Sidlesham Parish Council.

Sidlesham Parish Council

Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting

Held in the Church Hall, Sidlesham on Wednesday 25 May 2005 at 7:00 p.m.

Councillors present: Mr Chris Bond (Chairman), Mrs Debbie Kennedy (Vice-chairman),
Mrs Diana Pound, Mrs Moira Grice, Mrs Tricia Tull, Mr Adrian Harland, Dr Trevor Dobbins.
Also present: Fifty Sidlesham Electors, Mr Alan Chaplin (County Councillor) and Mr John Paul (Parish Clerk)

Chris Bond opened the proceedings by welcoming all present to the meeting.

1. Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Wednesday 26 May 2004.
These were proposed by Mr Dudley Pound seconded by Mrs Gill Cook and agreed by those present as being a true record to be signed by the Chairman.

2. Report of the past year by Mr C Bond (Chairman).
Mr Bond introduced the Parish Councillors to the electors and thanked them for the time and effort put in during the past year, all of which was voluntary and without payment.

Mr Bond then summarised the main responsibilities of the Parish Council with some detail of these roles were carried out in the past year. By custom Sidlesham Parish Council meets bi-monthly and all the meetings are open to public observation. In addition Councillors form a Finance Committee, a Planning Committee and are members of other inter council forums.

Finance Committee The main function of this committee was to consider and set the Precept for Sidlesham. The 2005/06 precept was set at £9950, a very small increase on last year (1.5%).

Planning Committee All members of the Parish Council form this committee and meetings are held as required. Debbie Kennedy chairs this committee. Eighteen planning meetings were held during the past year when 52 applications were examined. The Parish Council considers each application in relation to the village not just on planning regulations. The decisions arrived at were to object to 18 applications with no objection to 33. The District Council permitted ??? of the applications and refused ???.

Planning Considerations. The Parish has 65 grade two listed buildings, one grade one (the church), two conservation areas (Sidlesham Quay including all of Mill Lane and Church Lane / Church Farm Lane), two very important sites of scientific interest (Pagham Harbour and Keynor Copse) and a Nursery Development Area (Chalk Lane / Cow Lane). There is no SPA, the Parish is defined as rural in the Chichester Plan this only allows replacement house building, no new build.
The Chichester Plan is due for renewal; to be replaced by a Local Development Framework for the period 2006 to 2016. Production of this LDF started in 2004 with a district wide assessment of settlements graded by facilities e.g. doctors’ surgeries, schools, shops, public transport etc. Sidlesham was considered to be two settlements areas north and south, graded 37 and 31 out of the 49 District settlements, therefore very unlikely to be developed. Parish Councils and electors of a parish have influence on the LDF content through consultation questionnaires, Village Design Statements (how it is) and Parish Plans (how it will be) etc The final stages of the Sidlesham VDS is in hand. Shortly after the Sidlesham VDS was started in 2002 the PP system was developed. Both must be authorised and approved but not done by Parish Councils.

Consultations and concerns. During the year the PC had to deal with many local issues which concerned the people of Sidlesham e.g. illegal development in Chalk Lane, kennels in Fletchers Lane, Tetra mast at Bakers Farm, A27 junction changes, B2145 route management study for new signage and markings, recreation ground problems, etc.

For all functions of the Parish Council it was important to communicate with the people of Sidlesham, to assist with this in our very wide-spread parish in addition to the existing three notice boards three new ones would be installed this spring; at the school lay-by, by the post box at the petrol filling station and outside the Church Hall.

3. Presentations
The Chairman invited repetitive of the various parish organisations / groups to speak to the meeting for a timed five minutes each.

1. Sidlesham School, Mr Steve Rackstraw (head teacher). The school is a present safe from closure with a roll of 132 children aged from 4y 9m to 11 years old (65 boys, 67 girls) and play groups for younger ones. 45% (59) of the children live in Sidlesham, others are from Selsey (26), Hunston (7), Bracklesham / Wittering (32) and ‘others’ (8). There are 8 spaces of which 7 are in the 6-year-old group.
The school population indicates changes in the area. In 1988 half of the children lived on the smallholdings, now it is very few. Then the budget was £5000 now it is £500,000 but with many more responsibilities. The staff has increased to 18 from 6 but the head still manages to teach. The ethos of the school is to develop respectfulness and politeness in the children, that they should always do their best even without reward.
£50,000 is to be spent on the school but the now disused schoolhouse is a West Sussex County Council responsibility. The Parent Teachers Association is very strong, holds very successful fetes and supports the school very well. Next year 75% of the new intake of children will be from Sidlesham.

