YAPTON
PARISH COUNCIL
8 May 2000 - At a meeting of the Parish Council held at the Yapton & Ford
Village Hall.
Present: Mr Bryant, Mr Coe, Mr Fellows, Mrs Freeman, Mr Found, Mr Haymes, Mr Rowlandson and Mr Tompsett.
Also present: County Councillor Mr Betteridge, District Councillors Mrs Goad and Mr Matthews, Inspector Richards and PC Barrett from Sussex Police, Mr Tansley (Clerk of the Council) and 6 members of the public.
Apologies for absence were received from Mrs Palmer.
CHAIRMAN
49. Resolved - That Mr Fellows be re-elected Chairman of the Parish Council for the ensuing year.
VICE-CHAIRMAN
50. Resolved - That Mr Rowlandson be re-elected Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council for the ensuing year.
MEMBERSHIP
51. It was noted that Mr Found at the Annual Parish Meeting held earlier that evening had tendered his resignation as a Parish Councillor as he was moving away from the area.
APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES
52. Resolved - That, with the deletion of Mr Found from the Allotments Committee, the membership of the committees for the ensuing year remain unchanged.
MILLENNIUM WORKING PARTY
53. Resolved - That Mr
Haymes continue to represent the Parish Council on the Yapton & Ford Millennium
Working Party.
VILLAGE HALL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVES
54. Resolved - That Mr Boxall, Mrs Freeman and Mr Rowlandson be re-appointed as the Council's representatives on the Village Hall Management Committee for the ensuing year.
DOWNLAND AREA PARTNERSHIP PANEL/DOWNLAND AREA SUB-DISTRICT OF THE ARUN DISTRICT ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL COUNCILS
55. Resolved - That Mrs Freeman (together with Mrs Palmer if she was interested) be appointed to serve as the Council's representatives on both of these bodies.
MINUTES
56. Resolved - That the
minutes of the meeting held on 13 March 2000 be approved as a correct record
and that they be signed by the Chairman.
MATTERS ARISING
Millennium Clock (minute 25/2000)
57. The Clerk reported the receipt of a cheque for £1500.00 from Ford Parish Council as their contribution towards the project. He also advised that in compensation for the problems which had arisen following the initial installaton of the clock, the contractors had agreed to provide floodlighting for the clock faces at no cost to the Council. The new lighting was now in place.
Kickabout area (minute 26/2000)
58. The main work on the new Kickabout area was now complete apart from the seeding of the grass banks which was due to be undertaking by a landscaping contractor shortly. Members were pleased to note the new facility was already being well used by local youngsters.
Road Marking/Traffic Calming Scheme (minute 33/2000)
59. Mr Betteridge advised that he had been in contact with the Area Highway Engineer who had confirmed that the road marking works would be scheduled following the resurfacing of the roads due to take place in the 2001/2002 financial year.
Condition of large car park/Recycling Centre (minute 34d/2000)
60. The Clerk advised that he was still awaiting a response to his latest letter to the District Council.
Westergate Youth Wing - Application for grant-aid (minute 34h/2000)
61. The Council approved a grant of £100.00 towards this joint-funded project aimed at increasing the amount of youth worker time available and extending the opening times at the Mary Woolven Youth Centre in the village.
Village Hall - External Maintenance Works (minute 35/2000)
62. The Clerk reported that three tenders for the programme of external maintenance works had been received of which the lowest was from W J White Builders (Littlehampton) Ltd for £5228.00. The Chairman had approved acceptance of this tender and work on the project had already commenced. It was agreed that whilst on site, the contractors should be asked to remove if possible the grafitti on the brickwork at the rear of the village hall and at the same time apply a coat of paint to the exterior of the old changing rooms and vandal-proof paint to the roof.
COUNTY & DISTRICT COUNCILLORS REPORTS
63. Mr Betteridge reported that a meeting of the Monitoring Group for the Ford Wastewater and Sewerage Treatment Works was due to take place on 13 June. Mr Coe hoped to attend as the Parish Council's representative.
64. Mrs Goad advised that sadly Mrs Anne Loveys-Fraser, who owned and leased the land which served as the Cinders Lane allotment site, had recently died. The Parish Council agreed that aletter of condolence should be sent to Mrs Fraser's husband and family. Mrs Goad also reported that introductory tenancies were now being introduced by the District Council for the Council let houses.
65. Mr Matthews paid tribute
to Mr Haymes for his efforts as Chairman of the Millennium Working Party which
resulted in the recent May Day celebrations being such a tremendous success.
It was hoped that the May Day Village fete might become an annual event.
