Parish Council

www.cuckmerevalleypc.org.uk

Clerk of the Council Stephen Smith Brockmead Litlington East BN26 5RD [email protected] 01323 870622

Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held in All Saints’ Church, West Dean on Tuesday 10 July 2018, commencing at 7.00pm.

Present: Cllr Christine Ayers Cllr Richard Brown Cllr Ray Ellis Cllr Mark Lamb Cllr Lynnette O’Halloran In attendance: 3 Parishioners County Cllr Stephen Shing (for part of the meeting) District Cllr John Wilton (for part of the meeting) Parish Clerk

Public Questions / Observations

1. Susan de Angeli expressed concern that vegetation had grown substantially in front of the bollards on the west side of the C120 close to Gypsy Corner. These were installed a few years ago to warn of the roadside ditch and the sharp bends ahead and were now obscured, thereby creating a safety hazard. CVPC Councillors asked the Clerk to request ESCC to clear the obstructing vegetation to assist drivers.

The Meeting

1427. Chairman’s Welcome Cllr Ayers welcomed all present, noting that it was good to see the highest turnout of parishioners this year, all of which were from West Dean and that it was nice to see District Cllr Wilton.

1428. Apologies for absence Apologies had been received from Cllrs Giles and Hodson

1429. Declarations of Interest There were none

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1430. Minutes of the Annual and Ordinary Meetings held on 8 May 2018 The unadopted Minutes had been previously circulated. Cllr Ellis proposed acceptance, Cllr Lamb seconded and they were agreed. 1431. Matters arising from the Minutes of the meetings held on 8 May 2018 a) Appointment of Tree Wardens i) Cllr O’Halloran had indicated her willingness to continue as Tree Warden for Litlington. ii) Cllr Hodson had indicated his willingness to continue as Tree Warden for West Dean. b) Appointment of CVPC Representative for Cuckmere Community Bus Susan de Angeli had indicated her willingness to continue as CVPC representative. At this point the meeting was suspended for SdeA to give her report Susan de Angeli reported that over 2500 passenger journeys were made during the Eastbourne Tennis Week and Charleston Festival. There are presently eight buses in the fleet with a new Mercedes on order which will replace one of the older buses. The meeting resumed c) Forthcoming Village Events The Clerk confirmed that he had been advised by the manager of the Plough and Harrow that no beer festival would be held during the August Bank Holiday.

1432. Report by District Councillor Wilton District Cllr Wilton prefaced his report with a reiteration of an apology made to Councillors following his absence from recent previous meetings. Cllr Wilton advised CVPC Councillors of the breaking news that our Member of Parliament, Maria Caulfield, had resigned as a Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party earlier in the day. He reported that he had spoken at length with Julian Martyr, a West Dean resident about WDC’s decision not to fund the cost of collection of any dog waste bin that might be situated in the village, despite his (JW’s) support of the proposal. JM had indicated that villagers were not prepared to subsidise any collection as they already paid Council Tax which could be used for that purpose. He also questioned whether the BT Kiosk in West Dean was still operational, as he understood that there was a proposal circulating that it could be eventually used to house a defibrillator. Cllr Lamb advised that the phonebox had been deactivated and also thanked Cllr Wilton for trying to get WDC to pay for the collection of dog waste should a bin be provided in the vicinity of West Dean Pond. These two items were on the Agenda for discussion later during the meeting. Cllr Wilton advised that he had personally undertaken a survey of traffic flows on the A259 at East Dean and commented on the disparity between rush hour and off-peak use, which would undoubtedly be mirrored on the A27 between and . He mentioned this because he had recently attended an invitation only meeting at regarding the ongoing discussions / conflict over revised proposals to upgrade this stretch of road, noting that those present were very much against making a new dual carriageway away from the existing route. It was noted that given the need for WDC to locate a substantial number of houses within the District in the next few years and the inability to locate those properties in the north of the District due to the environmental restrictions on development in the vicinity of the Ashdown Forest more homes will need to be built in south. Therefore, pressure would be applied for enhancements to the A27, as without an upgrade any new development would be unsustainable. Finally, Cllr Wilton noted that, similarly to last year, temporary traffic lights would be erected during peak times on the Saturday and Sunday of Airbourne next month at Exceat Bridge, with free parking being provided at St Andrew’s Preparatory School in Eastbourne.