2. Sidlesham Women’s Institute. Mrs Margaret Roop. It is an increasingly strong organisation. This year is the 90th Anniversary of the WI; there are 135 in West Sussex and 3000 in the UK. The first WI in the UK was founded in Singleton in 1915.
In addition to the general objectives of the WI Mrs Roop spoke on the specific topical national issues where it is considered influence can be made; currently these include lobbying manufacturers to reduce wasteful packaging of food, and the ridiculously low milk prices paid to farmers.

3. Farming in Sidlesham. Mr Chris Spiby. Farms to the east of the parish as a tenant of the Church Commissioners, he is the third generation on the farm. A recent survey of children’s’ views concluded that farms were smelly and farmers were grumpy and scruffy. This may be true but farmers were very aware of the environmental issues. From his dairy herd (the last on the Manhood) some smell was produced, but when the ‘organic material’ was applied to the land it had by law to be incorporated within 24 hours which helps keep down any smell. ‘Grumpy’ the weather and finance were probably just cause. Wheat sale price was now £65 / tonne, down from £120. Milk, as referred to by the WI, now sold for 18p/l but the super markets sell it for 50p/l or more. The UK has the lowest farm gate prices in Europe. ‘Scruffy’, this was left to the audience’s opinion.
Diversification was a necessity. In Sidlesham hops, camomile and roses were some of the more unusual crops. Mr Spiby had tried organic farming but it was not profitable, therefore his flirtation with it was over. However, he was very keen on environmental issues, he farmed next to the Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve and followed the practice of 6m field margins etc for wild life.

4. Sidlesham Against TETRA. Mr David Barron reported that Airwave had won the appeal against
the District Council planning refusal for the construction of a TETRA communication mast at Bakers Farm. From the original informal appeal it was elevated to a public inquiry where costs can be levied. SAT was able to put it’s own case therefore fund raising activities were necessary. The DC officers recommended that the mast should be permitted but the Southern Area Committee of elected members refused permission. At the inquiry expert witnesses had to be produced by SAT who argued that the government guidance was not adequate. After the close of the inquiry Airwaves put in more evidence, which lengthened the proceedings. The examiner made his decision finding against CDC who must pay all costs. The decision is that the District Councillors of the committee behaved unreasonably. It is not known whether CDC will appeal. However, SAT will go no further, there is no more money. Mr Barron thanked SAT supporters for their help.

5. Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve. Mr Ivan Lang (conservation warden) made an
illustrated report on current projects.
1. Slipe Field was ploughed to increase plants to produce winter food for seed eating birds. This project was in its second year and increases were seen in seeds and insects.
2. Tern Island. Two issues are the plant community and bird nesting on the open shingle. It is hoped to attract Little Terns and Ringed Plovers, decoys have been put out. Plants to be nurtured are Sea Kale and the rare Chilled Pink.
3. Woodland. At Norton Priory sycamore trees are a problem, these are being cleared in favour of oak trees. Clearance will continue next winter. The area is to be protected from rabbits to allow regeneration of oaks. The cut wood will produce increased populations of invertebrates, nine nest boxes were installed, 4 were colonised by blue tits, and squirrels raided two boxes.

6. Youth Club. Mrs Gloria Jupp addressed the meeting. Sidlesham YC is in its 12 year. Meetings
are every Friday evening during term time. Thirty-seven members attended a BBQ in the vicarage garden. All youth clubs must now be affiliated to WSCC; all helpers have to be checked. At the stat of the YC there were 8 helpers, now all parents help once per term. There are 50 members representing 40 families. Activities include, football, darts, snooker, computers etc. Also night walks and canoeing. Music and drama are popular but help is need in these areas.

7. Sidlesham Traffic Action Group. Adrian Lochhead addressed the meeting. STAG is principally
concerned with the B2145 and the B2201. It was formed in March 2004 and meets every two months. Problem is the ever-increasing traffic to and from the growing town of Selsey along the only service road and through Sidlesham. STAG has formed itself to gather information, to assess environmental impact. STAG does not want to be confrontational; it has no power and must liase with the Parish Council. One suggest idea is to have village ‘gates’ to give the feeling for motorists that they are entering a village when they may lift off 5mph.

