Easebourne Parish Council

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 11TH JANUARY 2006 IN THE REFECTORY, EASEBOURNE

Present: Mrs E Hamilton, Mr D Warner, Mr J Stringer, Mr J Dabson, Mr D Pack, Mr B Gowar, Mr P Rhodes, Mrs J Deacon-Ford, Mrs A Marchand, Mr T Pemberton (WSCC), Mr M Fay (CDC), the Clerk and 5 members of the public.

05/06

55 Apologies for absence were received from Mr I Heustice

56 Declaration of Interest was made by Mr D Warner in connection with the planning application for Loves Farm (item 63 on the agenda)

57 The Minutes of the meeting held on 9th November 2005 were signed as a true record. All in favour

58 Matters Arising: Minute 05/06 45, Mr Pemberton confirmed that the Parish Council would not have to pay for replacing lamp post No 13 in Easebourne Street that was damaged during grass cutting in October. Minute 05/06 52, Response received from CDC to our letter concerning parking and the Cowdray Heritage Project, referring the Council to the Midhurst Parking Study and subsequent CDC Parking Forum meeting on 17th January 2006.

59 Councillor Vacancy. This vacancy occurred due to the resignation of Mr C Hill at the meeting held on 9th November 2005. It was duly advertised, as required by law, and as no bye-election was requested, by at least 10 electors, the Council became able to co-opt a new member. Mr Francis Martin was proposed by Mrs Marchand and seconded by Mr Dabson. All in favour. Mr Martin was duly co-opted and took his seat on the Council.

60 County Councillor, Mr Pemberton reported on the following items:
Progress on Traffic Management Plan – improvements for the A286 are ready to be implemented but for the A272 they are not yet ready. Plans to be brought to the March meeting.
County Local Committees, next meeting to be held on 7th March 2006 at the Leconfield Rooms, Petworth.
Rights of Way, there are many changes in the pipeline regarding the status of Rights of Way in West Sussex and the Council will be kept informed of these changes as they occur.

61 District Councillor, Mr M Fay had no specific items to report but when asked about the situation at King Edward VII Hospital said that there were no further developments to report.

62 Finance:
a) The following payments were noted (cheque numbers 800-)
392 St Mary’s PCC, Friendship Teas in December grant £25.00
393 Midhurst Area Cycling, grant £50.00
394 Royal British Legion, Poppy Appeal donation £50.00
395 Brian Wegg, grass strimming and step repairs £25.00
396 SALC, new councillor course (D Pack) £129.25
397 R Wallis, burial ground maintenance 1.10.05 to 31.12.05 £569.65
398 SALC, new councillor course (I Heustice) £129.25
399 Communicorp, Clerks & Councils Direct publication £9.00
400 C Allan, clerk’s salary for 01.10.05 to 31.12.05 £875.00
400 C Allan, clerk’s travel/telephone expenses £49.89

b) The internal check of accounts for November and December 2005, by Mr Stringer, was noted
c) After hearing from Mr Pemberton that the increase in the cost of street lighting maintenance by WSCC only reflected the increase passed on by the contractor and that the Parish enjoyed the advantage of scale available by using the WSCC contract Mr Stringer proposed and Mr Dabson seconded the signing of the new contract. All in favour.
d) The Parish has been offered the opportunity to obtain street lighting electricity from EDF Energy through a countywide contract with WSCC. Mr Martin agreed to check the comparative costs between the existing supplier, Southern Electric, and EDF Energy. The findings to be discussed at the next meeting in March.
e) The renewal of the agreement with R Wallis and Sons for burial ground maintenance, in the sum of £2001 for the year commencing 01.04.06, was proposed by Mr Stringer and seconded by Mrs Deacon-Ford. All in favour

63 Planning:
The following planning decisions were noted EPC CDC
05/03199/DOM: 10 Highfield Close, motorhome car port No obj Permit
05/03185/DOM: 20 Cowdray Road, extension to outbuilding No obj Permit
05/03463/FUL: Stables at Hurst Cottage, Old Buddington Lane
Change stable barn to tourist accommodation No obj Permit
05/03689/DOM: 7 Vanzell Road, rear extension/loft conversion No obj Permit
05/03400/DOM: 27 Hurst Park, 5 bar gate & replace fence No obj Permit
05/03805/FUL: Conifers School, install modular building No obj Permit
05/04020/DOM: Kirktons, Upperfield, rear & side extensions No obj Permit
05/04048/OUT: Acorn Press & Staveley, Kings Drive
extension of permission 02/02313/OUT No obj Permit

