YAPTON
PARISH COUNCIL
14 May 2001 - At a meeting of the Parish Council held at the Yapton & Ford
Village Hall.
Present: Mr Bryant, Mr Caiger, Mr Coe, Mr Fellows, Mr Haymes,
Mrs Palmer,
Mr Ranceford-Hadley, Mr Rowlandson and Mr Tompsett.
Also present: District Councillor Mrs Goad and Mr Tansley (Clerk of the Council)
and 9
members of the public.
CHAIRMAN
49. Resolved - That Mr Fellows be re-elected Chairman of the Parish Council
for the
ensuing year.
VICE-CHAIRMAN
50. Resolved - That Mr Ranceford-Hadley be elected Vice-Chairman of the Parish
Council for
the ensuing year.
51. The Council placed on record their appreciation of the service to the Council
over the last 4
years of the retiring Vice-Chairman, Mr Rowlandson.
MEMBERSHIP
52. With reference to minute 41/2001, the Clerk advised that there had been
no requests for an
election to be held following the resignation of Mrs Freeman and as a consequence
the vacancy
could now be filled by co-option.
53. Resolved - That Mr Michael Caiger be co-opted to serve as a Parish Councillor
for the
remainder of the present four year term of office ending May 2003.
54. At this point Mr Caiger, who was present at the meeting, took his seat
on the Parish
Council.
APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES
55. Resolved - That the membership of the committees for the ensuing year be as follows:
Playing Field: Mr Boxall, Mr Bryant, Mr Coe, Mr Tompsett
Planning: Mr Bryant, Mr Haymes, Mrs Palmer, Mr Ranceford-Hadley,
Mr Rowlandson, Mr Tompsett.
Allotments: Mr Caiger.
VILLAGE HALL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVES
56. Resolved - That Mr Boxall, Mr Coe and Mr Rowlandson be 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
57. Resolved - That Mr Ranceford-Hadley be appointed to serve as the Council's
representative
on both of these bodies.
MINUTES
58. Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2001 be approved
as a
correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman.
MATTERS ARISING
Church Lane footpath - Kissing Gate (minute 31/2001)
59. The Clerk advised the Mr Kennedy had quoted £390.00 for the provision
of hooped barriers
in place of the vandalised Kissing Gate. An application would now be submitted
to the County
Council for financial assistance through their Parish Initiatives scheme.
Allotment site - overgrown trees (minute 40/2001)
60. Following further discussion it was agreed that Mr Caiger would approach
the proprietor
again with a view to getting this continuing problem resolved as soon as possible.
Neptune Garage - removal of roof (minute 47/2001)
61. The Clerk advised that the District Council's Planning Solicitor had advised
that in this
particular case partial demolition of the property did not require consent from
the Local Planning
Authority, based upon Circular 14/97 issued by the Department of the Environment,
Transport and
the Regions dated 29 August 1997.
Exercising of dogs on the playing field (minute 52/2001)
62. In view of continuing problems with overflowing dog bins, the Clerk was
asked to contact the
District Council about the possibility of increasing the number of bins on the
playing field.
The Seagull Project (minute 57/2001)
63. The Chairman reported that he and the Clerk were due to meet the Project
Officer for the
Seagull Project later in the week to explore the possibility of promoting an
environmental project
in the village with funding from The Seagull Project. The Clerk advised that
in preliminary
discussions he had had with the Project Officer it appeared that a project for
the replacement of
the children's play area would receive favourable consideration.
Speed camera in Burndell Road (minute 59c/2001)
64. The Clerk reported on a preliminary response from Sussex Police. It was
noted that the
Council's request had been passed to the County Council who had a set of criteria
for determining
the location and siting of speed cameras. Burndell Road at present was classed
by the Traffic
Division of Sussex Police as a "Grade 3 (Green) site" and received
attention with a view to
reducing to speed of traffic and influencing driver behaviour.
DISTRICT COUNCILLORS REPORTS
65. Mrs Goad reported that she had recently attended a District Council seminar
for tenants and
leaseholders on the topic of vandalism at which Mrs Gez Ifould had reported
on a successful
warden scheme set up in Bersted in conjunction with Sussex Police. Mrs Goad
considered that
the scheme might well be of interest to Yapton and the Council agreed that Mrs
Ifould should be
invited to attend the next meeting of the Parish Council to talk about the project.
