DRAFT Minutes of the meeting of the COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Committee on Thursday 13^th January 2022 held at 7:30pm in the Court Bushes Function Room, Willow Way, Hurstpierpoint.

Members Present:          Claire Majsai (Chair)                        Helen Bedford

                                                Bob Sampson (Vice Chair)             Michael Avery

                                                Duncan Ranger                

Also Present:                     Lorna Cooksey (Assistant Clerk)

                                                Jenny King (AgeUk)

                                                Charlotte Polhill (AgeUk)

CE21/22.026. Apologies for Absence: Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Cllr Jee, Cllr Lank and Cllr Llewellyn.

RESOLVED: The committee ACCEPTS the apologises for absence from Cllr Jee, Cllr Lank and Cllr Llewellyn.

CE21/22.027. Declarations of Interest: No declarations of interests were declared.

CE21/22.028. Minutes of the Previous Meeting of the Community Engagement Committee: Members received the minutes of the meeting held on 7^th October 2021.

RESOLVED: The committee AGREED the minutes of 7^th October 2021 meeting.

CE21/22.029. Adjournment for Questions from the Public: There being no members of the public present the committee was not required to adjourn in accordance with standing orders.

CE21/22.030. AgeUK Presentation: Two representatives from AgeUK presented to the committee about the new funding streams available and how they plan to identify gaps and needs in the community. It was highlighted that Hurstpierpoint and particularly, Sayers Common statistics were very high for loneliness in older people. The Sayers Common Councillors were asked to speak to the community and see what activities and resources might be needed to help. The committee agreed that they are very supportive of the Chair’s work with AgeUk and wanted to continue to advertise on our Facebook page and website. The AgeUk representatives were asked to send leaflets and posters to the Parish Office to ensure that anyone who doesn’t use the internet could still view the information. The Assistant Clerk was asked to send the AgeUk representatives a list of the current groups held at the Village Centre and Court Bushes such as Knit and Natter and the Memory Moments café which could be attended by other people who are looking for company in the parish. The Chair expressed the need for agencies working together and that the committee would be interested in helping support local projects including through possibly being able to offer small amounts of funding if needed.

Jenny King and Charlotte Polhill left the meeting at: 20:05pm.

CE21/22.031. Parish Council Grant Applications:

Grant Budget 2021/22: £4,000

Grants awarded in 2021/22: £1,800

Grant Budget remaining in 2021/22: £2,200

New Grant Applications to be considered 2021/22:

The committee discussed the 1^st Hurstpierpoint Girls Brigade and Life Centre grant application and the committee agreed to award both grants in full.

The Hurstpierpoint Gymnastic Club grant application was discussed in detail. The committee unanimously agreed the application did not meet our current priorities. The grant was declined.

RESOLVED: The committee AGREED to award the full grant of £143.88 to the 1^st Hurstpierpoint Girls Brigade and £200 to Life Centre. The committee AGREED to DECLINE the grant for Hurstpierpoint gymnastics club.

CE21/22.031.1 Health & Wellbeing Budget

Health & Wellbeing Grants budget 2021/2022 £1,000

Health & Wellbeing Projects budget 2021/2022 £1,000

Health & Wellbeing grants remaining in 2021/22 = £0,000

Health & Wellbeing projects budget remaining 2021/2022 = £1,000

The Chair explained that she was hopeful that a project would come from the AgeUk which potentially could be supported from the Health and Wellbeing budget in the future. The Chair also confirmed that contact would be made with Downlands school regarding the YMCA invoice that has not been received.

The Assistant Clerk updated the committee that contact had been made with the local Midwife and that she had been to see the new room in the Village Centre. The midwife is very interested in using the new room for her clinic since she now has no base and is having to visit patients in their own homes which is not ideal. The Assistant Clerk explained that the Midwife would require funding for this, and the committee all agreed that this was a project they would fully support as being a very worthwhile use of the Health and Wellbeing Projects budget as they are very keen to see a clinic return to the parish. The Assistant Clerk advised that she would keep the Chair updated on any progress with this project.

CE21/22.032. Community Initiatives and projects

CE21/22.032.1 Budget Monitoring:  The committee received the budget monitoring reports.

 CE21/22.032.2 Review of Action Plan: The committee was briefed on the changes to the new look action plan. Cllr Bedford confirmed she had found it much clearer and preferred the new look as it made a lot more sense to read. The Chair raised that there were currently no planned actions for objective 9 and discussion took place. Cllr Ranger and Cllr Bedford raised that the action plan commissioned by MSDC could work alongside this objective.

RESOLVED: The committee AGREED to add under objective 9: Planned Action – The committee will work with the Welcome Back Fund consultant appointed by MSDC to identify local employment opportunities for the parish. By When – 2022-2023, Status – The High Street reps will be working closely with MSDC appointed consultant, High St traders etc . Last Updated – January 2022.

CE21/22.032.3 Christmas Lights outcome for Sayers Common: The committee discussed the Christmas lights in Sayers Common and the overall success of the project. The Assistant Clerk confirmed she had contacted the contractors about the faulty light. Discussion took place regarding the need for the structural test again this year and the Assistant Clerk confirmed that it is due to the safety report identifying that one of the columns needs to be tested once a year, others every two or three years. As KIWA only charge a day rate the committee agreed that although this is frustrating situation, we would need to go ahead for the Christmas lights to go up again.

