MONTHLY MEETING OF THE COUNCIL
2ND OCTOBER 2017
SUPPORTING PAPERS
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 1 of 21
Agenda Item 8
Minutes of Monthly Full Council meeting, 4th September
The draft Minutes were circulated to all councillors on 7th September, asking for comments by 14th September. No suggested changes were received.
Simon Cross – Clerk to the Council 22nd September 2017
Agenda Item 10
Monthly Update Report
1. Introduction 2. Minute 441/17 – Assets of Community Value – The Seaview Hotel 3. Minute 621/17 – Anne Harberson 4. Minute 632/17 – Community Engagement Committee - defibrillator
1. Introduction
This is the report covering items discussed during Full Council meetings up to and including the meeting held on 4th September 2017.
2. Minute 441/17 – Assets of Community Value – The Seaview Hotel
The council received the following email on 21st September:
Dear Clerk
I refer to my previous correspondence dated 21st July 2017 and would advise that the Council has considered your nomination in respect of the above mentioned property.
The Council has carried out its appraisal of the nomination and decided that the property should be listed as an Asset of Community Value and has therefore approved the nomination.
The property has been added to the list of Assets of Community Value held by the Council with effect from today, 21st September 2017. The property will remain on the list for a period of five years from this date and a charge will be placed on the Local Land Charges Register as well as at Land Registry.
The owners/lessee and landlord together with Ward Members are also being advised of the Council’s decision.
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 2 of 21
You should however, be aware that the owners of the property can request a listing review, i.e. a review of the Council’s decision as set out in Schedule 2 of the Assets of Community Value (England) Regulations 2012.
Yours sincerely
Christine Bardwell Head of Local Land Charges, Directorate of Place, Arun District Council
Members will already be aware of the letter received and circulated on 12th September from Jonathan Marshall of Sugarloaf Inns Ltd concerning this council’s decision to submit an application for The Seaview Hotel to be listed as an Asset of Community Value. That will be considered at Agenda Item 16 of this meeting.
The original applicant for the first attempt to list The Seaview Hotel as an Asset of Community Value, Chris Shore, has written to the council: “Thank you for your email with the excellent news. Well done and I thank you and your team very much for your involvement. I think it is so important that we do everything we can to save amenities like these for the benefit of East Preston.”
3. Minute 621/17 – Anne Harberson
Tracy let Anne’s family know of the comments made about their mother at the last meeting. Anne’s daughter replied, “That is very touching. Thank you so much for sharing that. It would have meant a lot to her I know. Lovely to know they all remember her.”
4. Minute 632/17 – Community Engagement Committee - defibrillator
An application for Big Lottery funding had been submitted on 19th September but instantly rejected for being on an old version of the application form. Cllr Gander and I will work on transferring the information into the new, apparently simpler form in due course.
Simon Cross – Clerk to the Council 26th September 2017
Agenda Item 12
Committees
Since the last meeting, the following committee meetings have taken place: Amenities on 18th September; Audit & Governance on the 12th September; Community Engagement on 25th September; and Planning & Licensing Committee on 11th and 25th September.
Draft Minutes from some of these meetings have already been circulated to all councillors.
Simon Cross – Clerk to the Council 25th September 2017
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 3 of 21
Agenda Item 12a
Amenities Committee
The committee met on 18th September.
The committee has held a meeting about the specifications for the refurbished toilet block and the architect has gone off to work on that. A meeting will be held with D.A.G. and SENCAT about those proposals.
A Special Full Council meeting was held on 25th September at which the council agreed to cover the full costs of the Multi-Use Games Area on Lashmar Road, whilst still seeking grant opportunities. This will provide a much-needed facility for people of all ages.
The committee agreed to move forward with replacing the single gate on the Village Green with a wider double gate; this will be from next year’s budget and will be in place in time for the Food & Drink Festival.
Agreed to leave Beach Access pilot in place for a while longer.
Cllr Rick McElroy – Chairman of the Amenities 26th September 2017 Committee
Agenda Item 12b
Audit & Governance Committee
The committee met on 12th September.
Cllrs Mathias and Shah were elected Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively for the current municipal year.