CORRESPONDENCE
66. Receipt of the following correspondence was reported by the Clerk and action
agreed as
indicated:-
a) Arun District Council - enclosing a copy of a "Principles of a Working
Partnership" document
signed by both the Chairman of Arun District Council and the Chairman of Arun
District
Association of Local Councils. It was agreed that the Clerk should arrange to
circulate the
document for members to read after the meeting.
b) Arun District Council - enclosing a copy of the Council's Best Value Performance
Plan for the
2001/2002 financial year. It was agreed that the Clerk should arrange to circulate
the various
documents for members to read after the meeting.
c) Arun District Council - arrangements for the next series of Questions &
Answer Sessions. It
was agreed that the Parish Council should volunteer to host a session in the
early part of 2003 in
conjunction as previously with Ford and Clymping Parish Councils.
d) Sussex Police Authority - Performance Plan for Policing Sussex 2001/2002.
Advising that a
copy of the full plan had been published on the internet at www.sussex.police.uk
and at each of
the public libaries in West Sussex.
e) West Sussex County Council - advising that the County Council was re-opening
many paths in
built-up areas in towns and villages which were closed at the end of February
due to the Foot and
Mouth crisis.
f) Friends of Yew Tree & Middleton Surgeries - request for grant-aid. It
was agreed to defer
consideration of the Friends' request pending receipt of their latest set of
accounts which had been
requested by the Clerk.
PLANNING
67. The Council had before them and received a report from the Chairman of
the Planning
Committee (copy attached to minute book).
68. Mr Bryant expressed the Council's appreciation to Mrs Goad for her support
over the Cabco
planning application issue. Mention was made that the Orchard Nursery site appeared
now to be
used by Sky Digital vehicles as a base for their local installation operation.
It was agreed that the
Clerk should be asked to check with the District Council's Planning Officer
that the conditions of
use for the site were being complied with.
PLAYING FIELD
69. Mr Coe reported that dog fouling remained a problem on the field. An increase
in the
number (or size) of the existing dog bins would be sought from the District
Council. The grass
cutting provided by Accord Southern Ltd (Groundcare) appeared not to be up to
to the usual
standard this year. The Clerk was asked to contact the contractor about the
problem.
VILLAGE HALL REPRESENTATIVES
70. Mr Rowlandson reported that he had been unable to attend the last meeting.
The Village
Hall's Annual General Meeting was scheduled for next month.
FINANCE
71. Resolved - That Mr Fellows, Mrs Palmer and Mr Tompsett (any two signatures)
continue as
the authorised signatories for the Council's cheques.
72. Resolved - That the financial statements for the months of March and April
2001 be
adopted (copies attached to minute book).
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
73. Mr Haymes reported that he had been invited to be President of the Yapton
& Ford Scout
Group again. The Group were looking for a local project to promote. It was suggested
that they
might consider adopting the maintenance of the local churchyard.
74. Mr Tompsett advised that the Yapton Pre-school had received an excellent
Ofsted Inspection
report. The Clerk was asked to write and pass on the Council's warm congratulations
to the Pre-
school leader and her staff.
75. Mr Coe reported on various building works being undertaken in Tack Lee
Road. The Clerk
was asked to check whether planning permission had been granted.
76. The highway hedging provided along the Yapton/Barnham road had been improved
with top
platting but the work appeared only to cover a part of the stretch of hedging.
The Clerk was
asked to check the position with the Highways Authority.
77. A kerb had been dropped to provide vehicular access to a property in Canal
Road. The
Clerk was asked to check with the Highways Authority whether permission had
been granted.
78. Mrs Palmer reported that the paint which had been used to hide the graffitti
in Church Road
appeared to be wearing off. There was also a large pothole outside her property.
The Clerk
undertook to follow these matters up with the Area Highway Engineer.
79. In response to a question from a member of the public, the Clerk advised
that he would be
regarded as the first point of contact for the Parish Emergency Plan.
CHAIRMAN