Present: Mr. R. Dawe in the Chair, Mr. D. Atkins, Mr. A. Head, Mrs. G. King, Mr. J. Macey, Mr. A. Mullard, Mr. D. Roper, Mr. J. Sanson, Mrs. L. Wheatley, Mr. J. Williams and Mrs. A. Worthington-Leese.

In Attendance:   Mr. F. Wilkinson (County Councillor)
            Mr. N. Haverson, Head of Public Health and Licensing, H.D.C.
6 Member of the Public.

111.    APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE were received from Mr. R. Carter (work), Mrs. C. Davison (ill), Mr. E. Gibbons (ill) and Mr. C. Mason (holiday).  The reasons for absence were duly ACCEPTED. 

112.    TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST FROM MEMBERS.  There were no declarations of interest from Members. 

113.    POLICE MATTERS.  There was no Police presence, but Police Sgt. Boyce had sent his apologies and advised that neither of the P.C.S.Os would be in a position to attend either.  The Police were currently undertaking Operation Respect, putting up posters in libraries, doctors surgeries, etc., places where elderly people go and leaving cards that people could put in their windows ‘No Trick or Treat’.  They were also in contact with shops to try and deter youngsters from purchasing eggs and flour and the Police would enforce this on the evening.  There was also a Firework campaign.

114.    TO APPROVE AND SIGN THE MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 24th SEPTEMBER, 2008.  These Minutes were duly AGREED to be a correct record of the proceedings thereat and were duly signed by the Chairman.

    MATTERS ARISING :-

115.    Minute No. 99(a): Victim Support Sussex.  A letter of thanks for donation had been received.

116.    Minute No. 103: Plastic Bag Free Campaign.  Replies had been received from Bunce’s Home Hardware, Boots U.K. Limited, Tesco Stores Limited and Somerfield Stores Limited regarding what they were doing to combat the usage of plastic bags.  It was considered that people were now more conscious of this and that the Council would take no further action at this stage.
   
117.    Minute No. 98(c): W.S.C.C. Proposed Projects for Funding from S.106 Contributions.  Mr. Mullard suggested that a vehicle activated sign could be added to that list.

118.    TO RECEIVE AND IF APPROVED TO ADOPT THE MINUTES OF THE FOLLOWING COMMITTEE MEETINGS:-

(a)    Planning and Development Committee Meeting held on the 9th October, 2008.  These minutes were duly ADOPTED.

(b)    Infrastructure, Communications and Environment Committee Meeting held on the 15th October, 2008.  With regard to Minute No. 32, Mr. Sanson mentioned that H.D.C. had confirmed that all the twittens concerned were the responsibility of Saxon Weald but the one at the back of the Parish Hall was the responsibility of W.S.C.C.  Mr. Wilkinson disagreed, so Mr. Sanson would check this with H.D.C.  These minutes were duly ADOPTED.

(c)    Recreation and Property Committee Meeting held on the 15th October, 2008.  These minutes were duly ADOPTED. 

    Some members of the public wished to know what the Council’s proposals were for the replacement of play equipment on the Sullington Recreation Ground.  They would like the football wall re-sited away from their houses and the car park.  They were generally not in favour of having new equipment as it was felt that it would only get damaged unless it was securely fenced and locked after a certain time.  They were asked to give their contact details to the Clerk in order for the H.D.C. Crime Reduction Partnership to contact them.

    Mr. Head expressed concern as he understood that the Football Club would be applying for grants to carry out works on Council land and if that was the case, the Council should know about this.  The Council had resolved that there should be no further development after the floodlights.  Mr. Dawe stated that irrespective of what the Football Club were including within grant applications, they would not be able to carry out any alternations without the permission of this Council.  Following long discussion it was RESOLVED :-

    To write to the Football Club requesting information regarding what they had included within their grant applications and to remind them that they would need to apply to the Parish Council for permission before any works were undertaken on Council land.
   
    Mr. Head raised the matter of the Terms and Conditions for installation of the floodlights and he considered there to be several differences compared to the conditions agreed by Council.  Mr. Dawe pointed out that the advice of the solicitor had been sought and he had advised that everything was covered within the Deed of Variation with the exception of a clause stating that there can be no further development at the site.  This was because such a clause could not form part of any Deed and because the current Council could not tie the hands of future Councils.    Any such clause could simply be overridden by a decision of a future Council.  However, during discussions with the club it had been pointed out that the present Council was not minded to grant any more “improvements”.  Mr. Head felt that this matter should have been referred back to Council and was deeply disappointed by the way that this matter had been dealt.        

