A meeting of the Parish Council is being held on Tuesday 14 July 2026 at 7.30pm in the Council Chamber, Parish Centre, Adastra Park, Hassocks.
Parish Clerk 8 July 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.
1. APOLOGIES – To accept apologies for absence
2. DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS – 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 – To accept the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 9 June 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
5.1 Planning Committee – 8 June 2026 and 29 June 2026
5.2 Grounds & Environment Committee – for 25 June 2026
5.3 Policy Resources & Communications Committee – 2 June 2026
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 – Members are required to approve financial report and authorise the lists of payments (Appendix 1)
8. CHAIR’S REPORT – Current matters (oral report)
9. CLERK’S REPORT – Current matters (oral report)
10. Public Right of Way 9K (Silverdale to Damian Way) – the Council’s preferred contractor for PROW improvement works has provided a quote for £12,100 exc. VAT to supply and lay 260m of path to West Sussex County Council standards, a 200m drainage ditch and clearance of scrub and brambles to provide a durable and level surface that can be used all year round by pedestrian users. Members are asked to APPROVE the release of £12,100 from the EMR 358 – PROW Improvements to fund these works, which will leave a balance of £37,900 in the reserve budget.
11. PUBLIC TOILETS – the Council has received three quotes for Project Management support to upgrade the public toilets in Adastra Park. This work will involve design, Planning, procurement, project and cost management through to completion. Full details will be presented to the Grounds & Environment (G&E) Committee on 30 July 2026. The Council will make a bid to Mid Sussex District Council for S106 contributions to fully fund the capital works. Members are asked to:
12. HASSOCKS POST OFFICE (oral report)
13. COMMITTEE APPOINTMENT – Members are usually appointed to Committees at the Annual Meeting in May but newly appointed Councillor Clare Black was unable to attend this meeting. She has subsequently expressed an interest in joining the Planning Committee and Members are asked to APPROVE her appointment.
14. URGENT MATTERS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIR for noting and/or inclusion on a future agenda.
15. DATE OF NEXT MEETING – To note that the date of the next Council meeting is Tuesday 9 September 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.
Documents
HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL
Draft Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held on 14 July 2026
Attendees: Parish Councillors Frances Gaudencio (Chair), Ian Weir (Vice-Chair), Maria Angelaki-King, Clare Black, David Bunting, Lesley Cruickshank-Robb, Bill Hatton, Sue Hatton, Don McBeth, Peter Reime, Peter Richardson, Alex Simmons
In Attendance: Elaine Langridge (Clerk & RFO), WSCC Cllr Erika Woodhurst-Trueman
MINUTES
PC26/32 APOLOGIES Cllrs Kristian Berggreen, Robert Brewer, Paul Shepherd
PC26/33 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 – None.
PC26/34 MINUTES The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 9 June 2026 were
accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
PC26/35 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION No members of the public were present.
PC26/36 TO ACCEPT THE FOLLOWING MINUTES
PC26/37 REPORTS
PC26/37.1 Police Report – the Clerk reported that the latest online crime report published by Sussex Police recorded the following instances in Hassocks during May 2026:
17 Anti-social behaviour
10 Violence and sexual offences
4 Criminal damage and arson
15 All other crime
The information available is limited so the WSCC Cllr intends to arrange a meeting with the Police to discuss further.
The Clerk advised that WSALC will be arranging Parish and District focus groups with the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner and representatives from Sussex Police in October and November to gather feedback about community safety, policing and crime issues that concern local residents.
PC26/37.2 West Sussex County Councillor – WSCC Erika Woodhurst-Trueman provided some written notes to update the Council on recent events (Appendix 1).
The Sussex & Brighton Strategic Authority has held its first meeting. Cllr Hatton asked about transparency, scrutiny and whether there are published minutes available. Cllr Woodhurst-Trueman was not sure of the arrangements as this is a newly formed body.
As the Cabinet Member for Highways, Cllr Woodhurst-Trueman has been appointed to the Transport for the South East (TfSE) regional committee and she highlighted the importance of this area as an international gateway to the country via the seaports. Email updates from TfSE are circulated to all Councillors.
With regard to local issues, she mentioned the difficulty the Police face in pursuing youths on e-bikes and how more legislation is needed. At present the Police can destroy bikes if they are legally confiscated. She is chasing up a meeting with the Police to discuss the matter further as it is a Countywide problem.