The committee reviewed the Internal Audit report for the year-ending 31st March 2017 and the External Auditor’s page of the Annual Return for the same period. As councillors will already know, the External Auditor had made no comments on the council’s Annual Return for the third year running.
The main discussion of the meeting was about the lease negotiations with the Angmering-on- Sea Lawn Tennis Club. As the only member of the Leases Working Party (LWP) not on the committee, Cllr Toney was invited and did attend. Subsequently, the LWP has met with the council’s solicitors.
The committee has commissioned ProcessMatters to report on the council’s readiness for the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulations in May 2018.
The committee agreed to try a suggestion of the Chairman of the Council’s in which committee Chairmen are elected at the Annual Meeting of the Council.
Simon Cross – Clerk to the Council 27th September 2017
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 4 of 21
Agenda Item 12c
Community Engagement Committee
The committee met on 25th September.
The committee received a presentation from Maureen Chaffe of ProcessMatters, a company willing to build and support a new website for the council. This need has arisen because Arun District Council has announced it will no longer provide website services for the town and parish councils within its area. A website working party of Cllrs Barber, Duijf, Gander, Linton and Tester was set up to oversee the implementation of a new website. See item 14a below for more on this.
The committee agreed to hold an East Preston Food & Drink Festival on Saturday, 25th August 2018 and a Merchant Navy Day event on Monday, 3rd September 2018.
Considering correspondence received from a concerned resident, the committee agreed to carry out a further campaign of spraying uncleared dog mess. The resident had been calling for the council to make the Warren Recreation Ground dog-free. The committee felt this would be penalising the large number of responsible dog owners because of the actions of a smaller number of irresponsible dog owners.
The committee again agreed to underwrite East Preston Film Society showing a film to end the Christmas Celebrations day and also to provide a minibus for Our Lady, Star of the Sea to use in its Christmas Day lunch for local residents who would otherwise be on their own.
Simon Cross – Clerk to the Council 26th September 2017
Agenda Item 12f
Planning & Licensing Committee
The committee met on 11th and 25th September. At the former meeting the committee agreed unanimously to object to proposals to extend 2 Hillview Crescent as the proposal would result in an unbalanced and possibly unattractive property. At the latter meeting the committee agreed to object to proposals to demolish 16 Worthing Road and replace it with a block of six flats. This Application was contrary to the East Preston Neighbourhood Plan by having its parking located at the front of the site and there were also concerns about the angled windows on the east and west elevations of the property.
Simon Cross – Clerk to the Council 26th September 2017
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 5 of 21
Agenda Item 13a
Audit & Governance Committee - budget
Council is asked to agree to this committee becoming a budget-holding committee for the foreseeable future.
At its meeting on 12th September, this committee agreed to recommend to Full Council it become a budget-holding committee. This arose from the council’s need to buy in expertise in order to be ready for when the General Data Protection Regulations come into force in May 2018. Although this council is healthier than many in respect of Data Protection, there is still a certain amount of work needed to be compliant by May. As such work is directly under the control of the Audit & Governance Committee it would make sense for the committee to have control of its own budget.
Simon Cross – Clerk to the Council 22nd September 2017
Agenda Item 14a
Community Engagement Committee - website
Council is asked to agree to contract with ProcessMatters to provide the council with a new website at a cost of £3,500.
The council has had a website since about 2005. From the very beginning, the council’s website was “parented” on the Arun District Council website. Because East Preston Parish Council acted as a kind of guinea pig in the early days of Arun District Council’s website, we have been fortunate enough never to need to pay for the creation or maintenance of our website.
Initially, ADC was going to withdraw support for our websites in March 2018 but support will now be in place until the end of July 2018.
A similar-sized neighbouring parish council recently built a new website at a cost of approximately £7,500 and with ongoing costs of £35 per month.
ProcessMatters has agreed to design and build a new website for £3,500 with annual hosting charges of £150. ProcessMatters supports a number of Arun parish councils in their websites.
Paragraph 11.1.b of the council’s Financial Regulations says two written quotations should be obtained for work valued between £3,000 and £15,000. The Community Engagement Committee has had access to four written quotations of which the ProcessMatters quotation is neither the cheapest nor the most expensive. Whilst not explicitly for this council, these quotations were to provide a new website for councils of a similar size to us.
