WILLINGDON AND JEVINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

ANNUAL REPORT 2018 – 2019

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CONTENTS

PARISH COUNCILLORS

CHAIRMAN ...... 3

AMENITIES COMMITTEE...... 6

CEMETERY COMMITTEE ...... 7

EVENTS COMMITTEE…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….8

FINANCE & GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE ...... 9

LIBRARY COMMITTEE………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….11

PLANNING & LICENSING COMMITTEE ...... 12

RECREATION GROUNDS COMMITTEE ...... 13

COUNTY COUNCILLORS

CLLR D AND S SHING...... 15

DISTRICT COUNCILLORS

CLLR D MURRAY ...... 19

CLLRS R AND S SHING ...... 22

PARISH REPORTS

WILLINGDON MEMORIAL HALL ...... 24

CUCKMERE BUSES………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………24

WEALDEN DISTRICT ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL COUNCILS...... 25

WANNOCK HALL………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..25

MEETING ATTENDANCE ...... …26

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP……………………………………………………………………………………………………………26

MINUTES OF THE 2018 ASSEMBLY…………………………………………………………………………………………………27

COUNCIL FINANCE UPDATE ...... 29

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CHAIRMAN’S REPORT TO ANNUAL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING 20 MAY 2019

As is my usual practice, the following is once again a brief résumé of my work as Chairman of the Council over the last year during which I have endeavoured to continue to represent the Council to the best of my ability, at the same time as keeping our residents informed and highlighting all the good work our Council has done. Commencing with a calendar of events I have been involved in over the past Council year:

 4 May I attended with Cllr Fran Pritchett, Wealden’s Code of Conduct seminar conducted by Trevor Scott which was very informative.

 3 June – along with my WILLRA Councillors and Committee, and Cllr Murray once again the annual Music in the Park Event was an enormous success. Thanks must especially go to Nicola Williamson, Assistant Clerk for her untiring work in putting everything in place, also Stuart Freeman for his invaluable help and Events Chair Christina Lynn. Without the help of all who helped in putting up and taking down the Marquees etc., this event wouldn’t go as smoothly as it does and tremendous positive feedback is always received.

 15 June I attended with Fran the 80th Anniversary lunch at Trinity Church which was a very special occasion.

 29 June several Councillors joined me at the Library for a day when residents were encouraged to bring in any books they were able to donate. The response to our request was quite overwhelming so a big thank you to all our generous residents.

 4 July we attended the Willingdon Branch of the Royal British Legion tea party at Flint House courtesy of Gillian Keef.

 13 July Fran and I attended the District Scout AGM at Bushy Wood. As most people will know I have been involved in Scouting for many years and am proud to remain the President of 1st Willingdon Scouts and keep abreast of our other successful Group of 2nd Willingdon Scouts.

 7 September was the Flower Festival at our Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin which was a very successful event. The displays were absolutely stunning and a good amount of money was raised towards the Organ Fund.

 15 September in the evening, Fran and I took part in the St Wilfrid’s Starlight Stroll, walking 6 miles and raising £230 for an excellent cause. Very many thanks to those who kindly sponsored us.

 17 September we met with Inspector Gross in Hailsham for an update on police matters in our area.

 20 September we had a second Library Open Day for the donation of books – once again very well supported. Many thanks especially to Cllrs Ian Nisbet and Christina Lynn for sorting donated books along with Cllr Fran Pritchett

 30 September was the Parish Walk. Many thanks to those Councillors who supported us. The walk was across Mornings Mill Farm to Jubilee Way and then across the foot bridge and back along Seven Sisters Way finishing at the Parish Office for refreshments.

 1 November Cllr Fran Pritchett and I attended the Schools Speaking Competition where we were delighted to witness our Willingdon Community School gaining 2nd place.

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 2 November Cllr Fran Pritchett, Andy Watkins and I, along with our Clerk attended a seminar on engaging with the local community held at Wealden District Council in Hailsham which we found very interesting.

 3 November I spent 3 hours at The Triangle selling poppies for the Willingdon Branch of the Royal British Legion which I have done for a few years now.

 9 November I attended a rehearsal for the Remembrance Day Parade.

 10 November at 11am we had a Remembrance Service at the Parish Office. Many thanks to those Councillors who turned up for this very important occasion which was commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1.

 10 November in the afternoon along with Cllrs Stuart Freeman, Martin Cooper, Les Moor and Fran Pritchett we built our Beacon on the Downs over Willingdon in readiness for the following day. Once again an enormous thanks to Farmer Richard Brown who provided the material for the Beacon and those who helped me build the Beacon.

 11 November many Councillors joined me to parade from Upper Kings Drive to St Mary’s Parish Church along with the biggest contingent of Scouts, Cubs, Beavers, Guides, Brownies and St John Ambulance that we have had for years. The church was magnificently decorated for this very special occasion and as is usually the case our young people really did us proud. A big thank you to them, their parents and their dedicated Leaders.

 11 November in the afternoon we had another enormous contingent joining me and other Councillors for the Remembrance Service we lead at the Ruthless Memorial on the Downs above Butts Brow. We were joined by Stephen Lloyd MP, and Deputy Mayor of Eastbourne.

 11 November just before 7pm Father Kevin Agnew accompanied by Deacon Sue Wilkinson led a short commemorative service at our Beacon on the Downs – part of the National Chain of Beacons across the country. The Last Post was played by Peter Davey and the Beacon lit at 7pm. The very large crown then joined in singing songs from the era and some members of Lewes Bonfire let off some brilliant flares which lit up the sky for some time. It was a brilliant clear night and the view across Eastbourne was second to none and we were able to see Beacons near Hastings and Battle in the distance. This was a truly fitting end to a weekend of Commemorative Events of this special anniversary. Enormous thanks to all who were involved in any way and to those who took photographs for us for the Council Website. Another example of the Council working for the Community which we all represent.

 25 November Cllr Fran Pritchett joined me at the Town Hall where the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex, Peter Field, presented Awards including Queen’s Scout Awards. Among those receiving Awards were Scouts from our 1st and 2nd Willingdon Groups – excellent achievements.

 8 December I attended the Willingdon Community School Christmas Fair which Fran and I always like to support.

 12 December we had our usual update meeting with Inspector Gross at Hailsham.

 13 December was our annual Christmas Carol evening on Jubilee Gardens. Lots of children came to visit Father Christmas and it was as usual a very good well attended event. Many thanks once again to all those involved especially with putting up and taking down marquees and to Kim Gardener for organising the Father Christmas Parade.

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 4 January we met at the Parish Office to discuss the latest Mornings Mill/University of Brighton Planning Application to discuss the way forward.

 At this point I would like to give thanks to Cllr Howard Coote who looked after things in my absence visiting family overseas.

 14 March along with many other Councillors Fran and I visited the Preview of the Airship Station Exhibition at Trinity Church Hall – a wonderful exhibition of the history of the Airship Station the workshop of which was on our Library site which of course has the commemorative plaque on it.

 17 March I attended the Licensing of Father Kevin Agnew as Vicar of St Mary the Virgin and Deacon Sue Wilkinson as Assistant Vicar.

 23 March Fran, Nicola Williamson, Assistant Clerk and I joined residents in a Litter Pick. The response although rather disappointing resulted in a very successful morning resulting in the collection of over 10 big bags of litter. Cllr John Martin also carried out a litter pick around Coopers Hill and Church Street for which we give grateful thanks.

 On Monday, 8 April I was delighted at last to sign the Lease for our Library, along with Cllr Ian Nisbet.

 On 15 April our Clerk was finally given the keys to the Library so at last the Library Trustees can commence the necessary work and preparations that have to be done before we can have a grand re-opening!

As usual I would like to thank all those Councillors who have supported me over the past year, attended meetings and had an enormous input into the work of the Council as a whole. The biggest success of the past year has to be the acquisition of our Willingdon Library. To all those who have worked so hard towards where we are now I say an enormous thank you, both the dedicated Councillors who initially volunteered at the Public Meeting I instigated, to be part of the Action Group, and following that to Cllr Ian Nisbet for being the Council Representative on the Group that has been set up to move the project forward to become a Charity. There are a group of Councillors who have worked particularly hard towards this end who I do not need to mention by name as they know who they are. Suffice to say, without their hard work and support we would not be where we are today. This support also of course includes the hard work and input from our Clerk Stephen Keogh especially with the Business Plan, and Assistant Clerk Nicola Williamson. It has at times been very frustrating waiting for responses from East Sussex County Council, especially the finalising of the Lease but this has now been resolved and our Library Trustees and volunteers can get on with all the necessary tasks involved – cleaning, painting, gardening etc. and with the setting up of computers and the new system and the reopening or our Library. What a long road this has been but well worth the effort! A very special thank you to those residents who have so generously offered to donate computers for the Library. I have also this year decided to give my Chairman’s allowance for 2018 towards providing the additional computers needed.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those Councillors who have supported the events the Council has put on over the past 4 years, including members of Willingdon Residents’ Association who are not Councillors, but always turn out to help at various events – their support and input is most appreciated and valued. A big thank you to all Chairs and Vice-Chairs of our Committees who all do a great job and to those, especially Andy Watkins, who not only helps keep our finances in order as Chair of Finance and General Purposes Committee but who has also helped, along with Cllr Fran Pritchett with the numerous consultations that we have had to respond to again this past year. Without all this help, our Council would not run as smoothly as I think it does.

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Last but not least I once again thank our Clerk Stephen Keogh and Assistant Clerk and Cemetery Manager Nicola Williamson, for their enormous help and support over the years which has helped make my job as Chairman so much easier.

My final hope is that after the forthcoming elections on 2 May we will once again have a hard working, proactive Council who all put the residents of our wonderful Parish first and partake and get involved in all the events the Council organises!

Cllr John Pritchett BEM

Chairman Mr Tony Seabrook and his wife were awarded with the freedom of the Village.

AMENITIES COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT

This year there were five meetings of this committee and the main issues which were discussed were:

Street lighting. As one of the major costs to the Council each year the Committee were concerned about the level of service being received from the maintenance contractors. It was agreed that ‘Streetlights’ were indeed providing a service which improves on the one which had been provided by the County Council and that the majority of lights can be repaired within 5 days of being reported.

Milhams continue to provide an excellent urban grass cutting service, the hot weather helped ensure that the Village looks very tidy during the summer months. The Company have been providing a high standard of work for the village and have been very flexible in their approach to recent news of reductions in funding from the County Council. Due to a reduction in funds from the County Council, there will only be 13 cuts this summer.

The millennium posts which adorn the village will be maintained and this has started with the one at the Triangle.

Jubilee Garden is in need of more attention, the flowerbeds will be tended to more frequently and there are plans to carry out more works to reduce the impact of weeds in the main flowerbeds. It is

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also planned to improve the triangle by re surfacing the area around the youth shelter which has started to show its age

The vehicles driving and parking on Foulride Green continues to cause some concerns, the Committee has decided that this can be reduced by planting some more trees and shrubs at the location and providing bollards at the access point of the pathway to Tott Yew Road. It is hoped that this will reduce the occasions when pedestrians will nearly be involved with a vehicle parking in the area.

The floral displays along the roads will be installed in early June. The last few years these displays have been well received by residents and visitors to the Village.

Cllr John Martin

Committee Chair

CEMETERY COMMITTEE

The committee met 5 times during the year, to discuss and make recommendations concerning maintenance, policies and charges. We have again found it necessary to make a moderate increase in our fees for 2019-2020 to cover costs, keep charges into line with neighbouring burial authorities, and help create a reserve towards the capital costs of future developments. The cemetery will continue to be an expense to the Parish for at least 75 years after the last interment.

This year for the first time, we entered the Cemetery of the Year awards of the Memorial Awareness Board. We were delighted to be awarded a silver certificate in the smaller cemeteries class. As we have long claimed, Willingdon has one of the best burial grounds in the country.

We have continued to maintain hedges back to a uniform height, to improve the appearance of the grounds. Tree surgery has been necessary during the year to a number of mature trees within the Cemetery.

This year the area for cremated remains in the Memorial Garden has been extended. The new area is designed to blend seamlessly with existing sections, and is available when existing sections are filled.

We continue to seek for further grounds, either to extend the existing cemetery, or to replace it when it becomes full. Unfortunately we have made no progress towards this. The council has agreed in principle that any surplus to running costs generated by the cemetery should be held in a specific reserve for this purpose.

Our Cemetery continues to be well maintained, and is a popular place to remember loved ones.

My thanks, as always, go to our Cemetery manager for the professional and sympathetic service which she provides to users, and for all her hard work in managing this facility. Thanks also to our contractors who work hard to provide a safe reliable service for interments, and to keep the grounds looking good.

Martin Cooper

Committee Chair

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Cllrs John Pritchett, Martin Cooper and Andy Watkins display the Cemetery award.

EVENTS COMMITTEE REPORT

The Christmas Event, held completely at the Triangle was very successful, due to the combined efforts of many people in setting it all out. We look forward to 2019 when the Council offices or Santa’s grotto will look more festive.

In May we have the Parish Walk which this year will take a Wannock/Folkington direction which we hope the weather will hold fine.

Preparations are well under way for our main event Music in the Park and I would like to thank Cllr Stuart Freeman for his expertise in staging the music aspect of this event. Our charities this year are the Beachy Head Chaplaincy and Canine Partners.

The Library is finally handed over and the Volunteers are busying preparing it for opening to the public, a more formal opening event will be held later.

In September The Public Information Day will be held as usual at Trinity Hall, this gives people an opportunity to come and view the help which can be given by various local organisations.

In October, venue to be decided, we are holding another Craft and Activities Day and linked to this is a Craft a Creature competition, more details of this will be found on the Parish website soon.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow Councillor’s on the Event’s Committee and to particularly thank Nicola our Assistant Clerk for all her hard work behind the scenes in helping everything run smoothly.

