Minutes of the Meeting of the Hurstpierpoint Village Centre Trustees held on Thursday 26 February 2026 at 9.40pm, at Hurstpierpoint Village Centre (Charity No 305265).
| Trustees Present: | Malcolm Llewellyn (Chair) Michael Avery Susan Dyke | Shaun Hole Rodney Jackson Duncan Ranger | Bob Sampson Julia Shorrocks |
Also present: Sarah Groom, Clerk to the Trustees
- Apologies for Absence: The Trustees received and accepted apologies for absence from Sarah Baldey, Helen Bedford, Claire Majsai, Annette Street and Lindsay Thompson.
2. Declarations of Interest: There were no declarations of interest.
3. Previous Minutes: The Trustees received and agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 27 November 2025.
4. Village Centre Budget Monitoring: The Trustees reviewed and assessed the Village Centre’s financial position at the ten month stage. It was noted that the income position was strong (at 93.7% recovery) and the expenditure was being carefully monitored so as not to overspend by year end (currently at 79.3%). There were no matters requiring further action.
5. VAT Reclaim: The Trustees noted that the Parish Council had resolved on 22 January 2026, to reclaim the Village Centre VAT for last four years via its 126 VAT Claim mechanism permitted under Section 23 of the 1994 VAT Act. The Parish Council would consider what to do with the funds at a future meeting, when the final amounts are known. The Trustees noted there were a number of Village Centre improvements that the funds could be spent on. The Clerk was able to report that so far the VAT amounts were £4,359.71 for 2022/23 financial year, £4,233.38 or 2023/24 financial year and £4,335.20 for 2024/25 financial year. A total of £12,928.29 to be reclaimed. This did not yet include the 2025/26 financial year.
6. Budget Setting 2026/27: The Trustees reviewed and assessed the budget requirements for 2026/27 and agreed the final budget for 2026/27. This included total income of £56,228 and total expenditure of £69,407, with a budgeted deficit of £13,179.
7. Governance Review: This item had been requested to be placed on the agenda by Annette Street, so would be deferred until the next meeting when she would hopefully be present.
8. Sewerage Issues: The Trustees considered the briefing note setting out the proposal for a civil engineering team to remove and replace the failed “channel” (pipes) and “benching” (concrete surface at the base of the manhole) in the foul water inspection chamber at the front of the building by the access ramp. This would be at a cost of £2,380.14 (including VAT), with an additional charge of £480 (including VAT) for waste disposal per skip or load. The Trustees agreed to appoint Section 24 to carry out the repairs to the Village Centre foul water channels and benching for a total cost of (£2,860.14+VAT) £3,432.17, from the 2026/27 budget.
9. Date of Next Meetings: The Trustees agreed the date of the next meeting as 23 July 2026, to follow the conclusion of the Parish Council meeting at 7.30pm.
The meeting closed at 10.07pm.
Chairman