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Council Meeting Minutes - June

 

 

 

The Minutes of the Meeting of Bolney Parish Council held on

Tuesday 16th June 2009

 

PRESENT:

Mr E Hazel (Chairman) (EH)                              

Mr F White (Vice-Chairman) (FW)                                                   

Mr K Mayer (KM)                                              

Mrs J Dennis (JD)

Mr P Hopgood. (PH)

Ms B Sands (BS)

Mr A Smith (AS)

Mrs D Thomas (Clerk) (DT)

 

5 members of the public

 

Questions/Comments from Members of the Public

 

  1. Mr Willis talked about the affordable housing list and his belief that there is a need for more affordable housing sites in the district. He commended MSDC on the new minimal size of houses document however felt this would leave room for fewer houses.  Mr Willis commented that MSDC have previously said that they are struggling to find enough sites for new homes so he feels they should extend the search to smaller sites.  He felt the housing survey carried out in 2004 was more accurate in identifying the needs in the parish.  EH suggested that these concerns were also raised with MSDC.
  2. Mr Batchelor talked about the roadworks that have started on the A272 this week.  He would like a sign  put up to ensure motorists leave the Bolney Chapel Road junction clear for people to get in and out.  He has spoken to the project manager about this who has said he is not responsible for the traffic.  DT will contact Peter Griffiths and Highways tomorrow concerning this.

 

Reports from County Councillor / District Councillor

In the absence of Peter Griffiths and Sue Seward, no reports were available.

 

1.     Apologies for Absence

Mr D Williams and Mrs A Moir

 

2.     Minutes of the last meeting

        It was agreed by all that the Minutes of the meeting held on 19th May 2009 be approved and signed by the                             chairman.

 

3.     Declarations of Interest

        There were none.

       

4.     Finance

4.1    Approve the Annual Accounts for 2008/2009

The Annual Accounts and Annual governance statement were agreed by all.  Proposed by JD, seconded by FW.

4.2    Consider an increased payment to the Internal Auditor

Following discussion it was agreed to make an increased payment of £40 to Mr Freer-Ash for this year with a further review next year.  Proposed by BS, seconded by JD.

4.3    Agree the list of accounts for payment

The list of accounts for June was agreed by all. Proposed by KM, seconded by JD.

4.4    Consider a donation to the Bolney Parochial Church Council and discuss if the Parish Council should be                            

        more involved.    

It was agreed to make a donation of £1200 towards the maintenance of the churchyard.  Proposed by FW, seconded by JD. There was a discussion concerning the assistance that parish council’s can give to assist with the provision and maintenance of burial grounds.              

4.5    Consider a donation to the Bolney Village Society towards the expenses relating to Village Day

        Following discussion it was agreed by all that the Parish Council would pay for the hire costs of Batchelors Field.

5      Receive a report from the roads and highways focus group to include an update following a meeting with the new WSCC Highways manager Neil Smith.

KM, EH and FW met with Bob McKinnon (BM) and the resident at Forge Cottage on 9th June to discuss the bollards. The bollards are legal as they are on the residents land.  As funds may be available, it was agreed that WSCC would put in a kerb.  The owner would move the bollards back slightly and paint them with high visibility paint.  Subject to further agreement there will be notices placed on the opposite side of the road with parking restrictions at certain times of the day.

EH mentioned that the resurfacing on The Street had not been done properly by Hollerans following the Sewage works and KM will be looking into this.  KM is awaiting a call from BM to arrange a further meeting.

 

6      Receive a report from the footpaths focus group to include an update following a meeting with the new Rights of Way Access Manager, Nick Scott.

FW, EH and KM met with Nick Scott (NS) on 9th June and found him to be very helpful and responsive. NS will shortly be doing a full inspection on the footpaths in Bolney to include footpath 23.  A new reporting line will be set up with NS as the Parish  Council didn’t previously receive sufficient feedback on the work carried out to the footpaths, some of which was of poor quality.  All agreed that it was a very positive meeting.

AS has now joined the footpath focus group to replace KM  and KM agreed to pass on his colour copy of the footpath map.

 

7      Receive a report from the housing and development land focus group.

        No report was available in the absence of  Mrs A  Moir.

 

8.     Consider a request for a bench at the new post office site.

The parish council has received a request from Mr J Craven-Griffiths for a bench to be placed outside the new post office premises in the Rawson Cottage, for use by parishioners.  Following discussion, it was agreed that the Parish Council would donate up to £150 for the RHMC to put in a bench.   DT will advise the RHMC.

 

9.     Receive an update on the fingerposts and agree the next steps.

FW confirmed that the CLC grant of £2,000 has now been received.  The two signs that were repaired by WSCC have now been replaced and a spelling mistake on one of them corrected.  The next stage is for FW and EH to meet with the contractor who repairs the signs to discuss further repairs to be carried out.  FW went through the list of fingerposts and outlined the priorities.

