Present:

Cllrs. Crowe (Chairman), Chalmers, Coxon, Daniel, Downing, Harding, Rose, Sheard, Treacher and Warner (from Item 07/02/08) and Wilkes. ESCC Cllr. Reid.

Public :

4. Mr. George Claydon, Buxted Parish Emergency Co-ordinator, said that the latest draft of the Buxted Parish Emergency Plan had been sent to members and he would welcome their comments. The identified risk areas were discussed; it was agreed that Weald Packaging should be included. Cllr. Crowe reminded that PCSO Karen Juniper was keen to be consulted on the Emergency Plan – the Clerk to send contact details to Mr. Claydon. It was noted that John Wood at WDC would also be consulted. The requirement for maps was discussed – Cllr. Coxon agreed to supply laminated copies of the four sheets of the 6” to 1 mile maps of the Parish. It was agreed that Cllrs. will supply Mr. Clayden with details of residents with tractors, chainsaws etc. to add to the Plan. Cllr. Coxon said that once the Plan was finally completed he would put a pdf file version of the Plan onto the Buxted website.

The Council gave Mr. Claydon a sincere vote of thanks for all his excellent work in developing the Buxted Emergency Plan.

1/02/08

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies received and accepted from Cllrs. Rogers. Apologies also received from WDC Cllr. Buck.

2/02/08

DECLARATION OF MEMBERS INTERESTS.

None this meeting.

3/02/08

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

Cllr. Treacher proposed and Cllr. Downing seconded that the minutes of the meeting of 8 January 2008 be accepted and signed. Carried.

4/02/08

ESCC REPORT

Cllr. Reid said that East Sussex County Council had met earlier in the day to consider the budget for the year ahead and had agreed a 3.9% increase to Council Tax. A sum of £1.4M had been allocated to recommence the High Hurstwood School refurbishment. The Government had asked Counties to look at schools with low rolls – Buxted was one such school but there was no intention to close it. The County Traffic Scheme would go ahead in liaison with Parish Councils. There was a small amount of financial capacity that would enable a master plan for the County to be done. They would be aiming more community based planning to be done, for example for Uckfield, Crowborough, Hailsham and for parishes. The County capital plan had been agreed; the first two years were fully funded and the third year was indicative. There had been an additional 3% from central Government for the year but the budget was still very challenging. East Sussex now had the third highest Council Tax of the Counties.

Cllr. Crowe, referring to the master plan, said that the PC would be seeking to engage ESCC on the Buxted development site. An initial meeting with WDC had been arranged. When considering the Buxted School roll it should be remembered that both the Grampian site and the Buxted site would increase numbers. Cllr. Crowe said that she understood that Colin Clark was in dialogue with Hadlow Down PC but it should be borne in mind that that the whole stretch of the A272 should be considered for traffic management purposes. Rydons have told us that a roundabout is now being considered for the access from the land west of Church Road site to the A272 when the discussions and agreement in the Draft NSLP were for controlled crossing and access and it was worrying that Officers seemed to be reverting to something that was wholly objected to. Cllr. Reid asked that he be kept involved.

Cllr. Rose said that another vehicle had hit the Buxted rail bridge recently and wondered if road re-surfacing had raised the level of the road and therefore that the bridge height should be re-measured. Cllr Reid agreed this should be considered.

5/02/08

PARISH COUNCIL NEWSLETTER

Cllr. Daniel said items being considered for the next edition were: an update on the yellow lines, Speedwatch, the Youth Council, Planning guidelines, the Clerk vacancy, village fetes, ESCC speed limit review, Jacky Downing in the Meet your Local Councillor item, Buxted Residents Association, the new hall & the Big Lottery bid, the Emergency Plan and lighting pollution. The deadline will be 28 / 29 February 2008.

6/02/08

OUTSTANDING MATTERS

Item 1 Parish Plan:

PP/ Action 1.  Youth Council: Cllr. Crowe said that there were potentially 3 members of Next Step interested in attending the Youth Leadership Course at Hindleap Warren in February 2008. The cost of the course was £30 per head. Cllr. Crowe proposed and Cllr. Chalmers seconded that the Council pay the whole cost – agreed. A drama workshop was being held in the Reading Room in half term and an invitation had gone out on BPEC – any interest should be referred to Cllr. Warner. A Fashion Show would be held in the summer. Cllr. Rose said that the Rotary Club also held Youth Leadership courses – Cllr. Rose to discuss with Cllr. Warner.

PP/ Action 3. Public Footpaths: Nothing to report.

PP/ Action 6. New Parish Hall: Nothing to report.

Item 2 Road Safety: Covered above.

Item 3 Grampian site FAD: Nothing to report

Item 4 Land west of Church Road Buxted: Covered above.