Cllr Christina Lynn

Committee Chair

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Music in the Park 2018.

FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE REPORT

The Committee is made up of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of Council, Chairmen of all Standing Committees and other Councillors to ensure the Committee is representative of the Council as a whole. The Chairman and Committee are elected annually by Council.

The terms of reference from the Council requires the Committee to prepare and regularly review Council policies; to put together annual budget recommendations to the Council; to look at long term objectives of the Council and prepare business plans; to ensure that proper financial policies are in place and to oversee day to day management of the Councils finances and assets; and to deal with any matter not delegated to another committee such as consultations from the County and District Council and other bodies.

To assist with dealing smoothly with business during the last year there have been three Sub Committees. A Sub Committee chaired by Cllr Martin Cooper has dealt with staffing matters. The Strengthening Local Relationships Sub Committee chaired by Cllr John Pritchett is where councillors meet directly with County Council officers and County Councillors on a full range of subjects where the County Council affects the lives of parishioners. The Business Plan Sub Committee meets when necessary to consider Council's objectives and to ensure the plan is up to date. Proposed changes were recently put to the Council.

In my last two annual reports I referred to changes in boundaries at County, District and Parish levels. This has meant that since 2017 most of the Parish is represented by one County Councillor and Watermill Ward by another who mainly represents Polegate.

The new warding arrangements at District and Parish level for Willingdon and Jevington were implemented at this months elections with Jevington and Filching being included in the new Lower Willingdon Ward of the District Council. The other District Ward is Upper Willingdon with Watermill Parish Ward of Willingdon being added to Polegate South to form a new District Ward. The Boundary Commission decided, also, to change the Parish Council Wards to three Wards Upper Willingdon (9 Councillors), Lower Willingdon (8 Councillors) and Watermill Ward

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(2 Councillors) This has meant that Jevington and Filching no longer have a separate Parish Councillor and those residents are now represented by the eight councillors representing Lower Willingdon Ward.

The Parish Council made it very clear that we objected to all these changes and remain of the strong view that they have had an adverse effect on good governance for residents. There was not sufficient support for our views, however, from County and District Councillors and the Boundary Commission did not accept our representations. It is intended that the Committee will consider recommending to Council that a further review of electoral arrangements be requested and to decide in the meantime what additional arrangements are necessary to ensure that Jevington and Filching do receive adequate representation in the future.

Despite the major projects which have taken place over the last four years and continue to do so, continued good management of the Council's resources has enabled Council to make only a small increase of 1.5% in Council Tax this year and for 2019/20 it will be £58.61 a small increase from £57.72 in the previous year for a Band D Council Tax payer, less than £1 for the year. This charge compares favourably with other similar sized Town and Parish Councils and also represents a very small part of the overall council tax charge.

Parish Councillors have continued to agree to carry out their responsibilities without remuneration which compares well to many similar sized Town and Parish Councils where councillors do receive payment.

During the year we have continued to carefully consider with our Responsible Finance Officer, Stephen Keogh, the way in which we manage and control our finances and where necessary have refreshed and brought up to date our Policies. Our Audit reports during the past year have again been good.

We have again approved grants to organisations serving the local community in accordance with the Policy and funding decided by Council.

We continue to have strong concerns about the level of visible policing in our Parish and make those views known at every opportunity. We regret that direct liaison with police continues to much reduced from that which we have enjoyed in the past but welcome the fact that the Parish is continued to be viewed by police as a low crime area.

My thanks go to my Vice Chairman, Cllr John Pritchett, Chairmen of the Sub Committees and all those Councillors who have served on the committee and have contributed to discussions and decisions over the last four years; to Stephen Keogh, our Parish Clerk and Responsible Finance Officer and Nicola Williamson, our Assistant Clerk and Cemetery Manager for all their hard work.

Cllr Andy Watkins

Committee Chair

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LIBRARY COMMITTEE REPORT

The County Council run library closed on 8 May 2018.

The County Council invited bids from groups interested in running libraries in areas where they were closing, and the Parish Council put forward a bid to set up a Community Library. The proposal was for the library to be run by a volunteer group with the support of the Council over the period of the 5- year lease. The proposal included a business plan that showed the cost to the taxpayer would reduce each year as the Library raised more revenue through fund raising and grants.

In June the County Council offered the parish a lease but the survey of the property raised some issues, the most serious of which was the energy efficiency of the building. The works required were more than the County had anticipated and meant they had to undertake a tender before they could be completed. There were also issues over the lease which took some time to resolve. In the meantime, over 40 volunteers came forward to run the library and a committee was established to help organise this process.

The lease was finally signed at the beginning of April. The volunteers have set up a management committee and successfully applied to become a charity, Willingdon Community Hub Library Trust, with 9 trustees. The Sub Lease is currently with our solicitors and should shortly be available for the Charity to sign. The volunteers are getting the library ready and being trained to use the library systems. The charity has begun applying for grants and if all goes to plan they intend to have a grand opening of the library on the 22 June.

Cllr Ian Nisbet

Chairman

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PLANNING & LICENSING COMMITTEE REPORT

The following is a brief précis of planning issues over the past year. Once again we have had varying degrees of success when we have, as ever, given careful consideration to planning applications in the Parish. There have been several changes in Planning Personnel at Wealden which seems to have resulted in many of our responses being taken a bit more seriously especially the continuous loss of our bungalow stock in the Parish. The Planning Committee continues to meet every 3 weeks which is a big commitment.

We now have the result of the Judicial Review with regards to the Brodricklands/Hamlands Farm development for 390 dwellings which was overturned by the High Court so we now know the Outline Planning permission stands but of course must adhere to many conditions and which is shortly coming to Planning Committee for Reserved Matters to be considered which deal with outstanding details of the outline application proposal including appearance, means of access, landscaping, layout, scale etc and other relevant matters. It is always a great shame when we lose local farming land but sadly there is not much we can do about it other than ensure that any development fits in as much as possible with the surrounding housing and the community gains as much from it as possible in the way of amenity areas and provision of community facilities.

On 4 January the Large Development Sub Committee met to consider the latest planning application jointly submitted by the University of Brighton and the Vine Family of Mornings Mill Farm. The Parish Council had objected to the previous planning application and following much discussion it was also agreed to object to the latest one for a number of reasons not least because Mornings Mill was not included for any housing allocation in the latest Wealden Local Plan and we hadn’t got the required infrastructure for such a large development. It was agreed that it be recommended to the Planning Committee who were due to discuss the Plan on 7 January that the Large Development Sub Committee’s draft response to Wealden District Council be accepted as our objection to the plans currently on the table. This was duly accepted unanimously. It is not often we get an audience at Council Meetings but for obvious reasons Planning Committee meetings often do! On the evening when this plan came before us we had a very large audience and following a reading of our proposed response to object to the application it was gratifying to obtain a spontaneous round of applause. This Plan has yet to be discussed at Planning Committee South when it is to be hoped two of our Councillors will be able to speak against the Plan.

After a long process the Wealden Local Plan is with the Inspector. Our Large Development Sub Committee met to consider the Parish Council’s response to the Plan. Whilst we were delighted to see that Mornings Mill Farm had been taken out of the plan for any housing, we were disappointed to see it was still in the Development boundary. We were, however, pleased to see that the University of Brighton’s land was earmarked for Medical Facilities and Community Facilities. Although a school was still included on this land it is not sure that with the expansion to Polegate Primary School that this will still be needed. We duly submitted a Parish Council response to the Plan in September 2018 highlighting our concerns where appropriate.

The Inspector has concluded her initial consideration of the submitted Plan, evidence and duly made representations. Given the strategic nature of the plan, she intends to carry out the hearing sessions in two stages. Stage 1 of the hearings, are likely to address matters of strategic significance, and of legal compliance. However, details will be set out in her forthcoming Matters Issues and Questions which will be publicised on the examination website. If she concludes that the plan is legally compliant and likely to be capable of being found sound, given the potential for her to recommend main modifications, the Examination will then proceed to Stage 2. A further set of Matters Issues and Questions would then be published. At the moment it appears that these are likely to relate to development management policies and specific housing and

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employment allocations. However, this list should not be relied on, and may change.

The date for the second stage of the hearings has not been confirmed, but it is hoped that this will take place mid to late summer. Stage 1 of the Examination to be held at the East Sussex National Hotel, Little Horsted, Uckfield, TN22 5ES (54 Bus from Hailsham). The hearings are expected to run for 6 days.

Week Commencing 20 May: Tuesday 21 May, Wednesday 22 May and Thursday 23 May. Week Commencing 27 May: Tuesday 28 May, Wednesday 29 May and Thursday 30 May

Further details will be placed on the Wealden District Council website in due course.

Both Councillors John Pritchett and Andy Watkins have registered to attend the hearing sessions and contribute to the debate along with myself.

I would as usual like to thank members of the Planning Committee for their commitment to this very important Committee and for their insightful deliberations and invaluable input. I thank Cllr Murray for his input as a member of this Committee from the perspective of his role as one of our District Councillors and also with guidance concerning the Wealden Local Plan. As he also sits on Wealden’s Planning Committee South it is also always useful to know what is going on with other planning applications which sometimes have an impact on our Parish. I would also like to thank Cllr Martin Cooper who has attended when necessary as our Tree Warden or as a Committee substitute and given invaluable advice when it has been needed.

Finally, I thank our Clerk Stephen Keogh for his guidance and support on Planning Applications which have helped make my job as Chair so much easier and also thank our Assistant Clerk, Nicola Williamson when she has stood in to minute meetings.

Fran Pritchett

Chair of Planning

RECREATION COMMITTEE.

The committee has met regularly during the year.

HUGGETTS LANE REC.

The new pavilion facility has now enjoyed a full year of use by both football and cricket clubs and our own Music in the Park extravaganza!

It has performed well exceeding all expectations as to its “usability” we truly have first class facilities compared with any similar recreation ground. Many thanks to the organisations that use it and our cleaning team who keep it in first class condition.

Further works to the playing area are envisaged for the future and drainage works may be needed to prolong use during wet weather. The children's play area is in urgent need of updating but the costs involved mean we must be patient and wait while grants are investigated, a fund has been started towards an upgrade of the area.

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JEVINGTON REC.

After many false starts the new Pavilion is reaching completion thanks to Parish funding and the hard work and enthusiasm of the Jevington Cricket & sports Club members. Well done! The new facility is a purpose built timber frame structure which will complement the existing “Tea Room” which has given sterling service for many years. Sports teams and spectators will now have decent changing facilities and room to breathe!

TOTT YEW REC.

This recreation ground and children's play area continues to be heavily used by our residents throughout the year. The play area continues to need close attention to make sure all is in working order and is safe. Further improvements to the whole area are under investigation, but as always funding is a problem.

Many thanks to all my committee and to Steve and Nicola our Clerk and Assistant clerk for their help during the year.

Cllr Richard Nunney Committee Chair

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ESCC REPORT TO WILLINGDON & JEVINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

Willingdon and Jevington Parish Council Annual Parish Council Report from County Councillor Daniel Shing and Stephen Shing

LOCAL SCHOOLS

Willingdon Community School and Polegate Primary school are having extension works to accommodate more classes to meet projected demand and growth in the future. This is one of the essential infrastructure changes that local parents have been expecting for years.

TACKLING ROAD SURFACING, FOOTWAYS AND POTHOLE REPAIRS

The biggest area of concern to local residents is the deteriorating footways and potholes. As such, we are constantly reporting these to East Sussex County Council’s Highways Team for repairs.

TRAFFIC LIGHTS TRIAL - ALFRISTON

East Sussex County Council is continuing to analyse the data from the trial and the feedback received during and after the trial. The data being analysed includes information on the roads in and around Alfriston, and all the submissions from the public and Conserve Alfriston Group comprising of written, photographic and video material.

ESCC plans to report the outcome of the trial and any recommendations in June to the Lead Member for Transport.

PETITION MEETING AND SITE VISIT UPDATE

Last year in July, we wrote to residents along Farmlands Way, Farmlands Avenue and Coppice Avenue about the speeding traffic through these roads and the traffic vibrations affecting the properties nearby. A petition followed and was presented to East Sussex County Council (ESCC) in September, requesting a speed limit reduction to 20mph and for ESCC to investigate the road structure in Farmlands Way, Farmlands Avenue and Coppice Avenue.

In November, ESCC’s Lead Member for Communities and Safety held a meeting to consider the petition and requests. The lead member consider a report prepared by the Highways team and resolved to inform the petitioners that: (1) a reduction in the speed limit to 20mph was not a priority for the County Council, (2) the road surface is not in need of repair apart from a section outside of 40 Farmlands Way, and (3) that there should be a broader investigation of the construction and setting of the concrete slabs and how this can best be managed in the long term.

We are pleased to inform you that ESCC Highways have carried out repair the broken slabs outside 40 Farmlands Way and some road joining works outside 80 Coppice Avenue. We are pleased that ESCC highways had agreed with us that all those road works were completed during the school half term and Easter school holidays.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the residents for bringing this matter to our attention and supporting the petition. We are always interested to hear of ongoing issues so please don’t hesitate to contact us.

CUCKOO TRAIL

Since the report of the overgrowth and surface cracks to the Cuckoo Trail from the Dittons Road roundabout to the bend, ESCC County Highways have cleared all the overgrowth in this area and are investigating how to repair all the cracks, the repairs to the cracks were repaired.

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EAST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL - COUNCIL TAX

County Councillors at East Sussex County Council will meet on 5th February to discuss proposals for service changes and funding across East Sussex next year, in the context of uncertainty and a difficult financial outlook over the next three years.

The proposals to be considered include decisions about spending £375 million on vital services and proposals to make savings of £5.13 million to deliver a balanced budget in 2019/20, and also look ahead to 2020/21 and 2021/22. The latest estimates for the next two years to 2021/22 continue to show a deficit of £21.2 million.

