is the local Police
Community Support Officer and PC Steve
Self are the main points of contact for policing issues in the
village. Anti-social behaviour and
incidents of vandalism still occur occasionally often unfortunately being
directed at the village hall. This of course is a community facility which is part
funded by the Parish Councils of Yapton and Ford and as such the cost of
repairing any external damage to the building is paid by us all in our Council
tax. Please therefore do be alert and
assist in identifying the culprits and bringing them to justice by contacting
the police on 999 should you see or be worried that an offence is being
committed.
Reaccreditation
as a Quality Parish Council
In 2004 Yapton Parish Council was amongst the first 50
local councils in the country and the first in Arun to successfully apply for
recognition as a “quality council”.
Quality Council status is awarded for a 4 year period and the Council
had recently to apply for re-accreditation and provide supportive evidence that
it is continuing to be “properly managed, that it is representative of and
actively involved with the whole community”.
I am delighted to say our application
was successful and we are grateful to John Godfrey, Chairman of the
Accreditation Panel, which examined our
portfolio of evidence, for being here
this evening to present the Council with its certificate.
Yapton &
Ford Village Hall
The Village Hall Management Committee has just
celebrated its 20th Anniversary following the rebuilding of the hall
on the King George V Playing Field in 1989.
We congratulate the Committee on reaching this milestone and wish them
well for the future particularly at a time when their main source of income,
income from hirings, has dropped considerably.
We have three representatives who serve on the
Management Committee – John Bryan, Laura Wallbridge and myself. Laura especially is to be
applauded for her commitment to the Committee particularly in seeking
alternative sources of funding and for the considerable efforts she has made to
raise funds for the village hall over the past year.
Keeping the
village tidy
It would be remiss of me in writing this report not to
mention and publicly thank Jo Smithers and her husband Alan once again for the
excellent work they do on our behalf to keep the village looking so tidy. Litter collection is a task which many of us
would shy away from but Jo and Alan do it with great spirit and enthusiasm
throughout the year and in all weathers.
They are to be warmly commended for their efforts.
Yapton News
& Views
Also to be warmly thanked are the volunteers who help to
deliver the Council’s newsletter, Yapton
News & Views, to households around village. The newsletter is now of
course well established and we believe it is well read and appreciated not only
by local residents but those who live further afield including a number living overseas. Do
please support the local businesses who advertise in the newsletter as they
obviously help to defray some of the production costs.
The Clerk who edits the newsletter for us is always
pleased to receive articles on village life and photographs from residents and
in particular would like to hear of the activities of the various clubs and
other organisations who regularly meet in the village. It
was good incidentally to hear from Jackie Newey (one of Betty Gomersall’s
daughters) who emigrated to Australia
some years ago. Jackie paid a surprise return
visit to Yapton in February to mark her sister Joan’s 60th birthday – it was a
surprise for Betty too!
Conclusion
Finally, in closing, I should like to take this opportunity
of expressing my thanks to all
members of the Parish Council not only for their support to myself as Chairman
but also for the interest they have shown in various ways in the needs of the
village over the past year.
It is always of course invidious to single out
individuals for special mention but I must thank Laura Wallbridge for
all the work she has done on the Council over the last few years. Laura always gives of herself 110% to
helping out in the community and, as one of our representatives on the Village
Hall Management Committee, she has of late devoted herself to the cause of fund
raising at a time when the village hall is under particular financial pressure
due to reduced hirings. Because of home
pressures unfortunately Laura has recently had to resign from the Council but
we hope it will be a short-lived break and we look forward to welcoming her
back in the course of time.
Looking forward to the immediate prospects, clearly a
great deal hinges on what decision is made by the Government on the Ford
Eco-town bid. Whatever the outcome
however you may rest assured that the Parish Council will continue to strive to represent your views and aim to
do what is best for our thriving village community. Although sadly two of our pubs have now closed, we are fortunate
to still have an array of shops and even a Post Office which nowadays many
villages would give an arm and a leg for!
Our meetings are well advertised and members of the
public are welcome to attend. Always
included on the agenda there is a Public Question Time when residents can air
their views or question councillors on any matters of concern. We hope you will follow with interest the
work of the Parish Council via our newsletter and our website (where the agenda
and minutes of all our meetings are published) and we look forward to seeing
you at future meetings of the Parish Council.
Stephen
Haymes
Chairman of the Parish Council
11 May 2009