EASEBOURNE PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON
WEDNESDAY 14th MAY 2008

AGM Business

1 Election of chairman: Mr I Heustice was proposed by Dr Guyatt and seconded by Mr Martin.  There were no other nominations.  All in favour.

2 Election of Vice-Chairman: Mr J Stringer was proposed by Mr Heustice and seconded by Mr Dabson.  There were no other nominations.  All in favour.

3 Members were appointed to serve on the following panels:

Planning: Mr J Stringer, Mr J Dabson, Mrs J Deacon-Ford, Mr B Gowar and Mrs E Hamilton
Playing Field: Mr M Taylor, Mr D Pack, Mrs A Marchand and Mrs E Hamilton
Burial Ground: Dr A Guyatt, Mr J Stringer and Mrs A Marchand
Footpaths: Mr J Dabson, Mr B Gowar and Mr F Martin
Finance: Mr B Gowar, Mr F Martin and Mr J Stringer

Council Meeting

Present: Mr I Heustice (Chairman), Mr J Stringer (Vice-Chairman), Mr B Gowar, Mr J Dabson, Mr D Pack, Mr F Martin, Mrs A Marchand, Dr A Guyatt, Mr M Taylor, Mrs E Hamilton (EPC & CDC), the Clerk and one member of the public.
 
5 Apologies for Absence: Mrs J Deacon-Ford and Lt Col T Pemberton (WSCC)

6 Declaration of Interest: none

7 The Minutes of the meeting held on 12th March 2008: acceptance was proposed by Mr Stringer and seconded by Mr Martin.  All in favour.  The Minutes were duly signed as a true record.

8 Matters Arising: none

9 Finance:

b) Receipt of the Parish Precept for 01.04.08 to 30.09.08 in the sum of £6250.00 was noted

c) Receipt of VAT refund for the period 01.10.07 to 31.03.08 in the sum of £622.84 was noted

d) Internal check of accounts for March and April 2008, by Mr Stringer, was noted

e) The re-appointment of Mr R Martin as Internal Auditor was proposed by Mr Heustice and seconded by Mr Stringer.  All in favour.

f) Quotes for the renewal of the annual insurance policy were considered.  A cheaper quote had been received from Norwich Union but the Clerk was asked to see if the existing insurer, Allianz, would match their quote.  If the Allianz quote was comparable the policy to be renewed with them.  If Allianz could not match Norwich Union it was proposed by Mr Martin and seconded by Mr Gowar that the insurance be placed with Norwich Union.  All in favour.

g) The Statement of Accounts for year ended 31.03.08 was read to the meeting.  The signing of the Statement was proposed by Dr Guyatt and seconded by Mrs Marchand. All in favour. The statement was duly signed by the Chairman and the Clerk (RFO).

h) The paying of an Honorarium to the Chairman, for the year 2008/2009, in the sum of £100 was proposed by Mr Stringer and seconded by Mr Dabson.  All in favour.

i) The Clerk left the room.  It was proposed by Mr Stringer and seconded by Mr Dabson that the Clerk’s salary be increased by £100 pa.  All in favour.

j) Acceptance of the quote from Mr R Page for a new fence in the playground, in the sum of £1289.00, was proposed by Mr Taylor and seconded by Mrs Hamilton.  All in favour.

10 Planning:
The following planning decisions were noted

King Edward VII Hospital: the planning applications EB/08/01501/FUL and EB/08/01502/LBC for “partial demolition, extension and alterations to existing buildings for continued Class 2 use, and associated landscaping” were discussed at length.  The proposal to utilise the site for a “care community” was welcomed, as was the demolition of some of the modern extensions.  Not everyone was in favour of the insertion of dormer windows that will be brought about by the use of the existing loft space for accommodation.  In general the conversion of the Listed sanatorium building was welcomed. Concern was expressed that if permission were granted there may be additional applications in the future for “new build” in the grounds.  It was noted that there will be a separate application for the Linear Accelerator building.  It was proposed by Mr Gowar and seconded by Mr Dabson that the Parish Council offers no objection to the plans as submitted.  However, the Clerk was to inform CDC that, other than the Linear Accelerator, it would hope that no further applications for accommodation on the site would be received.  Majority in favour.

