WEST DEAN PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on WEDNESDAY 10 MAY 2017 at West Dean College Councillors Present: Cllrs Cochrane, Goacher, Kendall, Odin, Pearmaine, Mrs Pearmaine, Slade In attendance: HL O'Callaghan, Clerk to the Council Cty Cllr Potter, 1. Election of Chairman On the proposal of Cllr Cochrane, seconded by Cllr Pearmaine, it was RESOLVED that Cllr Odin be elected Chairman of the Council for the forthcoming year. Cllr Odin then signed the Declaration of Office. 2. Election of Vice Chairman On the proposal of Kendall, seconded by Cllr Cochrane, it was RESOLVED that Cllr Mrs Slade be elected Vice Chairman of the Council for the forthcoming year. Cllr Mrs Slade then signed the Declaration of Office. 3. Apologies for Absence Apologies received in advance from Cllrs Corbett & Rice, County Cllr Hunt and Alex Barron 4. Code of Conduct (i) Declarations of Interests - None (ii) Dispensations - None 5. Minutes On a proposal by Cllr Kendall seconded by Cllr Goacher it was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting on 8 March 2017 be approved. They were duly signed as a correct record. 6. County Councillor Hunt submitted the following report Firstly, I would like to thank all those who supported me in the recent County Council elections, and I look forward to working with you all over the next four years. However I would like to assure you all that, whoever you supported, I will continue to represent all of the residents in my division. I must apologise that at the last meeting a query was raised in regard to the broadband supply in Hylters Lane. I did pass on the enquiry but I do not appear to have received an answer – and due to being very busy electioneering, it slipped through the net. I am now on the case and will definitely get an answer. Talking about Hylters Lane, I am pleased that at last they have repaired the large damaged edge area by the bend. However, I am not happy with the finish of the end nearest the Chilgrove Road and I have reported this to Highways. Lastly, just to remind you that Operation Watershed is running again this year, so if you have any further flood relief work you would like to carry out I suggest you apply earlier rather than later. Finally, at the last meeting there was talk about having a defibrillator by the shop. I did suggest that you could apply for funding through our Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF) The next meeting of the County Local Committee is 27th June, so applications ideally need to be in by Friday 26th May. Thank you very much, and I look forward to seeing you all at the next meeting. 7. District Councillor Potter reported the following on matters affecting this Parish The District Council has seen some changes during the past year. A panel of members and 2 other appointed members of the Public, considered the District Ward boundaries with a view to reducing the number of Council Members, from 48 down to 36. Ideally each elected Member should have about 2,600 electors in their Ward. For us, this has been achieved by including Westhampnett in to the Boxgrove Ward, and, because so much of this area is within Goodwood Country, the enlarged Ward will from 2019 be known as the Goodwood Ward. Lavant, which was currently joined to Westhampnett will amalgamate with Funtington. The consultation on improvements to the A27 took place last year and once any prospect of a Northern Route was kicked into touch by the South Downs NPA , I personally thought that the options brought forward by Highways England were reasonable and had the agenda been adhered to, we may have been a little closer to some action. However, some folk could not wait for further consultation on the preferred Option 2, and wrote to the Minister for Transport and H E asking for a fresh approach! Subsequently it now looks as the opportunity has been lost for another few years. Meanwhile Planning Consents continue to be granted with no regard for the infrastructure, the roads are so crowded now, schools are at capacity with only 1 'Free School' under construction, my Doctor's Surgery will not accept any new registrations, others are nearing full capacity and the Waste Water Treatment authority is struggling to cope with the ever increasing capacities. Thankfully, our great St Richards Hospital appears to be coping! Looking around at some of these recent housing developments, there is very little being built these days for less than £500K and are becoming more unaffordable and difficult to sell! I'd like to think that maybe this could be the answer to the ridiculous size of the developments proposed. Currently, consultation is taking place to