The Chairman then revised the order of the Agenda as Cllr Shing had been delayed

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1433. Reports by Parish Councillors a) Cuckmere River and Estuary Cllr Lamb advised that the Estuary Group meeting was held in early June (the first since October), but that he considered little progress had been made in the intervening time. The National Trust are in the process of trying to allocate internal funds towards setting up a feasibility study into the various options available for the future of the management of the Cuckmere. The Environment Agency have not undertaken shingle clearance in the mouth of the river for some time, although the river mouth is still (just) functioning correctly. The Chair of the Estuary Group, Vicky Lawrence, had left ESCC and was now at the Sussex Wildlife Trust and was no longer heading the Group. Cllr Brown advised that he was waiting to hear the outcome of an analysis of the whole river from the Water Level Management Board. b) Highways Cllr Ayers reported that she had contacted a local coach operator about the use by one of their large coaches on the C120 which had caused disruption and that they had promised to remind their drivers not to use the road in future. In addition, a large German registered coach had caused havoc when trying to traverse Litlington and had to be turned around in the Nursery car park. The Clerk was asked to contact ESCC to find out if upgraded signage advising the unsuitability of the road could be installed. c) Rights of Way Cllr Ayers advised that she, together with Cllr Brown and the Clerk, had met with representatives of ESCC at their request on 21 June to discuss local aspirations regarding the future management of the Seven Sisters Country Park. This is part of a wider review being undertaken by ESCC into their future strategy concerning their countryside assets and initial findings are expected to be published in the Autumn. d) Public Transport No report. e) Planning i) Applications and Decisions received, and comments made since the last meeting None ii) Trees CVPC have not been consulted on the only application submitted SDNP/18/003458/TCA – The Bankside of West Dean Pond, The Lane, West Dean BN25 4AL Revision to application SDNP/17/05113/TCA - Notification of Intention to Poplar (1) to pollard to 50% of original height or alternatively to fell to ground level. Poplar (2) <30% reduction after closer inspection Application in Progress f) Any other report None

1434. Report by County Cllr Stephen Shing Cllr Shing reported that the cuts in services previously announced are now coming to fruition, including those within the library service. In the meantime over 30,000 people have signed a petition to save the music service. Cllr Shing will provide an update on the proposed upgrade to Exceat Bridge to the Clerk by email.

