YAPTON PARISH COUNCIL

11 July 2005 - At a meeting of the Parish Council held at the Yapton & Ford Village Hall.

Present: Mr Fellows (Chairman), Mr Caiger, Mr Coe, Mr Faulkner, Mr Haymes, Mr Jones, Mrs McDonagh and Mr Taft.

Also present: Mr Tansley (Clerk of the Council) and 3 members of the public.

Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Parish Councillors Mr Andrews and Mrs Barnes and from District Councillor Mr Menzies.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

106. Members were reminded to make any declarations of personal and/or prejudicial interest that they may have in relation to items on the agenda. Mr Haymes declared an interest as a member of the Cottage Gardeners’ Society in agenda item 11 (Applications for Grant-aid) and as a member of the District Council’s Planning Committee in agenda item 12a (Report from Planning Committee).

MR PETER ROWLANDSON

107. The Chairman reported with sadness the death on 16 May 2005 of Peter Rowlandson, a member of the Council for some 8 years until his move to Felpham in 2003. Peter had served on the Council’s Planning Committee and was latterly Vice-Chairman of the Council. The Chairman and Clerk had represented the Council at his funeral which had been held at Clymping Parish Church.

108. Members stood for a minute’s silence as a mark of respect to Peter Rowlandson.

MEMBERSHIP

109. Resolved - That Mrs Sarah McDonagh of 1 Holkham Cottages, Burndell Road, Yapton, be co-opted to fill the casual vacancy on the Parish Council for the remainder of the present four year term of office ending in May 2007.

110. At this point Mrs McDonagh, who was present at the meeting, took her seat on the Council and was warmly welcomed by the Chairman.

MINUTES

111. Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 January 2005 be approved as a correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

MATTERS ARISING

Provision of gas-fired central heating/hot water system for Village Hall (minute 77/2005)

112. The Clerk reported that work on the installation was 95% complete. The heating consultant had inspected the work carried out so far and had reported that the installation of the boilers, the radiators, the distribution pipework and the pipework insulation were all acceptable. A meeting was planned with the contractor shortly to agree and finalise the outstanding work on the project. Broughton’s had submitted an interim account and an application had been made to the SITA Environmental Trust for the release of the grant which had been agreed.

Proposed police/community “drop-in” centre at the Co-op Store (minute 78/2005)

113. The Chairman reported that following a meeting held on 24 June 2005 it was hoped, subject to the approval of funding to undertake the necessary conversion work for an office facility on the 1^st floor at the Co-op Store, to launch the project in the near future. The opening hours for the new facility would be the subject of local consultation.

VE/VJ Day Celebrations (minute 80/2005)

114. The Chairman reported that the jointly organised event held at Clymping Village Hall on 10 July 2005 had been a great success. He read an email sent by Peter Tyrell on behalf of Clymping Parish Council thanking everyone who contributed to the event.

District Council Byelaws of Good Rule & Government (minute 84b/2005)

115. The Clerk reported that the District Council had agreed that the Old Canal Bridge at The Pines should be included in the list of bridges covered by the proposed new byelaw.

Street Light Maintenance (minute 86 – 88/2005)

116. The Clerk reported that a further survey by WSCC of the parish council’s lamps was to be arranged as the officer who had undertaken the previous survey had recently left.

117. Southern Electric had been contacted concerning the enclosure of one of the columns and a company engineer was to investigate further and report back to the Clerk.

Policy Site 6 development – routing of proposed cycle track (minute 91/2005)

118. The developer had since advised the Planning Inspectorate that “Felpham Consortium Limited remain neutral on this point and can accommodate either the proposals being sought by the County Council or alternatively the diversion proposed by Mr Taft. We do not consider that this matter needs to be determined finally at this stage.”

Planning Application Y/64/04/CLE Cinders Lane (minute 92/2005)

119. Mr Faulkner advised that a meeting involving interested residents from Cherry Avenue had been held with the District Council’s Enforcement Officer who had explained the approach being taken by the Planning Department over the various issues over which there had been local concern. Although no enforcement action would be taken with regard to the current development, the site would continue to be monitored and appropriate action taken if there was any further breach of planning legislation.

Sports Equipment Store (minutes 93 -94/2005)

120. The Clerk reported that following negotiation with the loss adjuster appointed by the Insurance Company, agreement had been reached on a settlement figure of £3,800 as a contribution towards the cost of repairing the vandalism damage to the Sports Equipment Store.

121. A further estimate had been obtained for the demolition of the building amounting to £2630 + VAT and, following consultation with the Chairman, this lower estimate had been accepted. The demolition work and clearance of the site had been completed at the end of May. Some additional costs had been incurred for clearing the rubbish which had accumulated in the village hall bin storage area and also the hedgerow at the rear of the sports equipment store.

122. A separate contract had been let for the adaptation work necessary to the store at the rear of the village hall in order that the goal posts could be accommodated. This work had also since been completed.

Children’s Play Area – safety surface (minute 95/2005)

123. The Clerk reported that some remedial work had been carried out to the safety surface by contractors but he had noted that there was still evidence of crumbling on some sections of the rubber surface. Playdale were to arrange a further inspection shortly.

New flagpole (minute 96/2005)

124. The new flagpole had now been installed at the entrance to the playing field.

CORRESPONDENCE

125. Receipt of the following correspondence was reported by the Clerk and action agreed as indicated:

a) WSCC - Invitation to send a representative to a “Funding Fair” to be held at The Hawth in Crawley on Monday 17 October from 12 noon to 7.00 pm. The aim of the event was to provide a wide range of information and support to voluntary and community groups in West Sussex and to make such groups aware of what help was available.

b) WSCC – enclosing a copy of the Highways Works Programme: 2005/06 and Forward Programme.

c) WSCC – confirming that a Community Conservation grant of up to £500 had been approved for a proposed hedge/tree planting scheme using hawthorn plants on the playing field boundary along Church Road.

d) British Telecom – consultation on proposal to cease to provide a cash payment facility at the Public Telephone Box in North End Road.