Item 5 South East Plan: Nothing to report

Item 6 Wealden LDF: Nothing to report.

Item 7 Emergency Plan: Covered above.

Item 8 Property Issues: Nothing to report.

Item 9 Clerk recruitment: Cllr. Crowe reported that the advertisement had been prepared and was due to go out this week in the Friday Ad and the Courier. The recruitment pack was being prepared and the working party would do the final check. There would be a page on the website for applicants to see. SALC had put the vacancy on their website, had sent the details to other PCs and would contact other authorities.

7/02/08

CORRESPONDENCE

The various items were noted as follows:

Item P5 Sussex Air Ambulance Fund: Cllr. Chalmers proposed and Cllr. Harding seconded that a grant of £50 be made – agreed.

Item P6 Sussex Community Rail Partnership: Cllr. Rose proposed and Cllr. Chalmers seconded that a grant of £50 be made – agreed.

Items P11 Hadlow Down PC’s enquiry about Youth Councils, S14 English Heritage application for Listing Little Potters and S20 Mascalls Farm application WD/2007/3378/FA were discussed and noted.

8/02/08

COMMITTEE MEETINGS

No meetings this month.

9/02/08

FINANCE

Cllr. Wilkes gave an overview of the month’s accounts. Cllr. Wilkes proposed and Cllr. Rose seconded that cheques 406 to 416 drawn on the current account totalling £3,672.45 including voucher charges be authorised for payment - Carried.  The month’s bank statements were verified against the bank reconciliations.

10/02/08

OTHER MEETINGS

Cllr. Treacher reported that she had attended a High Hurstwood School Governors meeting. The School was excited about the refurbishment and wanted to be very involved in the scheme. Cllr. Reid said that County intends to engage. Cllr. Crowe said the wider High Hurstwood community also needs to be involved. Cllr. Warner reported that she had attended a Buxted School Governors meeting and the parking issues around the School had been discussed. Cllr. Warner had also attended a Risk Assessment workshop run by WDC which had been useful. Cllr. Crowe asked if the current roll at Buxted School was under populated. Cllr. Warner said that the current roll was 93 and the School could take 120 but it was anticipated that the numbers would now rise. Cllr. Chalmers reported that he had attended a WDALC meeting. A Councillor from Crowborough had suggested that the Town Council was considering approaching neighbouring Parishes for funding for a new hall – the suggestion had not been welcomed. The local Standards Committee proposals had been discussed; it was thought that there could be a lot of work involved in the new arrangements.

Cllr. Downing reported that she had attended an Uckfield Railway Parishes meeting. A representative of Govia had spoken at the meeting about the new franchise. The Council agreed to make representations about desired requirements for the new franchise – the Clerk to write.  The Uckfield station parking situation had been discussed at the meeting – the Council agreed that the Clerk should enquire about the current situation.

11/02/08

MEMBERS QUESTIONS.

Cllr. Wilkes asked if the recent accidents in Buxted would have been logged. Cllr. Crowe said that they should have been. Cllr. Crowe said that when Paul Stephens returned from leave she wanted to explore the possibility of purchasing of a laser gun for Buxted Speedwatch given the problems associated with having to cancel volunteer teams as no gun available which caused angst and frustration amongst those giving up their time. Cllr. Rose said that one factor to be considered was that the laser guns needed to be calibrated regularly and maintained. Cllr. Crowe said that would need to be addressed and she had also asked for the Speedwatch data to be provided and for an update on progress by the Police. Cllr. Coxon said that he would object to buying a laser gun. He considered that speed enforcement was a Police responsibility; the Council needed to see the results and what Police actions had been taken given the problems at West Hoathly. Cllr. Crowe said that the West Hoathly trial was not a good example as the criteria had not been agreed beforehand. Cllr. Crowe said that she would like the Police to come to the next meeting to report. Some very good work was being done by the Speedwatch volunteers and the co-ordinator. PCSOs will now be able to do monitoring of hotspots as well as they too are trained and able to use the equipment.

Cllr. Warner said that part of the hedge at High Hurstwood Recreation Ground was badly overgrown by bracken and had died back. The Clerk to investigate and arrange for the hedge to be replanted with native species. Cllr. Treacher said that water was collecting in the Coxbrook area of Hurstwood Road and it was hazardous. The Clerk confirmed that had already been reported to Highways. Cllr. Downing said should the Council require an odd job in future the Uckfield TC maintenance team may be willing to help. The Clerk noted this but said that currently the Council had some good contractors. Cllr. Harding said that in the Emergency Plan Coopers Green had been incorrectly shown as Pound Green in one passage.

12/02/08

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The meeting closed at 9.10 p.m.

Signed:                                                    Chairman                                                 

Date: