A meeting of the Parish Council is being held on Tuesday 10 February 2026 at 7.30pm in the Council Chamber, Parish Centre, Adastra Park, Hassocks.
Parish Clerk 4 February 2026
Members of the public are encouraged to come to the meetings and there is an opportunity for them to address the Council relating to the non-confidential items on the published agenda. A period of 15 minutes will be set aside in item 4 Public participation. It may be necessary to consider particular items in confidential session and where this arises, these items will be considered at the end of the agenda.
AGENDA
1. APOLOGIES
1.1 To accept Apologies for absence
2. DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS
2.1 To deal with any disclosure by Members of any disclosable pecuniary interests and interests other than pecuniary interests, as defined under Hassocks Parish Council’s Code of Conduct and the Localism Act 2011, in relation to matters on the agenda.
3. MINUTES
3.1 To accept the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 13 January 2026.
4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Up to fifteen minutes will be available to allow for the public to make representations, answer questions or give evidence in respect of any items of business included in the agenda, in accordance with Standing Orders.
5. TO ACCEPT THE FOLLOWING MINUTES
Planning Committee – to note the minutes for 12 January 2026 (meeting cancelled).
6. REPORTS
6.1 Police Report
6.2 West Sussex County Councillor
6.3 Mid Sussex District Councillors Report
6.4 Rail and Public Transport Matters
6.5 Community Initiatives
6.6 Reports from Councillors on meetings with outside bodies where the Council is Represented.
7. FINANCE
7.1 To approve the Financial Report and authorise the list of payments in the sum of £1,110.22issued between 1 December 2025 – 2 January 2026 with the Corporate Purchasing Card (0651) (Appendix 1). To view Appendix 1 please click here.
7.2 To approve the Financial Report and authorise the list of payments in the sum of £24,743.06issued between 1 – 31 January 2026 from the Unity Current Account (7654) (Appendix 2). To view Appendix 2 please click here.
7.3 To approve the Financial Report in the sum of £0issued between 1 – 31 January 2026 from the Unity Current Account (7654) (Appendix 3). Final statement – account closed. To view Appendix 3 please click here.
8. CHAIR’S REPORT
8.1 Current matters (oral report)
9. CLERK’S REPORT
9.1 Current matters (oral report)
9.2 Community Grants – summary of applications received:
| Organisation | Project | Amount requested |
| Adastra Junior Stoolball Club | Toward wooden wickets and kit clothing. | 350.00 |
| Greener Hassocks & Ditchling | Thermal imaging camera. | £526.80 |
| Hassocks Twinning Association | Hassocks Twinning host event 2026 – Montmirail and Wald-Michelbach . | £600.00 |
| Hurstpierpoint Gymnastics Club | Gymnastics coaching at affordable rates | 800.00 |
| St Catherine’s Hospice | Specialist palliative and end of life care for local people. | 600.00 |
| St Peter & St James Hospice | Towards the running costs of the hospice. | 600.00 |
| Wilmington Close Residents’ Association | Tree works on The Mound facing Keymer Road. | 348.00 |
Members are advised that the Council awarded three grants in the September funding round to 4 Sight (£600), Oldlands Mill (£600) and the Air Ambulance (£500) and there is £4,300 remaining in the 2025/26 grants budget. Members are requested to consider each application in turn and determine the level of any award (Appendices 4 & 5). To view Appendix 4 please click here. The guidelines state that projects must be achievable within a year and grants are for a maximum of £600 each. To view Appendix 5 the grant applications please click here.
9.3 Policy Documents – Members are requested to APPROVE the following policy documents as recommended by the Policy, Resources and Communications Committee on 27 January 2026.
9.4 Recruitment – Members are advised that the Policy Resources & Communications Committee has approved a job description for the new Community Engagement Officer, the post has been advertised and a panel appointed to go ahead with shortlisting and interviews in February/March.
9.5 Investment Accounts – Members are asked to authorise the Clerk to proceed with applications to invest £350,000 in NS&I Income Bonds and £120,000 in the CCLA (Churches, Charities & Local Authorities) Public Sector Deposit Fund (Appendix 10). To view Appendix 10 please click here.
10. URGENT MATTERS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIR for noting and/or inclusion on a future agenda.
11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
To note that the date of the next Council meeting is Tuesday 10 March 2026.
FILMING, RECORDING OF COUNCIL MEETINGS AND USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
During this meeting members of the public may film or record the Committee and officers from the public area only providing it does not disrupt the meeting. The Confidential section of the meeting may not be filmed or recorded. If a member of the public objects to being recorded, the person(s) filming must stop doing so until that member of the public has finished speaking. The use of social media is permitted but members of the public are requested to switch their mobile devices to silent for the duration of the meeting.
Draft Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held on 10 February 2026
Attendees: Parish Councillors Frances Gaudencio (Chair), Maria Angelaki-King, Kristian Berggreen, Bill Hatton, Don McBeth, Peter Reime, Peter Richardson, Paul Shepherd, Ian Weir
In Attendance: Elaine Langridge (Clerk & RFO)
MINUTES
PC25/123 APOLOGIES Cllrs Robert Brewer, David Bunting, Alex Simmons, Sue Hatton
Absent: Lesley Cruickshank-Robb
PC25/124 DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS Disclosure by Councillors of personal interests in
matters on the agenda, and whether the Councillor regards their interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct.
In relation to item 9.2, Cllr Bill Hatton is a member of the Hassocks Twinning Association, Wilmington Close Residents Association and Greener Hassocks & Ditchling. He did not participate in the discussion or vote on this item (PC25/131.2).
PC25/125 MINUTES The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 13 January 2026 were
accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
PC25/126 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION No members of the public were present.
PC25/127 TO ACCEPT THE FOLLOWING MINUTES
Planning Committee – Members noted that the meeting due to be held on 12 January 2026 was cancelled due to a power cut
PC25/128 REPORTS
PC25/128.1 Police Report – PCSO Nathaniel Wales who covers the Hassocks area was not present, but he provided a list of crime reports for Hassocks between 1 Jan – 1 Feb 2026:
Criminal damage: 1
Assault: 1
Business Burglary/shoplifting: 2
Stolen vehicle:1
Common assault in private residence:1
Harassment:1
ASB (neighbour dispute):1
PC25/128.2 West Sussex County Councillor – WSCC Cllr Erika Woodhurst-Trueman gave her apologies that she could not attend in person and provided a written report (Appendix 1). With regard to poor parking, Members noted that the MSDC Parking Enforcement team had been present effectively patrolling outside the Post Office. The Clerk reported that drivers are parking on the double yellow lines across the new pedestrian crossing in Orion Parade making it impossible for anyone on a mobility scooter to get off the island. The Parish Council has reported this to WSCC and MSDC and is sending photographs as evidence as a No Loading / Unloading bay may be needed to keep the area clear.
PC25/128.3 Mid Sussex District Councillor report – Cllr Berggreen provided a report on behalf of MSDC Cllr Chris Hobbs (Appendix 2). Councillor Gaudencio raised an issue regarding missed collections and a lack of response to complaints in relation to the Green Bin service.
PC25/128.4 Rail and Public Transport Matters – the Rail Group submitted a written report that highlighted the following points:
PC25/128.5 Community Initiatives – none
PC25/128.6 Report from Councillors on meetings of outside bodies where the Council is represented – several Councillors attended a tour of Adastra Hall on 5 February and they were very impressed with the new Green Room, security features, energy efficiency, new toilets and additional services to bring in extra revenue such as party lights for hire, a projector and conference room. The improvements were primarily funded using S106 receipts which have been well spent to create an excellent local community facility.
Councillor McBeth attended the MSALC meeting on 22 January which he thought useful as there is strength in working with other Town and Parish Councils. He advised that MSDC is not going to consider any asset transfers prior to Local Government Reorganisation and any negotiations will have to be with the new unitary authority. He suggested that in the future, the Parish Council could consider increasing the Precept to cover the cost of running sites that are currently managed by the District Council such as the public toilets and London Road Recreation Ground.
Cllr Gaudencio and the Deputy Clerk had attended a meeting with WSCC and Metrobus to discuss proposals for new bus shelters. She reported that most of the attendees wanted to talk about bus services rather than shelters, but this was not on the agenda and there are currently no plans for alternative transport. Hassocks Parish Council submitted proposals for new shelters on the 273 bus route.
