Ansty and Staplefield Parish Council.

Minutes of the NPEX Meeting held on 16th October 2012 at 7.30pm in the Committee Room above Staplefield Village Hall.

NPEX members present: Cllr Brad Williams (Chair), Cllr Bob Birthwright, Angela Holroyd (Brook Street), Ben Drake (Staplefield), James Steadman (Ansty).
Also present: Liz Bennett (Clerk), Tony Fullwood (Planning Consultant), 3 Brook Street volunteers: Margaret, Linda, Morris.

  1. Apologies for absence.
    All members were present.
  2. Minutes of the last meeting.
    The minutes were AGREED and signed by the Chairman.
  3. Volunteer welcome and work stream allocation.
    Brad welcomed the three Brook Street volunteers and provided some background to the plan and an update on progress.
    Tony then talked through some briefing notes that he prepared for the tasks relating to preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan evidence base. During the discussion the following points were made:

- Tony mentioned that there is an additional site that should be considered which straddles the boundary between Cuckfield Parish and Ansty and Staplefield. The clerk will find out the details.

- The need for investigating boundaries around the villages was discussed. There is already a village boundary around Ansty, although this could be updated and changed. Brook Street and Staplefield do not currently have village boundaries which mean that the whole area is treated as open countryside and so no development can take place. This piece of work would need to take place after the site assessments because any development sites would need to be included within the boundary. Even if it is decided that village boundaries are not appropriate in Brook Street or Staplefield, the report will need to explain why.

- It was suggested that some form of community engagement will be necessary to test reaction to the options that are generated from the evidence base e.g. the shape of village boundaries, development sites etc.

Work was then allocated as follows:

  1. Housing Research – Liz Bennett
  2. Assessment of housing sites – teams led by James, Ben and Angela. MSDC have also offered support for this.
  3. Built Environment, built up area boundaries. Teams lead by James, Ben and Angela. It was suggested that impartial professional advice might be needed here because it is likely to generate some highly contentious issues. The clerk will see if MSDC can provide some support.
  4. Character assessments – Ben, James and Angela to nominate for their area.
  5. Ecology and landscape – parish wide. Ben, James and Angela to nominate by 3rd November.
  6. Leisure and Sports – Jo Steadman.
  7. Economy and Employment – Bob Birthwright.
  8. Tourism –Jo Steadman.
  9. Transport – James Steadman.
  10. Project Plan – Brad Williams
  11. Engagement – Brad Williams and Liz Bennett.


The clerk will provide NPEX members with additional sources of reference.

  1. Meeting with Developers 3rd November in Ansty Village Hall.
    It was agreed that NPEX will meet at 9am for a pre-meeting with the first developer arriving at 9.30am. Each developer will be given a half hour slot. So far six people have confirmed attendance and there is the possibility of a further two. If any further people come forward before the 3rd then a second date will be arranged.
  1. Next Steps.

The next NPEX meeting will be on 6th November at 7.30pm in Staplefield.
Brad explained that the Parish Council is trying to obtain some additional funding from MSDC because assistance will be needed from Tony Fullwood at various stages throughout the process.

MEETING CLOSED.

DRAFT MINUTES SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION.