Ticehurst Parish Council
The Village Hall, Lower High Street, Ticehurst, East Sussex,
TN5 7BB 01580 754 090
Minutes of the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday 3rd November 2009 at 7.30 p.m. The first thirty minutes of the meeting were reserved for Public questions and comment. The public were then reminded that they had a right and were welcome to stay and observe the rest of the meeting.
Mr Vidal reminded the meeting that the Ticehurst Christmas Lights would be switched on 27th November 2009 with refreshments provided by the Chequers after the ‘switch on’. The Chairman added that the Stonegate Lights would be turned on 11th December 2009 with the Wadhurst Brass Band in attendance
Present: Cllrs. Goodall, Maynard, Langdown, Mitchell, Yeo, Cook, Young Hastings, Semple and Burley.
186.0 Declarations of Interest: Cllr. A Cook declared a personal interest in the Bell Field if any matters were to be discussed.
187.0 Co-option of a Stonegate Councillor: Mrs Cocking addressed the meeting, giving a brief resume of her career and how long she has lived in the area. The co-option was uncontested and she was welcomed to the Council and given a New Councillor Pack (S.A.L.C.), signed a declaration of acceptance of office and given the Financial Interests Declaration form to be completed and sent to Rother District Council or through the Clerk.
188.0 Apologies for absence: Cllr. Rigby and Cllr. Seemann had sent apologies and these were recorded in the attendance register.
189.0 Minutes of the meeting held on 6th October 2009: - The minutes of the last meeting were proposed as a true record of those proceedings by Cllr. Langdown seconded by Cllr. Semple and signed by the Chairman.
190.0 Additional Agenda Items: Cllr. Cook had provided the Clerk with old photos of Ticehurst, Wadhurst, Flimwell and Wallcrouch. It was resolved that the Clerk should obtain a quotation from Rother District Council printers to turn twelve scenes into a calender – proceeds from which could be used for local donations – 500 run initially.
191.0 Delegation of Responsibilities: Consideration of draft document - The Clerk had received some expressions of interest in various tasks. It was resolved that all Cllrs. should look at the draft again, deciding which responsibilities they would be willing to undertake, thus giving Cllrs. Rigby, Seemann and the new Cllr. Mrs Cocking, the chance of participating in the division of tasks. Cllr. Young was once again thanked for her hard work in compiling such a useful document. It was hoped that this will result in a fairer distribution of work amongst Cllrs. – To go on next month’s agenda.
Cllr. Yeo added that the delegation to smaller groups might result in decisions being made that not all Cllrs. were party to. The Clerk explained that all groups recommendations to the full Council (apart from Planning Committee with delegated powers), would have to be ratified by the full Council. The next Financial Advisory Group is to be held on 20th November at 11.00 am if any Cllr. wanted to attend.
192.0 Power of Well Being: It was reported that the Clerk had passed
this examination and that once an extra Councillor had attended the Well-Being
training the Council could resolve to adopt the Power of Well Being – December
2009 agenda
.
193.0 Affordable Housing: No planning application had been received
to date – the Clerk has not received a response to the queries raised at the
September meeting about eligibility criteria. It was felt that if the vendor
asked for protective covenants on the land, this might add further protection.
194.0 Appendix of Outstanding Matters
| Topic | Update |
| Dog Litter Bins | Clerk has met with Wealden Council and is proving maps of the locations for new bins. |
| War Memorial Trust | Clerk provided Charity Commission document to CCLA to request unit holding to be released |
| Finger Post | No response with regard to the Flimwell Post to date. |
| RDC Car park | No response to letter re blocking entrance to Bell Field- wrote 20.8.09 |
| Bus Stop | ESCC to talk to the Bus Co and ask drivers to pull in. |
| BT Pay Phone | BT Box in the Square, although listed still has to be adopted if it is to be retained. BT have commissioned the necessary repair work. Clerk to attempt to argue for its retention in working order. |
| Lights | Lights at Lower Platts (2) have been reported but are underground cable faults that will take some time. Light on Pashley Road has been reported. |
| Hedge of football field | Cllr. A Cook has asked her contractor to cut the hedge |
| Newsletter | Newsletter needs doing this month – volunteer articles were requested by next Friday. |
195.0 District Council Report: There was no written report available
D. Cllr. Jenkins asked that any comment on the Bus Strategy Consultation
Document should be forwarded to him by next week – Cllr. Yeo took the document
and will pass it on to Cllrs. Maynard and Goodall.
