Minutes of the meeting of the council held on Thursday 26^th September 2019 at 8.00 pm in the Village Hall, London Road, Sayers Common 

Members present 

Also present:   

Joy Dennis (WSCC Ward Cllr)   

Colin Trumble (MSDC Ward Councillor) 

Andy Beams (Clerk) 

C19/041 Apologies for absence and declarations of interest: The following apologies for absence were received before the meeting and accepted: Cllrs David Evans, Peter Griffiths, Seth Jee and Claire Majsai and District Cllr Alison Bennett (MSDC). There were no declarations of interest.   

C19/042 Minutes of the meeting of the council held on 25 July 2019: To receive and accept the minutes.   RESOLVED:  The minutes of the meeting of the council held on 25 July 2019 are adopted  

C19/043 Adjournment for questions from the public: The council shall consider whether to adjourn the meeting in accordance with clause 70 of Standing Orders, in order to receive questions from members of the public in attendance. The meeting was adjourned to hear the following: 

A member of the public representing 27 families in the Mill Lane area made a statement regarding the proposed development of a polo field (DM/18/1860) and the objections raised by the families, including environmental concerns and safety considerations. She asked the Parish Council to support a request for an ecological and diversity study to be carried out on the whole of Mill Lane. It was acknowledged that the Parish Council had recommended refusal at every stage of the application to date. Cllr Machan confirmed that the matter had been discussed at the last Planning committee meeting and a recommendation for Council was to be proposed later in the meeting. 

A resident of Reeds Lane expressed concerns regarding access by developers via Reeds Lane to the proposed Kingsland Laines development. Cllr Hand confirmed that the access route is owned by the Parish Council, that no permission for use has been granted and that the Council would take out an injunction if necessary to stop any such unlawful access. 

A resident of Reeds Lane asked for an update on the proposed bus shelter and asked if any speed restrictions could be put in place along Reeds Lane. Cllr Llewellyn confirmed approval for the bus shelter had been granted and it would be installed soon. Cllr Dennis stated that speeding was an issue in all villages, but there were parking proposals under consideration. Cllr Lank stated that the Parish Council would look to use the Speed Indicator Device (SID) at Reeds Lane the next time it was available. 

A resident of Reeds Lane stated that one of the welcome signs was impacting on the sightline for access to his property, and he was struggling to establish whether this was a matter for the County or Parish Council. Cllr Hand confirmed that this was the Parish Council’s issue and would be happy to review the situation. 

A member of the public questioned whether the pavements ever get swept. Cllr Dennis agreed to investigate. 

C19/044 Reports from other authorities: To receive verbal reports from representatives of other authorities:  

C19/044.1 West Sussex County Council County (WSCC)    Cllr Dennis reported:  

• • Stonepound crossroads re-opened on time following that part of the works and progress continues to go well. The lights are not yet operational until later in the work programme. 
• • Meetings have taken place with officers to walk the proposed cycleway routes, and a draft options document will now be prepared. Discussions continue on pursuing the routes to better link to Burgess 

Hill. 

• • The A2300 will only have a north side cycleway, with alternate recreational routes to the south instead. Roadside cutting will be completed by October to avoid issues with hibernation. Two of the three trees scheduled to be felled have been saved. 
• • Meetings have been held with residents of Jobs Lane to review the plans and timescales for the works affecting them. A liaison officer has been appointed and work is scheduled to start in the spring. 

C19/044.2 Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC) Cllr Jackson reported:  

• • The Draft Sites Allocation Development Plan Document has been published demonstrating that MSDC currently has enough sites for its five year land supply, although more will need to be identified for 2031 onwards. 
• • The original 100 sites identified have been narrowed down to 22, based on the criteria in the District Plan. The only site in the parish is behind Linden in Reeds Lane where 35 houses are planned. 
• • MSDC is looking at possible kerb side collections for food and electrical items. 
• • It has been agreed that Mid Sussex will become a Fair Trade District.  Slaugham Parish Council’s Neighbourhood Plan has been made. 

Cllr Trumble reported: 

• • The Draft Sites Allocation Development Plan identifies 19,062 homes against the 16,400 requirement for the period 2014-31. 
• • Failure to deliver the Plan will lead to having to find alternate sites to meet the requirement. 
• • The consultation opens on 9^th October and runs for a 6 week period and is then re-considered by MSDC. It is due to be submitted to the Planning Inspector by the end of 2020. 
• • The 5 year land supply is a moving picture and needs ongoing review. 
• • No reserved matters approval has been granted for the Kingsland Laines development and any development action at the site is subject to enforcement action. 

Cllrs Dennis and Trumble left the meeting at 8.50 pm. 

C19/045 Committee and Working Group minutes: The committee chairmen will introduce each minutes, which the council is asked to receive and where appropriate, consider the recommendations:  

C19/045.1 Community Affairs Committee (5 September 2019) 

Cllr Sampson informed Members that the outstanding matter of the Christmas tree was included on the agenda for discussion. He reported that he had resigned as the Chairman of the Reeds Play Area Working Group following a disagreement regarding the minutes of a meeting. Cllr Hand is arranging to facilitate a meeting of those involved to address the situation.  

C19/045.2 Court Bushes Hub Committee (30 July 2019) 

Cllr Llewellyn informed Members that following concerns over security issues, Beacon Security had been appointed to respond to alarm call outs, and manage late night lock-up duties for parties on Fridays and Saturdays. The cost of the lock-up was included in the party hire fee. A meeting with MSDC had taken place to address issues relating to the unexpected costs following the handover of the building, and had been generally very positive.  

