Present: Mrs. A. Worthington-Leese in the Chair, Mr. D. Atkins, Mr. R. Carter, Mr. E. Gibbons, Mr. A. Head, Mrs. G. King, Mr. J. Macey, Mr. C. Mason, Mr. A. Mullard, Mr. D. Roper, Mr. J. Sanson and Mrs. L. Wheatley.

In Attendance:   Mr. F. Wilkinson (County Councillor).
             8 Members of the Public.

163.    APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE had been received from Mr. R. Dawe (holiday) and Mr. J. Williams (various commitments).  The reasons for absence were duly ACCEPTED.

164.    TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST FROM MEMBERS.  Mrs. Wheatley declared a personal interest in agenda item 13, Cricket Club. 

With the agreement of the meeting the Chairman brought forward the Adjournment as Mr. Wilkinson wanted to be in attendance for the topic to be raised by the public.

165.    ADJOURNMENT.  Various residents from Bax Close were in attendance because of their concerns about the pig farm which had recently set up business in the field behind their premises.  Their main concerns were the noise, impact on their environment, price of their properties and effluent runoff into the stream.  The residents wanted help to get the pigs taken away.  One resident passed around a list of questions that he wanted answers to.  It was pointed out that the Parish Council could not do any more than they had already done and that it was now a District Council matter.  The three District Councillors were to meet with these residents on the 5th February and they would delve into the questions a little more deeply and hopefully be able to provide answers at the meeting.  Mr. Wilkinson advised that the County Council had no input into this sort of planning issue.
   
    The members of the public left the meeting at 7.30 p.m.

166.    POLICE MATTERS.  Mr. Mason reported that Mr. Dawe, Mr. Sanson and himself had attended a meeting with the new District Commander, his Inspector and two Sergeants.  This meeting had been amicable, but no holds had been barred; there had been no defensiveness and there was a willingness to talk with a full and frank exchange of views.  The Commander had stated that he would be staying for two years.  A list of some thirteen items had been raised with them.  There was a willingness to listen and they promised to try and do something by focusing on Storrington.  More Police activity had been seen recently and they were putting pressure on as they had given 31 ABCs.  They were pursuing miscreants and their parents to some extent within their resource and other constraints.  They had identified that Wednesday and Friday nights were particularly problem times and there was now a heavy Police presence on those nights.  There was still a problem with getting people to talk and the Police accepted that there was a problem with intimidation. 

There was to be a Clean Sullington event on the 31st January.  Encam were producing a Charter and there had been input in this.

Mr. Atkins left the meeting at 7.40 p.m.

167.    TO APPROVE AND SIGN THE MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 26th NOVEMBER, 2008.  On page 36 the word ‘affect’ should read ‘effect’.  With this amendment the minutes were duly AGREED to be a correct record of the proceedings thereat and were duly signed by the Chairman. 

    MATTERS ARISING :-

168.    Minute No. 150: Sustainable Communities Act – Horsham District Council had put this item on the agenda for their Corporate Management Team to discuss.

169.    Minute No. 126(b): WRVS – The WRVS had written expressing their thanks for donation.

170.    Minute No. 118(c): Grant Applications for Floodlights – The Football Club had advised that due to the current climate they had found that money was not so readily available, so the application was for the floodlights only.

171.    Minute No. 142: The Diamond.  Mr. Mullard enquired as to whether there had been any further development on this.  Mr. Mason advised that meetings were continuing, but there was no timetable at the moment.  The Traffic Plan that W.S.C.C., required had been carried out.

172.    Minute No. 156: Environmental Cleansing Grant.  H.D.C., were, providing it gets through their budget process, proposing to pay all parishes 75% of their costs for the next financial year.  This Council had ceased undertaking this.  The possibility of suspending Standing Orders to allow this decision to be reconsidered at the February meeting was brought up at the Finance and Budget meeting, but the Members at that meeting decided they did not want to do this.  A letter had been written to Horsham informing them that the situation had not changed. 

H.D.C., had said that Storrington would have to accept that the cleaning would not be undertaken to the standard it had previously been cleaned to, which means they cannot meet the standards they had insisted the Parish met.  H.D.C., had been informed that this Council expected that the cleaning would be to the same standard as it had been when this Council was expected to do it and be reimbursed for only 60% of the costs.  The Clerk advised that she had been informed that the High Street area which currently was cleaned every day would only be cleaned on Mondays and Fridays.