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 6 of 21
The committee is recommending the council contract with ProcessMatters not only because the quotation is reasonable but also because of ProcessMatters’s experience in the town and parish council sector.
Simon Cross – Clerk to the Council 26th September 2017
Agenda Items 15a-c
Working Parties
Only the Leases Working Party has met since the last Full Council meeting and a verbal update will be provided by the working party Chairman.
Simon Cross – Clerk to the Council 25th September 2017
Agenda Items 16a
Arun District Council – Assets of Community Value
Council is asked to consider the following letter received on 12th September from Sugarloaf Inns regarding this council’s application to Arun District Council for it to add The Seaview Hotel to its register of Assets of Community Value:
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 7 of 21
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 8 of 21
This letter was circulated electronically to all councillors on 12th September. Council should consider how it wishes to respond to the letter, if it wishes to respond to the letter.
Mr Marshall had initially contacted the council on 25th July, and I responded to that email within half an hour. Nothing further was heard until the above letter.
With reference to his second paragraph, I contacted a neighbouring council which had previously submitted a request for a public house to be listed as an Asset of Community Value and that council had also not contacted the owners prior to submission. I also do not believe the owners of the Tudor Tavern were contacted prior to a resident submitting a request for it to be listed as an Asset of Community Value.
With reference to bulletpoint 3, no report was received from Fleurets a company which on its website describes itself thus, “Fleurets is a small but significant firm of Chartered Surveyors which is dedicated to the specialist leisure property sector.”
Simon Cross – Clerk to the Council 22nd September 2017
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 9 of 21
Agenda Item 17
Clerk’s Report
1. Introduction 2. Police matters 3. Freedom of Information / Data Protection requests 4. GDRP training session, 5th September 5. Sussex Community Rail Partnership, 13th September 6. Trip to Network Rail Lancing signal box, 20th September 7. East Preston Beach Clean No. 10, 24th September 8. East Preston Classic Car Show, 24th September 9. Social Media 10. MailChimp stats 11. A selection of things we have been asked since the last meeting 12. September bouquets and complaints 13. Leave 14. October meetings and events
1. Introduction
This is the report mainly covering September 2017, and covers matters that may not arise elsewhere on the agenda.
2. Police matters
Our only contact with Sussex Police was a police officer leaving me a telephone message saying someone had found my car keys in Durrington, could I contact Sussex Police in order to retrieve them. Having not driven for 27 years and having not lost any keys for even longer than that, this was a surprise. Sussex Police’s contact centre was not able to tell me anything other than to suggest I call in at Durrington police station to discuss it there. I contacted our friendly Sgt. Pipkin who also could get little information. I then contacted the Simon Cross who lives in the village as opposed to the one who works here and it turns out the keys were his.
3. Freedom of Information / Data Protection requests
No requests received or made.
4. GDRP training session, 5th September
I went to Haslemere to attend a SSALC training presentation on the General Data Protection Regulations which will become law in May 2018. The session was led by Maureen Chaffe, formerly of Arun District Council, and a good friend and supporter of East Preston Parish Council. The event started with a presentation about the principles of Data Protection and concluded with an exercise to see how adrift councils are from where they should be and where they need to be by May 2018.
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 10 of 21
There is a lot of work for this council to do to be compliant in time, a lot of policies need to be written and put into place. At the training session, Maureen had everyone present complete a table to show their councils how ready they are. Although East Preston’s looks bad it was considerably better than most councils represented at the training session.
The Audit & Governance Committee agreed at its meeting on 12th September to commission Maureen to prepare a report of what actions this council needs to take to become compliant. Maureen will be visiting the council in due course to begin that piece of work.
5. Sussex Community Rail Partnership, 13th September
In my own time, I attended the quarterly meeting of the Arun Valley Line Branch of the Sussex Community Rail Partnership (SCRP). The meeting was held at the Look & Sea Centre, Littlehampton. There does not seem to be a west coastway meeting although some of us at the Arun meeting have asked for one. Angmering station is not strictly within the Arun section of the SCRP but others attend solely for Angmering matters too.
