YAPTON PARISH COUNCIL
7 November 2005 - At a meeting of the Parish
Council held at the Yapton & Ford Village Hall.
Present: Mr
Fellows (Chairman), Mr Andrews, Mrs Barnes, Mr Caiger, Mr Coe, Mr Faulkner, Mr
Haymes, Mrs McDonough and Mr Taft.
Also
present: County Councillor Mrs Freeman, PC Riches and
PCSO White from Sussex Police, Mr Tansley (Clerk of the Council), and 9 members
of the public.
Apologies for absence were received
and accepted from Parish Councillor Mr Jones.
DECLARATIONS
OF INTEREST
183. Members were reminded to make any declarations of personal and/or
prejudicial interest that they may have in relation to items on the
agenda.
CODE OF CONDUCT
184. With reference to minute 109/2005, Mrs McDonough signed the
written undertaking to observe the Council’s Code of Conduct in accordance with
the requirements of Section 52 of the Local Government Act 2000.
MINUTES
185. Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 12
September 2005 be approved as a correct record and that they be signed by the
Chairman.
MATTERS
ARISING
Proposed
police/community “drop-in” centre at the Co-op Store (minute 154/2005)
186. The Chairman and Clerk had attended a meeting with management
representatives of the Co-op Store but unfortunately the police representatives
were unable to be present. Another
meeting was to be arranged shortly. The
building adaptation work to provide a base for the “drop-in” centre at the Co-op Store was almost completed and the
plan was now to open the facility early in the new year. It was hoped that
Council members would be able to assist with manning the centre on a rota
basis.
Children’s Play Area – safety surface (minute 158/2005)
187. The Clerk reported that he had been in contact with Playdale Ltd
and was waiting to hear from them with an alternative date to replace the
safety surface.
Restoration of Old Canal Bridge off Downview Road (minute 159/2005)
188. The Clerk reported that he had made enquiries about the
possibility of a Local Heritage Initiative Grant. It was clear from these preliminary enquiries that any application
for a grant to cover the restoration of the bridge would have to demonstrate
actual voluntary involvement in the project as well as longer term benefits to
the wider community. Written permission
to undertake the project would also be needed from the land owner.
Drainage
system on Downview Estate (minutes 165 – 167)
189.
Mrs Wallbridge, who was representing the Downview residents, reported
that following a survey, some 27 residents had indicated that in principle they
would be agreeable to contributing towards the cost of refurbishing the
drainage/sewerage system on the Downview Estate. As a next step a meeting had been suggested involving WSCC
officers, County Councillor Mrs Freeman, together with representatives from the
Parish Council and residents. It was agreed that the Chairman, Vice-Chairman
and Mr Faulkner should represent the Council at the proposed meeting which the
Clerk undertook to arrange as soon as possible.
SUSSEX
POLICE REPRESENTATIVES
190. PC
Riches was introduced as a new member of the Downlands Neighbourhood Policing
team based at Arundel Police Station.
He and PCSO White answered questions about police matters and offered to
follow up a number of issues including parking of vehicles for sale along
Burndell Road and on the Loveys Estate and speeding in Hoe Lane which had been
raised at the meeting.
COUNTY
& DISTRICT COUNCILLORS REPORTS
191.
County Councillor Mrs Freeman reported on a number of county matters
including a proposal coming forward to reduce the speed limit at Comet Corner,
a budget consultation meeting at Arundel Town Hall to be held on 8 November
2005 and a review taking place of highway verge grass cutting in the rural
areas. She also indicated her full
support for the objections raised by the alliance of local councils to the
latest planning application by Viridor for the Waste Recycling Facility at
Ford.
192.
District Council Mr Haymes reported that following training of staff a
new call enquiry centre was due to be opened shortly by Arun District
Council.
CORRESPONDENCE
193. Receipt of the following correspondence was reported by the Clerk
and action agreed as indicated:
a) Joint Letter from Sussex Police/Sussex Associations of Local Councils –
funding of Police Community Support Officers (copy attached to minute
book). The Council decided to take no action, being of the view that this
was the responsibility of the Police Authority and not one for the Parish
Council.
b) WSCC A259 Road Comet Corner – Consultation on proposal to reduce the
speed limit from 50 mph to 40 mph.
The Council, whilst welcoming the proposal to seek a reduction in the
speed limit on the stretch of the A259 road leading to Comet Corner, was
concerned about the cost implications. The Council asked the Clerk to seek an
assurance from the County Council that the proposal would not in any way impact
and divert resources away from the planned major scheme to install traffic
lights at this hazardous junction as soon as the necessary resources could be
found.
c) 4Sight (West Sussex Association for the Blind) – application for
grant-aid. Although the application
had been received outside its normal timetable, the Council noting that some 16
residents were currently benefiting from the services offered, exceptionally
agreed a grant of £75.00 towards the on-going work of the charity.
