Council Meeting Minutes - September
The Minutes of
the Meeting of Bolney Parish Council held on
Tuesday 15th
September 2009
PRESENT:
Mr E Hazel
(Chairman) (EH)
Mr F White (Vice
Chairman) (FW)
Mrs J Dennis (JD) Mr P
Hopgood (PH)
Mr A Smith (AS) Mrs A
Moir (AM)
Mrs D Thomas (Clerk)
(DT)
Mr P Griffiths (WSCC) (PG)
Mrs S Seward (MSDC) (SS)
8 members of the public
Questions/Comments
from Members of the Public
-
Nigel Mullany
answered questions from the parish councillors concerning
the application from the Bolney Rovers for a grant. He
advised that the match and referee fees have gone up a lot
in the last few years. They currently have 19 members
including 11 from the village, 7 of which are student age.
They usually have about 25 members and currently charge a
signing on fee and then weekly match subs. They have
carried out fundraising in the last year for themselves and
also held a specific event to raise money for the new Rawson
Hall fund.
PG suggested the parish council could consider applying for community
initiative funding through the CLC to help the club with kit.
DT will look into this.
-
Phil Silcock
spoke about the six week trial currently ongoing by the
youth club to run a coffee shop in the pavilion on
Batchelors Field. The trial has gone very well in the first
week during the good weather. The Youth club has requested
that the Parish Council underwrite the sum of £947 to ensure
the costs of the trial are met, however this amount has
already been reduced due to the support the coffee shop has
received so far.
SS suggested that as the equipment is currently hired, a grant could be
applied for to buy new equipment, such as a cooker or coffee
machine, if a decision is taken to make the coffee shop
permanent.
JD left the meeting.
Report from County
Councillor
The next South CLC meeting on 5th October will now be held in
Hurstpierpoint Village Centre. There will be a presentation
about the consultation on special schools. There has been good
co-operation from the head teachers and Bolney Primary School is
very supportive of special needs pupils.
There will also be a presentation on the highways list of maintenance
and the Casper sign rota.
PG advised that he is working on moving the Warninglid sign.
PG has spoken to Stuart Smith, Divisional Manager, Highways about the
poor quality of work done by the Highway Rangers. Other
parishes have also complained about poor quality and lack of
work done. They are currently reviewing the contracts.
The inspectors report on the widening of the A23 is due in January 2010.
A list of general information on WSCC roads and transport was given to
the Council.
Questions/Comments
to County Councillor
1.
EH confirmed that following difficulties with
availability, he and FW have now arranged to meet with Derek
Whittington in the first week of October, to clarify the support
and help to be received from WSCC in respect of the
fingerposts. PG confirmed his support on this issue.
2.
FW advised that he and EH had not received any notes or
feedback following a meeting they attended at the CVS to discuss
service levels provided by WSCC. FW will provide PG with the
details, who agreed to follow it up.
PG left the meeting.
Report from District
Councillor
Following the discussion on statistics last month showing Bolney to be
in an area of deprivation and need, SS asked whether the Parish
Council would be interested in a joint parishes meeting to
discuss the problem. Twineham and Albourne Parish Councils are
interested. All agreed it is a good idea.
SS asked about the ongoing discussions regarding the future of the
pavilion. FW confirmed that the Parish Council is making good
progress with David Harper and Ben Toogood.
SS talked about the 90 day staff consultation that has just started at
MSDC due to the need to cut staff budgets.
Questions/Comments
to District Councillor
There were none.
SS left the meeting.
1. Apologies for
Absence
Mr D Williams and Ms
B Sands.
2. Minutes of the last meeting
It was agreed by all that the Minutes of the
meeting held on 18th August 2009 be approved and
signed by the chairman.
3. Declarations of Interest
There were none.
4. Finance
4.1
Agree the list of accounts for payment
The list of accounts for September was agreed
by all and signed by the Chairman.
4.2
Consider a request for a donation from the Bolney Youth
Club
Following discussion it was agreed to
underwrite the project to ensure all costs are met. It was also
agreed that if the project is taken further at the end of the
trial with a new business plan, then the £500 received from
Hollerans last year for a community project would be donated to
assist with this.
4.3
Consider a donation to the Bolney Rovers Football
Club
Following discussion it was agreed to donate
£150.00.
5. Receive a report from the roads and
highways focus group
EH advised that all updates had been covered
in the County Councillors report.
6. Receive a report from the footpaths
focus group
FW advised that there are no further updates
this month.
7. Receive a report from the
communications and action plan focus group
FW advised that he and Brenda Sands (BS) have
met to progress the Open Door Sessions and now have a planned
launch date of 11th November 09. They will be
meeting again with DT to progress this further in October.
8. Receive a report from the housing and
development land focus report group to include a discussion and
agreement on a proposal to carry out a housing needs survey
AM confirmed that she, DW and AS met with Tom
Warder (Airs) and Carol Tomkins (MSDC) on 25th August
and now have a revised questionnaire for the Housing Needs
Survey. Following a focus group meeting last week it was
decided that they needed more time to discuss the issue, so now
plan to wait until the next council meeting to make a proposal.
9. Receive an update on the
fingerposts
This was discussed during the County
Councillors report.
10. Receive an update on the notice
boards
FW advised that two of the notice boards have
now been put up, one at the bus stop in The Street and one on
the pavilion. DT is progressing the issue of the license for
the one to be placed at the Colwood Lane/Jeremys Lane
crossroads. It is still be decided where to locate the fourth.
11. Receive a report from the police
neighbourhood panel
The police were unable to come to this
evenings meeting but will be arranging a surgery in the
village. There have been further anti-social issues in the
village, including graffiti at the pavilion, to which the police
have responded quickly. They have also increased their patrols
in the village, particularly at the cricket field where
residents have now been given a direct number to call. FW
advised that people should be encouraged to notify the police
directly when situations arise, rather than waiting.
The Sussex Crimestoppers number is 0800
555111
12. Receive an update on the Community
Bus
DT advised that the Handcross Community Bus
service to Burgess Hill will restart on 1st October.
Residents will initially have to pay, however this will help to
make final decisions on the route. Once decided, it will be
put forward to the transport commission to make it permanent,
the process of which takes approximately six weeks.
Once its permanent, it will be run regularly
and residents will be able to use their bus passes. Following
feedback from the trial period, the route will not stop at
Cuckfield, but will now stop in Pease Pottage. They will also
drop passengers in the town first and then Tesco. On return,
they will collect from Burgess Hill last to enable residents
longer for their shopping.
Times and dates for the route will be advised
as soon as they become available.
13. Correspondence
A request for the parish council
to participate in the Crib Festival
The parish council have been asked if they
would like to provide a crib for the festival. FW agreed to do
this.
14 Date of Next Meeting