 

10.  Receive an update on the Make a Commitment campaign – Village Road Safety.

FW gave an update on the progress of the scheme being carried out by the Bolney School Travel Committee in conjunction with WSCC.  He asked all councillors to sign up to the Make a Commitment campaign using the leaflets previously distributed.  FW has discussed with the Committee the issues concerning traffic problems caused by parents dropping off and picking up children.  They are also working with the police who are aware of the initiative and it is agreed that it is better to create awareness rather than using enforcement.  FW advised that there will be a stall at Village Day about the campaign and encouraged everyone to help support it. 

 

11.  Receive an update and agree the next step on notice boards.

The Parish Council has been granted £1100 as part of the 2009/10 environmental initiatives programme to provide notice boards for parishioners to use.  It was agreed that they should be open boards so that people can pin things on them easily, similar to boards used in neighbouring parishes.  Suggestions for locations were the bus stop in The Street, bus stop in London Road, somewhere near the Rawson Hall such as the wall of the Post Office, and Jeremy’s Lane.  DT will look into costs from suppliers.

 

12.  Discuss and agree a way forward for the Community Bus and Bus routes/services.

FW reported that the Heritage school bus is now travelling North to South down The Street, however the 89 from Horsham to Warninglid still goes up The Street in order to avoid having to complete a double loop around the village.  As the problems with buses seem to have lessened recently it was agreed not to take any further action at present.  Peter Griffiths has offered to use a student to come to Bolney and monitor the buses if required.

FW advised that the community bus is charging £3.00 return with no concessions/bus passes for the test trips to Burgess Hill.  Unfortunately due to this only 2 of the 11 people who requested the service are using it.  In addition, due to the pick up timings there is only about an hour available for shopping  in Burgess Hill.

FW advised that it is important that the parish council look at community transport for those in the village that need it.  BS confirmed that following her meeting with Sussex Rural links she had contacts from Bluebird Partnership and Crawley Community Transport keen to promote this.

 

 

13.  Receive an update on the Neighbourhood Police Panel.

FW gave an update on how the police in Mid Sussex are trying to get people together at the neighbourhood police panel to talk about issues in their area.  FW attends with his wife but there are very few others attending.  Current initiatives they are looking at include speeding which can be addressed by putting up warning signs.  They are also trying to raise the profile of the panel.  There is confusion between the panel and Neighbourhood watch and it may be possible to blend the two together.

FW also reported on crime figures in Bolney in the last year which led to a discussion about crime in the area.  FW confirmed that the police patrols have increased in the village and that the parish council is building a good relationship with the police.  AS is now assisting FW with police liaison.

 

14.  Receive an update and discuss the pavilion on Batchelors Field.  How the parish council can provide facilities that attract new and keep existing users.

EH advised that since the meeting held with MSDC at which refurbishment works to be made to the Pavilion were agreed, MSDC are now in the process of outsourcing all their leisure centres so resources are being used to bring them up to standard instead.  All agreed that the parish council should continue to pursue the improvement works to the Pavilion.

FW advised that the toilets are only kept going because the Parish Council pays for them to be maintained, otherwise MSDC would have shut them down.  However MSDC have agreed that they will incorporate a separate entrance for a toilet when the pavilion is refurbished. The existing toilet block will then be removed.

EH confirmed that the £100,000 that MSDC was going to contribute to the new Village Hall cannot be used for the Pavilion or for the refurbishment of the existing Village Hall.

 

15. Agree nominations for the MSDC Garden Party.

        FW suggested that Waz and Emma at the Eight Bells be nominated for the amount of work they do at the pub to bring the community together.  All agreed.  Other nominations suggested if they are unable to attend were for Marigold Pym and Chris and Bridget Tomkinson.  FW will contact Waz and Emma, and if not then the other suggestions, to see if they would like to attend as nominations must be submitted by 19th June.

FW suggested last year that the Parish Council organises its own garden party to recognise the people in the village and it was agreed that this is something that could be considered in future.

 

16.  Discuss running a “Make a Difference” campaign within Bolney Parish Council.

FW talked about the possibility of using voluntary or paid groups through the Parish Council to provide services that are missing elsewhere.  He advised that the school is doing this in terms of their road safety initiative.

In conjunction with this, BS suggested  that the parish council could hold a regular surgery where people can come in and chat to councillors about issues.  It would be a new way of finding out what the council can do and also services in general.  All agreed that this is a good suggestion which the parish council should pursue.

 

17.  Discuss “Community First Response” initiative.

FW asked if the Parish Council would consider supporting the provision of a de-fibrillation service in the village.  There would be fundraising to pay for the equipment and training provided by the ambulance service.  All calls would be received through the ambulance service.  All were in agreement to support this initiative.

EH mentioned that the intended Emergency Plan for Bolney was still not in place in case there was ever a crisis/disaster in the Parish.  It would be centrally held and would contain details of people with particular skills such as doctor, nursing etc, and equipment such as tractors, generators, chainsaws etc.

 

18.  Correspondence

        DT has a copy of Southern Water’s Performance Report – 2008/09 should anyone wish to read it.

 

19.  Date of Next Meeting

        Tuesday 21st July

 

There being no other business the meeting closed at 10.05pm

 

 

Signed:……………………………………………………………….  CHAIRMAN

 

Date:………………………………………………………………

 

 

 

 

 

   

last updated July, 2009