26 Jan 17 Minutes of Meeting
Chairman: Mr. Howard Ewing
Thursday 26 January 2017 at The Park House Hotel, Bepton Road
Present: Mr H Ewing (in the Chair), Mrs C Bower, Mr G Ryan, Mrs L Milner,
Mrs Alex Cunningham, Dr J Wilkinson
Cllr Gordon McAra, County Councillor
Eight Members of the Public
524. Apologies – Mrs R Hart, Cllr C Neville (District Councillor)
525. Declaration of Interests of Members on Agenda –
526. Minutes of the Meeting 24 November, 2016 – were approved and signed.
527. Mr. Ryan asked that the following be recorded.
Miss Margaret Knight died at the great age of 97 in her house, Bepton Common, on 19 December 2016 where she was born and had lived her whole life. Miss Knight was buried in St Mary's Church, Bepton. One of the very few people in these modern times who can say they lived their whole life in the village.
528. Reports form the County and District Councillors
Report from County Councillor – Cllr McAra reported on the following: –
1. There are new guidelines for the use of wheelie bins and how they should be stored and used.
2. The Midhurst and Petworth area has been chosen as one of four 'innovation sites' to develop a new way of carrying out adult social care services in the future. The project starts on February 27 and locally will cover people registered with doctors at the Riverbank Medical Centre in Midhurst. It is aimed at helping people 'connect' with their communities.
3. The County Council recycling target has increased to 46.6%. A 6% increase which means a saving of £200,000 in Land Tax. More needs to be done.
4. Council Tax will be increased by 3.95% for the next 3 years which includes at 2% adult social care levy allowed by central Government. This is on top of any rises by district, town or parish councils as well as the £5 extra a year for Sussex Police.
5. Rural broadband and the difficulties of connection to communities in outlying parts of villages.
Report from District Councillor – Cllr Neville provided a written report: –
1. There has been a 'call in' regarding car parking charges at Chichester Theatre and New Gate community centre and it has been decided to relook at all car parks as well as the fairness of these charges as it could cause hardship, particularly at New Gate.
2. Regarding the A27, CDC is writing to Highways England for answers as to why the options given were chosen and why the northern route was taken out of the equation. After much debate, CDC is asking for a re-assessment of the previously given options with other new northern and southern routes put on the table.
3. The cabinet member for services has said that the decision to outsource the running of The Grange and Westgate has been very successful and has cut costs for CDC substantially.
Minutes of Bepton Parish Council meeting 24 November 2016
529. Matters arising from the Minutes
a) Local Government Boundary Commission for England has now published its final recommendations for ward boundaries for a future Chichester District Council of 36 members. The next step is for the Commission to lay an order in Parliament, which will bring these changes into effect for the district and parish council elections in May 2017. Bepton will move into Midhurst Ward.
b) TAG Farnborough Airport – Item 3.4 Conclusion – "We concluded that the proposed flight-path spread and altitude described in the additional consultation document struck an appropriate balance between the conflicting requirements of stakeholders and us, the sponsor." Further details can be found on website http://www.consultation.tagfarnborough.com.
530. Public Participation
SDNP/16/06305/FUL – CoU of field into an overflow car park. The meeting heard the concerns and objections from residents to the proposal. Following a discussion by the councillors, a vote was taken and the decision was 4 to 2 to object to the application. Letter of objection to be sent.
SDNP/17/00197/TCA
Mr James Morley of The Old Schoolhouse requests permission to fell one Sycamore tree. The deadline for responses is 6 February.
Mr James Morley on behalf of Mr Richard Bridgmont of Green Gables requests permission to fell 3 Sycamore trees. The deadline for responses is 6 February.
The meeting heard concerns and objections from residents to the felling of the trees. There is also a dispute about the ownership. Following discussion, the Council ageed unanimously to object to the proposal. Although not a planning matter, the Council would point out the disputed ownership to the planning authority. Letter of objection to be sent.
Speaker for the Annual Parish Assembly – It was suggested the council ask Katy Bourne, Police Commission to attend. Councillors were asked for other suggestions.
533. Finance report – Mrs. Grocott RFO
The above payments were approved by the Council.
Minutes of Bepton Parish Council meeting, 26 January 2017
a) Clerks Contract – "Further to the review of the Clerk's Terms and Conditions (T&C), the Council noted that the T&C would be reviewed every two years. And that, all other things being equal, the Parish Council would honour the NALC Pay Awards".
b) On-line banking – The Clerk now has a card reader and card and is intending to pay the invoices on-line. The other signatories, Mrs Hart, Mr Ryan will need to process information and be provided with a card reader and card if they wish to make payments or view on-line.. Mrs Bower banks with Nat West and can now view on-line.
534. Planning Report – Council's response to applications: –
SDNP/16/05440/HOUS –
Mr Dreckman and Miss Burden of 1 Fairoak Cottages, Severals Road requests permission to build a single storey rear extension and alterations. Letter of no objection sent. Permit.
SDNP/17/00030/APNB – Mr Mark Bilsland of Padwicks Farm requests permission to build a new agricultural storage barn. The deadline for responses is 6 February. Letter of objection to be sent.
535. Newsletter – Items for the next edition to be sent to Mrs Bower.
536. Community Fibre Partnership programme –
It was agreed at the last meeting to ask BT for a quote. The focus of the programme would be at the South end of the village, where the broadband speed is particularly low. The quote received from BT was for about £50,000. The cost to residents would be about £1,400 per house. It was agreed that this was not financially viable and the council would not take it any further.
It was mentioned that the Church of England had offered their spires as broadband hubs so there may be an opportunity to make use of St Mary's Church.
537. Telephone Box at Bepton Common
The clerk was asked to advise CDC that it wished to adopt the telephone box subject to the District Council covering the cost of its removal to Severals Green. After this the District Council advised the Parish Council that they would have to cover the cost of its relocation and the cost of connecting power to the unit if it was to be used to house a defibrillator. Although there are possible funding routes for this, it was decided to leave the telephone box in situ.
538. Highways & Byways & Environment
Midhurst Area Cycling – Following the first meeting with WSCC Walking and Cycling Strategy Steering Group schemes have been submitted subject to funding and resources. There are none for the Midhurst area. It was agreed that the South Downs National Park Authority, along with other representative groups, would be invited to join the steering group and other people would be invited to attend future meetings as required.
539. District /County Organisations
a) WSALC – Spring Conference 30 March at Lodge Hill Centre, Pulborough.
b) North West and North East Community Forum 28 March – The Agenda and place will be circulated nearer to the time. Chris Paterson, Communities Lead, and Andrew Lee, Director for Countryside Policy and Management from the South Downs National Park Authority, have been invited to speak at the meeting.
540. Date of next meeting – Thursday 23 March, 7pm at The Park Hotel, Bepton.