STORRINGTON & SULLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of the Recreation and Property Committee held in the Chanctonbury Room, The Sullington Parish Hall, Thakeham Road, Storrington, on Monday, 12th February, 2007, commencing at 8.00pm.

Present: Mr. C. Mason in the Chair, Mr. R. Carter, Mr. R. Dawe, Mr. A. Head, Mr. D. Roper, Mrs. L. Wheatley, Mrs. A. Worthington-Leese.

In Attendance:   3 Members of the Public.   

155.    Apologies for Absence.  There were no apologies for absence from Members.

156.    To Receive Declarations of Interest from Members.  There were no declarations of interest from members.

157.    To Approve and Sign the Minutes of the last Meeting held on the 15th January, 2007. The minutes were duly AGREED to be a correct record of the proceedings thereat and were signed by the Chairman.

    Matters Arising :-

158.    Minute No. 147: C.C.T.V.  The new camera had been erected outside the front door of the Sullington Parish Hall, however, the angle of this meant that unless the people looked up, it would not be possible to identify them, so it was not entirely satisfactory. 

    As far as the Leisure Centre was concerned, this would be discussed at their Board Meeting this coming Thursday regarding improvements or making better use of existing cameras together with moving the screen to behind the Reception.  Mr. Roper would attend this meeting on behalf of the Parish Council.  Mr. Carter would go and look at this system.

159.    Minute No. 81:  Application to erect Floodlights, Storrington Recreation Ground.  Mr. Head declared a personal interest in this topic and took no part in the discussion.  The Football Club had submitted amended plans to H.D.C.   They were now proposing six columns at 15.2m high instead of 18.3m, but still 16 lanterns.  This matter was discussed and it was AGREED :-

    That this was not a significant change and was a step too far.  They were trying to change a recreation ground into a league football pitch, which was not the nature of the area.  The Football Club should be sent copies of the last two letters on this matter and advised that the situation still remained unaltered.

160.    To Consider the Inspection of Play Equipment Reports.  These reports were gone through in detail.  It was noted that the Pod Swing at the Storrington Recreation Ground had been swung over the top bar.  This was extremely heavy and it was not know how this could have been accomplished.   An e-mail had been received from Proludic regarding the Cone Climber net, which would be collected in order to be repaired.  This was not considered satisfactory as it was felt that a new net should be provided. 

Regarding the play equipment at Cootham Village Hall, a letter should be written asking for a reply to the Council’s letter on whether they intended to put the hall back into good order.
Half the safety surfacing tiles from under the swing at Sullington Recreation Ground had been stolen.  An insurance claim should be submitted in order to get this replaced.  The swing seats and chains had been removed for safety reasons.

161.    Allotments :-

    The meeting was closed in order that the public present could speak on this topic.  This meeting was then re-opened.  

(a)    Amberley Road Devolved Management.    The Clerk had drafted a Lease between the Council and the Amberley Road Allotments Association and also a draft Rental Agreement for the Association to use.  Copies of these documents should be sent to all members for consideration prior to submitting these to the Amberley Road Allotment Association.

(b)    Possible Purchase/Lease/Rental of Land for Allotments.  Details of some land in Fryern Road had been obtained and this would need to be looked at to see if it would be suitable.

(c)    Notice to Quit Site.  A letter had been received, signed by a number of allotment holders, stating that they had been in touch with the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners Ltd., who advised that they could not lose their allotments unless they were given new ones.  The Council was sympathetic, but as they did not own the land and had been given notice, there was no alternative but to service notice to quit the site.  However the Council were continuing to look for alternative sites.

(d)    One Amberley Road allotment holder had requested permission to exchange his plot 33 for plot 45 when this was vacated in March.  This was AGREED.

162.    Disabled Lift at Football Pavilion – one of the strips that hold the panels of the lift in place has gone missing.  Steps had been taken to get this repaired.
   
163.    Health and Safety.  There was nothing to discuss.

164.    Documents for Councillors to Read :-
    (a)    Village Hall Mailing.  Available in the Parish Office.
    (b)    Short Guide to Security in your Village Hall.  Available in the Parish Office.
(c)    Fire Safety in Village Halls.  Available in the Parish Office.  Available in the Parish Office.
    (d)    How ‘Green’ is your Village Hall?  Available in the Parish Office.
(e)    Financial Management and Planning for Village Halls.  Available in the Parish Office.

    Chairman’s Announcements.

165.    Trees, Storrington Recreation Ground.  With the agreement of those present the meeting was closed in order to allow one of the Tree Wardens to speak on this topic.  The meeting was then re-opened.   Following discussion it was decided that the Tree Wardens should look to see if there were suitable locations to plant the two ash trees and the lime tree that needed to be removed from the side of the Leisure Centre.  Edburtons had agreed to dig these out in order to re-plant them elsewhere.
              
166.    Flooring, Entrance to Football Pavilion.  Burgess Flooring had suggested that a non-slip ceramic flooring would be more suitable for this area than vinyl.  Mr. Carter would provide details of the supplier of the flooring used by Marks and Spencer. 

167.    Close Boarded Fence, Sullington Recreation Ground.  Arun Fencing had quoted for the repair of this fence in the sum of £450.00.  However, members did not believe that this fence was the responsibility of this Council and considered that this belonged to the Housing Association.

168.    Fencing, Ryecroft Allotments.  Arun Fencing had quoted to supply and fix 6m of 6ft high chain link fencing with angle iron posts in the sum of £202.70.  This was AGREED.

169.    Dog Bin, The Glade. A resident had written requesting that the Council reconsider having a dog bin in this area and arrange for a couple of ‘no fouling’ notices to be erected. The dog bin had been placed behind a bush and out of sight of the nearby houses.  This could not be moved further round the pathway because the regulations state that they have to be within 10m of the public highway for collection purposes.  The resident should be advised of this regulation and told to write to John Prescott if they were not happy.  Residents had taken down the last bin on this site; and Members strongly felt that H.D.C., should prosecute them, as this was unacceptable behaviour.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.25 p.m.