The ‘dollops’ of tarmac were caused by lorry wheels driving over the new surface in a heatwave; in most cases they are being naturally depressed, and the larger ones will be removed by hand. Cllr Simmons thought the micro asphalt treatment in Dale Avenue and Chancellors Lane was poor and questioned why the drains and manhole covers had been surfaced over. Cllr Woodhurst-Trueman explained that this was normal practice and the ironworks should be tidied up within a month. If there are specific patches that need to be addressed, she asked Councillors to send her photos and a What3Words location.
More resurfacing works will commence in August, and she has asked the County Council to ensure local signage and public communications are improved. There are also drainage works planned on London Road for 15 weeks from 23 July between Watteville Avenue and the Esso Garage. If the traffic disruption becomes severe, the contractor could potentially work longer days and weekends to speed the process.
The road south of the Stonepound crossroads is also in a poor condition and Cllr Woodhurst-Trueman advised that this is scheduled in the works programme for next financial year.
Cllr Gaudencio had previously enquired if the road markings on Ockley Hill could be reinstated but she was advised that the road is not wide enough for centre lines.
PC26/37.3 Mid Sussex District Councillor – Mid Sussex District Councillor Sue Hatton provided a report (Appendix 2). With regard to road sweeping, Cllr Gaudencio asked if a schedule for clearing the drains could be made available. This would be useful to the Flood Working Group who were considering the need for a supplementary sweeping regime and to WSCC to help coordinate the biennial gully clearing programme. The Clerk previously requested this information from MSDC; it was not made available but she was told that WSCC and MSDC were liaising on the matter. Due to staff changes in the Highways Department this has not happened so Cllr Hatton agreed to formally contact Cllr Woodhurst-Trueman to ask for her support to establish details of both Council’s road sweeping plans.
PC26/37.4 Rail and Public Transport Matters – the Rail Group had provided the Clerk with a copy of the minutes of their last meeting in June 2026. It was noted that GTR services were transferred to public ownership in May 2026 and improvements to WiFi, WCs and an increase in the number of Gatwick Express trains, to 4 trains per hour, is expected. Leslie Campbell’s cousin who contributed toward the cost of the memorial bench thanked the rail group and Parish Council for arranging the installation.
PC26/37.5 Community Initiatives – none
PC26/37.6 Reports from Councillors on meetings with outside bodies
Cllr Reime attended the Oldlands Mill Trust AGM and announced that he would like to be appointed as the Council’s representative and nominated trustee. The Clerk will contact Oldlands Mill to notify them and ask them to make the necessary arrangements.
Cllr Richardson reported that he attended a positive meeting with WSCC regarding the 20mph proposal. WSCC are working on a detailed design for signage (not traffic calming) and are intending to implement the scheme by the Summer / Autumn 2027.
Cllrs McBeth and Black attended the South Downs National Park Authority Parishes meeting on Zoom on 1 July. Tom Warder, Action in Rural Sussex, talked about small local developments and there was a discussion around ‘exception sites’ which would not normally be granted Planning permission. Cllr McBeth asked the Clerk to write to SDNP to ask if site allocations in Lodge Lane are exception sites as they are outside of settlement boundaries.
Cllr Gaudencio had attended an Age Concern trustees meeting and will continue to attend intermittently when there are items on the agenda which relate to Council business. Cllr Cruickshank-Robb informed councillors that the Age Concern Summer Fair will take place on Saturday 25 July, 9am-12.30pm. The Parish Council has donated a bottle of wine as a raffle prize.
PC26/38 FINANCE
PC26/38.1 Cllr Richardson queried the sum of £8,940.00 paid to Barcombe Landscapes Ltd. The Clerk explained this was for a range of works dating back to Oct 2025 including mowing and hedge trimming in Adastra Park, the burial ground and Talbot Field, laying a gravel pedestrian path in the North field; groundsman’s cover during sick leave, laying a type 1 path at Parklands Copse and Verti draining both fields on the recreation ground.
Members APPROVED the payments list totalling £44,025.86 for the period 1-30 June 2026 from the Unity Current Account (7654).
