Minutes of the Council Meeting held on the 18th April 2011
Birdham Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting of the Council
held on Monday 18th April 2011
at 7pm in Birdham Village Hall
Present: Cllr Mrs Parks (Chairman), Cllr Mrs Cobbold (Vice-Chairman), Cllr Tilbury, Cllr Mrs Leach, Cllr Churchill, Cllr Ms Huskisson, Cllr Mrs Barker.
Apologies: PCSO’s Bromley and Bainbridge
In attendance: The Clerk, Cllrs P Montyn & Jones (WSCC & CDC) and 13 members of the public.
138-10 Declarations of Interests
139-10 Urgent/Additional items notified to the Chairman or the Clerk prior to the meeting.
Nil
140-10 Minutes of the meeting held on the 21st March 2011
Resolved, that the minutes of the 21st March 2011 be signed as a true and accurate record.
Proposed by Cllr Huskisson, and seconded by Cllr Churchill.
141-10 Matters arising from the Minutes
Land Bequeathed to the council – The Clerk reported that the slight anomaly associated with the boundary had now been agreed with Mr & Mrs Moores and the matter was now in the hands of the Executors of the Will – Bolitho Way Solicitors.
142-10 Clerks’ Report:
i) WSCC Reports, highway matters and correspondence.
The Clerk reported that he had attended the Chichester Community Action Pilot organised and run by the WSCC and that he had been appointed to the working group He felt that it had promise and would keep the Council informed of its progress.
ii) CDC Reports including correspondence.
It seemed that CDC was in the grip of ‘election fever’ with the result that nothing tangible had been communicated to the Clerk.
iii) Other related matters.
The Clerk informed Council that he had received a request from SALC concerning their forthcoming meeting with the Chief Constable in May. SALC were asking for any questions concerning Project 2015 that had not been addressed locally to be sent to them for resolution at the meeting.
iv) Reports from Members of WSCC/CDC.
Nil
143-10 Planning matters including CDC decisions:
Applications
BI/11/01312/DOM Mrs J Watson By Harbour Westlands Estate Birdham
Demolition of existing garage and construction of replacement garage/boat store.
The Council raised No Objection to this application.
BI/11/00299/FUL Substitute Plans. Lansdale Marine 3-4 Premier Business Park Birdham Road
New garage to rear of site for storage and/or valeting purposes ancillary to existing permitted commercial operators on the site. The Council was minded to Defer this application for a site visit.
BI/11/01325/DOM Mr & Mrs Hutchinson Pooh Corner 1 Westlands Estate Birdham.
Single storey side and rear extension, alteration to roof and other amendments. The Council raised No Objection to this application.
BI/11/01343/DOM Mrs Carol Van Rooyen Creek Cottage Westlands Estate Birdham
1.8m Hazel/Willow fence. The Council raised No Objection to this application.
BI/11/01370/DOM Ms Ann Beazer Summer House Westlands Estate Birdham
Garden studio. The Council raised No Objection to this application.
It was resolved to instruct the Clerk to notify DC Planning of the decisions. Proposed by Cllr Churchill and seconded by Cllr Tilbury.
Delegated Decisions
BI/11/00556/TPA West Sussex County Council Area Of Land Between Chichester Ship Canal Towpath And Rear Boundaries Of Locks Lane Properties Lock Lane Birdham. Crown reduce by 33% on the tallest Lombardy Poplar tree (within the group), reduce all other trees in group to the same height on 42 no. Lombardy Poplar trees. Fell 1 no. Lombardy Poplar tree (opposite entrance to the 5th houseboat NE of Egremont Bridge). All 44 no. trees are within Group, B subject to BI/98/00035/TPO. Permit.
BI/11/00788/PE Ms Ann Beazer Summer House Westlands Estate Birdham Garden studio for painting and general enjoyment of garden. store room for painting material and gardening items plus W.C. Decision Letter.
It was Resolved to note the decisions made by CDC.