Since I last attended a meeting, Rowena Tyler has taken over as Community Development Officer. Many councillors will remember Rowena helped the village with its Neighbourhood Plan when working for Action in Rural Sussex. Rowena has certainly helped to grow these Arun Valley Line meetings with a lot more agencies represented than in the past.
Some points of interest from the meeting:
Government is consulting on “proposals to improve the travel experience for people with disabilities.” I have published this in an email to residents
Pulborough Parish Council is looking at funding enhancements to the waiting room at that station
Arundel station is actually sited within Lyminster & Crossbush parish, and that council is actively looking at how it can get more involved with the station
The Art4All artwork at Angmering station has been nominated for a national award
Yapton Level Crossing is scheduled to have full barriers by the end of next year
Red Light Safety Equipment has been installed at Yapton Level Crossing in an attempt to deter the number of drivers who cross when the red lights are showing. In July, 84 drivers crossed the red lights. An offence is committed when a vehicle crosses the white stop line when the red lights are flashing and will result in three points on your licence. CCTV images are forwarded to the police and a Notice of Intended Prosecution is delivered to the registered keeper’s address. Network Rail would like to install similar equipment at the Roundstone Level Crossing but will need support from our council at least
Network Rail has been undertaking a lot of vegetation clearance lately to improve sightlines
There are over 100 farm-type level crossings in Sussex still. These are generally on private land. The Network Rail representative reported an incident near Billingshurst where a visitor to a site had to cross the railway via the farm-type level crossing. These have manually-operated gates either side of the track and the operator must open the gates on both sides of the track before crossing. By so doing they are able to limit the amount of time they are sat on the track. This particular visitor only opened the gates on the first side and so had to stop his car on the tracks before opening the second side, despite having been given clear instructions. He is now being prosecuted by the police
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 11 of 21
A K6 telephone box has been converted into an information point at Bognor Regis
A new body Transport for the South of England has been proposed by government
WSCC is revising its 2011 Local Transport Plan
The 313 rolling stock will be in use until at least 2020 – these are the three-carriage units with no toilets
6. Trip to Network Rail Lancing signal box, 20th September
Following concerns raised by residents about the amount of time the gates at Roundstone Level Crossing, and to a lesser degree Angmering station crossing, are down, I arranged a fact-finding visit to Network Rail’s signal box at Lancing for the Chairman and me. We were accompanied by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Kingston Parish Council, Cllrs Mrs Geraldine Walker and Roger Wetherall respectively. Our host was Stuart Schooley, Network Rail’s Local Operations Manager.
Since 1988, the Lancing signal box had controlled the stretch of line between Portslade station and Angmering station, a distance of 12.41 miles as the crow flies. There are ten stations in that stretch, most with an adjacent level crossing plus additional level crossings such as Roundstone, Ferring and East Shoreham.
Although looking somewhat older, the main control console also dates from 1988. A shift consists of three signalmen, each covering a section of the console. The box operates three shifts a day: 06:00-14:00, 14:00-22:00, 22:00-06:00.
Signalman training comprises a thirteen-week course in Perth, York or Bracknell followed by further training on site. This second phase can take between six and eight weeks to complete.
Inevitably, conversation turned to the length of time the gates are down at Roundstone Level Crossing. Stuart explained the local railway network had been excellent and fit for purpose when built but increased volumes of road and rail traffic has left the network struggling. Network Rail has two main responsibilities with regard to level crossing – firstly, to ensure the safety of road and rail users and secondly, to ensure trains run to time. It is perhaps this second point that frustrated locals do not think of when expressing concern about how long the gates are down.
The length of time the gates are down depends mostly upon the speed of the train. On the Up line (i.e. heading towards Brighton and London) the majority of services stop at Angmering station and the signalmen can judge more easily when to lower the gates at Roundstone. On the Down line (i.e. heading towards Littlehampton and Portsmouth) a higher percentage of trains do not stop between Worthing and Barnham, are therefore travelling faster and, for safety’s sake, the signalman will lower the gates when the train is further away and often earlier than for an Up line train. Stuart and his team are all vigilant in ensuring the gates are raised as soon after as possible but obviously sometimes more than one train needs to go through the level crossing. This situation can be exacerbated when trains are delayed for whatever reason.