119.    VISIT OF Mr. N. HAVERSON, Head of Public Health and Licensing, H.D.C.  Mr. Haverson explained that he had previously advised the Council about air quality issues in the village of Storrington and the fact that they were looking to install an air quality monitoring station on Manleys Hill to do continuous real time monitoring.  Initially W.S.C.C., had objected on highway grounds to the proposed site and suggested somewhere else.  H.D.C., had now been approached by the Government as they were expanding their national monitoring network which was mainly urban but they now wanted some rural sites.  Why at Manleys Hill was chosen, because this fitted all their criteria.  H.D.C., had now taken their own highway advice and are now satisfied that this installation would not affect the junction.  It was hoped that the monitor would be in situ by the New Year.  It would be there for ten years as part of the Government’s programme.  There were already defuser tubes that told H.D.C., there was a problem.  They had to go through the process because there would be people that object to it being an Air Quality Management Area and H.D.C., had to defend it.  H.D.C., had already started to run the modelling software that would monitor and calibrate when the real time data was available and recognize the extent of the management area.  With the works carried out this summer on the pavements, etc., there had been slight reductions in air quality, but not as bad as first thought because traffic avoided the area and the bad weather had helped.  The County Council were alive to the fact that this was not the only area in the county with such problems because others were coming through, so they already had officers working on action plans which it was hoped would be put out to consultation next spring.  In a month or so, ground works should be evident.  The device would need a plinth 2m x 2m and would be similar to the one in Albion Way in Horsham.  H.D.C., would get it sign written in order that people knew what it was there. 

    There was a silver lining to the pollution problem because if the levels exceed that limited, the County Council had a statutory duty to do something about it.  That could possibly mean less vehicles coming through the village eventually. 

    Mr. Haverson left the meeting.

120.    COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCIL MATTERS.  Mr. Wilkinson (County Councillor) stated that at the last Parish Council meeting there were concerns about safety in four access routes.  He had attended a meeting, but bearing in mind that they did not have the money or resources, he had had to compromise.  Due to there being street lighting, it was not possible to have the official Ministry of Transport repeater signs, but it could be possible to put up 30 m.p.h., signs designed by local school or youth club along the four roads.  It was, of course, the Police that had to enforce such speed limits. 

The CASPA (television sized) vehicle activated device are run by batteries attach to lamp posts and could be moved around the villages.  The cost was about £6,000 and Mr. Wilkinson would see if the Chanctonbury Local Committee would liaise with the North Horsham Local Committee to buy one between them in order to see whether this could be deployed around the area. 

H.D.C., owned hand-held safety guns and it was going to be seen if P.C.S.Os could be trained so that they could use them out and about in villages.  W.S.C.C. Safety Engineering Team were going to have a word with the Police to see if it would be possible to ease the regulations in order that SID could be used further up Amberley Road and in Fryern Road.


Re: a survey of Meadowside, Browns Lane, Monastery Lane and Fern Road to improve the lives of residents.  W.S.C.C., were to start monitoring traffic from the 8th December to see what traffic volumes and speeds there were and to see what could be done.

A works order had been placed to repair the triangular piece of land at the junction of Monastery Lane/Fern Road.

Discussions had been held with Cumbria County Council because they had managed to have a lorry ban on an ‘A’ road in one of their villages, but the initial enquiries had been unsatisfactory.  An in-depth enquiry would be made.

With regard to the wall outside the Saxon Weald flats, their engineer was not getting any replies at the moment.

In a report on District Council matters Mr. Dawe said that there was a further delay on the Riverside Walk because the necessary legal work had not been secured to facilitate the necessary consent from Barratts to Peveril.  It was now proposed to postpone this work until ground conditions improved, hopefully in Spring, 2009.  In the meantime they would pursue conclusion of the legal agreement.  It had now taken eight years to reach this point, whereas four years ago Mr. Pearson had indicated that all the necessary compulsory purchase orders should be in place near that time or were not necessary and now four years on, we are still getting people saying not got all the necessary permissions.  This was a ridiculous situation.

121.    ITEMS AVAILABLE FOR COUNCILLORS TO READ :-
(a)    Partnership News – Newsletter of the West Sussex Public Partnership Forum.  Available in the Parish Office.
    (b)    South Downs Living Magazine.  Available in the Parish Office.
    (c)    N.H.S. Trust.  Available in the Parish Office.

