STORRINGTON & SULLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of the Recreation and Property Committee held in The Chanctonbury Room, The Parish Hall, Thakeham Road, Storrington, on Wednesday 12th November, 2008, commencing at 7.00 p.m.

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

In Attendance :  1 Member of the Public.

53.    Apologies for Absence.  No apologies for absence had been received.

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

55.    To Approve and Sign the Minutes of the Last Meeting held on the 15th October, 2008.    Minute No. 36 the word ‘was’ should read ‘is’ and Minute No. 50 the words ‘Football Wall’ should read ‘playground’.  With these amendments the minutes were duly APPROVED as being a correct record of the proceedings thereat and were signed by the Chairman.

    Matters Arising.   

56.    Minute No. 40: Health and Safety – The Trip Hazard near Pulborough Road had been inspected.  It was not known what the pipe inside was for, but measurements had been taken in order to provide a single cover.

57.    Minute No. 47: Budget 2009/10 – it should be ascertained what Rydon and the Ashington Centre charge to hire their facilities, together what deposits they take.  Discussion took place with regard to the charge made to Little Bears Pre-School and it was considered that this should be for £32.00 per session.
 
58.    To Consider the Inspection of Play Equipment Reports.  There were no reports available.

59.    Report on Sullington Play Project and Position of playground/football wall..  Mrs. Wheatley reported that a quotation had been received for the matting for the football wall in the sum of £3,800, but if turf was required as opposed to seeding, this would cost an extra £125.  An application for a grant towards this should be submitted to Horsham.  It was decided that it would not be economic to move the wall to a different location.

    Discussion ensued on the type of equipment that should be provided.  It was being checked whether skateboard equipment would comply with the Lottery requirements.  A decision would be made once it was known what could be included.    

60.    Ravenscroft Football Wall.  Saxon Weald had advised that they would not be proceeding with this project because it would cost £35,000 and they could not afford it.

61.    To Consider H.D.C’s Terms for New Lease Agreement for Play Area, Meadowside.  A copy of this had been circulated to all Members.  It was not felt that the Parish Council should agree to this until the access pathway was installed.

    The District Council should be advised that the Parish Council was proposing to repair the existing equipment, but they would ensure that any new equipment installed later was done in accordance with manufacturer’s instruction. 
   
    In clause 9 (iii) it was proposed that the lease could be determined “at the end of the term the Parish Council will, at their own expense, remove the play equipment and restore the land to a condition satisfactory to the Council’s Parks Services Manager”.  This clause was not felt to be satisfactory.

    Clause 11 “All other terms and conditions are to be in accordance with the Council’s standard lease agreement.”  There was no standard lease provided.  The Parish Council would like them to litter pick the area and empty the litter bin.  

62.    Position of Leisure Centre Refuse Bins.   The Clerk should obtain a copy of the C.L.C., grant application form and fill this in to move the bins and then get the Leisure Centre to sign it.

63.    C.C.T.V.  Unfortunately the expected report had not yet arrived.  This was required as soon as possible.  When this is received a Sub-Committee of three Councillors should sort out which camera was required to do what and then the Leisure Centre should apply for a grant to change it. 

64.    Area around Sullington Parish Hall.  Mrs. Wheatley advised that Mr. and Mrs. Younger had approached her requesting permission to look after the area on the right-hand side of the Parish Hall.  It was considered that if they wished to weed this area that would be fine, but they must ask permission before carrying out any major work.

65.    To Consider Quotations for erection of fencing to The Glade.  Three quotations were to hand, the cheapest was in the sum of £995.56.  Members expressed concerns about the erection of such a fence and felt that this would be yet another fence that would be vandalized.  Concerns were also raised with regard to some other suggestions within the Management Plan relating to trees to be felled.  It was not felt that previously the  consequences had been fully understood.   It was AGREED :-

The Storrington Conservation Society should be asked to attend a meeting with a Sub-Committee of three Members in order to review this plan.    The Members appointed were Mr. Mason, Mr. Roper and Mrs. Worthington-Leese.  Mr. Jones of H.D.C., should be requested to see whether there were any trees within The Glade worthy of being covered by T.P.Os.

