Minutes October 2008

Minutes of the Meeting held on Monday 20th October 2008 at 7pm in Birdham Village Hall.

Present: Cllr Tilbury; Cllr Howat; Cllr Ms Huskisson; Cllr Ms Leach; Cllr Mrs Cobbold; Cllr Mrs Parks; Cllr Churchill.

In attendance: Tony Bathmaker (WSCC); the Clerk; a member of the public; District Cllr Montyn; District Cllr Jones

62-08cl. Apologies were received from : Cllr Meynell.

63-08cl. Declarations of Interest: Cllr Mrs Parks declared a personal interest on a planning matter.

64-08cl. Minutes of the Meeting held on 15th September 2008 It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Parks and seconded by Cllr Howat RESOLVED to approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 15th September 2008 and that they be signed by the Chairman.

65-08cl. Matters arising from the Minutes:
i) Min 54-08cl i) Village sign – Cllr Mrs Parks reported that she and the Chairman had not met. Councillors to be asked to think further about this and discuss it at the next meeting.
ii) Min 54-08cl ii) Canal – it was agreed to leave this item until after the speaker had given his presentation.
iii) Min 54-08cl iii) Rural Housing Enabler – Cllr Tilbury reported that Sam Irving wants to bring a Planning Officer out to look further into this.
iv) Min 54-08cl v) Footpath at Birdham Stores – Cllr Tilbury reported that he has spoken to Steve Hodd about this.
v) Min 55-08cl viii) Risk Assessment – the Clerk reported that she was working on this and hoped to be able to circulate it for members to read before the next meeting.
vi) Min 54-08cl iv) The Village Hall Trust have been approached about the Circus – it will be in mid-September 2009.
At this point Tony Bathmaker from WSCC spoke about Chichester Canal and answered questions. The Canal restoration will involve three major projects, beginning with the restoration of Salterns Lock. There will be a new bridge at Donnington which will be a swing bridge and have traffic calming at either end, also a new road crossing at Cutfield, which will be a fixed bridge with a new lock at the side to lower the boats under the bridge. This will lead to work being needed on Cashers Lock. Total costs will be around £2.3m., with some additional costs. The earliest likely date for finished work is 2013. There will be natural limits on the number and size of boats which will be able to enter – tides and size of locks and canal. Likely only a handful of vessels a day will be able to go through. Issues for houseboats concerning their bridges etc, but with a 3 mph speed limit these are likely to be limited. There is concern among the houseboat owners. Mr Bathmaker offered a stakeholder briefing for the PC and the houseboat owners. People are concerned about how the project will be handled. The harbour is already busy – where will the boats wait for the lock, where will the funding come from and there are many questions which still need to be answered.

66-08cl. Clerk’s Report including:
a) WSCC Reports, highways matters and correspondence
i) The West Sussex PFI Contract will now probably commence in October 2009. Because of the requirement that all street lights over 15 years of age will have to be replaced the charge will increase from October 2009. WSCC will be writing to the Council in November or December with a detailed estimate of costs and will require a prompt reply. This was noted.
b) CDC reports including correspondence
i) CDC has told the Council that the next Annual Meeting of the Parishes will be on Tuesday 3rd February 2009 at the Assembly Rooms with food from 6pm and the meeting starting at 7pm. This was noted.
ii) The Communities Team of CDC has written to say that from 1st October people can apply for grants of up to £5000 and the Parish Council may be approached to support community groups in their applications. This was noted.
iii) CDC has written about the TPO which has been placed on land at Tyme Wells in Westlands. The order has been confirmed, but if the Council were to disagree with the decision they can challenge it. This was noted.
c) other related matters
i) The East Sussex Emergency Planning Officer has requested some information from the Council on our emergency plans for a project he is doing. It was agreed that the Clerk would reply to his request.
ii) Emma Brown, the Cub leader in Birdham has asked to put up two marquees on the playing field on 31st October for a Halloween party. They would be put up close to the scout hut and would go up and down again the same evening. The Clerk told her that it would require a decision by the Council, and that earlier notice would have been helpful, but she understands that the meeting will make the decision tonight. After discussion it was agreed to make this as a donation to the Scouts.
iii) The Saturday Venture Association which has just changed its name to Disability Awareness UK has written to ask for help with funding. The Clerk has notified them that decisions on donations are made at the Council’s May meeting. This was noted.
iv) SEERA has written again about Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs because one of their previous questions had caused offence. As the Council had not responded to the previous questionnaire, this was noted.
v) Chichester Harbour Conservancy has written to inform the Parish that it still has grants remaining in the Chichester Harbour Sustainable Development Fund for projects which bring social, environmental or economic benefits to the AONB. Any project which was suitable would have to be completed by March 2009 to be considered. This was noted.
vi) The Council has received a copy of the report of Going Dutch II which will be placed in the correspondence.
vii) The Department of Communities and Local Government has sent a consultation document on possible changes to bye-laws. This was noted.
viii) The Clerk would like to ask the Village Hall Trust if they would be willing to have the details of their booking secretary on the Council’s web-site, as she is spending an increasing amount of time referring people on to Mrs Geary when their questions are about availability etc of the Hall. The Council felt this would be appropriate and the Clerk would contact Mike about this.
ix) The Clerk reported that she had today collected the map of Birdham from CDC, but it is rather different from what she had expected being in one large sheet. After discussion it was decided the Chairman would take it up with CDC.