122.    CLERK’S CORRESPONDENCE :-
(a)    Action in rural Sussex A.G.M. and Joint Annual Conference, Friday, 7th November, 2008.
(b)    W.S.C.C., Working Together for a Better West Sussex – Statement of Partnership with Local Councils.  A copy of this consultation document had been circulated to all Members.  Comments were required by the 7th November. 
(c)    Clerks’ Forum, H.D.C. Planning.  The Clerk would distribute a full report shortly, but reported that the Planning and Development Department was now ‘Development Management’ and Planning Enforcement was now ‘Compliance’.  H.D.C., continued to experience staff difficulties.  The new permitted development rights for households came into force on the 1st October, 2008.  Therefore there could be more complaints received as neighbours would not know about development until the work started.  The legislation was open to interpretation and different Councils were interpreting things differently.  Some new controls were included.  Lawful Use Certificates that had not been already undertaken would have to reapply because there were no retrospective elements to this new law.  There would be a new Appeals process from next April where nobody would have an opportunity to provide any further information to the Planning Inspectorate and the decision would have to be taken on the information available at the time of the application.  With regard to T.P.Os and trees in Conservation Areas, basically it was the same, but this actually came into effect on the 1st October, 2008.
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STORRINGTON & SULLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL
Parish Council Meeting
29th October, 2008

123.    CHAIRMAN’S ANNOUNCEMENTS AND ANY URGENT MATTERS.  Infrastructure Improvements – Edburtons.  Monies had been withheld relating to the drainage of the football field and the resurfacing of the pathway.  The deduction for the path was due to the fact that it was believed that the wrong material was used and the football pitch was badly cut up and could not be used.  Edburtons had made the offer that the Council could permanently withhold the sum of £2,700.00 (50%) in respect of the remedial works to the football field, but had not accepted the Council’s reasoning re the surface dressing of the path. The 50/50 split on the football field would not apply assuming the matter went to arbitration.  Members were reminded that at the last moment Edburtons changed the material for the paths which has resulted in them having a rough texture and they were eroding too easily.  Other companies had looked at the path and stated that they did not consider that the surface was correct for its location.  It was felt that this opinion should be obtained in writing if possible.  It was AGREED :-

        The Council’s current stance should be maintained.

124.    THE GLADE – TREES.  There was essential work to be undertaken that could not be ignored and the current budget could well be exceeded.  Quotations were being sought.  It was therefore UNANIMOUSLY AGREED :-

    That the Planning Trees budget would overspend during this financial year.

125.    REPORT ON THE SUMMIT MEETING REGARDING CRIME AND REDUCTION HELD ON 8TH OCTOBER, 2008.  A report of the summit had been received and copies were handed to all Members.

126.    TO CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING REQUESTS FOR DONATIONS :-
    (a)    Age Concern Horsham District.  It was decided not to donate.

(b)    W.R.V.S. Supporter Care.  Mr. Roper Proposed; Seconded Mr. Macey and UNANIMOUSLY AGREED :-
       
        To donate the sum of £70.00.  (Local Government Act 1972, s.137)

(c)    Rotary Club of Storrington – Film Nights.  Grants were no longer available to help them provide this service.  Following discussion Mr. Roper Proposed: Seconded Mr. Mullard and UNANIMOUSLY AGREED :-

    To allow them free usage of the Parish Hall for Film Nights for the next year.

127.    COMMUNITIES IN CONTROL: REAL PEOPLE, REAL POWER: CODES OF CONDUCT FOR LOCAL AUTHORITY MEMBERS AND EMPLOYEES – A consultation.  This document had been circulated to Members.  With regard to question 13: Do you agree that a mandatory model code of conduct for local government employees, which would be incorporated into employees’ terms and conditions of employment, is needed?  Members felt that Parish Councils should be able for invoke this if that want to, but it should be optional.  Question 14: Should we apply the employees’ code to firefighters, teachers, community support officers, and solicitors?  The response was  ‘No’.   Question 15:


Are there any other categories of employee in respect of whom it is not necessary to apply the code?  The reply was ‘Yes – cleaners, litter pickers, caretakers’.  Any further comments should be given to the Clerk by the beginning of next week in order that a response may be formulated.

128.    ACCOUNTS TO BE PAID in the sum of £33,809.93 plus V.A.T., were duly AGREED.  At the next Clerks’ meeting it should be ascertained if others were interested in bulk buying supplies and services.

129.    BANK RECONCILIATION.  The September bank reconciliation was duly NOTED.

130.    ADJOURNMENT – No matters were raised.

131.    DATE OF NEXT MEETING – Wednesday, 26th November, 2008.

132.    STAFF SALARY REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT OF CARETAKING REQUIREMENTS.  The Press and Public were duly excluded from attendance during this item due to the confidential nature of the business to be transacted.

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