PC25/129 FINANCE The Clerk explained that there was no Finance Report for the Barclays Premier Tracker (3548) this month because the bank had issued a new authentication card needed to access online banking, but it was in the post so we could not print a statement.
PC25/129.1 Members APPROVED the payments lists totalling £1,110.22 for the period between
1 December 2025 – 2 January 2026 from the Corporate Purchasing Card (0651).
PC25/129.2 Members APPROVED the payments lists totalling £24,743.06 for the period between 1 – 31 January 2026 from the Unity Current Account (7654).
PC25/129.3 Members APPROVED the payments lists totalling £0 for the period between 1 October 2025 – 22 January 2026 from the Barclays Business Premium Account (2514) and noted that this account is now closed. They noted that item 7.3 on the agenda was inaccurate and Appendix 3 related to the Barclays Business Premium Account (2514) for the period 1 October 2025–22 January 2026, not the Unity Current Account between 1-31 January 2026.
PC25/130 CHAIR’S REPORT Cllr Gaudencio advised Members that WhatsApp should not be used for discussing Council business. Several Councillors had received a spam email from the Chair and they were reminded to be vigilant and use a different form of communication to reply if they were in doubt about the authenticity of any messages.
Cllr Gaudencio reminded Members about the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) consultation on the Government’s draft National Planning Policy Framework, to be completed by 10 March. It was agreed to add this to the agenda for the next Planning Committee and Members were asked to read through the information and send their comments to the Deputy Clerk and Cllr Berggreen in advance of the meeting.
PC25/131 CLERK’S REPORT
PC25/131.1 The Clerk informed Councillors that the Hassocks Twinning Association has a few fundraising events coming up soon – Jurgen Krauss Bake Off Semi-Finalist at Adastra Hall on 19 February, Tombola stall at Hassocks Market on 28 February, 28 March and 25 April. They are also looking for more hosts for the overseas visitors on 22 – 25 May.
The Clerk attended the Parish, Town and District Liaison Meeting on 21 January. The District Council advised that in relation to Local Government Reorganisation and Devolution the Mayoral elections have been postponed, there will be an announcement by the Government in March in relation to the unitary authority structure for Sussex and they are currently concentrating on preparatory work around staffing, contracts and ICT. MSDC announced the hearing dates for the District Plan will be on 24-27 February, 3-6 March and 17-20 March; further information is published on the MSDC website https://www.midsussex.gov.uk/planning-building/mid-sussex-district-plan/district-plan-review-examination/. With regard to village car parks, District Council is aiming to introduce the new charging regime on 1 May, subject to WSCC approval. There will be a statutory public consultation before then but the dates are not available yet.
On Friday 17 April, Radio 4 Any Questions will be broadcast from Adastra Hall. The intention is to cone off the first two rows of the car park in the morning to ensure there is space for the BBC truck and staff to park. Later in the day the car park will be fully closed to the public to ensure there are spaces available for any disabled visitors.
The Council has received a number of complaints regarding the service and inconsistent opening hours at the village Post Office. Cllr Weir followed this up with Morrisons and has been assured that two new staff have been recruited, maintenance issues at the counter have been resolved and there will be a full team capable of maintaining the advertised opening hours by the end of the month.
There is a South Downs National Park Authority online Parishes Meeting scheduled for 6.30pm on 4 March which Cllr Weir will attend on behalf of the Council. The Council can nominate up to two Councillors to attend so if anyone else is interested they should contact the Clerk no later than Friday 27 February.
Also, the WSALC Chairs Forum will be held on 24 February at 7pm on Zoom. Cllr Gaudencio has asked the Vice-Chair to attend on her behalf. The agenda will include an update on the National Planning Policy Framework which may be useful in relation to the Neighbourhood Plan.
The Clerk advised that she has contacted Dowsett Mayhew to ask if they would be willing to lead a session with the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group to consider a review of the Hassocks Neighbourhood Plan.