YAPTON COMMUNITY PRE-SCHOOL APPLICATION FOR GRANT-AID
66. With reference to minute 6g/2000, the Council discussed with representatives of the pre-school group the background to their application for grant-aid. Whilst the Council felt unable to offer any direct financial assistance to the group, members were concerned to hear of the difficulties the pre-school group was facing as a result of having to implement the European Working Directives with regard to employees.
67. Following discussion it was agreed that the Parish Council would be happy to lend their support to any applications the pre-school group made for grant-aid to private businesses in the area. At the same time the Clerk was asked to approach Nicholas Gibb MP with a request that he consider making representations to the Secretary of State about the financial problems faced by pre-school groups with a view to increasing the current level of Government grant and funding for such community based pre-school provision as exists in Yapton.
.
CORRESPONDENCE
68. Receipt of the following
correspondence was reported by the Clerk and action agreed as indicated:-
a) St Mary's Parochial Church Council - request for financial support. The Council
approved a grant of £100.00 specifically earmarked towards the cost of
maintaining the churchyard.
b) National Association of Local Councils - Annual Conference at Brighton 16 - 18 June. Attendance on Friday only to hear speech by the Rt Hon Michael Meacher MP, Minister of State for the Environment.
c) Sussex Police - (a) relocation of policing units to Worthing (b) Policing Plan for Sussex 2000/2001.
d) Ford Parish Council - enclosing contribution of £1500.00 towards the cost of the Village Hall Millennium Clock.
e) Arun District Council
- proposed Question & Answer Session at the Village Hall. The Council agreed
to a proposal that a joint session involving Clymping, Ford and Yapton Parish
Councils should be arranged for the autumn.
f) Arun District Council - enclosing copy of Housing Needs Survey Report for
Yapton.
g) Arun District Council - enclosing copy of Best Value Performance Plan.
h) Arun District Council - advising that the planning application for housing development on the Orchards Nursery site was now to be the subject of a Local Planning enquiry.
i) West Sussex County Council
- publication of Best Value Performance Plan 2000/2001.
j) District Councillor Bill Matthews - enclosing contribution of £250.00
from proprietor of Ford Market towards cost of the Millennium projects in the
village.
DOWNLAND AREA PARTNERHIP PANEL
69. Mrs Freeman reported on her attendance and matters discussed at a meeting of the Panel on 4 April 2000.
6 MONTHLY MEETING OF ADC WITH LOCAL COUNCILS
70. Mrs Freeman reported on her attendance and matters discussed at a recent meeting of Arun District Council with representatives of Parish and Town Councils in the district.
PLANNING
71. The Council had before them and received the minutes of meetings of the Planning Committee held on 22 March and 25 April 2000 (copies attached to minute book).
PLAYING FIELD
72. Mr Coe reported a problem again with moles and the grass on the playing field needed cutting. The Clerk undertook to contact the contractors concerned.
VILLAGE HALL REPRESENTATIVES
73. There had been a good response to the raffle held on May Day with a net profit of £242 being raised for Village Hall funds. Further fund raising events included a Yetti Night and a '60's & 70's' Dance to be held in the autumn.
MILLENNIUM WORKING PARTY
74. Mr Haymes reported
on the successful May Day event organised by the Working Party. Some £400.00
was still available in the funds. A trophy for the winners of the Tug of War
contest was to be purchased. A new supplier had been found for the children's
Millennium mugs who had produced a much more satisfactory artwork for the pictures
of the two churches.
FINANCE
75. Resolved - That Mr
Fellows, Mrs Palmer and Mr Tompsett (any two signatures) continue as the authorised
signatories for the Council's cheques.
76. Resolved - That the financial statements for the months of March and April
2000 be adopted (copies attached to minute book).
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
77. Mr Coe reported that a new Headteacher of Yapton CE Primary School had recently been appointed to succeed Judith Williams who was retiring at the end of the Summer term. As a result of an earlier Ofsted inspection the school had been identified as needing special measures to improve standards. The situation was being closely monitored by the governors and LEA.
78. Mrs Freeman suggested that a letter conveying the Council's best wishes should be sent to Mr Paul Bulbeck who had recently been admitted to hospital for treatment.
79. Mr Tompsett reported that the road name signs in Goodhew Close had still not been replaced. The Clerk undertook to follow this up with the District Council.
80. Mr Bryant enquired about the progress being made to replace the vandalised kissing gate in Church Lane. Mr Betteridge offered to follow this up with the Public Footpaths Section at County Hall. Mr Bryant also raised his concerns about the fact that at Wivenhoe in Main Road, Yapton, as part of the recent development works the original access had been closed-off with a wall of breeze-block construction. This was considered out of character with the existing brick/flint wall and, as the property was in a Conservation Area, the Clerk was asked to make appropriate representations to the District Council's Planning Enforcement Officer.
CHAIRMAN