MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL
HELD ON 14 JUNE 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
Mrs. S. Main Mr. C. Munday
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Mr. R. Lowe and District Councillor Sevey Mastronardi
IN ATTENDANCE: County Councillor Martin Daws Chew, District Councillor Peter Clementson and three members of the public.
07.85 Declarations of Interest None.
07.86 Minutes of the last meeting
Proposed by Cllr. Lambert, seconded by Cllr. Munday the minutes of the meeting held on 10 May were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
07.87 Public Questions
Two matters were raised. Firstly the need to strim the nettles along the footway from Northern Crescent to St. Anne’s Way. The Clerk advised that the matter had been reported to Highways and she would contact them again. The second that the new planters sited along The Parade were a bit poor and had writing on the side. It was explained that they had only just arrived and that the writing would be removed. They have been planted with trailing plants which are intended to obscure the containers during the summer.
07.88 Report from County Councillor Martin Daws Chew
Cllr Daws Chew spoke about the future of St. Richard’s Hospital and that there is some apprehension as to the format of the next consultation which is due out at the end of next week as it may just be a tick box questionnaire which may limit the public’s comments.
07.89 Finance
07.89.1 The Council received a statement of the current financial position from the Clerk.
07.89.2 The Chairman had agreed and signed the bank reconciliation prior to the meeting.
07.89.3 Bracklesham Park Maintenance. The Council was advised of three quotes supplied by Chichester District Council, one in the £50,000’s, one in the £40,000’s and one for £10,400. All companies were given the same brief and all who tendered were found to have the correct credentials to carry out the work. It was therefore recommended that the Council accept the lower quote. This company had been approached by CDC to explain that the ground is in very good condition having just been completed and because of this the lower one further reduced their cost to £8,983.00. Proposed by Cllr. Connon, seconded by Cllr. Goodall the Council agreed to the lowest quote.
07.89.4 On a proposal from Cllr. Main, seconded by Cllr. Breeze the following accounts totalling £5919.37 were approved for payment at this meeting.
Payee Item Cheque No Amount
Doug Goodman Parish Maintenance - May 2007 000228 600.00
J. Griffith Clerk Salary - May 2007 000229 1045.54
Inland Revenue only Clks Tax & NIC 1st Qtr 000230 1138.40
Stearns Handyman supplies 000231 1.75
Konica Minolta Photocopier - rental 4.5.07-3.8.07 000232 40.61
Southern Electric Christmas Lights 000233 168.58
Oak Properties Office electricity 000234 93.46
Select Windows New lock on office door 000235 44.00
WSCC E. Brack Drive street lights upgrade (06.170.1) 000236 1687.32
Portsmouth Water Pavilion, Downview POS 000237 12.46
Transglobe 3000 Ltd Sac o Mat Dog bin bags 000238 105.75
CDC Bracklesham Park maintenance 000239 879.58
Southern Electric Pavilion, Downview POS 000240 16.11
Staples Office stationery 000241 85.81
07.89.5 The Council received the financial statements for year ended 31 March 2007. On a proposal by Cllr. Lambert, seconded by Cllr. Chaloner the Council approved the accounts. The Council thanked Mr. Dobbin and the Clerk for their work in producing these accounts.
07.89.6 Proposed by Cllr. Lambert, seconded by Cllr. Connon the Council agreed that the answer to be provided to the external auditors in response to the questions in the Annual Governance Statement was “Yes” in each case with the exception of no. 6 which would be answered “Yes” subject to a review with the Internal Auditor.
07.90 New Councillors Course
Proposed by Cllr. Gunning, seconded by Cllr. Connon the Council agreed to the decision to send three new Councillors on a specially arranged SALC New Councillor course at Bosham on 11 June at a cost of £50 each.
07.91 Mobile Phone Mast.
Proposed by Cllr. Breeze, seconded by Cllr. Chaloner the Council agreed to the recommendation from the Planning Committee to adopt the following policy for all current and future applications:
‘The Parish Council does not feel there is sufficient guarantee for the health of people near the site of mobile phone masts or that there is conclusive evidence that there are no adverse health issues relating to mobile phone masts. It is therefore unable to approve these sites. This decision is made after hearing responses from the parishioners, the fact that after about 30 years studies have revealed that there is clear evidence that electricity pylons affect health and in recent years the effect of asbestos on the human body which was previously unknown or denied’.