Repeatedly asked whether there was anything Network Rail could do to relieve motorists’ agony at Roundstone, Stuart said there really was nothing obvious could be done. Asked why it was not possible to have automatic barriers as at Toddington, Stuart replied those barriers acted on obstruction detection and as such would probably end up being down longer than the gates are currently. Furthermore, the busyness and complexity of the Roundstone Level Crossing meant it was far safer to have the gates controlled by human beings watching the level crossing on cctv than to have automatic barriers.
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 12 of 21
In due course, the current Lancing operation will be transferring to the Three Bridges Rail Operating Centre (ROC) (see Full Council Minute 110/16, 1st February 2016). Apart from the console becoming wholly electronic, the operation will remain basically the same and there will be no “improvement” to the time the gates will be down.
I came away from the visit understanding Stuart and his team do a difficult job very well.
Below is a photograph of Kingston Cllr Mrs Walker operating the Ferring level crossing:
7. East Preston Beach Clean No. 10, 24th September
I attended the council’s tenth seasonal Beach Clean together with Cllrs Barber, Duijf, Linton, Shah and Tester. Cllrs Duff, Gale, Gander, Mathias and Toney had given their apologies.
The event was supported by twenty-eight members of the public and two other members of staff, Tracy and Weekend Stephen. About twenty bags of litter were collected. Unusual items included a traffic cone, an outboard motor cover, a tyre and an unopened bottle of white wine. All public participants have been sent an email thanking them.
Comments from regular participants continue to reflect the beach is much cleaner these days than when we started back in April 2013. This is partly due to the seasonal beach cleans keeping on top of litter, the fortnightly U3A beach cleans doing the same in between times and the seasonal large bins encouraging people to take off the beach more of the litter they have accrued.
The Community Engagement Committee will consider whether or not to continue with seasonal beach cleans at its meeting in November.
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 13 of 21
8. East Preston Classic Car Show, 24th September
After the Beach Clean I popped in to the Classic Car Show. Cllr Toney was there exhibiting his fire engine and Land Rover.
Once again, the event attracted classic cars from around the area and brought out a good number of local residents to enjoy themselves on the Village Green for the afternoon. There were probably a good fifty cars there whilst I was there and others were still arriving.
Thanks to Steve and Gail Hodgson and Colin and Karen Bradshaw for organising this event.
9. Social media
Facebook posts reaching more than 500 people published since the last supporting papers:
Post about a woman witnessed speeding up when the Angmering station level crossing lights started to flash, a criminal offence – 3,477
Photograph of a pothole outside the Conservative Hall, advising WSCC would fix it within four weeks – 3,461
Reminder of the D.A.G. quiz night on 20th September – 2,594
Video footage of a man walking up to the Roundstone Level Crossing gates when they were down hopping over and crossing the railway line – 1,870+ people
WSCC Public Notice announcing the temporary closure of the southbound Findon bypass – 1,852
Reminder of the Christmas Celebrations date – 1,464
† Some photographs of the East Preston Food & Drink Festival taken by Worthing Food & Drink – 1,432
Post of two photographs submitted by a resident of the East Preston coast from his boat – 1,430
Reminder about the Owls About Town visit on 12th September – 1,360
▲ East Preston Business Community post about doing business locally – 1,335
† Post of Littlehampton Gazette article about the Food & Drink Festival – 1,202
First poster post for the East Preston Classic Car Show – 1,193
Cancellation notice for the Owls About Town visit – 1,164
Photo submitted by a resident of her daughter splashing in the sea – 1,054
† Post about the thirty eggs purchased at the Food & Drink Festival but not collected – 1,044
Post of four Food & Drink Festival “Instagram” frame photos – 794
† Reminder not to park around the Village Green on 26th August - 775
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 14 of 21
Some photographs of Merchant Navy Day in East Preston – 737
Reminder for the Owls About Town visit - 664
Post advising Angmering Station level crossing gates were stuck down – 647
Poster advertising for a new councillor - 621
Repost of East Preston Football Club video footage of some young lads kicking and setting light to a seat in the stand at the club; this footage led to Sussex Police contacting likely suspects - 604
Repost of BBC News article about “child bollards” as a parking deterrent – 544
† A few photos from the Food & Drink Festival - 544
Reminder of the East Preston Football Club charity match on 27th August – 540
Repost of British Transport Police post about a baby tortoise which had been kicked on to a train - 535
Post of a photograph of vapour trails above East Preston, used as publicity for the Food & Drink Festival – 527
Thank you photographs from Beach Clean No. 10 - 527
Photograph of the new litter-pickers given to the council by BMI Goring Hall, as a reminder of Beach Clean No. 10 - 511
† Food & Drink Festival page
▲ East Preston Business Community page
East Preston Christmas Celebrations page
(posts up until 24th September)
No posts placed on Nextdoor.
