East Wittering and Bracklesham Parish Council

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL
HELD ON 10 MAY 2007 AT THE FIRE STATION, OAKFIELD ROAD.

PRESENT: Council Members
Mr. J. O’Sullivan (Chairman) Mr. S. Becker
Mr. G. Breeze Mrs. J. Chaloner
Mrs. P. Connon Mrs. V. Goodall
Mr. J. Gunning Mr. B. Lambert
Mr. R. Lowe Mrs. S. Main
Mr. C. Munday

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: County Councillor Martin Daws Chew

IN ATTENDANCE: District Councillors Peter Clementson and Sevey Mastronarrdi and two members of the public.

07.68 Election of Chairman
Cllr. O’Sullivan was nominated by Cllr. Lowe and seconded by Cllr. Breeze. Cllr. Lambert nominated himself and Cllr. Connon seconded this nomination. There were no other nominations and the Council agreed to continue with a paper vote. Cllr. O’Sullivan was thereby elected Chairman for the coming year on a majority vote. As Chairman, Cllr. O’Sullivan thanked the Council for all its work during the past year and welcomed the four new Councillors.

07.69 Election of Vice Chairman
On a proposal from Cllr. Lowe, seconded by Cllr. Breeze it was agreed that Cllr. Gunning be
Vice Chairman for the coming year.

07.70 Declarations of Interest
EWB/07/01795/FUL Amilia Properties Ltd
Land On Corner Of Stocks Lane And Bracklesham Lane Bracklesham
Cllr. Connon declared an interest in this item because it is opposite her property.
Cllr. Munday declared an interest in this item because it is very close to his family’s property.

07.71 Minutes of the last meeting
Proposed by Cllr. Goodall, seconded by Cllr. Breeze the minutes of the meeting held on 12 April were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

07.72 Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.

07.73 The Clerk explained that although they have no fixed date CDC had advised that it is their intention that all planning applications will be dealt with online and therefore is it advisable that members of the Planning Committee have internet access.

On a proposal by Cllr. Lowe, seconded by Cllr. Chaloner the Council agreed the following appointments to the Planning Committee:
Cllr. Breeze, Cllr. Connon, Cllr. Lambert, Cllr. Lowe and Cllr. Munday.
The Chairman and Vice Chairman are ex-officio members of all Committees.
On a proposal by Cllr. Main, seconded by Cllr. Connon the Council agreed the following appointments to Working Parties:
Public Open Spaces, Parish Lands and Sea Defences : Cllr. Becker, Cllr. Breeze, Cllr. Goodall, Cllr. Lowe and Cllr. Main
Crime Prevention: Cllr. Chaloner, Cllr. Connon and Cllr. Lambert
Community Facilities at Bracklesham: Cllr. Becker, Cllr. Gunning and Cllr. O’Sullivan (decided by paper vote).
Christmas Lights: Cllr. Chaloner, Cllr. Breeze, Cllr. Lambert, Cllr. Lowe, Mrs. Breeze, Ms. Ward and Mr. Pownall.
Proposed by Cllr. Munday, seconded by Cllr. Chaloner the Council agreed that the Christmas Lights Working Party elect a Chairman and provide minutes to the full Council.
Street Lights: Cllr. Breeze
Parking Issues: Cllr. Connon, Cllr. Lowe and Cllr. Main
Action Plan and Website: Defer to a later meeting after training sessions.

On a proposal by Cllr. Breeze, seconded by Cllr. Lambert the Council agreed the following appointments of representatives to other Organisations

1 Chichester Sub-Group of the Association of Local Councils - Cllr. Goodall and Cllr. Lowe
2 Village Hall Management Committee - Cllr. Connon and Cllr. Lambert
3 Youth Club Management Committee - Cllr. Becker
4 Community Forum - Cllr. O’Sullivan and Cllr. Goodall.
5 Twinning Committee - Cllr. Lowe
6 County Committee - Cllr. O’Sullivan

07.74 Public Questions
A member of the public raised a question regarding the planning application under agenda item 15 which would be dealt with under that item.

07.75 Report from District Councillors Clementson and Mastronardi
Cllr. Clementson introduced himself and Cllr. Mastronardi and informed the Council that they were looking forward to working together and representing the Parish in the future.

07.76 Finance
07.76.1 The Council received a statement of the current financial position from the Clerk and a suggestion that as Mr. Dobbin was no longer on the Council he be employed to assist the Clerk with the management of the finances and accounts together with producing the annual budget, VAT Returns and end of year Annual Return.

Proposed by Cllr. Munday, seconded by Cllr. Goodall the Council agreed to this and provided a budget of £400. The Council gave its thanks to Mr. Dobbin for all the hard work he had done over the past 8 years as a Councillor.

07.76.2 The Chairman had agreed and signed the bank reconciliation.

07.76.3 Previously agreed payments (minute 07.57.4)
Payee Item Cheque No Amount
1st Birdham &
Wittering Scouts Donation 000217 500.00

07.76.4 On a proposal from Cllr. Chaloner, seconded by Cllr. Breeze the following accounts totalling £2606.13 were approved for payment at this meeting.
Payee Item Cheque No Amount
Doug Goodman Parish Maintenance ~April 2007 000218 480.00
J. Griffith Clerk Salary - April 2007 000219 1048.27
Stearns Handyman supplies 000220 48.57
CDC Dog Warden Feb/Mar 07 000221 72.00
Action in Rural Sx Membership 000222 40.00
Mrs. J. Pine Annual rent for eastern Tamarisk Walk 000223 1.00
Justamo Web hosting and domain renewal 000224 70.50
BT Broadband connection 000225 77.51
BT Office phone 000225 130.98
Southern Water Pavilion water 000226 28.42
Nepture Outdoor Furn New seat for Church Road 000227 608.88

07.76.5 Proposed by Cllr. Goodall, seconded by Cllr. Breeze the Council agreed to increase the handyman’s working hours by an extra 4 hours a week until 30 September 2007.