To save £5.1 million, ESCC proposes to reduce its spending on school improvements, removing the subsidy for meals on wheels and increasing parking charges.

County Council agreed an increase in council tax for next year of 2.99 per cent, the equivalent of 80p extra per week for the average household in East Sussex.

With good financial management and successful lobbying of central Government, which has resulted in some additional one-off funding, means the savings requirement for the next financial year, from service changes, is lower than first estimated. Among the New One off Funding to have an effect on plans for 2019/20, is money from the 75 per cent business rates retention pilot, and an additional £4.4 million for social care Support Grant 19/20

RAMPION WINDFARM

East Sussex’s largest renewable energy project has been officially opened. Rampion windfarm is 8 miles off the Sussex coast and comprises of 116 turbines, it the South East’s first offshore windfarm. Construction began in 2015 and is now capable of supplying enough electricity to power the equivalent of almost 350000 UK homes I was pleased to have the opportunity to be invited for the official opening and see up close the 116 turbines on a good autumn day. No doubt that is at the right location to be able to create that much clean and renewable power.”

EXCEAT BRIDGE UPDATE

The project is progressing as expected and ESCC are still aiming to submit the planning application in September as previously indicated. Further site investigation works are planned for February.

ESCC are expecting formal responses from the consultees such as Natural England later this month which will help progress the project, so far the responses are positive.

THE FIRST PHASE OF THE HAILSHAM – POLEGATE – EASTBOURNE MOVEMENT AND ACCESS CORRIDOR

The Lead Member for Transport and Environment at ESCC held a meeting last June in relation to the Movement and Access Corridor and ESCC Highways have been commissioned to undertake the detailed design for the A2270/Wannock Road/Polegate High Street junction improvement Eastbourne Road bus lane (Broad Road to Huggetts Lane) Victoria Drive bus lane.

The detailed designs are expected to be completed by mid-2019 with construction being undertaken in late 2019/20 and 2020/21.

A2270 A22 EASTBOURNE ROAD

East Sussex County Council has appointed Jacobs consultants to generate the detailed design by mid- 2019 for the A2270/Wannock Road/Polegate High Street junction and the Eastbourne Road bus lane.

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In relation to the designs for the two junctions in Stone Cross, the preliminary designs are currently being safety audited and so are expected to be completed in the next month or so.

DITTONS ROAD ROUNDABOUT

In relation to the Dittons Road junction improvement, ESCC Highways are finalising their design proposals for this and the A22/A27 roundabout junction to the north. Hopefully the detailed designs will be finalised in the next couple of months and it is anticipated that we will discuss the initial designs with Highways and confirm when construction will take place.

POLEGATE HIGH STREET

We are working with the County Highways for pedestrian improvements and a 20mph zone study for the High Street.

A27 ROAD IMPROVEMENT

During the A27 road improvement public information exhibition, many residents expressed concerns that Highways England and East Sussex County Highways are not working together for the improvement schemes of our road network improvement. Highways England has separate improvement projects nearby in the Polegate and Stone Cross area.

ROAD WORKS WINCHESTER WAY

Since the road resurfacing by County Highway’s sub-contractors in Winchester Way and adjacent roads last summer, there were many gullies and drainage cover edges that had not been completed and generated complaints.

DOVER ROAD

Since we reported a number of potholes in Dover Road (Polegate) to County Highways, they have repaired three sections. The sub-contractors had return to the area and reinstate the gullies and drainage cover edges.

ROAD GULLY AND DRAINAGE IN WILLINGDON

The drains at Southdown Cottages, The Triangle, Coopers Hill have been cleared.

OVERGROWTH TO FOOTPATHS

The Hedge at Church Street (Willingdon) along the A2270 towards the BP Garage footpath has been cut back. The vegetation to the footpath between Farmlands Way and Southfield has also been cut back.

In response, County Highways have confirmed to us that they met with Highways England in early February to discuss their respective projects. They agreed that their schemes need to compliment each other and will continue discussions in the coming months whilst both sets of designs are progressed to the detailed design stage. In the longer term, they also recognised that their delivery programmes for the next few years will benefit from collective discussions.

STREET PARKING

On street parking has created a problem in Polegate town centre and around schools for many years with many complaints sent from residents to East Sussex County Council (ESCC), Wealden District Council (WDC) and Polegate Town Council (PTC).

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Early 2017 WDC finally worked with ESCC to conduct a parking review for the whole of Wealden but unfortunately WDC decided not to decriminalise parking.

January 2018 WDC decided not support the introduction of Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE)

Despite remaining a criminal matter, Sussex Police have publicly stated that they will not enforce against illegal parking.

Without police parking enforcement, ESCC confirmed that they would not carry out parking reviews with any town and parish councils in Wealden.

COPPICE AVENUE GRASS VERGES

The grass verge close to the northbound bus stop on Coppice Avenue nearest to Broad Road has been damaged by vehicles. becoming hazardous for school children and bus users waiting at that stop.

Despite this location being a top priority on ESCC’s list of areas requiring double yellow lines, they are reluctant to mark new double yellow lines in Wealden without a decriminalised parking scheme. However, due to the risk to school children and bus stop users at this location, ESCC have reconsidered this and we are pleased to inform residents that have also agreed for two bollards to be installed and maintained at this particular location.

LOWER WILLINGDON PRE-SCHOOL

Lower Willingdon pre-school approached East Sussex County Council last year requesting permission to carry out works to their external play area. The current lease, granted in 2006, which means that ESCC unable to grant the required Licence for Alterations. ESCC therefore seeking to grant a new lease, with the same 30 year term commencing in 2006, to rectify the issues in order that the pre-school can carry out their works.

I am pleased to inform that Lower Willingdon pre-school will given the permission to carry out works to their external play area. I am supporting ESCC be granted the renew lease end of March.

East Sussex County Councillor

Daniel and Stephen Shing

Christmas Carols Evening

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DISTRICT COUNCIL REPORT TO WILLINGDON & JEVINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

It has been a pleasure to serve my community and work with my Parish Council as a Councillor of Wealden District Council for the last 4 years. Over this period, Wealden District Council has experienced a significant drop in the Government Support Grant and has been making adjustments.

As a further reduction in costs to the ratepayer, Wealden decided to reduce the number of Members from 55 to 45 and save at least £180,000 over the next Council. This led to a re-drawing of Ward boundaries for the recent elections.

As a Primary Tier Council Wealden has a number of community responsibilities for instance for Housing, Licensing, Planning, Waste. It has become very obvious that the number of elected resources to carry out Wealden’s statutory work were excessive and this is shown in the table below demonstrating the low demand on and attendance by the lower two deciles of Members.