10. MailChimp stats
Since the last papers were issued, the council has sent out the following emails to local residents on the council’s e-mailing list:
Parish Council news – 29th August – sent to 718 recipients, opened by 458 to date (63.8%)
Parish Council news – 21st September – sent to 721, opened by 427 to date (59.3%)
11. Things we have been asked since the last meeting
Nothing unusual.
12. Recent bouquets and complaints
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 15 of 21
(In addition to anything above.)
A former resident of Normandy Lane forwarded correspondence she had sent to Rustington Parish Council in which she was asking whether that council ran an e-mail subscription service as this council does. Having not received a response, the resident emailed Rustington PC again, “Councillor Jamie Bennett had tried answering my query via Twitter, since you're far too important to bother answering questions. I'll assume that the question was too difficult and you didn't want to get involved in all this 21st century malarkey... Try seeing what East Preston parish council is doing, you might learn something” In her covering message, the resident wrote, “keep doing what you're doing...”
13. Leave
No member of staff currently has any leave booked in October.
14. October Meetings and Events
This list may be incomplete and is subject to change.
2nd - Full Council (19:00, East Preston Infant School) 3rd - Councillor Surgery (10:30 – 12:00, Council Office) (EL, PG and HT only) 4th - WSALC Annual General Meeting (10:00) (JD only) 5th - Business Breakfast (08:00, Kerry’s Tea-room) 9th - Planning & Licensing Committee (18:00, East Preston Infant School) - Personnel Committee (19:00, East Preston Infant School) 12th - Visit to The Laurels Day Care Centre (13:15, Rustington) 13th - Littlehampton Health Services Advisory Group (11:00, Civic Centre, Littlehampton) (JD only) 17th - SSALC budget-setting course (13:00, Lewes) 18th - Arun District Association of Local Councils annual conference (14:30, tbc) 23rd - Planning & Licensing Committee (18:00, East Preston Infant School) 24th - Calling All Heroes playscheme (10:00, Guide Hall, Lashmar Road) - Licensing Service for Fr. Andrew Perry (19:30, St. Mary the Virgin Church) 25th - Closing date for Expression of Interest forms from people interested in becoming a councillor 31st - East Preston Festival donations evening (19:00, Conservative Hall, Sea Road)
N.B. where committee meetings fall on the same day, the timings of these meetings may be subject to change.
Simon Cross – Clerk to the Council 25th September 2017
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 16 of 21
Agenda Items 17a-g
Other meetings and events – Part 1
Council is asked to note the following report:
Arun District Council – Parish Briefing, 30th August
Civic Centre, Littlehampton
Arun District Council´s (ADC) Parish briefing was held in the Council Chamber at Littlehampton chaired by Martyn White.
Four options were presented with different results due to different calculation models being used.
For East Preston the various models resulted in for: 1) 30 based on Neighbourhood Plan and HELAA sites 2) 60 based on % of Population in Arun 3) 0 based on proportion of deliverable HELAA sites 4) 10 based on updated Neighbourhood Plan (?)
Figures used for the above are from 2006.
It was not made clear how those four options could be implemented and if for instance there was the freedom to choose from Parish to Parish. Nobody came up with the idea to ask for an explanation.
There are different interpretations about the windfall figures and needs to be negotiated with the Examiner.
HELAA – Housing & Economic Land Availability Assessments.