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1435. Matters for consideration a) To consider the provision of a dog waste bin to be sited near to West Dean Pond Cllr Lamb confirmed the present position that South East Water had kindly agreed to purchase and install a bin free of charge but would not pay for the emptying. Although a vote was not taken, Councillors were reluctant to sanction the use of WDC’s contractor, Keir, to empty any bin, as it would presently cost £260 p.a (which is not provided for in the budget) and they also felt it would be the ‘thin end of the wedge’ as regard the provision of bins in the area. At this point Standing Orders were suspended to allow John Winstanley, a West Dean resident, to address Councillors. John Winstanley strongly urged CVPC to make additional representations to WDC, the Forestry Commission, the SDNPA, South East Water and ESCC as stakeholders in the area, highlighting the Environmental Health and Safety risks that were posed by the lack of litter bins in the village. Standing Orders were reinstated Councillors asked to Clerk to research the relevant legislation and contact the relevant authorities accordingly. b) To consider the adoption of the telephone kiosk situated in West Dean Cllr Lamb outlined the procedures by which BT would allow its disused box to be adopted, noting that any adoption would need to be made to an organisation such as the Parish Council and that certain of the conditions attaching to an adoption could be considered as onerous, but in any event were, in effect, for perpetuity. Whilst a vote was not taken, it was recognised that any adoption would likely be in tandem with the purchase of a defibrillator, so this item will be removed from future Agendas until a decision on the purchase of a defibrillator is made. c) To consider the purchase of a defibrillator to be situated in West Dean Cllr Lamb reported that there is some support for the purchase of a defibrillator among the West Dean parishioners, to be situated either in the disused telephone box or in the porch of All Saint’s Church, and that initial local funds had been raised, although at least a further £600 is required. Cllr Lamb advised that his research had highlighted the importance of having a defibrillator which enjoyed the support of the local ambulance service. Councillors discussed the various options in broad detail, noting that the church appeared to be the preferred site, but that formal approval would need to be obtained from the church authorities. The Clerk advised that any method of acquisition would need to be considered carefully, as the circumstances were different from those that pertained when the Litlington defibrillator was bought by CVPC (largely with a significant grant from WDC). Considerations such as insurance, VAT on the purchase price, future ownership and maintenance would all need to be considered and suggested that a formal proposal / community case should be presented to Councillors to enable any request for a contribution from CVPC to be considered and subsequently included in next year’s Budget, which would be decided in January 2019. d) To consider the future administration of the website The Clerk advised that now that the website was live, he had been able to evaluate the time and skills needed to keep it up to date. He noted that while routine tasks could be accommodated within a reasonable addition to his hours of employment, there were many non-standard and unforeseen tasks which took considerable time to complete. The Clerk circulated details of a scheme offered by our website provider which gave details of various schemes under which these services could be provided by them at a level which would be in line with the requirements and existing allocated budget of CVPC. Accordingly, he sought approval from Councillors to approach Vision ICT (our website provider) and negotiate a scheme which would suit our requirements as a very small Parish. Cllr Brown proposed a resolution authorising the Clerk to approach Vision ICT to negotiate a slight change to their Bronze Package for a one year trial period which with a ‘Small Council’ discount would be within budget. Cllr Lamb seconded the proposal, which was agreed by all.

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1436. Report by the Clerk a) Finance i) To receive the Finance Report and agree the accounts for payment The Clerk submitted his Finance Report (previously circulated) which revealed a bank balance of £7,617.03 and sought to make the following payments: £518.82 – S Smith – Clerk’s salary for June and July 2018 £194.40 – HMRC – Tax and NI £713.22 Cllr O’Halloran proposed acceptance of the Finance Report, which was seconded by Cllr Ellis and agreed. ii) CVPC Grants 2018/2019 The Clerk confirmed that he would send out Grant Application Forms to previous recipients, in time for payment in the October meeting. iii) Clerk’s Appraisal Cllr Ayers reported that she had conducted the Clerk’s annual appraisal which was satisfactory, with the result that he would move forward one point on his Salary Scale in accordance with his Contract of Employment, thereby triggering a small pay rise wef 1 April 2018.This was ratified following a proposal by Cllr O’Halloran, which was seconded by Cllr Ellis and agreed. meeting. b) Correspondence i) Within the last month, the Clerk had been in correspondence with Don Lower, a Willingdon resident, who had discovered a print presented by parishioners of Litlington and to the next of kin of Flying Officer William Walden who gave his life for his King and Country while serving in World War II. The Clerk showed the print to Councillors and gave details of his research to date into the background of and the links with the Cuckmere Valley of the pilot. Councillors will be liaising with the Village Hall Trustees to arrange a suitable place for the picture to be displayed. ii) Other correspondence already circulated.

1437. Representation on outside bodies a) Association of Local Councils Last meeting 11 April – Minutes circulated Next meeting 11 July in b) Cuckmere Flood Forum Last meeting 9 April – Notes circulated Next meeting 3 December in

1437. Dates of next meeting of CVPC Tuesday 9 October 2018 in Litlington Village Hall commencing at 7.00pm and be preceded by Public Questions from 6.50pm

The Meeting closed at 8.50pm

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