C19/045.3 Finance and General Purposes Committee (8 August and 12 September 2019) 

Cllr Llewellyn provided an update on the attempts to find external grant funding for the defibrillator for Court Bushes, which were restrictive due to the conditions attached to the potential grants. It was agreed that a wider review of existing and potential new defibrillators was needed across the whole parish to establish funding needs for purchase and future maintenance. The committee addressed the Parish Plan and Action Plan and agreed to recommend merging the two documents. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Council agrees to merge the Parish Plan and Action Plan documents and assign responsibility to the relevant committees. Progress will be reported back to the Finance and General Purposes committee 

RESOLVED: Council agreed merge the Parish Plan and Action Plan documents and assign responsibility to the relevant committees. Progress will be reported back to the Finance and General Purposes committee 

C19/045.4 Planning Committee (22 August and 19 September 2019) 

Cllr Machan requested thanks be noted to Cllr Lank for chairing the July and August committee meetings during his absence. He provided further information on the polo pitch planning application (DM/18/1860) discussed during the public session, which the Parish Council has consistently recommended for refusal. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Council agrees to engage in urgent discussions with MSDC to outline the concerns regarding the application and consider the engagement of a Planning Consultant to support this process 

RESOLVED: Council agreed to engage in urgent discussions with MSDC to outline the concerns regarding the application and consider the engagement of a Planning Consultant to support this process 

C19/045.5 Strategic Policy Working Group (3 September 2019) 

Cllr Lowman reported that the key items discussed at the working group meeting were included on the agenda for discussion and/or information for Council. The working group intends to meet to discuss and agree a recommendation for Council with regard to responding to the Governance Review at the appropriate time. 

C19/046 Standing Orders: Standing Orders are the written rules of a local council and are essential to regulate internal organisational and administrative arrangements, as well as to regulate the proceedings of a meeting. The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) regularly provides an updated model version which, once adjusted for local conditions, is recommended for adoption. The most recent model version was produced in April 2018. The current Standing Orders in operation for the Parish Council are based on an older model version. (REF: Draft Standing Orders and explanation briefing note ATTACHED) 

RECOMMENDATION: Council agrees the areas in need of completion and adopts the Standing Orders 

  RESOLVED: Council agreed the areas in need of completion and adopted the Standing Orders 

C19/047 Complaints Procedure: Previously, the Council was asked to review and adopt the COMPLAINTS 

PROCEDURE based on the NALC guidelines ‘Handling Complaints’ 2008. This was last approved by Council 26 July 2018 and no changes have been made since. Upon consideration at the July 2019 meeting, Council agreed it would like to see a more personalised version specific to Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common Parish Council, including a flow diagram of the process for residents to follow. (REF: Draft Complaints Procedure for 

Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common Parish Council July 2019 and Draft Complaints Policy Flowchart ATTACHED) RECOMMENDATION: Council adopts the personalised Complaints Procedure 

  RESOLVED: Council adopted the personalised Complaints Procedure 

C19/048 Freedom of Information publication scheme: The council’s existing scheme was adopted in September 2015. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the council is obliged to publish a scheme outlining what information is held, how it can be accessed and what (if any) charges are applicable to providing the information. (REF: Draft Freedom of Information Publication Scheme for Hurstpierpoint and Sayers 

Common Parish Council September 2019 ATTACHED) 

RECOMMENDATION: Council adopts the updated Freedom of Information publication scheme 

  RESOLVED: Council adopted the updated Freedom of Information publication scheme 

C19/049 Document Retention scheme: The council requires a Document Retention Scheme to enable it to better manage its records, support its obligations under Freedom of Information legislation and ensure information is retained for the appropriate periods. The draft for consideration is based on the NALC model version. (REF: Draft Document Retention Scheme for Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common Parish Council 

September 2019 ATTACHED) 

RECOMMENDATION: Council adopts the updated Document Retention scheme 

  RESOLVED: After clarifying a couple of items, Council adopted the Document Retention scheme 

C19/050 Committee structure and meeting schedule: Due to changes in the staff team and in attempt to reduce the number of meetings, a revised committee structure has been formulated along with an amended meeting schedule for the remainder of the council year through discussions within the Strategic Policy Working 

Group. (REF: Revised Committee Structure and Amended Meetings Diary 2019/20 ATTACHED) RECOMMENDATION: Council adopts the revised committee structure and meeting schedule 

 RESOLVED: Council adopted the revised committee structure and meeting schedule. Individual councillors were asked to contact the Clerk with regard to their own preferred membership of committees and working groups 

C19/051 Christmas tree: The Community Affairs committee were unable to approve the Christmas tree and lights arrangements at the September 2019 meeting, due to the increased cost of obtaining a suitable tree. Additional quotes have been requested and are anticipated to be available for review at the council meeting 

(REF: Christmas tree briefing note ATTACHED) 

RECOMMENDATION: Council decides whether to proceed with a 25ft tree or agree other arrangements based on the available quotes 

 RESOLVED: Council requested the Parish office make further enquiries about alternatives to a traditional tree, including referring to the church for ideas and the possibility of lighting some of the existing trees in the area. Findings to be reported to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Community Affairs committee  

C19/052 Information items, correspondence received and requests: Council is asked to note: 

C19/052.1 Community Governance Review: Mid Sussex District Council has received a petition, delivered by the Sayers Common Village Society, calling for a Community Governance Review. The petition calls ‘for a Parish Council to be constituted for Sayers Common Ward, such new council to be known as Sayers Common Parish Council.’ The draft terms of reference were considered by the MSDC scrutiny committee on 18 September and once these have been approved, the review is likely to commence in November. 

There being no other business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.55pm.  

  Chairman