H.D.C., had requested that the parishes provide a list of things that they consider were not fair, so should anyone know of anything, please inform the Clerk or Mrs. Worthington-Leese who would be compiling a list.
        
173.    TO RECEIVE AND IF APPROVED TO ADOPT THE MINUTES OF THE FOLLOWING COMMITTEE MEETINGS :-

(a)    Planning and Development Committee Meeting held on the 8th January, 2009.  Mr. Head Proposed; Seconded Mr. Roper and Vote: In Favour 9; Against 0; Abstentions 2; these minutes were duly ADOPTED.

(b)    Finance and Budget Committee Meeting held on the 14th January, 2009.  These minutes were duly ADOPTED.

174.    COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCIL MATTERS.  Mr. Wilkinson (County Councillor) reported that he had arranged a site meeting for the 17th February with the Road Policing Team of Pulborough to discuss Amberley Road where the average speed was 39 m.p.h.  He was asking the County Council Accident Prevention Officers to attend as well. 

    Thirty residents from Amberley Road had signed up to Make the Commitment and it was hoped CASPA (activated sign) would be in this road in February. 

    Mr. Wilkinson had asked for a complete appraisal of Browns Lane, Meadowside, Fern Road and Monastery Lane to see what traffic speeds were because he had received complaints from residents stating vehicles were travelling 60 – 70 m.p.h.  During the week of monitoring (9th – 18th December) in Meadowside the average speed was 23 m.p.h., with nobody going over 36 m.p.h., and between 31 and 36 m.p.h., there had been just 24 vehicles so there was no problem.  In Browns Lane the average speed was 17 m.p.h., in Fern Road 19 m.p.h., with only one vehicle over 30 m.p.h., and Monastery Lane 19 m.p.h.  Monitoring was being undertaken at the moment in Fryern Road. 

    Regarding the A.283 that had flooded four times in the last year, a meeting had been held and it was thought that a stream might have been diverted which results in water flooding into a gulley by Sandgate Lodge where the holes were too small to take it.  There was a culvert under the road which had been jetted and the flow was reasonably clear.  Horsham’s Land Drainage Officer was looking into this and he would report to County Highways.  As soon as the rain stopped and the levels dropped, they would put a camera down to see what was causing the problem as it could perhaps be a very old culvert and not a 3ft pipe.  Mr. Wilkinson would be pushing for a permanent solution.

    The County budget recommended a 3.9% increase in Council Tax.  Their government contribution this year is £1.7m which is a 1.75% increase.  The sum of £1.7m will have to be spent on waste, so it has gone on one thing without anything for schools, social services or rises in electricity, gas and wages.  It was the worst settlement in the country for the eighth year running and they had been told that next year it will only be 1.5%.  Fortunately County had made £40m of savings in the last three years.  County were moving staff to Horsham and closing other premises.

    With regard to recycling, Viridor had long-running contracts direct with processors, but the return was not as high as it was because the price of scrap metal had gone down to nothing; aluminium, steel and paper were reasonable and plastics was still going well.  Therefore, everything that is being put in recycling bins is being recycled.  In March the recycling facility at Ford will be opening.  Mr. Wilkinson would lay on a visit when it opens as it would contain the most modern technology in the world. 

    Mr. Mason (District Councillor) reported that Mr. Wilkinson had arranged for the three District Councillors to meet the appropriate officers from W.S.C.C., regarding the heavy lorries travelling through the village.  There are advisory lorry routes and neither Storrington nor the A.283 was not on any of the recommended routes.  Therefore there should be none coming through, but there is nothing to stop them doing so if they have local knowledge.  An article would be appearing in the next edition of the newsletter inviting people to let the Parish Council know the names of companies whose lorries were travelling through. 

    The District Council had not yet set their budget but was trying to hold this down.  There was a staffing restructuring going on to make savings with people losing their jobs.  The Chief Executive had been given the task of reducing costs the best way he thinks.  He would be reporting to Council in a couple of weeks time. 

Mr. Wilkinson left the meeting.

175.    ITEMS AVAILABLE FOR COUNCILLORS TO READ :-
    (a)    HACVS Newsletter, December, 2008.  Available in the Parish Office.
    (b)    Partnership News No. 46.  Available in the Parish Office.
    (c)    Community Safety Connections.  Available in the Parish Office.
    (d)    South Downs Living Magazine.  Available in the Parish Office.