07.77 Code of Conduct
07.77.1 On a proposal by Cllr. Munday, seconded by Cllr. Breeze the Council agreed to resolve:
That pursuant to Section 51 of the Local Government Act 2000 the Council adopts the Code of Conduct for members and co-opted members set out in Appendix 2 in the attached report in place of the existing code with immediate effect; and

07.77.2 On a proposal by Cllr. Breeze, seconded by Cllr. Chaloner the Council agreed to resolve:
That the General Principles of Conduct be annexed to the replacement Code.

07.78. Standing Orders
Proposed by Cllr. Breeze, seconded by Cllr. Munday the Council agreed to accept the draft Standing Orders as presented by Cllr. Dobbin at the April 2007 meeting based on recommendations from National Association of Local Councils. 1 vote against.

07.79 EWB/07/01795/FUL Amilia Properties Ltd
Land On Corner Of Stocks Lane And Bracklesham Lane Bracklesham
Proposed residential development consisting of the erection of 6 no. one bedroom flats, 6 no. two bedroom flats, 1 no. three bedroom house, 1 no. three bedroom chalet bungalow and a pair of semi-detached bungalows together with access road, cycle and bin storage, parking and garages.

The Chairman read out a précis of objection letters received before asking the public for any comments they wished to make. Cllr. Munday voiced his concerns to the Parish Council and then left the meeting with Cllr. Connon and took no further part in the discussion or vote.
The Council then discussed the application at great length before a proposal by Cllr. Breeze, seconded by Cllr. Lambert was agreed by the Council to object to this application for the following reasons:
The Council doesn’t feel that sufficient changes have been made since the previous application so it is necessary to repeat many of its previous views.
1. This application is over development of this site with an excess number of flats.
2. The area should be more sympathetically designed to blend with surrounding area. Houses/bungalows would be more acceptable on this plot.
3. The access is dangerous as existing traffic volume has created a very busy junction and this development would obstruct the view of motorists.
4. The size of the development will create too many cars for this extremely busy junction and also impact on the congestion problems existing at Stockbridge.
5. Parking is a problem in this area and this site will not provide enough parking for the residents thereby forcing them to park in surrounding roads.
6. The design/layout gives the impression that properties have been squeezed in to fit as many as possible.
7. The doctors, dentist and school are already working to capacity and will not cope with additional users.
8. Should this application go ahead the blank wall facing north is the view seen by those entering the village from Chichester and does nothing to enhance the visual appearance. This wall should be broken up with more design features.
The Parish Council added the following comments:
9. The pavement outside the development is heavily used by school children walking to school and adults accessing the village centres therefore the vehicular access from the site across the pavement must be addressed from a pedestrian safety point of view.
10. A pedestrian crossing point across Bracklesham Lane is vital for the safety of the residents accessing the buses and shops.
11. The Parish Council suggests that a mini roundabout should be considered as a solution to the busy junction at Stocks Lane/Bracklesham Lane/Beech Avenue.
12. Should this application go ahead because of the busy junction all vehicles associated with the building of this development must be parking on site, including all delivery lorries and wheel washing must be carried out.
13. Any Section 106 monies for Community Facilities to be allocated in consultation with the Parish Council.
14. The Parish Council suggests the plans are re-considered.

07.80 Chichester Observer
The Council asked the Clerk to attend a meeting arranged by Ms. Penny Lloyd with the new Chichester Observer reporter for this area on 24 May with a view to finding out more information on the proposed future coverage of this area.

07.81 Bracklesham Park
The Council was advised that the barriers around the park had been removed and the public were now allowed to use the area.
07.81.1 The Council agreed that it would be happy for the Working Group to decide the official opening date.
07.81.2 The Clerk advised the Council that during the summer football courses would be run by Brighton and Hove Albion, facilitated by Chichester District Council’s Crime Diversion Sport Development Officer, Ben Polhill. It is planned for
15-22 August and information will be distributed through schools and youth clubs. They will also be looking at the feasibility of rugby training in the future.

07.82 Removal of Stones from Booker Green
The Clerk reported that the Scouts would not be able to remove the stones for health and safety reasons and that the contractor will now be contacted with a view to getting the stones removed as soon as possible. The new working party will monitor this area and report to the full Council.

07.83 Street Lights Inspection
The inspection took place on Tuesday 9 May between 21.00pm and 21.40pm.
Four lights were found to be unlit which the Clerk has reported to the contractors.

Cllr. Breeze stated that this is an excellent report. Apart from the “unadopted” lights and the broken Peerley Road light there is really only one defective light. We need to ask WSCC when they are going to adopt the lights in Middleton Close, Tide Way and the other lights at the end of Bracklesham. The light in Tide Way appears to have been out since the day it was installed.
The Clerk was asked to investigate.

07.84 Urgent Matters
The Chairman advised that there would be a surfing competition at the end of Shore Road on
20 May pending approval by the Booker Trust, Booker Green would be used for a judges marquee and vehicle.