196.0 County Council Report: There was no written report available.
C. Cllr. Barnes reiterated his comments from the October meeting that
Parishes should consider clustering together to provide local community bus
provision – there is currently some finance available from ESCC. It was resolved
that the Clerk should contact Burwash, Etchingham and Hurst Green to try and
arrange a meeting. He added that the high elderly population levels in the
County had budgetary implications.
197.0 SALC and RALC Reports: Cllr. Cook reported that she would be
attending the
Planning Seminar tomorrow on behalf of the Council, the RALC AGM and
the AIRS meeting on Village Halls with the Clerk on 18th November. She was
thanked for her willingness to represent Ticehurst at such events.
198.0 Dog Bins: Areas had been identified where bins would be useful. Sites mentioned to date are at the junction of High Street and Cross Lane, near the Primary School, in Church Street, Flimwell Recreation Ground and Stonegate Recreation Ground. There was much debate about whether bins are needed and it was resolved that an article asking for public opinion would be useful in the News and Views. Cllr. Yeo felt that they were inappropriate other than at Recreation Ground sites.
199.0 Roads: Clerk has met with ESCC and Rother Homes about the broken kerbs in Springfields and about the two pieces of land within Springfields – the ditch and the hedge to try to identify responsibility for maintenance.
200.0 Finance Report: Financial reconciliation, together with list
of cheques for sanctioning was tabled and it was resolved to sign the cheques
listed below. (Proposed by Cllr. Burley and seconded by Cllr. Semple).
Notes made at the meeting of the Financial Advisory Group on 23rd October
had been circulated to all Cllrs. It was resolved that the Clerk should move
the designated monies for traffic calming into a separate account.
| Cheque | Amount | To whom | For: |
| 2502 | £230.00 | Greenman Enterprise | Web site for year |
| 2503 | £90.85 | RBS | Accounting system for year |
| 2504 | £460.00 | Mazars | External Audit |
| 2505 | £500.00 | R Elliston | Xmas Lights |
| 2506 | £100.00 | Chequers | Xmas Light refreshments |
| 2507 | £1500.00 | Stonegate Hall | Annual contribution s137 |
| 2508 | £100.00 | Scouts | Annual contribution s137 |
| 2509 | £100.00 | Football Club | Annual contribution s137 |
| 2510 | £50.00 | Rural Rother | Annual contribution s137 |
| 2511 | £100.00 | CAB | Annual contribution s137 |
| 2512 | £100.00 | Hawkhurst Hospital | Annual contribution s137 |
| 2513 | £250.00 | St. Peters | Towards hedge cutting costs |
| 2514 | £15.00 | M Yeo | Phone costs – Bus |
| 2515 | £387.53 | PAYE | Salary |
| 2516 | £1236.67 | Nowne | Salary and expenses |
| 2517 | £7526.75 | Monster Play | Hut |
| 2518 | £24.00 | M Giles | Rubbish collection |
| 2519 | £42.93 | Viking Direct | Stationery |
201.0 Planning Report: Report on meeting held on 29th October 2009.
RR/2009/2453/P Forge Yard Stonegate – Re-development of the site
for three houses and office/workshop - 2 abstentions due to personal interests
– recommendation for refusal. Cllr. Maynard reported that the application
had caused some controversy and it was felt that a commercial sale could have
been achieved.
RR/2009/2461/O Hazlehurst Farm Oast – lawful occupancy of the Oast
– recommendation for approval.
RR/2009/2473/P Little Pashley Farm – erection of two stables and tack
room - recommendation for approval.