176.    CLERK’S CORRESPONDENCE :-
(a)    SALC Bulletin – this had been distributed to all Members, but the Clerk specifically brought to their attention the article regarding Councillor Car Insurance Business Cover v Personal.
(b)    South Downs Advisory Forum Annual Meeting would be held on Friday, 27th February, 2009 at Plumpton Village Hall.
(c)    The Green Seminar for 2009 for Local Councils would be held at The Holiday Inn, Aston Clinton, Aylesbury, Friday, 27th March, 2009.
(d)    Power of Well-being.  As defined in Section 2 of the Local Government Act 2000, this came into force on the 31st December, 2008.  Any parish wishing to use the power of well-being must have :-
•    A minimum of two-thirds of vacancies on the Council filled at the last ordinary elections;
•    A qualified Clerk trained in the use of the power of well-being;
•    A minimum of 80% of Councillors trained in the use of the power of well-being;
•    A published statement of community engagement.

177.    CHAIRMAN’S ANNOUNCEMENTS AND ANY URGENT MATTERS.  There were no matters raised.

178.    TO APPROVE THE BUDGET FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 2009 TO 31ST MARCH, 2010.  The draft budget as recommended by the Finance and Budget Committee was presented to the meeting. Members did not agree with having a 4.42% equivalent Band D increase in the current economic climate.  It was pointed out to them that in actual monetary terms to the parish this was only a 2.95% increase, and the difference was to take account of the bad debt element.  Following discussion it was agreed to adjust the Budget as follows :-
Councillors’ travel - reduced to £65.
Ground Maintenance - reduced by £500.
Honorary Citizen - reduced to £0.
Trees - reduced to £3,286.00.
Dog Bins - reduced to £0.
HDC refuse collection Parish clean - reduced to £0.
   
179.    TO SET THE ANNUAL PRECEPT FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 2009 TO 31ST MARCH, 2010.  Mr. Mason Proposed; Seconded Mr. Sanson and UNANIMOUSLY AGREED that :-

The Precept be set at £164,926.00 which is a 2.95% increase.

180.    TO CONSIDER THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE FINANCE AND BUDGET COMMITTEE TO UNDERTAKE RENT REVIEW FOR THE CRICKET AND FOOTBALL CLUBS UNDER THE TERMS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE LEASES.  The next review date was 1st April, 2009 for both clubs.  It was AGREED :-

    That the Recreation and Property Committee should carry out this review at their next meeting.

181.    TO CONSIDER PURCHASE OF LAND BETWEEN OAK CLOSE AND THAKEHAM ROAD.  The tree report had been received which provided details of the general condition of the trees on this land.  Following discussion it was UNANIMOUSLY AGREED :-

    The general feeling was that the Council should purchase this land.  However, the Council had employed consultants to undertake a tree report in order to judge the condition of the trees on this land and the report received detailed works that needed to be undertaken, including one tree (an Ash) that needed to come down. 

The Council would like to go back to Saxon Weald stating that they are interested, but letting them have a copy of the tree report and asking them if they are prepared to either do the work or take account of the works required in the price. 

Once finally agreed the Council would like to ask Saxon Weald if they could purchase this over a number of years at say £1,000 per annum as bearing in mind the current economic climate they would not want to increase the Precept too much.

182.    TO CONSIDER THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE FINANCE AND BUDGET COMMITTEE re:-
(a)    Standing Orders.  It was UNANIMOUSLY AGREED that the wording of Standing Order No. 41 should be changed as follows :-
        
    The Chairman of the Council may, at his request, be an ex-officio voting members of every Committee.

(b)    Financial Regulations.  It was UNANIMOUSLY AGREED :-

That no alterations were required.
   
(c)    Risk Assessments.  It was UNANIMOUSLY AGREED :-

That no alterations were required.

(d)    Insurance, including amount of Fidelity Guarantee cover.  It was UNANIMOUSLY AGREED :-

That no alternations were required.

183.    ACCOUNTS TO BE PAID for December in the sum of £17,418.12 plus V.A.T., and January in the sum of £18,609.17 plus V.A.T., were duly AGREED.

184.    DATE OF NEXT MEETING – Thursday, 26th February, 2009.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.45 p.m.