DEVELOPER CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARDS THE PROVISION OF CHILDREN’S PLAY AREA
FACILITIES
194. With reference to minutes 171 &
172/2005, the Council had before them and considered a progress report prepared
by the Clerk (copy attached to minute
book).
195. The Council noted that the report from the
Parish Council had been considered alongside a report from the Services
Director of Arun District Council at the October meeting of the Joint Downland
Area Committee. The Services Director
had undertaken to report back to the Committee at its next meeting in January
on how commuted sums for play equipment arising from new developments should be
spent following discussion with the Parish Councils concerned and having regard
to the special position of Parish Councils which had acquired “Quality Council”
status.
196. The Clerk stated that an article about the
proposal to enclose the basketball/hard play area with an Arena Sports System
was being included in the next issue of Yapton
News & Views and residents’ comments were being invited.
STREET LIGHTING MAINTENANCE CONTRACT
197. With reference to minutes 156 and 157/2005, the Council had
before them and considered a report prepared by the Clerk setting the outcome
of a survey by WSCC of all street lamps in Yapton which were owned and maintained
by the Parish Council (copy attached to
minute book).
198. The Clerk advised that since writing the report he had arranged
with Southern Electric Contracting Ltd to check and repair all the lights (some
19 in total) which were currently not working.
199. Resolved –
a) That, as a next step, consultation take place with Flansham residents to determine their wishes before any action was taken to replace or repair the street lights in Hoe Lane and in the meantime the present “call-out” maintenance arrangements with Southern Electric Contracting Ltd be continued for these lights;
b) That the Parish Council request WSCC to carry out all the immediate identified repair and replacement work (excluding Hoe Lane and Loveys Road) necessary to bring the equipment up to the WSCC maintainable standard, with a view to the Parish Council entering into a contract for WSCC to take over maintenance of the lamps as soon as possible.
c) That should in the process of carrying out the repairs, any further columns be identified by WSCC as unsafe/unrepairable, authority be given for these to be replaced.
PARISH COUNCIL NEWSLETTER (YAPTON NEWS & VIEWS)
200. A proof copy of the November/December 2005 issue of the
newsletter was shown to members. The
Council noted that obtaining new advertising revenue continued to be problematic. The present distribution arrangements were
discussed and would be kept under review.
PLANNING COMMITTEE
201. 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 this item.
202. Mr Faulkner reported that a letter had been sent to WSCC in
response to the public consultation exercise taking place on behalf of SEERA
setting out the Council’s views on the proposed new housing for the Sussex
coastal region (copy attached to minute
book).
203. The Council had before them and received (a) the minutes of
meetings of the Planning Committee held on 17 October 2005 and (b) details of
planning decisions made by Arun District Council in August/September/October
2005 (copies attached to minute book).
PLAYING FIELD
204. Moles and dog fouling continued to be a problem on the
field. MH Kennedy & Son Ltd was
now offering a mole eradication service and the Council agreed to ask the Mr Kennedy
to undertake a “one-off” treatment.
ALLOTMENTS
205. Messrs Andrews and Caiger and Mrs McDonagh each declared an
interest because they were allotment tenants and they took no part in the
consideration of this item.
206. Resolved – That the
annual allotment rental be maintained at £15.00 for a five rod plot for the
period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007.
VILLAGE HALL
207. Mr Coe reported that the new heating installation was working and
the boxing-in of the pipework had been completed. A couple more windows had been broken recently by vandals. In the long term all the windows would need
to be replaced ideally with double-glazed UPVC units for which extra funds
would be needed. The new licensing
regulations could restrict the revenue coming into the hall.
REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES
208. Mr Caiger reported orally on his attendance at the Police
Downlands Neighbourhood Management Team meeting held on 14 September 2005. Mr Taft presented a report on his attendance
at the Joint Downland Area Committee meeting held on 17 October 2005 (copy attached to minute book).
FINANCE
Audit of accounts 2004/2005
209. The Clerk reported that the external audit of the Council’s
accounts for the year ended 31 March 2005 had been satisfactorily completed by
Mazars LLP and there were no matters arising.
A copy of the statement of accounts and external auditor’s report would
be posted on the Parish Council’s noticeboard in accordance with the regulatory
requirements.
Financial statements
210. Resolved –
(a) That the financial statement
showing the payments and receipts for the period 1 September to 31 October 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 September to 31 October 2005 be
received (copy attached to minute book).
DATES OF MEETINGS IN 2006
211. The Council approved the following programme of meetings for
2006:
9 January; 13 March; 8 May (preceded by Annual Parish
Meeting);
10 July; 11
September; 6 November.
PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
212. Complaints were made about a “strange” smell emanating from the direction of the Ford Industrial Unit at Ford. The smell was evident along the Yapton Road just after entering the road from the Oyster Catcher PH junction and could possibly be linked to the problem with odour emissions from the Wastewater plant at Ford. The Clerk undertook to advise WSCC who were monitoring emissions from the plant.
213. It was reported that St Mary’s Church had been subjected to a number of incidents of vandalism over recent weeks.
CHAIRMAN