PC26/38.2 Members APPROVED the payments list totalling £270,000 for the period 1-30 June 2026 from the Barclays Current Account (3548)
PC26/38.3 Members APPROVED the payments list totalling £31.00 for the period 1-30 June 2026 from the Corporate Purchasing Card (0651)
PC26/39 CHAIR’S REPORT
Cllr Gaudencio had received a card from Sascha Weber, Mayor of Wald-Michelbach, to thank the Council for their hospitality during the twinning weekend in May. He would like to remain in contact and extended a twinning invitation to Germany during the second weekend in December 2027 to visit the Christmas market and Advent events.
PC26/40 CLERK’S REPORT
The Clerk reported that she had attended the Society of Local Council Clerks AGM in Uckfield on 7 July.
She also attended the West Sussex Association of Local Councils Clerks Forum on 14 July where Local Government Reorganisation was discussed. The key issues raised were community asset transfers, the involvement of Parish Councils in the proposed Neighbourhood Governance arrangements and concerns regarding potential pressure to politicise Parish Councils following the closure of the Districts and Boroughs.
The Parish Centre broadband has been upgraded to BT Full Fibre which should provide faster and more reliable internet access.
Alison Bennett MP has invited two representatives of Hassocks Parish Council to attend a meeting to share experiences, ideas and best practice with neighbouring councils. The Clerk will circulate the invitation and asked Councillors to let her know if they would like to attend.
The Clerk has been invited to attend a meeting with SE Water, arranged by Burgess Hill Town Council on 25 August, to discuss their readiness to accommodate the infrastructure need for the building that is planned in Mid Sussex over the next few years.
PC26/41 PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY 9K (Silverdale to Damian Way)
Cllr Weir explained that muddy sections of PROW 8K and 9K had already been improved but the southern section of 9K leading to Silverdale Road is still treacherous in bad weather. The landowner has provisionally agreed to allow improvement works to go ahead. The Clerk reported that the Council has an earmarked reserve (EMR 358) of £50,000 for PROW improvement and there are currently four schemes in progress which can be delivered with this budget. They are roughly budgeted to cost the Council £43,816+ in total, as shown below:
£5,775+ Downlands School (12K) – quote provided in 2025, so costs are likely to increase. The project is delayed until WSCC move a fence on their land.
£12,100 Silverdale to Damian Way (9K)
£3,941 Clayton Mills to Grand Avenue (21K) – total project cost £15,554. The Council has secured £3,941 in match funding from WSCC and is seeking a further £7,672 from MSDC toward this project.
£22,000 Cinder path (14C) – estimated total project cost £220,000. The Council has submitted a funding bid to the SDNPA for £200,000.
Cllr Weir presented a paper to the Grounds & Environment Committee in January 2026 with a long list of potential PROW improvement projects but at present just these four are affordable using the earmarked reserve. Further projects will only be progressed if more funding becomes available or additional reserves are allocated through the business and financial planning process.
RESOLVED Members all voted in favour to APPROVE the release £12,100 from EMR 358 to fund improvements to the southern section of PROW 9K.
PC26/42 PUBLIC TOILETS Cllr Bunting reported that the Council approached four companies for quotes to provide project management support, from design to completion, to rebuild or refurbish the public toilets and extend the sports pavilion in Adastra Park. The Council has also commissioned building and drainage surveys of the toilets to determine their current state.
The first project to go ahead will be the public toilets upgrade and the Council aims to complete the building work this financial year, subject to Planning approval, before Mid Sussex District Council withdraws maintenance and cleaning services. The Parish Council will need to factor these costs into the budget and Precept requirement in 2027/28.
WSCC Cllr Woodhurst-Trueman asked if the improved public toilets would meet Changing Places standards. Cllr Bunting advised that designs have not been drawn up yet and the G&E Committee will have an opportunity to comment on and shape the specification. Changing Places requires a large footprint so it may not be possible, but the refurbished toilets should have better disabled access and baby change facilities.
RESOLVED Members all voted in favour to APPROVE the release of up to £15,000 from EMR 334 to fund project management costs for the public toilet improvement project; and to DELEGATE the selection and appointment of a Project Manager to the G&E Committee.
PC26/43 HASSOCKS POST OFFICE
Cllr Gaudencio expressed concern about the planned closure of the Post Office at Morrisons Daily and her desire to retain services in the village. She understands that at least one application has been submitted to the Post Office by a local retailer to run a branch and is hopeful this will provide a solution. However, if the application is not successful, she asked Councillors to consider spearheading a campaign to find another business or organisation willing to host a Post Office. Councillors were keen to support these initiatives and will continue to review the situation.