66.    Allotments.  S.A.G.A., had responded to the Parish Council’s points.  However, S.A.G.A., still wanted non-allotment holders to be members of their Association as associate membership would provide them with income and increase the support for the allotments in the local community.  It was considered that the allotments were a plot of land for producing vegetables, but if they wished to set up an associate group the Council could not prevent this, but the Council were opposed to associate membership.  S.A.G.A., wanted the agreement to be signed by the officers of their association, i.e., the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer.  However, the Council’s solicitor has said it had to be Trustees.

 S.A.G.A., had stated that they currently believed that they could create between 4 and 10 additional plots on the Amberley Road site by reduction of the size of plots occurring either voluntarily for existing plot holders or as plots became vacant.  Members had visited site and spoken with some allotment holders and it was considered that it should be possible to make another 12 half-plots, but felt that third-plots should be given consideration. 

It was the Council’s view that the allotments should be self-financing and that having created more plots, the cost of these should be sufficient per plot to manage the allotments and cover the costs involved.  Should the allotments remain the full responsibility of the Parish Council, the Council would be raising the charges in order to cover the costs thereof.

S.A.G.A., want details of the waiting list passed to them for them to allocate plots and manage the list, keeping the Parish Council up-to-date with the waiting list, available plots and plot holders.  However, under Data Protection it was not possible for the Parish Council to give other people’s personal details to S.A.G.A., and hence they could not manage the list.  At any time the Council could advise them of how many people were on the waiting list.  S.A.G.A., should notify the Council of any vacancy and the Council should then contact the next person on the list and advise them that in order to take up the plot they would have to become Members of the Allotment Association and requested permission for the Council to pass their details to the Association. 

Membership of the Association should be automatic and compulsory to anyone who became an allotment holder and not as detailed in section ‘E’ of the S.A.G.A. Constitution.    

S.A.G.A., were hoping for a 10-year term.  However, it was not recommended that Parish Councils should enter into leases for terms longer than 7-years.  Therefore, it was AGREED to offer them a 7-year term.

Regarding item 4 in their letter, it was considered that copies of minutes of their meetings should be sent to the Parish Council within two weeks thereof in order that they may be placed before the relevant Committee of the Council.

S.A.G.A., maintain that a short section of the short boundary was not secure, however, Members had visited site and could not find any such area, and the two allotment holders that had been present did not know of any such area either.  Therefore, S.A.GA., should be requested to show the Council where the gap was.

S.A.G.A., should be asked if they were going to bring Ravenscroft on board quickly, because if not, the Parish Council would need to do something.

    The Council would like a response to these points prior to arranging a meeting with them.

Ravenscroft Allotments.  H.D.C., would like the area that was proposed to used for the football wall (first two plots) to be used as a temporary car park for the builders on the neighbouring site as there was nowhere for them to park their vehicles.  This would be for a period of 6 to 7 months and then return the site to its previous condition.  They would pay the Council the sum of £2,000.  This was AGREED, but H.D.C., would also need to clear this with W.S.C.C.

67.    Health and Safety.  No items were raised.


68.    Documents for Councillors to Read.  There were no documents for Councillors to read.

    Chairman’s Announcements. 

69.    Police.  The Police had requested that the Council consider allowing them access to a room at the Parish Hall once a week in order that they may hold surgeries with the public.  It was considered that Forge House would be a more appropriate location for this, but if that was not possible the charge would be £30.00 for hire of the Chanctonbury Room.

70.    Intruder Alarm System, Football Pavilion.  Kestrel Alarms had quoted in the sum of £790.00 plus V.A.T., for purchase of this system which would be linked in with the automatic door opening system.  The annual maintenance charge would be £56.00 plus V.A.T.  Following discussion it was UNANIMOUSLY AGREED :-

        To recommend  Full Council accept this quotation.

71.    Star Energy Community Fund.  Mrs. Wheatley advised that having read through the Council’s preliminary expression of interest form, Star Energy were now requesting completion of a full application form.  This needed to be submitted by the 31st December, 2008.  This had been submitted in respect of the Sullington Play Project, but it was wondered whether it might be more appropriate to change this request to alterations to the Parish Hall toilets and Parish Office.  This was AGREED. 

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.10 p.m.