a) Playground: an incident took place recently where a small fire was started on the safety surfacing around the slide, resulting in some damage.  At the same time many empty beer cans/bottles were found nearby.  The incident was reported to the Police and to ProTec Security.  As a result PC P Quinnell has visited the site frequently.  ProTec reported 58 visits between February 2007 and April 2008.  Only one minor incident detected.  New benches to be installed on 20/21 May and new play equipment also due shortly.

b) Burial Ground: Dr Guyatt spoke of the stability of some of the headstones which he had reported to St Mary’s Church last year. Mr Heustice will mention this at the next PCC meeting.  New bench to be installed shortly.

c) Footpaths: Clerk asked to report damaged fingerpost in Wick Lane.  Clerk to find out what work has been done by the new Highways Rangers, from a list of jobs supplied.  Clerk to chase installation of new litter bin at High Path/Medical centre site as requested in March.

d) Grants: A request from Sussex Air Ambulance, held over from the last Council meeting, was discussed.  There were differing views, as some members thought it an organisation worth supporting, and others felt that  it already had a very large balance of funds.  Mr Stringer proposed that no grant be awarded and this was seconded by Mrs Hamilton.  4 for and 4 against the motion with 1 abstention.  The Chairman voted for the motion.

12 War Memorial: having been asked by St Mary’s Church if the war memorial could be repaired and cleaned, three estimates were obtained and considered.  Mr Dabson proposed and Mr Martin seconded the acceptance of the estimate by Rowan Adams.  All in favour. The Clerk to ask Mr Adams if he has Professional Indemnity Insurance before accepting the estimate.  Mr Heustice is to find out from the PCC if the church insurance covers the war memorial.

13 Traffic calming measures: following a request from a member of the public an estimate was obtained to replace the village signs of “Easebourne” with signs saying “Easebourne – Please Drive Slowly Through our Village”.  In order to replace the three signs on approaches to Easebourne the cost would be £1300.00.  Also discussed were the Speed Indication Devices (SID) and the possibility of purchasing one in conjunction with adjacent villages and also the Vehicle Activated Signs (VAS).  As so many highway safety issues are under consideration by WSCC it was agreed to ask Lt Col Pemberton to report at the next Council meeting on the timetable for implementation of all/some of these measures.


14 Schools in Midhurst/Easebourne: The majority of Parish Councillors would prefer any new build Grammar School/Academy to be sited on the existing Grammar School site. This is mainly for road safety reasons because of concerns about access to the Intermediate School site with a dramatically larger number of pupils at the new school/academy, greatly increased volume of traffic on the A286, together with limited public bus services for children participating in after school activities.  However, concern was expressed as to what would happen to the Intermediate School site if the new building were to be sited in Midhurst.

15 Correspondence received:
Following a request to Andrew Tyrie MP, under the Freedom of Information Act, we have been informed that Easebourne Post Office was loss making for Post Office Ltd.    

CDC have appointed a new Rural Housing Enabler who wishes to visit any possible development sites in Easebourne.  Mr Stringer agreed to meet him.

WSCC are organising a “Sussex Day” on 16th June 2008 and have invited parishes to lead walks.  Mrs Hamilton has agreed to lead a walk on Sunday 15th June at 3pm, meeting at the Priory.  This will be 4 miles with a shorter option and will be advertised on notice boards and web site.  All are welcome.

The meeting closed at 9.28pm

The next Parish Council meeting will be held on 9th July 2008 at 7.30pm.

Mrs Carole Allan, Clerk to Easebourne Parish Council, Ashfield Cottage,
1 Ashfield Close, Midhurst, West Sussex, GU29 9RP. 
Telephone: 01730 813374 

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