The following planning applications were discussed
05/04504/OUT: Nightons, Hollist Lane, erection of one dwelling on plot.
It was felt that the proposed new house would be squeezed onto a cramped, small plot within an area of larger properties and would be unsuitable in the context of the existing development in Hollist Lane, Concern was also expressed about the Copper Beech trees on the site, as they appeared to be very close to the proposed dwelling, and it was hoped that these would be subject to a Tree Preservation Order. Objection to the application was proposed by Mr Stringer and seconded by Mrs Deacon-Ford. Majority in favour.
05/04576/FUL: Loves Farm, Easebourne Street, change of use to mixed farm agriculture with equestrian use and construction of new horse arena.
The applicants were in attendance and confirmed that no extra horses would be kept at the farm as a result of this application but a new horse exercise area would be constructed adjacent to the farm, replacing a redundant area to the north. Mr Stringer commented that Mr Renwick was one of only a few tenant farmers remaining on the Cowdray Estate and should be supported in his attempt to make the farm viable by diversification into equitation. Mr Gowar had reported concern about the increased volume of traffic, on a road that is also used as a footpath, since commencement of equestrian use.
Mr Stringer proposed and Mrs Marchand seconded that the Council offer no objection to the application. Majority in favour.

Mrs Hamilton said that following unsolicited advice from Mr T Leggo, Executive Officer of SALC, that the Council’s decision (Minute 05/06 48), to continue dealing with planning applications by circulation and not at a meeting open to the public, may be illegal, further clarification was sought from Mr M Kelley, District Solicitor, CDC. His letter, in response, was read to the meeting, by Mrs Hamilton, who then invited comments from the Councillors present:
Mrs Marchand said that although the Parish Council does not make the final decision on the outcome of a planning application it does make a decision on whether to support or object to the application. As one of the largest parishes in this area, with a high level of planning activity, we should be seen to be leading the way by utilising good practice guidelines and for our parishioners to have confidence in our democratic and accountable conduct.
Mrs Deacon-Ford said that for over 20 years the Council had been dealing with planning applications in the same way and she saw no reason to change a system that has worked perfectly satisfactorily. A public meeting would be called for any application that concerned the whole village.
Mr Stringer said that he had many years experience of planning matters, both as a Parish Councillor and also as a District Councillor serving on the Planning Committee, and that in that time the Parish Council, as one of several consultees, only offered an opinion and not a decision on any planning application. The public were able to make their views known directly to CDC as part of the consultation process. He also disagreed with the decision to raise the matter again at this meeting.
Mr Dabson said that of the 64 planning applications received by the Parish Council in 2005 the majority were very straightforward. He said that the members of the Planning Panel were appointed by the Parish Council as their representatives. He also felt that the matter should not have been raised again after the vote taken at the last Council Meeting .
Mr Gowar said that in practical terms the current system works perfectly well.
Mr Warner suggested that the Council should do nothing that opens it up to future problems and he suggested that a meeting be requested with Mr M Kelley, in his capacity as the Monitoring Officer of the Standards Committee, to mediate and clarify the legal position of the Parish Council in this matter. This was proposed by Mr Warner and seconded by Mr Stringer. All in favour.
Mrs Hamilton, Mr Warner, Mr Stringer and Mrs Marchand agreed to meet Mr Kelley. The Clerk to write to Mr Kelley and arrange a meeting.

64 Reports from panels:
a) Playground – little use at this time of year and everything in order
b) Burial Ground – no problems to report
c) Footpaths – it was asked if the fallen leaves could be cleared from High Path. Clerk to contact CDC.
d) Grants – letters of thanks have been received from Royal British Legion and the organisers of the Friendship Teas at St Mary’s Church for the grants provided by the Council after the November meeting. Mrs Hamilton also expressed thanks on behalf of Midhurst Area Cycling.

65 Village Action Plan: Affordable Housing. The Clerk was asked to write to CDC to ascertain that the affordable housing at Budgenor Lodge would be available for occupation before the entire development project was completed.

66 Cowdray Heritage Trust: No new developments to report.

67 Correspondence and dates for diaries:
1 CDC: Midhurst Parking Study. After seeking the views of all Councillors a response was sent to CDC. This, together with the views of other interested parties, will be discussed at a Chichester District Parking Forum meeting on 17th January 2006. Mrs Hamilton will attend, together with Mr Martin

The meeting closed at 9.00pm

The next Parish Council Meeting will be held on 8th March 2006 at 7.30pm in the Refectory. All Parishioners are welcome to attend.

Mrs Carole Allan, Clerk to Easebourne Parish Council
Ashfield Cottage, 1 Ashfield Close, Midhurst, West Sussex, GU29 9RP
Telephone: 01730 813374
Email: parishcouncil@easebourne.fsnet.co.uk