RR/2009/2514/L 1a Clare House – retrospective application for internal
alterations – recommendation for approval.
202.0 Bewl Water: Consultation and response to Planning Applications. (Cllr. Rigby was absent from the meeting and it was resolved to place this on the next agenda.)
203.0 Allotments: Cllr. Maynard reported on progress made at Flimwell and the likely venue for allotment provision in Stonegate – A letter to ascertain interest within Stonegate had resulted in twenty-three expressions of interest. It is unlikely that a secure tenancy on the new site will be achievable, and tenants would be informed of this. Due to the current state of the land, monies had been allocated in the draft precept to cover ‘set up’ costs. Cllr Maynard was thanked for his work and Cllr. Mitchell added that the Flimwell allotments had given a much needed ‘heart’ to the village.
204.0 Traffic Calming: It was resolved that the Clerk should chase ESCC and the private consultant ‘Moodys’ for an up date on possible means of calming traffic and the cost implications.
205.0 Correspondence:
| 1 | Action in Rural Sussex | Quarterly newsletter and Village Hall Workshops 16th Nov – N Horsham and 18th Nov – Burwash 1-3.30pm Reply by 9th Nov - Clerk willing to go. Annual Conference 6th Nov – Cllr. Cook to attend. |
| 2 | Bedgebury | Premises License application 11th/12th June |
| 3 | RDC | Dog Control Order – extra areas to be considered – Cllrs. were asked to respond to the Clerk. |
| 4 | Mr Harrison | Response from PC to Mr Harrison re Flimwell hedge |
| 5 | A Arnold | PC email re hedges Rosemary Lane – asking ESCC to organise for the owners to cut them back as they are obscuring the road signs |
| 6 | D Hermon | Monitoring Officer – offer of visit/talk re code of conduct on 2nd March 2010 – Clerk to confirm this date for 7.00 pm |
| 7 | Battle Transport | Thank you for donation |
| 8 | Hedleys | Registration of land – Clerk to sign declaration re V Square and instruct them to carry on with other plots – Stonegate Recreation ground to be added to list? |
| 9 | G Barker MP | Written to ESCC Highways re traffic calming delay Clerk has had a meeting with his new researcher and Greg Barker MP will be meeting with Clerk in Nov to discuss various issues |
| 10 | ESCC | Bus Strategy Consultation –See D. Cllr. Report |
| 11 | ESCC | Flimwell Bus Stop – ESCC to correspond with Bus Co. |
| 12 | ESCC | Hedge at Sunny Bank – response – then formulated (4) above |
| 13 | ESCC | Footpath – re Birchenwood – site has now been cleared and has been re-opened for public use. |
| 14 | Police | Farm and Countryside Watch – Clerk to respond. |
| 15 | RDC | Re elections in different wards |
| 16 | Amicus Horizon | Request for Annexe – favourable – Clerk meeting representative to discuss times/facilities on 4th Nov. |
| 17 | Amicus Horizon | Pickforde Lane – have it in next years budget |
| 18 | RDC | Letter from PC re Pickforde Lane – as above – negative response |
206.0 Village Notice Boards: The Clerk had obtained quotations for the three boards and asked Amicus Horizon if the Ticehurst Board could be sited at the entrance to Springfields. Tom Casey at Rother Homes had made an informal offer to supply and install a new board once the new older persons accommodation was completed. New Boards will cost in the region of £700 each including installation.
207.0 Community Bus: Community Transport Review – covered under C. Cllr. Report – Cllrs. Yeo and Maynard requested that the draft precept for 2010/11 be increased by £100 for the contribution to Battle Community Bus.
208.0 Items for the December Agenda: Topics Only.
Power of Well Being
The Priory Ticehurst
Flimwell Hall – Clerk to request updates from Hall Trust and Weald
Woodnet.
Community Transport
Bewl Water
Allotments
Draft Precept – within Finance Report.
209.0 The Bell Field: (Confidential). There was no update for this agenda item.
210.0 Date of the next meeting: The meeting closed at 9.15 p.m. and the date of the next meeting set for 1st December 2009.