LODSWORTH PARISH COUNCIL

DRAFT Minutes of a meeting held at Lodsworth Village Hall On Monday 13th March 2017

Present: Councillors Victoria Anderson, Justina Leitao, Charles McKee, Caroline Neville (Chair) and David Rowlands

In attendance: District Councillor Francis Hobbs

County Councillor Michael Brown Mrs Helen Cruikshank, Parish Clerk

Comments and Questions from members of the Public

There were no members of the public present.

15/17. To note apologies for absence

Belated apologies from Parish Councillor Paul Phillips

16/17. Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations of Interest

17/17. Co-option of Councillor/Councillor Vacancy

The Chairman announced that Stephen Game had resigned from the Parish Council. Clerk to put up vacancy notice.

Mr James Rees was co-opted as a Parish Councillor, having been unanimously voted in. The Chairman welcomed him to the Parish Council. The Clerk would send him all the necessary forms and documentation.

18/17. Minutes of the previous Parish Council Meeting

The Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 16th January 2017 were approved and signed as a correct record.

19/17. Matters arising from the minutes of the last meeting

There were no matters which were not on the agenda tonight.

20/17. Reports from the elected representatives of WSCC and CDC

County Councillor Michael Brown reported that WSCC Highways has just announced that a further £500,000 has been put aside for 2017/18 funding to deal with local flooding issues through Operation Watershed. He said that the scheme is very popular and hoped in future that County would delegate more down to parish level as local people tend to know what is wrong and able to find the best solutions. If Lodsworth has any flooding issues, he urged the Parish Council to apply for funding. Finally, Michael Brown thanked Lodsworth Parish Council for always making him feel welcome and he had thoroughly enjoyed attending the meetings over the past 8 years and helping the parish where he could. The Chairman thanked him for everything he had done in the parish over this time and invited him to attend the Annual Parish Meeting and local events when he could.

District Councillor Hobbs reported on the decision by Highways England to cancel the A27 Chichester bypass scheme due to there being no consensus reached locally on a way forward. He spoke of flooding issues with regard to the recent SDNPA land housing allocations and potential development in Lynchmere.

21/17. Working Party reports

  • Playground:Caroline Neville reported that Stephen Game had tried to arrange a meeting with Eibe to discuss improvements to the ground at the playground. Since he has now left the Parish Council,she

and the Clerk would organise a meeting to progress this. Justina Leitao suggested contacting the Mother and Toddler group for their views.

  • Highways including Speedwatch: Vicki Anderson reported she and Caroline Neville had met with the new WSCC Highways area manager, Chris Dye and had taken him on a tour of the parish, pointing out the various highways issues. It had been a very frustrating meeting and neither are hopeful much can be done. Complaints had been received about not only the speed of traffic and size of the vehicles coming through the village but the parking on The Street and Gills Lane. However this may cause problems if progressed as any parking restriction will stop all parking 10m from the junction in all directions. Chris Dye said Speedwatch will be a useful tool but it is not hopeful that a reduction in speed will ever be achieved given the number of previous years of work the parish has done trying to move this forward. The final straw last year was being taken off the TRO list along with 14 others out of 18 in the area. In addition to this, the corner of the green outside The Hollist Arms was discussed. WSCC has now confirmed that any work here is the responsibility of Highways not The Cowdray Estate and to reduce the green and increase the turning area will cost £15-20,000 which the Parish Council would have to pay foritself.

David Rowlands said with reference to the last meeting, he did not complain personally about the state of the road on Gills Lane but had received complaints from parishioners about its condition. Clerk will report this once again but it is thought the condition is not currently at intervention level by WSCC Highways.

Charles Mckee said he is progressing with Speedwatch and a rotating schedule needs to be organised once the training has been given. It is hoped that when the parish has the equipment that two monitoring sessions a week can be arranged.

