Minutes of the meeting of the Council held in the Reading Room, Buxted on Tuesday 11th December 2012 at 7.30 p.m.
| Present: | Cllrs. Blandford (Chairman), Dopson, Hall, Harding, Manchester, Rose, Skinner, Treacher and Warner.
Also present: Clerks Beccy Macklen and Malcolm Wilson. |
| Public : | Sandra Manning-Jones from the TrUck project
The project has three sponsoring partners – the Environment Agency, the Woodland Trust and the Sussex Wildlife Trust. Its aim is to look at flood control measures for Uckfield beyond hard, man made defences, including the use of tree planting to absorb ground water. The Manor estate is felt to be a ideal pilot scheme as all the surface water drains off through Views Wood into the Uck. The intention is to canvass the opinions of all residents on the estate as any planting would not just be restricted to the parish council owned Dene. Other community initiatives such as water butts will also be encouraged. The project appreciates the comments made by the parish council and it will take full account of the desires and wishes of local people. Planting will also take place in Buxted Park and possible on the Ionides land. ESCC may also have some funding available as surface water run off is a Highways problem for them |
| 01/12/12 | APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies received and accepted from Cllr Sheard, ESCC Cllr Reid and WDC Cllr Buck |
| 02/12/12 | DECLARATION OF MEMBERS INTERESTS.
Cllrs. Blandford, Dopson, Sheard and Warner declared personal interests in any matters relating to the community hall by virtue of being members of the Hall or Ionides Trusts appointed by the Council. |
| 03/12/12 | MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the meeting held on 13th November 2012 were signed by the Chairman as a correct record of the meeting. |
| 04/12/12 | ESCC REPORT
In the absence of ESCC Cllr Reid there was no report |
| 05/12/12 | PARISH COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
The latest edition has been printed and posted
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| 06/12/12 | OUTSTANDING MATTERS
Item 1 Youth Council: Nothing to report Item 2. Public Footpaths: Nothing to report Item 3 Trees: Nothing to report Item 4 Road Safety: A temporary repair has been made to the damaged bridge In High Hurstwood – ESCC is considering how best to make a permanent repair Item 5 New Community Hall: The Chairman reported that Simon Barker would submit the application for a Permitted Development certificate before Christmas Item 6 Wealden LDF: i) Core strategy – Permitted Development Rights consultation WDC’s comments on government proposals had been circulated. These were thought to be measured and sensible and it was agreed to support WDC’s response ii) Localism Nothing to report Item 7 Property Issues: i) notice boards On the proposal of Cllr Rose, seconded by Cllr Dopson, it was agreed to purchase three new notice boards from the Harry Stebbing Workshop. Each will cost in the region of £1,200 – £1,300 depending on the final specification. The Ionides Trust will pay half the cost of the notice board to be put on the Ionides site ii) High Hurstwood Recreation Ground and the bonfire It seems likely that any public meeting to discuss plans for the site will now be held in the New Year. A meeting with the bonfire society could also be held in the New Year iii) The Dene tree planting See comments above concerning the TrUck project Item 8 Parish Council Website: Nothing specific to report but councillors remain very pleased with the way it is kept refreshed by Beccy Macklen Item 9 Parish Plan The Chairman and Beccy Macklen had attended an AirS seminar on the many variants of local plans. To move this forward is has been decided that a small group of councillors (Blandford, Warner, Dopson, Rose and Manchester), together with Beccy Macklen, will review the current plan, set out terms of reference for the review and try and identify community stakeholders – schools, churches, businesses and pubs, WI, voluntary groups etc – to join a final group to work on the new plan. It is likely the Annual Meeting will focus exclusively on the new Plan. |
| 07/12/12 | CORRESPONDENCE
P1 – Permitted Development Rights consultation: Already covered above P2 – Planning training for councillors: WDC is running four sessions in the New Year – so far 5 councillors/clerks have put their names down for sessions |
| 08/12/12 | COMMITTEE MEETINGS
There had been no meetings |
| 09/12/12 | FINANCE
i) Payments – on the proposal of Cllr Dopson payments totalling £10,679.38 covered by cheques 191 to 201 were approved ii) Bank reconciliations – these had been circulated and were signed after checking iii) Precept 2013/14 – Changes to the way Council Tax payments to District Councils were being implemented by central government. The timing was unfortunate as the impact on the Precept demanded by parish councils was uncertain, but the Clerk reported that it looked as thought the 2% increase in Buxted’s Precept would be allowed but absolute certainty would not be available until January. |
| 10/12/12 | OTHER MEETINGS
ESCC Cllr Reid had mentioned that Hartfield PC had been looking at establishing its own broadband service and also had a directory of local businesses. Subsequently Malcolm Wilson spoke to their clerk and it seems Hartfield has abandoned the broadband idea to fall in with the overall ESCC scheme and the business directory so far had only 5 names and would be limited to those providing services within the parish, not the wider sector of those working from home etc providing services to one and all. The Chairman and Cllr Dopson had also visited Buxted school to see a showing of its new DVD on why Buxted needs a new community hall. This was an excellent film and the Chairman has a couple of copies for anyone who wishes to view it. |
| 11/12/12 | MEMBERS QUESTIONS
None |
| 12/12/12 | ANNOUNCEMENTS
None, other than that mince pies and wine were now available courtesy of the Chairman |
| The meeting closed at 8.20 p.m. |