redevelop the Southern Gateway into Chichester. This area comprises the old Boys High School, the Police Station, the Bus Garage and Station, the old Gas Works site where the PO sorting office is and the Law Courts, a massive area but!! To date there has been no consideration given to a bridge over the Railway ! How stupid is that? For the first time in 7 years the Council has raised the annual precept by the maximum allowed without a referendum which means a £5 p.a. Increase for a Band D tax payer and, to compensate for further cuts in funding by Central Government, car parking charges are to be raised by a small amount. Here I must say, that when considering any increases, comparisons are made with other local Authorities and Chichester is among the cheapest throughout the South of England. Charging for parking until 8pm has met with some derision but this will be re-examined if there is a detrimental effect on the City's night time economy. And now, on street parking charges may be paid using a smart phone App 'mipermit' The call for a snap General Election came as a bit of a surprise, but I'm sure there is good reason. The Chichester Conservative Assc. elected a replacement Candidate for Andrew Tyrie who announced his retirement from Politics after 20 years as our MP. The first ever female Candidate for Chichester, she is Mrs. Gillian Keegan, she lives in Petwoth and has been a Chichester District Councillor for the past 3 years, winning a by-Election for Rogate, and then defending it at the local elections in 2015. I have found her to be very diligent and with experience in several walks of life and I think a good choice. The Lavant Valley Partnership Forum continues, now with 3 meetings each year and there have been some interesting and varied presentations. Also, the District Council meeting with the Parishes still remains very popular and well attended. The recent one on April 5th saw a presentation by a Chief Inspector and the re-deployment of available PCSO's was not too well received!! I fear that crime will rise in the District. An Overview and Scrutiny Committee were told earlier in the year that reported crime in West Sussex had risen by 11% over last year, Jan '16 to Dec '16. The change in the deployment of PCSO's began in September last year! Finally, I'd like to thank you for inviting me to your meeting/s and listening to my reports. I hope they have proved useful. 8. Election of Committees On the proposal of Cllr Cochrane, seconded by Cllr Kendall, it was RESOLVED as set out below: Cemetery: Cllrs Mrs Slade and Goacher Traffic Action: All Councillors Planning: All Councillors (Chair: Cllr Corbett) 9. Appointment of Representatives to Outside Bodies On the proposal of Cllr Slade, seconded by Cllr Brodie, it was RESOLVED as set out below: Emergency Planning: Cllr Odin Lavant Valley Forum: Cllr Kendall South Chichester CLC Committee: Cllr Corbett SDNPA: Cllr Odin Tree Warden: Cllr Odin WSALC: Cllrs Goacher and Pearmaine CDALC: Cllr Goacher All Parishes Meeting (@CDC): Cllr Goacher 10. Asset Register On the proposal of Cllr Kendall and seconded by Cllr Brodie, it was RESOLVED that the Asset Register be approved. Appendix 1 11. Traffic Action Committee, including Community Speedwatch and SID Council made reference to the incomplete filling of damaged tarmac in Chilgrove Park Road and Hylters Lane and noted that this was unacceptable. It was acknowledged that this had already been highlighted by District Cllr Potter and is in hand. Council raised concern over additional “commercial” traffic to the new stove store at the bottom of Hylters Lane South. Council raised the question of whether this was a planning issue and whether Highways had been consulted. Cllr Goacher asked whether Highways may consider putting mirrors on the blind bend. District Cllr Potter responded that Highways had no concerns. Council RESOLVED to keep an eye on this. 12. Planning Committee In the absence of Cllr Corbett, Clerk reported that with reference to Planning Application: SDNP/17/01380/FUL West Dean Stores The Council had submitted comments to support this application. Cllr Odin mentioned that the question of HGV permission for Crowsall Farm had once again come up, this had been previously turned down by the estate. 13. Winter Management Plan Cllr Odin asked this to be placed on the agenda for the next meeting 14. Defibrillator Cllr Brodie reported that he had been in touch with 2 bodies regarding the defibrillator, CIF and the Sussex Heart Foundation. Cllr Brodie reported that he had started the application with Sussex Heart Foundation who will cover the cost and insurance of the defibrillator but not the maintenance.