  • Footpaths, Hedges and Rights of Way: Clerk had received a letter regarding the West Sussex County Council (WSCC) annual update on Public Rights of Way. It outlines the work completed in the parish as part of the WSCC 15 month Routine Maintenance and Inspection Cycle. This programme provides onecutperyearonselectpathsaroundthecounty(approximately10%)andalistofpathscut in the parish area. Please let the Clerk know of any areas which need attention so she may feed this back to the Access Ranger. Clerk to put article in Outlook asking parishioners to contact her if they know of any areas needing attention. David Rowlands said he had reported the overgrowing bramble problem which had been highlighted to him by a parishioner on footpath 1085. Caroline Neville asked James Rees whether he would be prepared to take on the responsibility of Rights of Way as he had a dog and it made the task of walking the parish paths less onerous. He kindlyagreed.
  • Allotments: There was nothing to report. Clerk said that the allotment invoices for the new season would shortly be sentout.
  • Parish repairs: Caroline Neville said she would speak to Ben Law about filling the sides of the new bus shelter on the A272 as parishioners waiting for the bus have commented that the shelter does not offer much protection from the elements. Vicki Anderson and the Clerk asked the members whether they would consider allowing the Lodsworth Larder to have a sign with the shop logo on the bus shelter to notify road users and help advertise the shop. Clerk confirmed the shop committee is looking into advertising consent. The Parish Council is concerned that all businesses in the parish may then want to advertise but as the Lodsworth Larder is a community (not for profit) shop it was felt that help should be given. It requested that the actual size, design and location of the proposed sign be confirmed and submitted to the parish council before formal approval wasgiven.
  • Winter Plan and Operation Watershed: David Rowlands reported the grit/salt had to be replaced in the grit bin on Bexley Hill with ACS delivering two additional bags last month. He stressed the importance of the Parish Council purchasing three new grit bins for the parish before next winter; one at the junction of School Lane and Shepherds Lane, one by Langham Stables and another one by the A272.

Clerk reported on Operation Watershed; the Lickfold Bridge project was still on-going and both Lurgashall and Lodsworth Parish Councils were waiting for the modelling and reporting side of the project to be finished.

  • Planning:There were two outstanding applications which would be discussed over the next few weeks at a planningmeeting.

22/17. Annual Parish Meeting 2017

It was agreed the Annual Parish Meeting would be held straight after the Parish Council AGM on Monday 15th May at 8pm. Charles McKee suggested that CBEC come and present their findings from the Lickfold Bridge Survey at the meeting. All agreed this was an excellent idea, Clerk to action.

23/17. Financial Matters

  • The Councils current financial position of £17,578 wasnoted.
  • The bank reconciliation at Appendix 2 wasnoted.
  • The schedule of accounts submitted for payment at Appendix 3 was noted. Payments were authorised for WSCC (Clerk’s February Salary) @ £439, Southern Water (Allotment Water) @ £18.61 and Mrs Helen Cruikshank (Clerk’s Exps Q4 16/17) @£64.29
  • The Clerk had completed the VAT return and £7,006 had beenreceived.
  • The Clerk had received a letter from the Kent, Surrey Sussex Air Ambulance requesting whether the Parish Council would consider a donation of £250 to help support the service (Appendix 4). This was agreed and payment wasapproved.

24/17. Reports back from meetings attended by Councillors

There had been no external meetings since the last Parish Council meeting

25.17.Clerks Report including anycorrespondence

Clerk spoke of three forthcoming meetings:

  • North Chichester CLC meeting – Thursday 16th March at 7pm – The Grange Centre, Midhurst (Willow Room)
  • North-East and North-West Community Forum – Tuesday 28th March at 7pm (6.30pm refreshments) at The Old Library, Knockhundred Row inMidhurst
  • All Parishes Meeting – Wednesday 5th April at East Pallant House (7-9pm, buffet from6.30pm)

Clerk had received a letter from the Lodsworth Village Hall Committee asking for a nomination from the PC for the committee. Caroline Neville agreed to continue to be the nominated person for the forthcoming year.

26/17. Matters to be included on the next agenda

Co-option if applicable

Please let the Clerk know of any items for the agenda by Monday 8th May 2017

27/17. Date of next Parish Council meeting – Monday 15th May 2017 at 7.30pm (AGM) The Chairman closed the meeting at 9.25pm