For EP the following have been used and all have the flag NOT-CURRENTLY Developable sites. EP3 22 and 24 Vermont Drive EP6 The Open Dinghy Pen – Sea Road EP7 45, 49, 51, 53 The Ridings (two Sea Lane and two The Ridings) EP9 52 Angmering Lane.
All those HELAA sites have not been reassessed recently. HELAA does not set policy, but provides background evidence on the potential availability of sites.
The other one of immediate interest to EP is 17K1 Land East of Kingston Lane – 48 dwellings
The dates of the examination were mentioned and probably are about to finish when you read this.
Cllr Joop Duijf – Chairman of the Council 25th September 2017
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 17 of 21
Merchant Navy Day, 1st September
War Memorial, The Street
On the 1st September, a small event was held to mark Merchant Navy Day by raising the Red Ensign outside the library.
Councillors and public alike mingled from 09:45. Prior to the flag being raised Cllr David Moore played some appropriate sea-themed music. We were lucky to have the services of sea cadet Ella Bartlett to pipe the flag up and to play the carry on in order for Jimmy Lee, President of the East Preston & Kingston Branch of the Royal British Legion to read a Merchant Navy Day statement and for me to read Heroes by David Partridge. Father David Farrant said a few words and then the 20 or so attendees were invited to the Legion for refreshments.
We were honoured to have the attendance of Stan Roberts, aged 96, who had his banana ship sunk in 1940 by the German cruiser, Admiral Scheer. He was rescued by a Welsh regiment in 1945, having survived in several prisoner of war camps, and escaping three times.
Many of the attendees were moved by the poem and asked for copies. There were also positive comments regarding the event including: the Boatswain’s call made me tingle, lovely to see the uniforms, it was a very moving event.
We may have to do this again next year. At least we now have the flag.
Cllr Elizabeth Linton 3rd September 2017
St John Ambulance, Sussex - First Aid course, 5th September
Warnham Park
Cllrs Barber, Linton and Toney attended this course at Warnham Park, the home of Caroline Lucas, President of St John Ambulance, Sussex. Below are their reports.
Cllr Duff is scheduled to attend the same course in November. If any other councillor would like to go, please let me know and I shall see if there is any availability.
* * * * *
The course from my point of view was a good memory jogger for the finer points which we tend to forget about or placed at the back of our mind. It had been about 8 years since I last attended a course.
It also brings you up to date with the latest information and techniques that is being taught at this time. I would recommend this course to any other councillors that would like to go.
Cllr Steve Toney 6th September 2017
* * * * *
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 18 of 21
On Tuesday 5th September, I attended a first aid course in the middle of Warnham deer park! It was not easy to find and it was held in Caroline Lucas's (County President St Johns Ambulance Sussex) own home.
Other attendees included the High Sheriffs of East and West Sussex, two members of West Sussex County Council plus a small number of parish councillors from other councils. There was no documentation so I am sorry to be vague but we were with interesting participants.
The course tutor was the very experienced Marita and she had us in pairs practicing recovery position, choking prevention techniques and giving Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on full size, junior and baby sized models.
It was a worthwhile course for the novice and for giving confidence to an inexperienced first aider but for anyone who has had plenty of training I would suggest that this would not be demanding enough.
The course was free to attend and a suggested donation to St John's from the Parish Council of £50 for the Councillors who attended would be a welcomed gesture.
Cllr Elizabeth Linton 7th September 2017
* * * * *
The course itself was very useful and informative and very well presented and generally met the needs of those who attended. I do feel that there were some attendees (e.g. those who had never attended a First Aid Course) who would have benefitted from a must longer course.
Had the course been say, another hour, then the following could also have been covered:
1. AED in more detail to build confidence; 2. More information on Strokes; 3. Although strokes were mentioned and bleeding, there would have been immense benefit in covering a condition which occurs after any trauma and to look out for when attending to any person as a first responder and that is 'shock'; 4. More emphasis on the importance of comfort and re-assurance to the casualty.
Thanks for allowing me to attend.
Cllr Christine Barber 11th September 2017
Kingston Parish Council – housing meeting, 6th September
Rustington House, Rustington
Kingston Parish Council arranged a meeting with EPPC, Richard Andrew and The Walters to discuss that the land surrounding Kingston Manor had been allocated as Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) and initially 46 homes, HELAA Site ref 17K1, a bridge over the railway, south of the Angmering bypass roundabout on Angmering/Kingston grounds.