8. Sidlesham Parochial Church Council. Rev. Allan Jenkins spoke to the meeting on
responsibilities. First his own as half time in Chichester and half as the Priest in Charge of Sidlesham.
Rev Jenkins said there was some confusion about the PCC responsibilities e.g. it looked after the Church and church activities but not the glebe or vicarage. Other confusions were between the civil parish (PC) and the ecclesiastical (PCC), originally they were the same thing.
As the established church it had the right to marry and bury people etc. Sidlesham Church is 800 years old and gives continuity with the past. It brings people of Sidlesham together e.g. the fete, choir, hall activities for mothers and toddlers etc. The newcomer’s party caters for bringing into the community the annual 50 or so ‘new’ parishioners. The PCC receives reports on national debates and is concerned with local issues e.g. the opening of the south door for disabled access to the church. Another local issue is the SUSTRANS proposal that a cycle track should go through the churchyard. This is to be debated as is the finance implications of compulsory retirement of clergy at 70.

9. Sports Hall. Brian Kennedy reported that the hall was an asset for Sidlesham. The removal of
the redundant toilet block enabled the development of the sports hall and community room. The Sports Hall was primarily for use by the school and at other times by the community. Badminton and carpet bowls groups were regular users. Groups or individuals could hire the hall at £10 per hour; contact should be through the school office. The Sports Hall is probably the best on the peninsula.

10. District Council. Sidlesham and Hunston elected representative Mrs Diana Pound addressed the
meeting. Mrs Pound reported that she was on the District Council Development Control Committee. Contentious or high profile planning applications are referred to this committee rather than being decided by DC Officers if a Parish Council or several individuals file objections. Mrs Pound also spoke on her personal wish to see ‘affordable’ housing developments in Sidlesham on ‘exception sites’ and urged people to sign on to the Martlet housing list, already there were 29 entries giving our parish as their second or third choice for residence.

11. County Council. Sidlesham now forms part of ‘South Chichester’. Mr Alan Chaplin the recently
elected councillor for the ward spoke to the meeting. He is also a District Councillor and a non executive director of Martlet Homes and would be on the soon to be formed County Local Committee proposed by the County Council to help parishes liase directly with WSCC. Mr Chaplin spoke briefly on three issues:- 1. Roads. Mr Chaplin said he was getting acquainted with the concerns about the B2145, also the A27, although he did not expect any announcement on the latter from the WSCC until the end of the year. 2. Affordable / social housing. Market pressures made housing in the south ridiculously expensive. Social and ‘affordable housing’ was now the starting point for everyone not just key workers. 3. Crime Reduction Partnerships. For this the CC was confronting the problem and was achieving success.

Mr Bond then thanked all the speakers and asked that they be available to answer questions that may arise in the ‘General Discussion’ part of the meeting to follow a tea and coffee break.

4. General Discussion.
Approximately 25 electors stayed on for this session.

Q1. “Does Mr Chaplin have a conflict of interest over affordable housing being a District Councillor, a County Councillor and a director of Martlet Homes?” Mr Chaplin replies “no”, that the board was comprised of 5 District Councillors, 5 Business directors and 5 tenants.

Q2. “Last Parish Meeting it was suggested that the Parish Council should publish in the Church Magazine and have a Web site, what was the progress?” Answer that the magazine submission deadline being a long time before publication date made announcements of meetings and writing about topical issues difficult. No progress had been made on a website as it was stated last year that possibly the ‘sidlesham.org’ site could be taken over by the PC when the Village Design Statement finished with the site at publication. However, the three new notice boards and the three existing boards would make in much easier for people to make themselves aware of Parish Council matters.

Q3. Concern was expressed that social housing building designs were always so similar, were very obviously social housing and were not harmonious with the towns and villages. Mr Chaplin replies that those built in the fifties were draftsman designed now they are architect designed and often to a higher standard than private developments, e.g. those on the estate near to St Peters church in Selsey; if any were built in Sidlesham they would have to be harmonious and integrated with the existing houses.

Discussion items followed but without solutions:- What use could be made of the recreation ground; how could the recreation ground be improved ; the Social / Football clubhouse was way past its best and looks terrible, needs money spending on it; Swings etc needed for children somewhere in Sidlesham; swap the recreation ground for another field in a better situation:

At this juncture Mr Bond brought the meeting to a close after again thanking the presenters, also those who discussed questions and answers, but last and by very much no means least he thanked the ladies of the WI for providing refreshments.

The meeting closed at 9.35pm
Sidlesham Parish Council Parish Meeting 25 May 2005

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