RESOLVED: (1) The committee AGREED to give the Parish Office permission to proceed with organising the structural tests on fifteen columns in Sayers Common with Merlin Lighting and their contractors KIWA from the 1^st April 2022 at a cost of £695+ Vat for 15 columns, from the 2022/23 budget code 5610-301. (2) The committee AGREED to give the Parish Office permission to proceed with the application process with SSE and West Sussex County Council from the 1^st April 2022 (there are no direct costs associated with this work)

CE21/22.032.4 Youth Offer: The committee were briefed on the current status of the youth provision meetings. The Chair explained that although securing sustainable funding had been the main objective unfortunately this still had not been achieved. The Chair confirmed that at the next meeting planned for the 25^th January 2022 she would be asking Sussex Clubs For Young People to make the Parish Council aware of any funding issues far earlier so the Parish Council can react and support if needed to ensure the service does not fold in the parish.  

CE21/22.032.5 High Street Update: Cllr Ranger and Cllr Bedford discussed their involvement in the Welcome Back Fund and confirmed that the Clerk was leading on the communication with MSDC. Cllr Bedford informed the committee that Gill from Ashley & Thomas was organising a traders’ meeting to look at the accounts from the Santa Sunday event and Cllr Bedford would be attending. It was confirmed that the idea of the ‘Think Hurst First’ bags had been warmly received by the traders. Currently the vinyl shop front idea cannot progress due to the shops not returning the Clerks communication, so this project is on hold. The Chair expressed concerned about the banner project and it was agreed that this idea should be set aside to focus on the shopping bags first. Cllr Bedford confirmed that she would talk to the traders about the shopping map to see who would lead on this project. It was suggested that Christopher Maidment may be able to help. The committee agreed that they were happy to leave all the Welcome Back Fund projects to the Clerk, Cllr Ranger and Cllr Bedford and asked for an update at the next Community Engagement meeting.

CE21/22.032.6 Community Events: The supporting document was discussed and that the Remembrance Sunday is a new event that the Parish Council now supports and takes an active role in. Cllr Bedford raised that there is bad feeling from the traders that the Hurst Festival is financially supported each year but that the St Lawrence Fair and the Christmas event isn’t. The Chair explained that historically both events have not wanted the Parish Councils support, this was discussed in length. It was agreed that Cllr Bedford could inform the traders that they are able to apply for a grant, but this must be for a specific item for the event and not just a general sum of money and that any grant application should be submitted early in the year to allow for it to be discussed at a meeting.

The Chair explained that she had received an email from Cllr Shorrocks regarding the jubilee and her offer of help for an event. The Chair stressed that this was only a couple of weeks after the Annual Parish Meeting so not an event she would be able to organise. It was agreed that the committee felt this event should be discussed at the Full Council meeting to decide if the Parish Council wanted to host something, if there is a budget and if not, how we can support the events held by the parish. The Assistant Clerk was asked to contact Cllr Shorrocks and put her in communication with Cllr Bedford in the hope she could attend the upcoming traders meeting. The committee also suggested that red, white and blue planting could be put in around the parish as a simple touch to the jubilee.

RESOLVED: (1) The committee AGREED for Cllr Bedford to inform the traders they can apply for a grant application for a specific item(s) for their event. (2) The committee Agreed that the Full Council should be asked whether we want to organise a specific event for the jubilee and if yes what is the budget and plan? (3) The committee AGREED to ask for red, white and blue planting to be considered in the parish and for further discussion to take place at the Estates and Facilities committee.

CE21/22.032.7 Safe Place Project: The Chair confirmed that the next steps for the safe place project was for contact to be made with the Manager of Lloyds pharmacy. The Assistant Clerk and Chair plan to action this.  

CE21/22.032.8 Annual Parish Meeting: The committee were briefed thatthe Events working group met on the 9^th December 2021 to discuss the Annual Parish Meeting for 2022.

RESOLVED: The committee AGREED to the proposed plans set out in the supporting document: Minutes from the Events Working Group 10.12.21.

CE21/22.032.9 Communication Meeting: The committee noted that a Communication meeting was held on the 12^th October 2021 between the Clerk, Chairman and Chair of Community Engagement.

CE21/22.033. Publicity: The Committee noted the following:

CE21/22.033.1 Communication: The Chair explained that although there is a Hurst Life plan the content of each article is very flexible and can be changed depending on what is happening within the Parish. Cllr Bedford raised that Hurst Life may have space in each edition that needs filling with contents, and we could offer to supply them with regular ‘extra’ information such as: free parking, heritage trail, safe place etc… that they could use. The Chair agreed that if Hurst Life agreed we could put together a list of information for them.  

RESOLVED: The committee AGREED to adopt the Hurst Life 12 Month Plan 2022 2023.

CE21/22.033.2 Website: The committee agreed that the new website pages were a great idea and having the information regarding the bins may stop the same question being constantly asked in the Parish Office. The Assistant Clerk was asked to investigate whether a similar page could be created for streetlights in the parish.

CE21/22.033.3 Social Media: The committee noted that the Facebook page continues to grow and is regularly used by the Parish Office. The page currently has 528 likes and 667 followers.

CE21/22.034. Information Items, Correspondence Received and Requests: No items noted.

Meeting Closed: 21.33pm