YAPTON PARISH COUNCIL

 

 

13 March 2006 - At a meeting of the Parish Council held at the Yapton & Ford Village Hall.                  

 

Present:    Mr Andrews, Mrs Barnes, Mr Caiger, Mr Coe, Mr Faulkner, Mr Haymes, Mr Jones and Mrs McDonagh.

 

Also present:  County Councillor Mrs Freeman, Mr Tansley (Clerk of the Council) and 9 members of the public.

 

Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Parish Councillors Mr Fellows and Mr Taft.

 

 

CHAIRMAN

 

34.   In the absence of Mr Fellows, the meeting was the meeting was chaired by Mr Haymes, Vice-Chairman.

 

 

MR CHARLES MILLYARD

 

35.   The Chairman reported with sadness the death on 22 February 2006 of Charles (Charlie) Millyard.   Charles had served as a Parish Councillor from 1973 to 1991 and he also served as the parish representative on the governing body of Yapton CE Primary School.  During his time on the Parish Council,

 Charles had served as both Vice-Chairman and Chairman.   The Council’s condolences had been sent to his widow, Joyce.

 

36.  Members stood for a minute’s silence as a mark of respect to Charles Millyard.

 

 

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

37.   Members were reminded to make any declarations of personal and/or prejudicial interest that they may have in relation to items on the agenda.   

 

 

MINUTES

 

38.    Resolved – That, subject to the correction of minute 32 to read Derek not John Whittington, the minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2006 be approved as a correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman.  

 

 

MATTERS ARISING

 

Restoration of Old Canal Bridge off Downview Road (minute 4/2006)

 

39.   Mr Jones reported that there had been a positive response to the article in Yapton News & Views with some 6 to 7 volunteers showing an interest and there had also been a contact from the Industrial Architectural Society.

 

Developer contributions towards the provision of children’s play area facilities (minute 6/2006)

 

40.  The Clerk reported that the Joint Downland Area Committee at its January meeting had approved a proposal for contributions from small housing developments in Yapton to be made available to the Parish Council to fund a Multi Use Games Area (Arena Sports System) to be sited on the playing field.  The sum of £12000 had been already been earmarked for this purpose from the West View Drive and Wayside developments and discussions were taking place with the District Council about contributions from other developments.

 

41.  Councillors were shown a plan of the proposed Arena Sports System which had been drawn up by SMP (Playgrounds) Ltd together with a breakdown of the costs.  The Council agreed to the project going ahead on this basis once the funding had been secured.   Mrs McDonagh asked that her objection to the project be recorded in the minutes.

 

 

COUNTY & DISTRICT COUNCILLORS REPORTS

 

42.  County Councillor Mrs Freeman reported on a number of county matters including the fact that a Ford Liaison Group was being established by Viridor in which she had been invited  to participate. She also reported that she had recently been appointed as a governor of Yapton CE Primary School.      

 

LETTINGS OF KING GEORGE V PLAYING FIELD

 

43.  Mr Haymes declared an interest as Chairman of the 1st Yapton & Scout Group which occasionally held fund-raising events on the field, and took no part in the consideration of this item.

 

44.  The Council had before them and considered a report by the Clerk setting out the present arrangements for lettings and charges for use of the playing field and proposing the introduction of a percentage levy in the future for any fund raising event on the field, the proceeds of which would be passed to the Village Hall Management Committee to assist with its running costs (copy attached to minute book).

 

45.  In the ensuing discussion the view was expressed that the introduction of new charges might militate against the income already received from lettings of the village hall since organisations using the field also booked the hall at the same time.  The charges made for the use of the Yapton & Ford Village Hall were already at the mid range of the charges made by other village halls locally for the use of their facilities and it was not felt that there was scope for further increases at this time although the matter was kept under review.

 

46.  A point was also made that amongst other things the practice of charging for use of the King George V Playing Field appeared to be prohibited by a covenant made by the original owners of the field and to which the Parish Council was party.  The Clerk indicated that he would need to check the legal document to which this referred but his understanding that was there were no restrictions on charging for the use of the facilities on the field whether to a private or voluntary organisation and indeed where charges were made at present this helped to offset the ongoing costs of grass cutting and general maintenance.

 

47.  Resolved – That no action be taken on the proposals set out in the report. 

 

 

 

CORRESPONDENCE

 

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

 

a) WSCC Leader of the County Council – enclosing a copy of the County Strategy for the period 2005 to 2009. The strategy set out the “priorities for that period and the outcomes we will be delivering for the people of West Sussex”.

 

b) WSCC Chief Fire Officer- enclosing a draft for consultation of the Fire Services Integrated Risk Management Action Plan.

  

c) WSCC Community Safety Unit – advising that the Parish Council’s application for improved street lighting in Loveys Road had been accepted and a scheme costing £40,000 had been drawn up. The Council noted that it was expected that the work would be phased over two years starting in the autumn 2006.   

 

d) Arun District Council Chief Executive – invitation to the Chairman to attend a meeting with the County Council, District Council and the 2 other quality councils in the area to discuss the possibility of drawing up a Quality Parish Charter.   The meeting had since been fixed for 19 May 2006 and the Parish Council would be represented by the Chairman and Clerk.

 

e) The Flying Fortress – Proposed Inter-Village “It’s a Knockout” Competition (copy attached to minute book).        A request had since been received from the organisers for permission to stage the competition on the King George V Playing Field.   After some discussion it was agreed that the Parish Council should enter a team and members agreed to endeavour to find volunteers to take part.   It was also agreed that the playing field should be let to the organisers who were planning to stage the event, with the normal letting charge for a private event being applied.