07.92 The Council received a letter from East Wittering Women’s Institute suggesting improvements to the village including items on car parking in the village and school parking. The Clerk advised that the letter had already been seen by Chichester District Council’s Parking Forum.
Proposed by Cllr. Main, seconded by Cllr. Connon the Council agreed to send a copy of the letter to West Sussex County Council Highways and advise the WI that parking problems in Mill Gardens would be a matter for West Wittering Parish Council to raise.
Proposed by Cllr. Lambert, seconded by Cllr. Main the Council agreed that school parking should be a separate item on the next agenda and an invitation to attend would be sent to the Chairman of the PTA, the Parent Governer, Education Authority, Head Teacher, Lollipop Ladies and Rodney Hagger of WSCC.
07.93. Website.
Proposed by Cllr. Chaloner, seconded by Cllr. Breeze the Council agreed to get three quotes to run a simple website that can be run by the Clerk.
07.94 Chichester Observer coverage.
The Clerk reported on a meeting with the Chichester Observer reporter Peter Edney and the Wittering Business Partnership. The conclusion of the meeting was that the Observer was no longer using independent reporters as we have had in the past but using their own reporters. The reporter for this area covers a huge area and is therefore unable to attend all the Parish Council meetings. He asked for submissions of newsworthy items to be sent to him and his contact details will be placed on the noticeboard. Proposed by Cllr. Chaloner, seconded by Cllr. Connon the Council agreed that the Clerk send in any submissions from the Council once a month.
07.95 Football Pavilion.
The Council were advised that the Club would be taken over and called the Wittering Sunday Club and that the new organiser would be in contact. Proposed by Cllr. Main, seconded by Cllr. Connon the Council agreed that the lease should be a one year term and that this would be deferred to the next meeting.
07.96 Community Facilities in Bracklesham No further updates were available.
07.97 Public Conveniences - Marine Drive Car Park
The Council received letters regarding the concerns over the limited access to these facilities. Proposed by Cllr. Goodall, seconded by Cllr. Chaloner the Council agreed to write to CDC fully supporting any development of these facilities and extending the opening hours. The Council would like to be involved in any consultation and ideas that are put forward. The Council then thanked County Councillor Daws Chew for his involvement in getting to this stage.
07.98. Parking
The Council received and agreed the revised Parking Action Plan provided by Chichester District Council and had no further comment.
07.99 Street Light Report.
Cllr. Breeze did not carry out a detailed report this month but the Clerk was advised that Col. Nos 6 and 9 in Church Road were out.
07.100 Christmas Lights Working Party.
The Council received details of the Horse Race evening to be held at the Village Hall on Saturday. The Committee also reported that having investigated the cost of repairing the storm damaged emblems the cost of repairing to a standard capable of coping with the extreme weather outweighed the cost of purchasing new emblems. The damaged emblems would be quite usable in other locations where they would not be so exposed, like on a wall. The Committee explained that the rope lights along The Parade were proving very effective and they were aiming at extending these lights in East Wittering and also providing them in Bracklesham. The Council were also told that the method of distributing and collecting in of the Christmas Lights collection jars has been updated and that a record book would now be used along with Councillor ID.
07.101 Espace
The Council noted the update from the Manhood Peninsula Project Co-ordinator and an invitation to the public to attend the first review of the Action Plan at 9.30am on 17 July at Earnley Concourse.
07.102 Fit for the Future
Proposed by Cllr. Chaloner, seconded by Cllr. Connon the Council agreed to request a speaker from West Sussex PCT to talk at a public meeting to provide an update on the current situation regarding the future of St. Richard’s Hospital. The Clerk was asked to enquire about this and liaise with the Chairman to make the arrangements.
07.103 Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)
The Council received an invitation for two representatives to attend a skills seminar on the Planning System on Tuesday 2nd October. Proposed by Cllr. Chaloner, seconded by Cllr. Lambert the Council agreed that Cllrs. Connon and Munday attend.
07.104 Parish Council Office
The Clerk advised that she would have to purchase a new chair as the current one has broken but this came within her previously agreed budget so did not require any further authorisation.
