EASEBOURNE PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON
WEDNESDAY 13th MAY 2009

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 13TH MAY 2009

Present: Mr I Heustice (Chairman), Mr J Stringer (Vice-chairman), Mrs E Hamilton (CDC), Mr D Pack, Mr F Martin, Mr B Gowar, Mr M Taylor, Dr A Guyatt, Mrs A Marchand, the Clerk and two members of the public.

AGM Business Minutes

09/10

6 Election of Chairman: Dr Guyatt proposed and Mr Gowar seconded the re-election of Mr Heustice as Chairman.  All in favour.  Mr Heustice pointed out to the meeting that he was entering his fourth, and according to the Standing Orders, final year, as Chairman. He asked that consideration be given to a possible replacement in order to achieve a smooth handover next year.

7 Election of Vice-Chairman: Mr Heustice proposed and Mr Martin seconded the re-election of Mr Stringer as Vice-chairman.  All in favour

8 Appointments to serve on the following panels:
Planning: Mr Stringer, Mr Dabson, Mrs Deacon-Ford, Mr Gowar and Mrs Hamilton.
Mr Stringer proposed and Mr Heustice seconded the appointment of Mr Pack to be an additional member of the planning panel.  All in favour

Playing Field: Mr Taylor, Mr Pack, Mrs Marchand and Mrs Hamilton

Burial Ground: Dr Guyatt, Mr Stringer and Mrs Marchand

Footpaths: Mr Dabson, Mr Gowar and Mr Martin

Finance: Mr Gowar, Mr Martin and Mr Stringer

Membership of the above four panels proposed by Mr Heustice and seconded by Mr Stringer. All in favour.

9 The date and time of meetings for the coming year: 8th July 2009 at 7.30pm, 9th September 2009 at 7.30pm, 11th November 2009 at 7.30pm, 13th January 2010 at 7.30pm, 10th March 2010 at 7.30pm, 14th April 2010 (Annual Village Meeting) at 7pm, 12th May 2010 (AGM) at 7pm

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Council Meeting Minutes

The first ten minutes were available for the public to express a view or ask questions about any item on the Agenda. 

A member of the public raised two points.  Firstly, could the private Cowdray Estate road leading from the Polo grounds/Ruins on to the mini- roundabout at North Mill bridge have a sign erected indicating Halt or roundabout ahead.  Secondly the stone boundary walls on the A272, east of Benbow Pond, are collapsing and sending debris on to the road. 
The parishioner was advised that both of these matters were the responsibility of the Cowdray Estate but the Council agreed to write to the Estate, on his behalf, to express the concerns raised.

10 Apologies for Absence: Mrs J Deacon-Ford and Mr J Dabson

11 Declaration of Interest: None

12 The Minutes of the meeting held on 11th March were amended and initialled and acceptance proposed by Mr Stringer, seconded by Mr Martin.  All in favour.  Acceptance of the Minutes of the Planning meeting held on 6th May 2009 was proposed by Dr Guyatt, seconded by Mr Stringer.  All in favour.

13 Matters Arising: Minute 08/09.77, response from WSCC about vehicles eroding grass verges at Gilham’s Garage.  Either leave, because caused by impatient motorists driving onto grass verges instead of waiting for clear road ahead or erect black marker posts.  These will be unsightly and also make grass cutting difficult.  Also they are frequently damaged.  Clerk to contact WSCC and again request re-alignment of the exit/entrance kerbs as it is still felt that these contribute to the problem.  Minute 08/09.83, response from WSCC, acknowledging the Parish Council’s letter, expressing the hope that the sports facilities on the old Midhurst Intermediate School site, could be retained/enlarged for the benefit of the community, when the new school is built in Midhurst and the current site vacated.

14 Parish Council Policies: on the following topics have been drawn up by the Clerk and circulated to all Councillors: Health and Safety, Retention of Documents, Complaints Procedure, Risk Management, Equal Opportunities and Recruitment Procedure. Following the addition of the word “age” in the Equal Opportunities policy, acceptance of these policies was proposed by Mr Stringer, seconded by Mrs Marchand.  All in favour.