67-08cl. Planning matters including CDC decisions:
A paper detailing planning matters had been circulated to all councillors

CDC Decisions:

BI/08/03243/TPA – 2, Garden House, The Saltings – reduce crown by 30% and remove damaged limb as inspected on 1 no. White Pop0lar tree (T1) subject to BI/90/00028/TPO
REFUSE

BI/08/02998/DOM – Longstone, Greenacres – demolish front entrance and erect new entry hall, extend existing dining room to accommodate kitchen and new bedroom above. Remove existing roof and pvc windows. Add high performance membrane roof and timber-clad windows. Convert lean-to to garage – PERMIT

BI/08/03024/DOM – Glenbryn, Longmeadow Gardens – single storey side extension to bungalow – PERMIT

BI/08/03023/OUT – Land to the rear of Sarnia, Main Road – Erection of 4 no. 2 and 3 bedroom semi-detached 1½ storey dwellings – PERMIT

BI/08/03258/FUL – Lockfield, Lock Lane – demolition of existing two storey detached dwelling and erection of new detached dwelling (two storey and loft storey) - PERMIT

Supplementary planning for the Meeting of 20th October 2008

Plans to be considered:
BI/08/03706/DOM – Oakdene, Sidlesham Lane, Birdham – erection of detached garage – It was proposed by Cllr Churchill and seconded by Cllr Tilbury RESOLVED NO OBJECTION

BI/08/03432/ADV – Russells Garden Centre, Main Road, Birdham – Advertisement (retrospective) – it was proposed by Cllr Mrs Parks and seconded by Cllr Howat RESOLVED NO OBJECTION

The Clerk reported that she had heard from other clerks that some information about plans may not be on the web-site. The Council is therefore advised that, in the case of a contentious application they should write to the Planning Department requesting copies of all correspondence relating to the plan concerned under the Freedom of Information Act. This was noted.
Whitewater does not appear to have been built in the materials which were listed in the original plans.

68-08cl. Correspondence:

Emails forwarded to councillors since the last meeting:
16/9 – Improving Village Access to wealth and well-being workshops; 25/9 – The Local Channel; 25/9 – Chichester Harbour Photo Competition and Exhibition; 30/9 – Chichester Harbour Events October; 1/10 – Manhood Parishes Road Safety Group; 1/10 – Revised householder permitted development rights; 2/10 – Chichester District Commander’s October update; 4/10 – Chichester Harbour Exhibitions; 10/10 – Birdham: Public Footpath 37 (PART) temporary closure; 15/10 – Press release – staying safe in Chichester District.

Correspondence to be circulated includes:

Action in Rural Sussex – papers for their AGM
SALC AGM papers
FIT Focus Autumn 2008
Partnership News October 2008
WSCC Community Safety Connections Autumn 2008
CDC Initiatives Autumn 2008
Harbour Views – Pagham Harbour newsletter
WSCC Forward Plan of Key Decisions October 2008 – January 2009

69-08cl. Reports:
i) Playing field and play area. The Clerk reported that the work on the play equipment should be done in early November. Knights Fencing had repaired the damaged fence post. John Hayes had done the tree work on the field. She had noticed when in Birdham last week that the gate to the field was wide open so the spring is clearly not working. The Clerk has also asked Iain Grant to do his usual clearing of the hedges and ditches when he can fit it in.
ii) Village Green and pond – John Hayes has also done the work on the Village Green, and the Council is awaiting his account for this.
iii) Neighbourhood Watch – there was no report

70-08cl. Finance
A financial situation report had been circulated to all councillors
Payments made since the last meeting to be ratified:

Clerk’s salary September 543.24
Adrian Dover (grass) 68.00
Knight Fencing (repairing play area fence, includes £14 VAT) 94.00
Mazars (audit, includes £53.38 VAT) 358.38
Southern Electric (street light electricity, includes 8.87 VAT) 186.45

Receipts, current account (precept) 18366.50

Receipts, Village Hall account (interest) 13.61

Receipts, deposit account – nil

Payments to be considered:

Mrs Geary, litter 65.00
Clerk’s expenses (includes 7.72 VAT) 65.61
WSCC streetlighting maintenance (includes 73.65 VAT) 494.49
A. Dover, grass 75.00
CDC grass (includes 42.29 VAT) 283.94
CPRE subscription 28.00

Notes: The Clerk has today moved £8591 to the Village Hall account for the next loan repayment and £7000 to the deposit account to earn interest until it is needed. She has also sent off a claim for reimbursement of £373.80 VAT which will probably arrive before the November meeting.

It was proposed by Cllr Churchill and seconded by Cllr Mrs Cobbold RESOLVED to approve the financial report.

71-08cl. Reports of Meetings attended by councillors:
i) CAB – Cllr Churchill reported that he had been unable to attend the meeting but had had a report which he gave to the Council. There are serious concerns about a possible Legal Services Centre. There will be fundraising events by the Friends of the CAB.

72-08cl. Public session
District Cllr Montyn spoke about the proposals to merge the West Sussex Hospital Trusts. There will be public events on 4th November and 24th November 2-5 at St Richard’s. there is doubt about calling off the seeking leave for Judicial Review. He has also been dealing with the Clean Neighbourhood officer who has now prosecuted one car salesman, and spoken to others.

There being no further business, the Meeting closed at 8.35pm