PC26/44 COMMITTEE APPOINTMENT
RESOLVED Members all voted in favour to APPROVE the appointment of Cllr Black to the Planning Committee.
PC26/45 URGENT MATTERS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIR
The Chair informed Members that the Transport & Highways Working Group has asked staff to include a TRO application for No Loading signage by the drop kerb outside the Sussex Grocer, along with the other TRO applications already agreed for submission.
PC26/46 DATE OF NEXT MEETING Tuesday 8 September 2026
(NOT 9 September 2026 as shown on the agenda)
Appendix 1
County Councillor Report to Parish Council 14 July 2026
Local Government Reorganisation
The County Council submitted its response to the Government consultation regarding a proposed modification to local government reorganisation arrangements in West Sussex.
The proposed modification would see Chichester join Horsham, Crawley and Mid Sussex rather than Arun, Adur and Worthing. The Government is expected to make a final decision imminently (tomorrow) following consideration of consultation responses and other evidence.
Should the proposals proceed, shadow elections are expected to take place in May 2027, with new unitary councils becoming operational from April 2028.
Strategic Authority (SA)
Board membership:
Rotating chair – 8 months each Lab, Lib, Ref.
Recent Committee/External Body Appearances
22nd June – Community, Highways & Environment Scrutiny Committee
13th July – Transport for the South East (link to Strategic Authority)
Forward Look
The Department for Education (DfE) has provided every local authority in England funding to coordinate the provision of free holiday activities, to include healthy food and a range of enrichment activities for children eligible for benefits related free school meals – the Holiday, Activities and Food (HAF) Programme. The funding is to cover provision for the Easter, Summer and Christmas Holidays covered by the period of the financial year 2026-27; the County Council has received an allocation of £1,786,330 to deliver the 2026-27 programme.
Market engagement with suitable providers has been undertaken and expressions of interest have been sought from providers to deliver the HAF programme, funded by the DfE allocation, during the main school holidays occurring through the period of the financial year 2026-27. Decision due this month.
The Service Director (Education and Skills) will be asked to approve the award of grant funding to successful providers to deliver the HAF programme.
Review of on-street parking charges. Implementation would be from October.
Appointments
Local issues
Upcoming Meetings
Friday 17th July – Full Council
Erika Woodhurst-Trueman
Cabinet Member for Highways & Transport
County Councillor for Hassocks & Burgess Hill South
West Sussex County Council
Appendix 2
District Councillor Report to Parish Council 9 June 2026
Local Government Reform
News is expected pre-summer recess (i.e. in the next few days) on the Governments’ decision around local government re-organisation. The Chief Executives, programme team and Leaders have been working on preparing for vesting day in April 2028. Assuming the government chooses one of the solutions, be it a whole West Sussex solution, 2 new authorities proposed by the districts (meaning we would have a new authority formed of Mid Sussex, Crawley and Horsham) or the government proposed amendment adding Chichester to this group) elections to the shadow authority would take place in April 2027 for a period of 4 years with Mid Sussex District Council and West Sussex County Council ceasing to exist the following year.
Hassocks Matters
We have been pushing the officers in regard to the Hassocks to Burgess Hill cycle path. Councillors may be aware that Taylor Wimpey have now opened the pathway up to the new 5g aerials on the edge of Batchelors Field but work is now progressing to build the pathway through the hedge, and on to the green circle. Once it is all built it will be tarmacked, along with the rest of the estates’ routes and it is expected that this work will be completed in September.
We have also been pushing the officers on road sweeping activities and de-weeding. So far we have had some success with work completed on the pedestrian crossings at Stonepound and from Station approach west across Keymer Road. However, we have asked the officers to take a more holistic approach and review the state of the roads and pathways around the whole of the village which they have agreed to do.
Cllr Chris Hobbs
Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Leisure & Customer Services
Ward Councillor, Hassocks
Cllr Kristian Berggreen
Ward Councillor, Hassocks
Cllr Sue Hatton
Ward Councillor, Hassocks
See full list of 2025/26 meetings, minutes and agendas here >
01/09/2026
Planning Committee
08/09/2026
Hassocks Parish Council
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.
