WEST TYTHERLEY & FRENCHMOOR PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of Council Meeting held on Monday, 10 July 2006 , at 1930h in King Edward’s Hall

Present: A.Bowditch (AB) (Chairman); T.Mousley (TM) (Vice-Chairman); L.Bowditch (LB); J.Guy (JG); D.Rimmington (DR); D.Lyon (Clerk); plus Councillor Neville Whiteley (TVBC) and two members of the public.

Apologies for Absence: S.Dowding

Declarations of Interest : None

OPEN FORUM

1. Minutes of Council Meeting held on 12 June 2006

It was proposed by LB and seconded by JG that these be signed by the Chairman as a true record of the Meeting.

2. Matters Arising None

3. Police Report None

4. Report from HCC None

5. Report from TVBC

Councillor Whiteley said that he had attended a Local Government Association meeting in Bournemouth entitled “The Future is Local” at which Sir Michael Lyons and Ruth Kelly (Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) addressed the issue of the future of local government. Miss Kelly appeared to be backing off from her predecessor’s proposals for more Unitary Authorities (i.e a two-tier system of l.g.). At a meeting sponsored by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and Essex CC – “Making Links” it was stated that each parish council in Essex received about £2500 from the County Council to spend as they wished.

In response to a question from DR NW said that where it had been introduced the new ABC bin collection system seemed to be working well.

6. Correspondence

Clerk reported that all correspondence received since the last meeting had been circulated to Councillors and that there were no outstanding items requiring action.

7. Finance & Cheques

7.1 The Annual Return for 2005-2006 was approved by the Council and signed by the Chairman (A.Bowditch).

7.2 The Statement of Assurance for the 2005-2006 Annual Return was approved by the Council and signed on its behalf by the Chairman (A.Bowditch) and the Clerk (D.Lyon).

7.3 It was proposed by TM and seconded by JG that the following cheques be signed

M.Eastwood (rec. maintenance) CQ.No. 000393 £244.00

King Edward’s Hall (insurance contrib.) CQ.No. 000394 £650.00

J.L.Bowditch (War Mem. Fence) CQ.No. 000395 £350.00

D.Lyon (Clerk) (wages and expenses) CQ.No. 000396 £272.63

7.4 It was agreed that an appropriate Honorarium be given to the internal auditor, Robert Horsford Action T.M.

8. Planning

8.1 The Chairman proposed that in future planning applications should be circulated first to JG as the member with most expertise on planning matters. This was agreed Action Clerk

8.2 Local Plan: Following the proposal from the Head of Planning (TVBC) that parishes should have an input in the development of policies which were currently being reviewed as a result of the Inspectors’ comments on the draft Local Plan, JG proposed to set up a meeting with the Dunn Valley Group and Planning Aid (Phil Turner) to discuss the way ahead. This was agreed Action JG

8.3 Clerk reported that the following plans were under consideration

06/01990/FULLS Moorlands Frenchmoor – on circulation for comment

06/01903/FULLS Summerdene West Dean PC raised no objection

06/01381/FULLS Park Cottage West Dean – PC had no objection in principle to a replacement dwelling on the site but was concerned at the size of the replacement proposed which appeared to contravene TVBC policy SET11.

9. Parish Plan Nothing to report

10. Recreation Ground

10.1 The Chairman reported that Mr Vine had kindly dug out the suckers infesting the east bank. There were still problems of people bringing dogs on to the recreation ground and of neighbouring residents dumping garden rubbish. The new hydraulic gate closure had been damaged. Action TM and JG to ascertain whether it could be repaired.

10.2 Saints in the Community Action Clerk to invoice them for their use of the recreation ground for football training

11. Highways and Footpaths

11.1 Concern was expressed over the condition of the sycamore tree in “The Village” outside the Black Horse Action Clerk to contact Highways Department.

11.2 The Chairman reported that he had declined an invitation to participate in the local traffic survey being organised by East Dean PC.

11.3 Road names: it was agreed that “Scouts Lane” was the correct name for the Winterslow-West Dean road running parallel to and to the west of Dean Road to South Lodge where it joins the latter Action Clerk to inform TVBC.

12. Councillor Vacancy - there had so far been no formal response to adverts for this vacancy although one West Dean resident had indicated some interest Action Clerk to follow up.

13. Air Ambulance

13.1 JG introduced this issue. Hampshire, in spite of its large rural area, was one of the few counties in England without an air ambulance service. There were instances where an air ambulance from Wiltshire had saved life in Hampshire. A fund-raising charity had been established in 2005 and the question now was should the parish council support this in any way. One way could be through a lottery subscription, alternately a direct donation could be made. There was agreement that an air ambulance service was desirable. It was not clear whether it was legal to enter a lottery and it was agreed that a donation to the charity would be more appropriate. There was no provision in the current budget but a possible source was the £500 ring-fenced for the First Responders. The Chairman said he had spoken to the Coordinator, Liz Marsden, who agreed in principle to earmarking part of this fund, say £150, for a donation to the charity at some stage in the future. Meanwhile it was considered important to put pressure on TVBC and HCC to support the establishment of an air ambulance service. Action Clerk to write to Councillor Woodhall (HCC) on the matter.

14. AOB nil

There being no other business, the Chairman closed the Meeting at 2045h.

Signed

A.Bowditch (Chairman) Date