PC25/131.2 Councillors considered seven applications to the Community Grants scheme. They were informed that the applicants all met the criteria but the maximum award is £600 and Hurstpierpoint Gymnastics Club had applied for £800 so this amount would need to be reduced accordingly. The Clerk also notified Members that the Hassocks Twinning Association had only applied for £600 but the actual project cost was £3,000 so they would have to continue fundraising and may request an additional one-off award toward the cost of the twinning visit in May. Members discussed the merits of the Wilmington Close Residents Association application and agreed that as this is a safety issue and an area of natural greenspace, next to the main Keymer Road, they were willing to contribute toward the tree maintenance costs.
After careful consideration Members Recommended the following:
| No. | Applicant | Funding Sought |
| 1 | Adastra Junior Stoolball Club | £350 |
| Members RESOLVED to award the sum of £350 | ||
| 2 | Greener Hassocks & Ditchling | £526.80 |
| Members RESOLVED to award the sum of £526.80 | ||
| 3 | Hassocks Twinning Association | £600 |
| Members RESOLVED to award the sum of £600 | ||
| 4 | Hurstpierpoint Gymnastics Club | £800 |
| Members RESOLVED to award the sum of £600 | ||
| 5 | St Catherine’s Hospice | £600 |
| Members RESOLVED to award the sum of £600 | ||
| 6 | St Peter & St James Hospice | £600 |
| Members RESOLVED to award the sum of £600 | ||
| 7 | Wilmington Close Residents’ Association | £348 |
| Members RESOLVED to award the sum of £348 | ||
There is £4300 remaining in the grants budget after the first funding round, the amount awarded totals £3,624.80, which leaves £675.20 unspent.
PC25/131.3 The Clerk presented four policy documents, as approved by the Policy Resources & Communications Committee and recommended for Council approval on 27 January 2026. The Accessibility Statement, Data Protection Policy and Privacy Notice have all been updated and are required to ensure the Council’s meets its responsibilities under the 2025 Practioners Guide (Assertion 10) in relation to proper digital and data compliance.
The Accessibility Statement provides information on how the Council has made the website compliant with legislation and accessible to people with disabilities.
The Data Protection Policy outlines compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
The Privacy Notice is a public facing document which tells people what the Council does with their personal data, why it is needed and how they can exercise their rights.
The Filming and Photography Policy is an optional document which aims to clarify good practise for staff and Councillors in relation to documenting Council events and activities.
RESOLVED Members voted unanimously in favour to adopt the following policy documents:
Members asked about the Council’s storage of digital data and the Clerk referred them to the Retentions Policy. The Council is currently in the process of archiving paper files and will undertake a data audit and digital archiving in the next financial year. Data protection training will also be arranged for staff and Councillors.
PC25/131.4 The Clerk informed Members that the Community Engagement Officer post has been advertised on the Council website, Facebook page, Jobs Go Public, the WSALC network, LinkedIn and there is a poster in the window. The closing date is Wednesday 25 February. PR&C has appointed Cllrs Gaudencio, Weir and Shepherd to the panel to carry out shortlisting on 27 February and interviews on 4 and 5 March. Any Councillors interested in acting as an observer at the interviews should contact the Clerk.
The Clerk explained that this is a full-time position, intended to support the Working Groups to deliver projects and deal with communications and community engagement. The Assistant to the Clerk, currently working 1 day pw., will leave in April and the Deputy Clerk has taken on the finance role. This new post will create additional capacity in the office and can also deal with fundraising and research.
PC25/131.5 The Clerk presented a paper about investments which suggested that Council funds be broken down into three areas:
Members were satisfied that with the arrangements for the working budget.
However, in relation to NS&I Income Bonds, the Clerk explained that after the Council papers were published the Council’s internal auditor raised an objection because this proposal contravenes the adopted Financial Regulations which state that
FR12.3 All investment of money under the control of the council shall be in the name of the council.
There would be a risk that the trustees could block expenditure and exert undue influence and control over the release of funds so this would not be an appropriate investment strategy for the Council.
To address this issue, the Clerk had done some further investigation and suggested investing up to £120,000 each in the following Fixed Term Deposit accounts:
| Bank | Interest Rate Gross AER | Access | Minimum Deposit | Notes |
| Virgin Money | 3.38% | 6 months | £ 5,000 | Merger underway with Nationwide |
| Lloyds Bank | 2.04% | 6 months | £ 10,000 | 3 months = 1.313%,
6/9/12 months = 2.04% |
| NatWest Bank | 3.65% | 90 days | £ 25,000 | Only available with a Cash
Management Account |
These are all at UK banks with good credit scores and FSCS protection, which complies with the terms of the Council’s Investment Policy.