Additional Planning Matters
Cllr Tilbury spoke about the concerns and the subsequent meeting with members of the EA, CDC, local residents and the developer of the Longmeadow site that took place on the morning of the 18th April at the Village Hall.
Residents expressed their opinions in the way that conditions 34 and 43 had been signed off against the planning permission granted to the development in that it appeared not to be sufficiently transparent to give confidence the conditions had in fact been met. Phil Hailey of the EA said that in the opinion of the EA the applicant had indeed carried out the work and the conditions had been met.
Questions had also been raised about attenuation tanks both their purpose and their suitability. It was answered by the EA as further work needed to be carried out to satisfy the conditions.
Residents felt that the subject of ditch ownership was not clear and what enforcement could be put on land owners to ensure that ditches were cleaned.
More data was required to determine flood levels.
The developer undertook to send information through to CDC and the Clerk in an open format. This is an unusual step not normally undertaken by a developer/
A question was put to the EA that if things went wrong and homes were damaged by flood water, who would the home owner sue? The answer was, in the first instance CDC who would then take it up with the EA.
Post the Village Hall meeting Cllr Tilbury, together with the representatives of the EA and CDC, looked at the problem area of Cherry Lane/Church Lane. There appeared to be no viable solution to the problem but, a member of the EA volunteered to return at a later date to take levels.
The Clerk notified Council that he had received a copy of a Planning Appeal lodged by the householder in respect of planning application BI/10/05434/DOM. The appeal would be determined on the basis of written representation.
144-10 Correspondence:
The only correspondence the Clerk had received that had not been circulated was from The Carers Support Service advising the Council of its change of address together with some notice board information.
145-10 Reports:
i) Play area and playing field – Since the last meeting Cllr Churchill had reported to the Clerk that the ‘Cradle’ swing had been broken. A replacement had been ordered and arrived on the 18th April. Cllr Tilbury reported that the rubber crumb was starting to deteriorate in some areas.
ii) Village green and pond – The Clerk requested permission to go ahead with the survey at a cost not to exceed £2500 which might be reduced if we supplied a body to help, thus keeping on the right side of H & S. Possibly Sarah Hughes might be an ideal candidate as she is seeking to obtain a GCN Survey License.
iii) Police and Neighbourhood Watch – Nil
146-10 Finance:
i) Came & Company the Councils Insurers has submitted an offer of 16 months insurance for the price of 12. If the quote, which is awaited, is satisfactory the Clerk recommended that the Council accept the offer. The renewal date is June.
ii) There is now a requirement that all payments that exceed £500 must be published. There is however some doubt as to the requirement to be any single payment or cumulative payments. The Clerk is waiting for further information prior to implementing.
iii) The end of year accounts are now almost complete and will be submitted to the external Auditor within the next week and completed in time for the May meeting.
A financial reported was submitted by the Clerk and was circulated to Councillors.
This showed:
Balances held at Bank: £51839.57
Designated Funds: £25827.43
Available Funds: £26012.14
Creditors: £1651.55
Resolved: To accept the financial report.
Proposed by Cllr Tilbury and seconded by Cllr Huskisson
147-10 Reports from Councillors attending meetings
Cllr Barker reported that she and the Clerk had attended a meeting at Henfield on the subject of Localism. Whilst it was very interesting both she and the Clerk felt that as the Localism Bill wound its way through to final legislation, expected to be some time in October/November 2011, it would take on more substance and result in more powers being granted by Central Government to the benefit of local communities.
The Chairman took the opportunity to publically thank Cllr P Jones (WSCC & CDC) for the work that he had done over the years in his capacity as one of the two CDC Councillors. Cllr Jones was not seeking re-election on the 5th May.
148-10 Public session:
A question was put to the Council by Mrs Finch. What happened to the welcome packs to new residents? Was it still produced? Councillors believed that this was actually published by the church but, it seemed a good idea and would be investigated.
There being no further business to be dealt with the meeting closed at 8.37pm
The next meeting of Council will be the Annual Meeting of Council to be held on the 16th May 2011 at 7pm in the Village Hall.
Signed ___________________________ Dated ____________________
Chairman