 

f) Arun District Council- proposed Drinking Control Order for the District (details of which had been previously circulated to members).    Members heard that despite a special appeal from the Chairman, the District Council had turned down its request for the proposed Drinking Control Order intended to cover the coastal strip, to be extended to cover the centre of the village of Yapton.  The reason given was that the police considered the anti-social problems experienced in Yapton were “largely attributable to under-age drinking (which they already had powers to deal with) and were not of the same scale as the other areas proposed for designation”.

 

 

STREET LIGHTING MAINTENANCE & ENERGY CONTRACT

 

49.  With reference to minutes 7-9/2006, the Council were advised that the work on refurbishment of the Parish Council street lamps was well underway and it was expected that the agreement with WSCC to take over future responsibility for the maintenance of the lights would be signed shortly to take effect from 1 April 2006.    Under the contract the annual maintenance cost would be £18.19 per column.

 

50.  The Council noted that the agreement with WSCC also enabled Parish Councils to purchase energy at a competitive standard rate of 5.28p per KWHr compared to the average 7.33 per KWhr currently paid by the Parish Council to Southern Electric.  The County Council was committed to buying energy from renewable sources and it was also noted that the WSCC contract was reviewed bi-annually. 

 

51.  Resolved - That the Parish Council enter into an agreement with WSCC for the future supply of energy alongside the agreement to maintain the street lighting columns for which the Parish Council was responsible.

 

 

DRAINAGE SYSTEM ON DOWNVIEW ESTATE

 

52.  With reference to minutes 15-16/2006, County Councillor Mrs Freeman advised the Council that both Southern Water and Arun District Council had turned down her request to join with the County Council and local residents in contributing towards the capital cost of the recommended refurbishment work to the drainage system on the Downview Estate.   Mrs Freeman stated that the matter was still being actively pursued and as a next step she had asked that the matter be raised at the next meeting of the Joint Downland Area Committee in April.

 

53.  The Parish Council was sorry to hear that the Southern Water Authority and the District Council had declined to offer any assistance and members reaffirmed their commitment to do what they could to support local residents.

 

 

PROPOSED POLICE/COMMUNITY “DROP-IN” CENTRE AT THE CO-OP  STORE

 

54.  With reference to minutes 19-21/2006, the Clerk advised that following further discussions with the senior management of Southern Co-operatives Ltd he had been assured that the outstanding work to the YAP Centre would be completed shortly.  As a result it had been decided that the official launch of the YAP Centre would take place on Friday 31 March 2006 at the Village Hall.    Miriam Minty, Head of the Government’s Respect Taskforce, had agreed to open the centre and Nick Herbert MP and representatives from the District and County Council as well as the Citizens Advice Bureau and members of the Parish Council would be invited to attend.

 

 

PARISH COUNCIL NEWSLETTER (YAPTON NEWS & VIEWS)

 

55.   Details of the contents of the March 2006 issue of Yapton News & Views which had been prepared by the Clerk were reported to the Council.    Subject to the addition of a report on tonight’s  meeting of the Parish Council, the Clerk indicated that newsletter should be printed and ready for distribution by the end of the week. 

 

 

PLANNING COMMITTEE

 

56.  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.

 

57.  The Council had before them and received (i) the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 10 February 2006 and (ii) details of planning decisions made by Arun District Council in December 2005/January/February 2006 (copies attached to minute book).

 

 

PLAYING FIELD

 

58.  It was reported that dog excrement and moles continued to be a nuisance on the playing field.

 

 

ALLOTMENTS

 

59.  It was reported that most of the allotment rentals for 2006/2007 had been received.  All the plots had been let and a waiting list was now in operation.    

 

 

VILLAGE HALL

 

60.   It was reported that a community service team from the Probation Service had started a programme of redecoration in the village hall.

 

 

REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES

 

61.  A report by Mr Taft on matters discussed at meetings of the Joint Downland Area Committee on 16 January and 20 February 2006 was received (copy attached to minute book).

 

62.  Mr Faulkner reported on the attendance of Mr Taft and himself at a joint meeting with local Councils and also involving Nick Gibb MP, at which the Government’s plans for new housing in Southern England were discussed.

 

63.  Mr Jones reported on his attendance as the Parish Council’s representative at a special Arts & Heritage Forum arranged by West Sussex County Council and held at Amberley Museum on 9 March 2006.

 

 

FINANCE

 

64. Resolved –

 

(a) That the financial statement showing the payments and receipts for January and February 2006 be adopted (copy attached to minute book);

 

(b) That the summary of income and expenditure over the various budget heads for period 1 January to 28 February 2006 be received (copy attached to minute book). 

 

 

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

 

65.  The Council were advised that access into Kings Close was sometimes a problem for residents due to inconsiderate parking mainly at the entrance to the site.  The Clerk undertook to contact the Local Highways Engineer on behalf of the residents for advice.

 

66.  A problem with Japanese Knotweed had been identified on two plots of land in the village which were shortly to be developed.   Mr Jones indicated that he would be meeting with an expert on this invasive weed shortly and would discuss the problem being experienced on both sites and how to deal with it.

 

67.  One of the seats on the playing field had been damaged and the wooden seating slats had been removed.

 

68.  It was reported that there was a problem with vehicles parking on the grass roadside verge within the Downview Estate.

 

69.  Concern was expressed about the recent felling of trees along the A259 road near Clymping.  

 

 

  

CHAIRMAN