Stood for Councillor 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 4yr Total re-election John Wilton 7 8 6 10 31 NO Oi Lin Shing 7 11 5 7 30 Peter Waldock 7 8 5 8 28 Jo Bentley 7 6 7 6 26 NO William Rutherford 6 7 5 8 26 NO Andy Long 6 4 5 9 24 Rowena Moore 7 7 3 7 24 Raymond Shing* 7 5 4 3 19 Daniel Shing* 3 4 3 3 13 Jim Hollins 3 3 2 2 10 NO Comparison: Douglas Murray* 19 16 16 21 72

*Willingdon Councillors

I further served for WDC on Pevensey & Cuckmere Water Levels Management Board and Sussex Weald Homes Ltd. with the attendant need to be fully conversant with the matters for the Board Meetings.

It is perfectly possible for a further reduction as the average work load on the now Members will still be relatively light and reduction of costs and amelioration of Council Tax achieved.

COUNCIL TAX 2019/20

This was decided before the Government Support Grant was known at £5 to provide for a further potentially difficult year 2020/21 as Government support continues to ebb and the increase was ratified at Full Council. It was disappointing to find a Willingdon Councillor challenge the rate and inherently suggest that Council Tax increase by over 15% and precipitate an expensive District wide referendum, neither of which they seemed cognoscente, which was rejected, Likewise another Willingdon Councillor’s motion that WDC move to Civil Enforcement, which would be very expensive, need Wealden to charge for car parking and likely to reduce business for our fragile High Street economy, was rejected.

PLANNING

The draft Local Plan was submitted for assessment in January 2019 and following the Inspector’s examination should replace the Local Plan of 1998. The Inspector will conduct two sessions for

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hearings, one end of May and the second in July probably. The Plan was submitted based on the NPPF 2011 (updated) rather than the new NPPF 2019 with a housing target of 950 dwellings per annum compared with a figure of c.1250 if based on NPPF 2019. Planning believes it will be able to demonstrate a 5 year housing supply, current calculation 5.69 yrs., which will allow protection from unwanted developments. Hopefully the Inspector will find the Local Plan sound.

During the last 4 yrs as a Member of WDC, I have highlighted the congestion on the A2270 and what seemed poor modelling of traffic flows on this road. Fortunately, this has been persuasive, and the development on Mornings Mill Farm in the 2013 Core Strategy removed in new Local Plan.

The current application for Mornings Mill Farm is now less likely to succeed though this will depend on the new Planning Committee South.

Another success was Kelvin William’s that WDC had listened to my demands for high-rise apartments to save our green fields and this was reflected in the initial plans for redevelopment of Hailsham Town Centre.

I have championed the Parish Council’s views at Planning Committee South and secured a number of successes, arguing and leading the Committee to vote against Officers’ advice. In attempting to keep the Seven Sisters and Hamlands Estate as open plan as possible, I have offered myself to be the Statutory Authority alongside Highways, Southern Water, etc on Fences.

Though the development plan for dwellings and employment space was removed from the draft Local Plan, I supported plans for the medical centre, community facilities to be retained on area PW1, in spite of which some local Councillors informed residents that they’d been withdrawn.

ECONOMY AND WASTE

Wealden is primarily a rural area and poorly served by transport infrastructure which hampers its attractiveness to businesses. Over the last 4 years I have supported the policy of encouraging viticulture working alongside “Climate Change”. There are already a number of vineyards and WDC is keen to encourage more. Wealden works alongside enterprises to help in planning in particular. I have visited a number of businesses to hear how WDC has supported them amongst them world leaders in their areas.

The Waste contract with Kier will terminate this June and Biffa will replace it to collect residents’ rubbish. Since the market for plastic recyclables collapsed and operating costs have risen significantly, Kier was losing money and performing poorly. The new contract will include general and recyclable waste but WDC will introduce a fee for clearing garden waste of £50 pa., lower than that in Eastbourne and Rother. A garden bin can be shared and anecdotal evidence is that this has been accepted as fair particularly in less affluent Wards.

SPRING CLEAN

Many communities participated in this year’s Spring Clean which ran for a month up to 23rd April.

SINGLE USE PLASTICS

During the last twelve months, I have supported the ban on single use plastics and shown the Council eco-friendly degradable plastic bags that could replace those at the moment arguing that WDC might consider providing details for local businesses for their purchase. The key problem is that for the national retail and hospitality outlets decisions are not made here.

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IT AND COMMUNICATIONS

In relation to the WDC ‘Driver to Digital’ project, Wealden came out top on March 13th in the LGC Awards 2019 in the ‘Driving Efficiency through Technology’ category with the entry for the ‘My Wealden’ portal, our ‘My Alerts’ service and our online payment systems.

This initiative will reduce the costs of WDC as residents will be able to access Wealden services far more easily and be better informed. It will free up Councillors’ time with residents communicating easily and directly with officers.

PUBLIC HEALTH & COMMUNITY SAFETY

CRIME

Broadly, the reported crime figures have declined during the last year as have incidents of anti-social behaviours (especially Uckfield and Crowborough). Road safety campaigns seem to be paying off with road safety incidents going down in the District. I spoke with Katy Bourne (PCC) a few weeks ago and the good news is she secured sufficient monies to allow an significant increase in police numbers over the next four years.

WEALDEN DEMENTIA ACTION ALLIANCE.

There are now Forums in Uckfield, Crowborough, Polegate, Ninfield, Hailsham and Wadhurst.

LICENSING

The new animal welfare licensing regulations came into force in October. All licences issued under the previous Acts of Parliament expired on 31 December 2018. Businesses are now required to apply for a new licence for the sale of pets, animal boarding, hiring of horses and performing animals. DEFRA have issued detailed national licensing conditions. Licences cannot be issued unless an inspection has been carried out. This has increased the Licensing Team’s work load.

TAXI LICENSING

Wealden has a rigorous approach to keeping residents safe and is pro-active in enforcement. (I have served on Licensing over the last 4 years).

FOOD SAFETY

Wealden continues to press for better food hygiene and those with a five star rating has remained relatively constant. However the number of businesses operating has shown a small fall.

Note: Following the elections held on May 2nd I will no longer be representing Willingdon at the District Council.

Cllr D Murray

District Councillor.

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DISTRICT COUNCIL REPORT TO WILLINGDON & JEVINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

WASTE COLLECTION AND STREET CLEANSING SERVICES

Biffa has been appointed to provide the new waste collection and recycling service to households which will start on 29 June 2019 under a Joint Waste Contract. They will also provide the street and beach cleansing services in the Wealden and Rother areas.

All their frontline vehicles will be fitted with 360-degree cameras to help inspect streets more efficiently and keep residents and their workers safe. They hope that the use of their technology will provide a better service.

WEALDEN DISTRICT COUNCIL

Wealden District Council (‘WDC’) increased 2.7% council tax for its local services. This will enable it to become a self–sufficient local authority unsupported by central Government grants. Wealden is expecting a full contribution over the coming year from the Vicarage Field shopping centre investment and the new crematorium.

The increase will mean an additional £5 a year contribution by the average Band D council tax payer, with proportionate increases for the other council tax bands.