The Clerk explained that the CCLA is a low-risk public sector investment scheme which is widely used by Councils. Funds are invested in UK banks, it provides a reasonably good rate of return and instant access which might be useful in the event of an emergency.
The Clerk confirmed that interest on investments will be drawn down against the budget line and the Policy Resources & Communications Committee will be responsible for ongoing monitoring.
AMENDMENT TO ORIGINAL MOTION
As a result of these discussions, the Chair called for the original motion to be amended. Cllr Weir proposed and Cllr Berggreen seconded the following amendment to the motion which was put to the Council for a vote.
Members of the Council are asked to authorise the Clerk to proceed with applications to invest
a) in three Fixed Term Deposit Accounts at Virgin Money, NatWest Bank and Lloyds Bank (up to £120,000 in each account)
b) £120,000 in the CCLA (Churches, Charities & Local Authorities) Public Sector Deposit Fund
RESOLVED The amendment was agreed and Members voted unanimously in favour of these investment arrangements
PC25/132 URGENT MATTERS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIR – None
PC25/133 DATE OF NEXT MEETING Tuesday 10 March 2026
Appendix 1
County Councillor Report to Parish Council 10 February 2026
General Update:
Erika Woodhurst-Trueman
West Sussex County Councillor for Hassocks and Burgess Hill South
Appendix 2
District Councillor Report to Parish Council 10 February 2026
Parish Energy Planning Workshop
The second Parish Energy Workshop ran last night, funded by Mid Sussex District Council, at Adastra Hall and there were approximately 10 residents in attendance. This meeting focused on attitudes to potential types of energy interventions that had been discussed at the previous workshop, which I understand some Parish Councillor’s had attended. Hassocks already have a community energy scheme; HKD Energy have funded and installed solar panels at Downlands School in 2014 and there are limited “off takers” (large users of electricity) who would benefit from a scheme in the parish, so any·schemes would need to be smaller scale, for example residential. The contractor Community Energy Pathways will produce a report and publish this during April with their recommendations and findings.
Cycleway from Hassocks to Burgess Hill
Planning permission was granted at the end of January for the last phase of the construction of the cycleway between Hassocks and Burgess Hill. Work is already underway on the land owned by Taylor Wimpey; now this can be continued once the planning requirements are satisfied.
District Plan
The district plan examination hearings, with the new inspector Jonathon Bore, commence on Tuesday 24th February and are scheduled to last for 3 weeks. The inspector has already raised a number of observations in relation to the plan, and the Council has responded to those in the past 2 weeks. It is key that the district plan is agreed as soon as possible to protect our wider community from unplanned development.
Budget
The District Council budget has now been shaped through a cross-party working group, has been through both Scrutiny Committee in January and Cabinet in February and will, on the 25th February be presented to full council, hopefully, for approval.
Headlines include a 2.95% increase in council tax, no budgeted increase in car parking fees, and a £2 increase in the green bin service. In 2025/6 the MSDC council tax, for a band D property, was £196.43, one of the lowest in West Sussex and we therefore expect to remain so.
This is the first year of the government’s longer term settlement and the impact of “levelling up” is becoming apparent. The council will present a balanced budget, using investment returns of £580,000 to plug the gap between income and outgoings. By 29/30 this council is forecasting a deficit of £6.4 million pounds as central government funding drops away. Clearly this council will no longer exist then as a result of unitarization, but the replacement council will inherit this funding gap in its’ early years of operation.
Cllr Chris Hobbs – Mid Sussex District Council
See full list of 2025/26 meetings, minutes and agendas here >
16/03/2026
Planning Committee
17/03/2026
Policy, Resources & Communications
See full list of 2025/26 meetings, minutes and agendas here >
The Council Office is located at:
Parish Centre, Adastra Park,
Hassocks, West Sussex, BN6 8QH.
Opening Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.
Wednesday CLOSED
Friday
10.00 a.m. to 12 noon.
