Annual Parish Assembly Minutes May 2014

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WEST WITTERING PARISH COUNCIL

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

23rd MAY 2014  -  7.30 P.M.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2013/2014

The Annual Parish Meeting is required to be held by the Local Government Act 1972. It is open to all Electors of the Parish to attend, and is distinct from the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council. We choose to call this meeting the Annual Assembly to avoid confusion. All electors of West Wittering are entitled to speak and time will be made available after the presentations for you to raise any topic relevant to the Parish Council.

Guest speakers

I would like to welcome our guest speakers Mark Wardle and Lisa Tronson of the National Trust.

Councillors

There have been a number of changes on the Council during the year. We welcomed Mr Dave Sadler to the Council and following the resignation of Simon Jennings there is currently a vacancy on the Council.

Our other councillors are Councillor Shrubb, the vice chairman, Councillor Buckland, Councillor Wright, Councillor Pine Councillor Barrett and Councillor Parker.

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The past year has comprised the usual range of activities with the added diversions of the Cpouncils complaint to Southern Wate . My report for the year follows, taking each working party in turn.

Allotments

Mr Pine, aided by Mrs Megeney, co-opted to the working party,  have worked well with the chairman of the Allotments Association, Mr Melton. As a result the Association has increased its self  management and delivered improvements in the maintenance of plots, general clearance, grass cutting, installed a new gate and improved drainage of the car parking area.  Plots are all fully let.

Footpaths and Open Spaces

Footpaths

The Parish Council have continued to monitor and maintain the public footpaths with assistance from local landowners and, in the case of footpath number 1 which runs from East Head to Itchenor, Chichester Harbour Conservancy.  Most footpaths are well used and appreciated by the community.

We have continued to lobby WSCC to ensure the footpath network remains accessible. It has maintained regular litter picking through local contractors.

A number of footpaths have been resurfaced with the assistance of a grant towards the work. The resurfacing at Redlands Lane and Wellsfield will be completed this summer.

The annual West Sussex County Council rights of way inspection is due within the next 4 weeks.

The Parish Council has been active in organising the repair of flood damage to Salterns Way along Sheepwash Lane and has made a financial contribution. The work will be completed this summer after other parties have completed a drainage improvement project.

Dog Bins

Two new dog bins have been installed at the junction of Elms Lane and Chapel Lane and at the bend in Piggery Hall Lane close to Furzefield.

E-W Cycle Path

The cycle and pedestrian pathway between East and West Wittering, completed just over a year ago and made possible by West Sussex County Council, Cakeham Estates, Webbs Land Ltd, and the Woodger Trust, has proved very successful and is used year round. The Parish Council continues to try and have resolved some of the confusing and anomalous signage associated with the pathway.

Village Green

The Parish Council are responsible for the village green, which is in the heart of the village conservation area. It is regularly cleared of litter, mown and the hedges and trees are attended to annually.

I would like to thank Ian Parker at the Old House At Home and Graham Barrett (not with his District Councillor hat on) for, respectively, providing a Christmas tree on the village green and powering it through the festivities.

Toilets

The District Council have informed us that they intend to close the public conveniences on the village green. The closure has been delayed until Spring 2014 as a result of a donation towards the running costs by the Parish Council of £2,000. The District Council is willing to lease the premises to the Parish Council if it assumes responsibility for them. We are in discussion with West Wittering Estate to try and find a way of keeping them open on a shared cost basis.

A decision has been made to replace the bus shelter in Rookwood Road opposite the Malthouse Cottages. This will proceed once a response has been received to our application to the District Council for a contributory grant.

Footway Lighting

It was the turn of West Wittering in 2012 to have its street lighting replaced under the County Council’s privatisation contract with SSE Contracting. This was an opportunity to change the level of lighting.

As you know, much of the west end of the village is unlit. In the south east of the village much of the lighting is owned by the Parish Council. This tends to be at a lower level with placed at junctions and corners.