GARDEN WASTE CHARGE

Wealden District Council (WDC) has confirmed that they will introduce an annual charge of £50 per year to collect garden waste from 1 July 2019, shortly after the new Joint Waste Contract with Biffa commences.

The decision to introduce the annual charge for this service was led by the District Council’s majority group, who believe that this represents a good value for money for our residents. We are strongly against this charge as WDC is one of the local authorities in the UK with good financial reserves. The introduction of the annual charge for collecting garden waste will have a big impact to our residents, who have already seen increases in Council Tax over the recent years.

LOCAL ELECTION ON 2nd MAY

As you already took part of the district and town/parish elections on the 2nd May. There are new district ward boundaries for these elections and some of the parish warding arrangements have also changed. There will be 41 district council wards and the number of district council seats will reduce from 55 to 45. At parish and town council level, there are 444 seats over 39 parishes.

Locally. For Willingdon there will be 2 Wealden District Councillors and 19 Parish Councillors.

STREET NAME PLATE

The street name plate of Anderida Road and Thurrock Close are damaged, Wealden District Council is arranging for the replacement.

WEALDEN LOCAL PLAN

Between 13th August and 8th October 2018, WDC published its proposed submission for representations. In total, there were some 377 respondents with over 2,000 representations. As result, they considered the required changes as minor and amended typographical and factual errors. WDC also considered advice from Natural England to amend the Habitat Regulations Assessment part of the Local Plan. They concluded that the Local Plan either alone or in conjunction with other projects will not adversely affect air quality to the Pevensey Levels Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and 22

Ramsar site. Therefore the submitted Local Plan does not stipulate that mitigation action is required for that area. Also following advice by Natural England, the Local Plan’s previous stance regarding the Ashdown Forest SAC and Lewes Downs SAC remains in place and unaltered. The migration tariff at these two SAC was updated to incorporate employment development with a tariff of £2,697 per dwelling (a reduction on the earlier draft) and £15.64 per sq/m of employment floor space in certain areas, as some are exempt.

With changes made, the Local Plan was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for examination on 18th January 2019. Dates for the formal hearing are due 21st May 2019.

MORNINGS MILL FARM PLANNING APPLICATION

On 12th December Wealden District Council (WDC) received the Mornings Mill Farm planning application to develop up to 700 dwellings including affordable housing, 8,600 sqm of employment floor space, a medical centre, primary school, community centre, retail, playing fields, children's play space, allotments, amenity open space, internal access roads, cycle and footpath routes, and associated landscaping and infrastructure.

Polegate Town Council and Willingdon and Jevington Parish Council who are both consultees, held their planning committees in early January to discuss the application. I attended both meetings and were well attended, I am pleased that all Councillors on the respective Councils voted to object this planning application. Many residents have already submitted objections to WDC as the Planning Authority.

Planning officers are considering the merits of the amended application and objections, very soon Wealden District Council able confirm when the application can be presented to planning committee.

BRODERICKLANDSAND HAMLANDS FARM

Following the decision of the Courts to turn away the final legal proceedings, the outline consent stands. The reserved matters application submitted to WDC at the end February. Planning officers are considering the merits of the application and objections, very soon Wealden District Council will be able confirm when the application can be presented to planning committee.

JOAN HUGHES COURT

Since 2017, WDC has agreed to refurbish the court and we have met with them a number of times to discuss the refurbishment programme. The project will cost approximately £3m over a 3 year period.

During a February coffee morning, we joined the residents of Joan Hughes Court to meet the project’s contractors, WDC housing officials and see the refurbishment plans. The refurbishment plans appeared to be well received.

Wealden District Councillors

Raymond and Stephen Shing.

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WILLINGDON MEMORIAL HALL

As the Hall fast approaches its Centenary it is good to reflect on what a fantastic purpose this Hall serves.

The whole Parish is very short of community premises for all our groups, clubs and societies to use at a reasonable price.

For nearly 100 years this Hall has served the community well and has been run by enthusiastic volunteers. Today's committee is no exception, they are committed and hardworking, it is down to them that continuous maintenance, sound finances, and prudent management keep this hall viable.

On behalf of the Community, thank you.

Cllr Richard Nunney Parish Representative

CUCKMERE BUSES

The year started with the Annual General Meeting in April 2018 which showed the Cuckmere Buses in a healthy financial position with a surplus on 2017 of £1,800, cash and bank balances of over £120,000, eight buses and some sixty volunteer drivers. During the year the Stakeholders’ Meetings were held in July and October with the Stakeholders’ Meetings now held every six months. The next meeting and Annual General Meeting is on 29th April 2019.

The recent history of Cuckmere Buses has been marked by speeding up the programme of replacing older buses to minimise repair and maintenance costs. Four new buses have been acquired in the last two years.

Cuckmere Buses is always short of volunteer drivers. As drivers are mainly from the older generation there are regularly a number who have to retire from driving due to disability or poor health. There is consequently a continuing campaign to recruit and train new drivers. Lady drivers are always welcome. In the Hailsham Market once a month a bus and driver are available for anyone to have a go at driving a bus off road under supervision.

Services have been beset by major road works over the last two years both in Hailsham and Eastbourne. In Eastbourne the “in” stops have moved to Cornfield Road and the “out “stops to Gildredge Road. New timetables are introduced in April and September each year. Copies are available from the Parish Office.

In January 2019 after Compass Buses withdrew the service 143 through Wannock, Cuckmere Buses extended the service 44 on Tuesdays and Thursdays through Wannock to stop at Glen Close twice going into Eastbourne and twice returning on both days. This has proved very popular with Wannock residents who were threatened with the loss of all buses.

On 1st and 2nd March Hailsham Photographic Society held their annual Colour Show with the proceeds donated to the Cuckmere Buses.

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WEALDEN DISTRICT ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL COUNCILS

We were elected to the Council at last years’ annual meeting to serve for another year on the Wealden District Association of Local Councils and have reported back to Council at each Council meeting throughout the year.

The object of the Association is to act as a collective body to work together to the mutual benefit of all Town and Parish Councils in the Wealden District. Minutes of meetings of the Association are distributed to councillors and may also be found on the Association's website. It will be noted that these meetings are usually attended by senior District officers and sometimes the Leader of the Council. Also, they are often attended by guest speakers on areas of interest. The Association elect members each year to other committees and bodies which include their Management Committee, Wealden District Council's Standards Committee and the Wealden Planning Panel.

The Standards Committee's principal role is to promote and maintain high standards of conduct.

It is independent in the way it operates and meetings are attended by the District Council's Monitoring Officer. The Committee is made up of seven Wealden District Councillors, two Independent Persons and three Parish Council co-opted representatives. It overseas the conduct of all District Councillors and over 450 Parish and Town Councillors and deals with breaches of the Code of Conduct. Complaints in the District generally continue to run at a low level. Meetings of all meetings are webcast and minutes published with links on the District Council website.

The Planning Panel enables Parish & Town Councillors to meet directly with the Head of Planning and planning officers to receive and discuss information and to raise areas where members have concerns.