15 Finance:
a) The following payments were noted (cheque numbers 100-) 

b) Receipt of the Parish Precept for 01.04.09 to 30.09.09 in the sum of £6250.00 was noted

c) Receipt of VAT refund for the period 01.10.08 to 31.03.09 in the sum of £1554.67 was noted

d) The internal check of accounts for March and April 2009, by Mr Stringer, was noted

e) The re-appointment of Mr R Martin as the Internal Auditor was proposed by Mr Martin, seconded by Mrs Marchand.  All in favour.

f) Acceptance and signing of the Statement of Accounts for year ended 31.03.09 was proposed by Mr Stringer, seconded by Dr Guyatt.  All in favour. Chairman also read out the report from the Internal Auditor.

g) The payment of an Honorarium of £100 to the Chairman, for the year 2009/2010, was proposed by Mr Stringer, seconded by Mr Taylor.  All in favour.

h) The Clerk left the meeting whilst her salary for 2009/2010 was discussed. In view of the additional hours work that have been necessary in the past year, it was agreed to increase her salary to £4000pa.  The Clerk is to keep a log of the hours worked and the matter to be reviewed again in due course. Proposed by Mr Stringer, seconded by Mr Pack. All in favour.

16 Planning

The meeting was told that the application for Spring Cottage, which was refused by CDC, is going to appeal

17 Reports from the Panels
a) Playground.  Everything is in order and the area has recently been strimmed.  The Clerk is to obtain estimates for the replacement of the picnic table with a more substantial/better quality model, and the installation of a suitable surface underneath. Pro-Tec Security, who has been keeping an informal and unpaid watch on the playground, would like to make the arrangement more formal with a charge of £50pa.  Acceptance of this suggestion was proposed by Mrs Marchand and seconded by Mr Taylor.  All in favour.

b) Burial Ground.  In order.

c) Footpaths. Clerk to report a loose fingerpost on footpath 1124 near Whitter’s Farm.

d) Grants.  Thank you letters received from Citizens Advice Bureau and Victim Support Sussex for the grants awarded in March.

18 Correspondence and notices received
Next Local County Committee meeting will be attended by Mr Stringer, to represent the Parish Council.

19 Late Correspondence

Possible introduction of car parking charges in Midhurst.
Mrs Hamilton outlined the District Council’s review of services which included the above possibility.  The District Council has a potential £3 million shortfall in its budget and is looking to several departments to either make cuts or raise additional revenue. The Parish Council was not convinced that charges, in a small market town, where traders are already struggling with the economic downturn, would be beneficial to the area.  The result of charging for parking would be detrimental to Midhurst, as the extra finance raised would only go to help balance the CDC budget and not be spent for the benefit of our local area.  Opposition to the imposition of charges was unanimous.

District Councillor’s Report:
Mrs Hamilton also updated the meeting on progress with the re-development of the Grange Centre.  The BT building is not now considered beneficial to the project due to its size and cost implications so will not be included in the architect’s brief.  There has also been agreement, in principle, with WSCC (subject to confirmation) to approve the process to develop new library and day care services in the same building as the Leisure Centre and Area office.

Free swimming at the Westgate Centre for over 60s and under16s is a government funded scheme, initially for 2 years.  Participants need to register for a pass and cannot just turn up and swim.

Concessionary Bus Fares have received wide popularity and the grants from central government do not cover the cost of the scheme in this area.  The leader of CDC has requested that the grants reflect the true cost.

Chichester Careline is a success story and has been awarded a preventative technology grant. Hospitals, including Midhurst Community Hospital, are starting pilot schemes to allow earlier discharge of patients with a Careline package.

The meeting closed at 8.45pm

Next Parish Council meeting will be held on 8th July 2009 at 7.30pm, in the Refectory.  All are welcome to attend.

Mrs Carole Allan, Clerk to Easebourne Parish Council, Ashfield Cottage, 1 Ashfield Close, Midhurst, GU29 9RP.  Telephone: 01730 813374. Email: easebournepc@tiscali.co.uk