COMET CORNER (JUNCTION A259 WITH B2132)

126. With reference to minute 83a/2005, Council members noted with concern a statement which had been received from WSCC as follows:

“On Thursday 23rd June 2005, the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport in West Sussex, Lieutenant Colonel Tex Pemberton told the Member for Middleton, Mrs Christina Freeman, that because of the rising costs of the proposed project for improvements at Comet Corner, indicated by our consultants, Owen Williams, we would not be able to proceed as planned due to a funding shortfall in the region of half a million pounds.  We had hoped to start the project at the end of this financial year to which provision of £400,000 had been made, and finish in the next financial year where further provision of £300,000 to 400,000 was being made.  With indicative allocations as they stand there will be insufficient funds to meet the project estimated costs of £1.2m.  This is a project that cannot, for safety reasons, be done in phases.  Therefore until there is sufficient funding to meet the complete project a start cannot be made and the Cabinet Member has called a halt on any further expenditure on project design or exploration

The Cabinet Member intends to leave Comet Corner in the works programme and continue to actively seek additional funding.  In the meantime, he has asked the officers to bring to him, quickly, suggestions for any further short term measures that might be put in place in this financial year.

Some improvements at Comet Corner have already been undertaken and vehicle activated signs are to be put in place in July.

The Cabinet Member reiterates that Comet Corner remains high on our list of priorities when funding is available."

127. The Clerk referred to a letter which Middleton-on-Sea Parish Council had since sent to Henry Smith, Leader of WSCC, inviting Mr Smith to attend a public meeting to discuss with members and local residents the continuing concerns about safety at the Comet Corner junction. Members of Yapton Parish Council shared the concerns set out in the letter and it was agreed that the Clerk should write similarly to the Mr Smith in support of the suggestion that he attend a public meeting to discuss the matter and agree the way forward. 

128. It was also suggested that it might be helpful if perhaps a joint public meeting involving the two parishes could be arranged.  To this end it was agreed that if a mutually convenient date could be found, Yapton should offer to “host” the meeting at Yapton & Ford Village Hall.

PARISH COUNCIL NEWSLETTER (YAPTON NEWS & VIEWS)

129. The Clerk reported that a final proof copy of the July 2005 issue was still awaited from the printers. He gave details of the various articles and features included in the latest issue.

APPLICATIONS FOR GRANT-AID 2005/2006

130. The Council had before them and considered a schedule prepared by the Clerk setting out details of the applications for grant-aid received from local voluntary organisations and charitable bodies for the 2005/2006 financial year.

131. Resolved – That grants as indicated be made to the organisations listed on the schedule (copy attached to minute book).

PLANNING COMMITTEE

132. Mr.Haymes declared an interest because of his membership of the District Council’s Development Control Committee and temporarily left the meeting taking no part in the consideration of the Planning Committee’s report.

133. The Council had before them and received details of planning decisions made by Arun District Council in April/May/June 2005 (copy attached to minute book).

134. Mr Faulkner reported that a conference on the new planning system was being arranged by CPRE on 6 October 2005.

135. Reference was made to a recent planning application submitted by the Flying Fortress for a change in the conditions of use for the children’s activity centre at Ford. The Clerk undertook to obtain further details and circulate to the Planning Committee for any comments.

PLAYING FIELD

136. The Council agreed that to ensure the security of the field, two additional concrete bollards should be provided in the south western corner adjacent to the village hall.

137. The Council agreed that arrangements should be made for the elm bushes and other shrubs to be removed from the grass mound adjacent to the village hall and the area seeded.

138. It was reported that the dog bins on the field were not always being regularly emptied.

139. There was concern that golf was being practiced by individuals on the field. A note would be included in the July issue of the newsletter drawing attention to the fact that this was a dangerous practice and was prohibited under the Council’s byelaws.

140. Mr Caiger had arranged for the landscaped area adjoining the large car park to be strimmed and sprayed to discourage the growth of weeds. Some of the pyracantha shrubs planted last year had not become established and would need to be replaced in the autumn.

VILLAGE HALL

141. Mr Coe reported that the hall needed decorating internally. The hall’s resources were limited and it was hoped to enlist the services of prisoners from Ford to carry out the work under its Community Service programme.

MEETING OF POLICE DOWNLANDS NEIGHBOURHOOD MANAGEMENT TEAM

142. The Council had before them and received a copy of the minutes of the meeting held on 8 June 2005 attended by Mr Caiger (copy attached to minute book).

FINANCE

Audit of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2005.

143. The Council noted that the internal audit of the Council’s accounts by WSCC Management Audit Section has been satisfactorily completed. The notice of audit would now be published and the accounts forwarded in due course to Mazars to complete the external audit.

Financial Statements

144. Resolved -

(a) That the financial statement showing the payments and receipts for the period 1 April – 30 June 2005 be adopted (copy attached to minute book);

(b) That the summary of income and expenditure over the various budget heads for the period 1 April – 30 June 2005 be received (copy attached to minute book).

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

145. The following matters/concerns were raised by members of the public present at the meeting:-

a) Legal action was being taken by the Woodlands Trust to evict an encampment of travellers at Worms Wood, just south of the A259 road, near to Flansham.

b) the implications of the new Licensing Act for lettings of the playing field.

c) the possibility of restoring the old Canal Bridge off Downview Road would be explored by Mr Jones in consultation with the landowner.

CHAIRMAN