Cllr Martin Cooper and Cllr Andy Watkins

Parish Representatives

WANNOCK HALL

The Hall received a £2,000 grant from WDC after the hard work of Jim Tomsett (Treasurer) in filling in the numerous pages of the grant application form. This is to support the renovation of the “facilities” as another step in rejuvenating the Hall to attract further customers.

There has been a fall in usage and the Trustees are seeking new avenues of finance and rebuild reserves. The Friends of WVH have been very supportive.

With a caretaker retiring, the Hall is looking for a replacement.

WVH welcomes the EU elections of MEPs on 23 May as there is a tidy reward.

EVENTS

The Hall plans to hold a Summer BBQ probably on 20th July.

Other events are on the noticeboard.

The website is:- https://wannockvillagehall.wordpress.com/

Email – [email protected]. Phone – 07922153321.

Douglas Murray

Trustee

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Meeting Attendance

Received

Attended

Councillor Apologies Apologies

Due to Attend to Due % Attendance

Total Meetings Total Meetings Total

Absent without without Absent B Beck 19 15 4 0 78.9% J Carr 15 10 4 1 66.7% M Cooper 28 27 1 0 96.4% H Coote 44 36 8 0 81.8% E Curryer 17 6 5 6 35.3% S Freeman 18 11 3 4 61.1% J Gleeson 11 9 2 0 81.8% I Nisbet 39 37 2 0 94.9% C Lynn 39 37 2 0 94.9% J Martin 18 12 4 2 66.7% L Moor 34 29 5 0 85.3% D Murray 34 30 3 1 88.2% R Nunney 26 20 6 0 76.9% F Pritchett 41 34 7 0 82.9% J Pritchett 49 42 7 0 85.7% D Shing 10 7 2 1 70.0% R Shing 9 3 7 0 33.3% S Shing 15 12 2 1 80.0% A Watkins 35 33 2 0 94.3% ALL 501 410 76 16 81.8%

Council Chairman John Pritchett Council Vice Chairman Howard Coote

Amenities Cemetery Events Finance & GP Planning Recreation Chairman John Martin Martin Cooper Christina Lynn Andy Watkins Fran Pritchett Richard Nunney Vice Chairman Les Moor Andy Watkins Stuart Freeman John Pritchett Andy Watkins Martin Cooper Bonnie Beck Bonnie Beck Martin Cooper Jo Carr Howard Coote Bonnie Beck Stuart Freeman Howard Coote Elliot Curryer Martin Cooper Christina Lynn Jo Carr Howard Coote Les Moor John Martin Howard Coote Les Moor Howard Coote Jim Gleeson Ian Nisbet Ian Nisbet Christina Lynn Ian Nisbet Elliot Curryer Members Christina Lynn Richard Nunney Richard Nunney John Martin Douglas Murray John Pritchett Douglas Murray John Pritchett John Pritchett Douglas Murray John Pritchett Fran Pritchett John Pritchett Stephen Shing Fran Pritchett Richard Nunney Daniel Shing Raymond Shing Fran Pritchett Stephen Shing Substitutes Fran Pritchett Stuart Freeman Howard Coote Jim Gleeson Stuart Freeman Andy Watkins

Andy Watkins Raymond Shing Martin Cooper Raymond Shing

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Parish Clerk Office Hours 9 am to 1 pm

The Parish Office, The Triangle, Monday to Friday Willingdon East Sussex BN20 9PJ Telephone / Fax: 01323 489603 email:

www.willingdonandjevington.org.uk [email protected] The minutes of the meeting of the Annual Parish Assembly held on Tuesday 24th April 2018 at Willingdon Community School, Broad Road, Willingdon

Present: Cllrs J Pritchett (Chairman), B Beck, M Cooper, H Coote, J Gleeson, C Lynn, L Moor, D Murray, R Nunney, F Pritchett, D Shing, R, Shing, S Shing, A Watkins, In attendance: Stephen Keogh (Parish Clerk), Nicola Williamson (Asst Clerk) 35 members of the public.

Item Subject Action no By 1. The Parish Council Chairman opened the meeting by welcoming all those attending and informing them about some of the projects which the Parish Council had been involved in during the past 12 months. In addition he introduce the Councillors and the Staff. 2. Apologies for absence Cllr Jo Carr gave apologies due to illness Cllrs Daniel and Raymond Shing were on route from work. 3. To sign and accept the minutes of the meeting held on 24th April 2017

These were signed by the Chairman as an accurate record. 4. Annual Reports The Chairman invited questions on any of the reports. 5 Presentation – Willingdon Community Library It was announced that the Parish Council had agreed to support the bid for the lease of the library building and to help with the formation of a Community Library.

The Parish Council would like to thank all the Members of the Action Group and the Councillors and staff who worked to try to stop the library from closing, also the pupils and teachers from the schools who wrote over 700 letters.

The Business Plan had been completed and the Council had agreed to support the project by funding the first year with the amount being reviewed annually.

The County Council could take up to 12 weeks to decide on the bid. An initial amount has been set aside for the project and the help of volunteers will mean that the costs to run the library may be reduced further.

There is a bid for a 5 year lease which will have suitable clauses and reviews. There will be training in the general aspects of the librarian tasks and the software for the computers. This will be installed and this should ensure that the books left in situ as well as the new books are all correctly documented.

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There would be a need for the volunteers to take on a variety of tasks, cleaning and gardening being the ones which can save the library money.

Old Town Library are flourishing and they have been very helpful in advising and they can provide policies and other documents to get the project started.

Further meetings of the volunteers would take place once the bid has been agreed and the lease is drafted.

Forms are available for the volunteers to completed and give more information about the individuals.

Book donations are expected and welcomed, these would also be added to the library stock, some (doubles) may be sold to raise funds.

A CRB/DBS check will not be necessary however it is in the interests of all parties that the staff work in pairs and are never alone with a child or vulnerable person. The ESCC computers will be replaced and the software used at Old Town Library will be used to register the books and the other items.

The new library service will be using a card system.

The Library will also work with the other six closed libraries to exchange books and see how they are faring. 6. Annual Report (a) Parish Council Chairman (b) Committee Chairmen (c) East Sussex County Councillors (d) Wealden District Councillors (e) Parish Reports The events committee has decided to organize a new look Willingdon in Bloom, it is hoped that residents will send in their photographs and the judges will decide which garden is the best. The bus shelters are to be improved and this should be completed in May. There has been no decision on any of the larger planning applications and the District Plan will not be completed until July. (f) Financial Reports 7. Questions from Members of the Public Coppice Avenue and Farmlands Way roads, these are the subject of a petition which is being drafted. Stephen Lloyd MP has supported this issue. There is an SLR (Strengthening Local Relations) meeting with Highways officers in May and these SK areas will be discussed. There are issues with litter in the Village, the subject of extra bins would be discussed at a Parish Amenities Committee meeting. 8. Any other business None Meeting closed at 8.50pm.

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Willingdon & Jevington Parish Council

The Parish Office

The Triangle

Willingdon

East Sussex

BN20 9PJ

01323 489603

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