Full Council, 2nd October 2017, Supporting Papers Page 19 of 21
Bear in mind that previous a Plan has been circulating to move the current site of Worthing Rugby Club to the south of the A259, partly north of the railway line but the majority south of the line. This has so far not materialised in a planning application but 17K1 looks like a small derivation from that it. I would not be surprised that if the 46 are excepted by the examiner to include in the Local Plan that is the beginning of the end of the Strategic Gap.
Site 17K1 refers as Settlement East Preston. Regardless of all this it will have a major impact on the infrastructure of East Preston. The existing roads are unsuitable to deal with future traffic especially when the bridge could become a reality: traffic will try to avoid that stretch of the A259.
Remember we already strongly objected to A/99/17/OUT (19th July 2017) Angmering Concept Masterplan. At the time of writing, a decision on the above Planning Application is three weeks overdue.
The meeting held was primary to discuss how this Angmering proposal could be dealt with. It also should be noticed that Kingston Parish will represent two hearings by the examiner. As far as I know EPPC does not go to the hearing to possibly clarify EPPC view regarding our objections as mentioned above.
A draft transport objection will be proposed by Mr Andrew in short notice which than hopefully will be excepted by the Examiner for discussion.
I am convinced that EPPC should get much more actively involved in the (near) future of East Preston.
Cllr Joop Duijf – Chairman of the Council 11th September 2017
Rustington Parish Council – Annual Civic Thanksgiving Service, 10th September
St Andrew’s United Reformed Church, Rustington
Sunday 10th September 2017 was Rustington´s yearly Annual Civic Thanksgiving Service and the Community Awards´ Reception.
The Civic Service this year was held at St Andrew´s United Reformed Church in Holmes Lane. The Service started with the procession of Rustington Parish Councillors led by Reverend Canon David Helyar. A welcome by the Chairman of Rustington Jamie Bennett followed by an introduction by the Reverend and hymns, prayers, readings and blessings followed. An Offertory was held in aid of Branch Community Responders. The Service was well attended by members of the public as well as by the chain gang.
After the Service one moved to The Woodlands Centre for the Reception and was welcomed by a glass of wine or something without alcohol. I opted for a glass of wine.
After being seated and a welcome by the Chairman one was invited to honour the excellent food in all its varieties. The food was enjoyed by everybody and at the end of this session there was still a lot left and was followed by the results of the Gardens and Allotments Competition and the Parishioners´ Awards.
Rustington Council dedicated this year a new trophy, which will be presented on an annual
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basis to the winners of the Individual Parishioners´ Award named The Austen Beard Trophy in memory of Austen in recognition of his outstanding and unceasing commitment to the Community of Rustington.
The results of the South and South East in Bloom competition were not known yet but will be declared on 20 September at the Official Awards Ceremony. Special thanks went to the Sponsors of the various floral areas.
Cllr Joop Duijf – Chairman of the Council 11th September 2017
Funeral of Anne Harberson, 12th September
Worthing Crematorium
Mrs Anne Harberson, a former councillor, died 28 August 2017 and the funeral took place 12 September 2017 at Worthing Crematorium.
This council was represented by myself, Simon Cross, Tracy Khoo and former councillors Rob Ellis, Margaret Gilbert, John Heaver and Fiona MacLeod. Other former councillors such as Judith Akhurst, Celeste Amoo, Len Barnett, Gordon Fleming and Alastair Sharp had sent their apologies.
After the Service I offered on behalf of the council its condolences to the family.
I was asked to thank the council for the offer to name a wild flower bed in remembrance of Anne Harberson. I was asked where the flowerbed was going to be located in remembrance of the deceased. Sadly I was not able to do so as I was not aware of this.
Cllr Joop Duijf – Chairman of the Council 17th September 2017
Visit to Network Rail Lancing signal box, 20th September
Adjacent to Lancing railway station
Clerk’s Note: Cllr Duijf has submitted a report on his visit twice but for technical reasons it has not arrived in the office. Hopefully the report will be safely received in time to be circulated at the meeting.
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