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
-
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.
-
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 councils 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 didnt 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 Jeremys 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 Waters
Performance Report 2008/09 should anyone wish to read it.
19. Date of Next Meeting