However there is an area to the north of Elms Lane that is highly lit and based on conversations with a few residents it seemed worth polling the streets for their view. A questionnaire, approved by the highways lighting department, was distributed. The result was a clear majority in favour of keeping the lighting unchanged. This was duly carried out.

Sportsfield Management and Pavilion

In addition to the usual grass cutting and litter picking the Council has installed new fencing and re-surfaced the car park at the Millenium Meadow. The cricket club appears to be doing well with increased membership. The croquet club is also active and has had installed a new rink.

The play area at the Sports Pavilion was overwhelmed with mole hills ealier in the year and deemed to be sufficiently hazardous to justify temporary closure. An expert was hired to move the animals.

Travellers

In August we had an unwelcome visit by a band of travellers. They established a camp on the Millenium Meadow during a croquet match. The Council went through the usual steps of requesting that they leave, giving notice of intent to have them evicted, employing a baliff, applying for a court order, Presenting to a judge, escorting them off and finally organising the clean up. It’s quite a process and I would like to thank Councillor Shrubb for taking the lead and West Wittering Estate for performing much of the clean-up.

The cost of the process, including the installation of barriers at the Millenium Meadow and Sportsfield to prevent a repetition, has amounted to £10,051.  That is nearly 14% of our total precept for the year.

Snowhill

Beach

The Parish Council has supplied shingle for maintenance of the boat mooring area on the beach. The work was undertaken by the Sailing Club.

Following improvements to the upper slipway as part of the flood defence work by the Environment Agency the Parish Council has extended this resurfacing, using a layer of binding plastic webbing, to strengthen the lower slipway.

Flood Defences

The construction of the new flood defences for the village running from Snowhill towards East Head had to be suspended in November due to the excess fluidity of the mud. This was caused by persistent heavy rainfall through the autumn. The contractors were able to reopen the footpath for winter walkers. However, work has now restarted and should, weather permitting, be completed by the end of July. The footpath will, I regret, remain closed until then.

Crabbing Pool

The intertidal duct and sluice at Snowhill, known as the crabbing pool, has been a vexatious subject. In summary a local access group has argued that the area beside the intertidal duct must include access for those with limited mobility or in wheelchairs. This would require an extended ramp from Snowhill and railings on either side.

The Council regards the area as dangerous and inappropriate for people in wheelchairs or with mobility constraints and does not want to be held liable for an accident. It also finds the ramp and railings visually intrusive in this much loved spot. Sadly the Environment Agency has concluded that in the absence of an access ramp the area must be closed to everyone. We regret their decision and will continue to try and find a common sense solution.

Bollard

Finally at Snowhill we have installed a removal bollard in Coastguard Lane to prevent trepass by vehicles with towed trailers or vans. This is not an ideal solution as it depends on local residents to assist with its deployment. The Parish Council will therefore review the arrangements later in the year.

Communications and Web Site

The Communications Working Party continues to produce the occasional newsletter. The last one in December addressed flood defences, street lighting and the neighbourhood plan.

The Parish Council’s web site is kept up to date with agenda and minutes of meetings and local news items. This now includes summaries and links to relevant planning applications. An emailing list has also been started that keeps recipients up to date on notice board items and matters of local interest.

Emergency Planning

Councillors Buckland and Parker have updated the Parish Council’s Emergency Plan in conjuction with adjoining Parishes and Chichester District Council.

Planning

During the year 82 planning applications were considered (20 more than the previous year) of which 12 were commented on and 11 objected to. Of those [] were upheld by the District Council.

The Parish Council is very concerned about a proposal by the District Council to remove from parish councils and Chichester Harbour Conservancy the right to refer domestic planning applications to the Area Management Development Committee.

The Parish Council is also objecting to the District Council’s plan to stop providing paper copies of planning applications.  We do not have the equipment or internet speed to easily use electronic versions.

Neighbourhood Plan

The Parish Council has registered an intent to develop a Neighbourhood Plan and has specified the parish boundary as the relevant area.

Grants and Donations

During the year the Council approved grant applications amounting to £2,450 as follows: