Ticehurst Parish Council

The Village Hall, Lower High Street, Ticehurst, East Sussex, TN5 7BB 01580 754 090

Draft Minutes of Ticehurst Parish Council meeting held on Tuesday 6 September  2011 

30 minutes were allowed at the start of the meeting for public questions and comments on relevant matters on the agenda. The Chairman reminded the public that they had a right and were welcome to stay and observe the rest of the meeting. 

Matters raised:

• Red Phone Box at Three Leg Cross
• Thanks were expressed by TRIP for Council’s support
• A query with regard amount of time taken up answering letters from a member of the public.

 AGENDA

Present:  Cllr. Goodall (c), Cook, Maynard, Spencer, Yeo, Cocking, Burley, Langdown, Young, Rigby and Burnham.  In attendance:  C. Cllr. Barnes and D. Cllr. Barnes.

620.0 Declarations of Interest: Cllr. Cook and Cllr. Langdown declared a personal interest in any matters that involved the Beatrice Drewe Trust and Cllr. Cook declared a personal interest in agenda item 637.0 as a neighbour to the Bell Field.

621.0 Apologies for absence:  Apologies were received from Cllr. Jones and Cllr. Hastings and the reasons accepted by their colleagues were recorded in the attendance register.  D. Cllr. Elliston had also sent his apologies.

622.0 Minutes of the meeting held on 5th July  2011:  Cllr. Cook proposed and Cllr. Langdown seconded that the minutes of that meeting were a true record of those proceedings and  signed by the  Chairman.

623.0 Additional Agenda Items:  There were no additional agenda items.

624.0  Football Goal for Flimwell Recreation Gound:  It was resolved that the socketed moveable goal should be purchased and installed  - £640.00 plus VAT

625.0  Traffic Calming Group:  Cllr. Young reported that Colin Davis had responded to her queries – herringbone parking design would result in the loss of a couple of parking spaces.  It was anticipated that a road surface change would denote pedestrian crossing areas.  Cllr. Maynard commented that the scheme shows a rather ambitious three crossing points.  The plan did not include the full resurfacing of the Village Square as ESCC would expect the parish Council to fund this.  It was anticipated that ‘gateway’ would be installed at the 30mph points although there were reservations that residents outside these zones might feel excluded – however this view was not felt to be a problem by a resident of Upper Platts.  It was resolved to ask Mr Davis to work with the County Council to produce costings for all the proposals (including an alteration to the right of way at Lower High Street and Lower Platts) and a time table.  It was further resolved to have a public consultation morning in the Village Square on a Saturday morning. 

Road Surfaces around the parish – It was resolved to adopt Cllr. Langdown’s motion to urge East Sussex County Council to reconsider the resurfacing of the Flimwell to Ticehurst road as a matter of urgency due to the uneven surface which is increasingly dangerous for cars, cyclists and motor cyclists.

626.0  Appendix of Outstanding Matters:

627.0 District Council Report:  

• Cllr. Barnes reported that Wadhurst Parish Council had repeated its request to Rother for boundary changes around Bewl.  It was resolved that the Clerk should write again to Rother stating the necessity of retaining the current boundary.
• Local stations may not be manned in the future – Stonegate and Etchingham – Clerk to write to object to this proposal.
• Public Entertainment Licence for the Bell – the blanket application will be considered by RDC who may require the pub to apply for individual occasions.
• Core Strategy – Cllr. Barnes reminded the Council to respond to this important document.

628.0 County Council Report:

• Cllr. Barnes assured the Council that he would push for the refurbishment of the Flimwell to Ticehurst Road and that the new forty mile an hour speed restriction in Wallcrouch would not be adversely affected by budgetary cuts.
• Cllr. Barnes suggested that a ‘gateway’ could be considered for Wallcrouch.

629.0 SALC and RALC Reports: RALC minutes are now circulated to all Councillors.

630.0 Environmental Report:  A report had been circulated to all Councillors on 16.8.11  Cllr. Young reported that a meeting had been held with Wendy Fidler of  Scapability, who would produce a programme of suggestions and sources of grant aid for Farthing Hill.  It was felt that the suggestion of a weaving footpath down the slope in this area would promote better use of the area.

631.0 Finance Report: 
Report from the Financial Advisory group.
It was resolved to move funds to the  Co-operative Bank – community account. – Clerk to action with Chairman of Financial Advisory Group.
Adoption of Financial regulations from 2008 – It was resolved to adopt the document without changes that had been circulated to all Councillors on 5th July 2011.
It was resolved to sanction the list of cheques below.

A report showing expenditure to date and remaining precepts under each budget heading had been circulated to all Councillors together with a full bank reconciliation

632.0 Planning Report:
Response need to RDC Planning Consultation by 12th September 2011:

Response to Local Housing Criteria verification – response needed by October.

RDC Core strategy – response needed by 30th September:

The above mattrs were delegated to the Plannng Committee for comment.

Planning applications considered since the last meeting and the recommendations forwarded to RDC:
RR/2011/1033/P Stonegate Farm House – Summer House – no comment as applicant is a Councillor
RR/2011/437/O George Cottage, Three Leg Cross – new dwelling – recommendation for refusal.
RR/2011/111/T 10 Steelands Rise – reduction of two Oaks and fell one Oak – reductions approved, but not the dismantling of Oak
RR/2011/1154/P Bell Hotel – alterations to fire escape – recommendation for approval
RR/2011/1188/P Acorn Cottage Flimwell – extension – recommendation for approval
RR/2011/895/P Boundary Farm – Lean to – recommendation for refusal.
RR/2011/1456/P Ketleys Oast – replacement roof to outbuilding – approval
RR/2011/1465/P Northgate House – reduction of W Willow – approval
RR/2011/1492/P Hollands Row  Flimwell – new dwelling – refusal.
RR/2011/1470/P New House Farm Stonegate – repair of timber floor – approval           
RR/2011/1658/P Bolsters Gate Stonegate – removal of hedge/erection of fence - approval

633.0  Car Park in Pickforde Lane:  The visits during the summer by RDC parking attendants o place tickets on cars/vans exceeding time restrictions has resulted in less people using the car park and parking in the streets.  Rother have not yet responded to letter of objection sent from the Council.  D Cllr. M Barnes was wasked to take this up on behalf of the Council.

634.0 Correspondence

635.0 Recreation Grounds – ROSPA report: A summary of report findings was circulated to all Councillors on 16th August 2011.   The Clerk was instructed to ensure that all recommendations were followed.

636.0 Items for the October Agenda:    

• Red phone box at Three Leg Cross
• Gas light replacement at Cross Lane
• Parking on pavements
• Community Oil
• Emergency Cars for Winter
• Flimwell Survey update

637.0 The Bell Field:  (Confidential). There were no matters for discussion.

638.0  Date of the next meeting: The meting closed at 9.10 pm and the date for the next meeting set for  4th  October  2011