Hassocks Parish Council

Minutes

HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL

Draft Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held on 8 September 2026

 

Attendees: Parish Councillors Frances Gaudencio (Chair), Maria Angelaki-King, Kristian Berggreen, Clare Black, David Bunting, Bill Hatton, Sue Hatton, Don McBeth, Peter Reime, Peter Richardson, Paul Shepherd, Alex, Simmons, Ian Weir

 

In Attendance: Elaine Langridge (Clerk & RFO), WSCC Cllr Erika Woodhurst-Trueman

 

MINUTES

 

PC26/47        APOLOGIES Cllr Lesley Cruickshank-Robb, Cllr Robert Brewer

 

PC26/48        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 8, Cllr Black is a member of Greener Hassocks & Ditchling; Cllr Angelaki-King is a member of the Hassocks Community Veg Patch; Cllrs Hatton and Reime are both members of the Rotary Club. They did not participate in the discussion or vote in relation to grants to the organisations of which they are members (PC26/54).

 

PC26/49        MINUTES The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 14 July 2026 were

accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

 

PC26/50        PUBLIC PARTICIPATION One member of the public was present.

 

PC26/51        TO ACCEPT THE FOLLOWING MINUTES

 

PC26/51.1     Planning Committee – Members accepted the minutes of the meetings held on 20 July 2026 and 10 August 2026

PC26/51.2     Grounds & Environment Committee – Members accepted minutes of the meeting held on 30 July 2026

PC26/51.3     Policy Resources & Communications Committee – Members accepted minutes of the meeting held on 22 July 2026 (not 21 July as shown on the agenda)

 

PC26/52        REPORTS

 

PC26/52.1     Police Report – – the Clerk reported that the Sussex Police website recorded that the most commonly reported crimes in Hassocks during Jul 2026 were as follows:

 

Anti-social behaviour                      15

Violence and sexual offences       13

Criminal damage and arson           7

All other crime                                   10

 

Members were particularly concerned about the high level of violence and sexual

offences which have been noted previously. The Clerk explained that this is headline

data and there is no further information available online but the police are running

monthly community engagement sessions at Southdowns Garden Centre, Brighton

Road, Hassocks BN6 9LY so Councillors could attend on the following dates if they

would like more information:

 

11.30am -12.30pm, Thursday 10 September

11.30am -12.30pm, Thursday 8 October

11.30am -12.30pm, Thursday 12 November

11.30am -12.30pm, Thursday 10 December

 

PC26/52.2     West Sussex County Councillor – WSCC Erika Woodhurst-Trueman provided some written notes to update the Council on recent events (Appendix 1). She also mentioned the Adapting to Climate Change Consultation which closes on 27 September and Councillors were encouraged to respond individually.

https://yourvoice.westsussex.gov.uk/climatesurvey

 

Cllr Gaudencio stated that the issue of sustainable public transport needs greater attention locally.  She highlighted the need for more non-petrol buses and more regular and frequent bus services.

 

PC26/52.3     Mid Sussex District Councillor report – District Councillor Sue Hatton presented a report (Appendix 2). In addition, she informed Members that due to the Government announcement regarding a pause in the Local Government Reorganisation plans, District Council elections will go ahead in May 2027, but the length of tenure is not yet specified. Also, the outstanding planning conditions relating to the cycle path on the Ockley Park estate have now been approved, so Taylor Wimpey are now able to commence the outstanding section. As a result, MSDC has received confirmation that they intend to commence work on 21 of September, with a target a completion date of 30 October 2026. The new footpath will link up with the Burgess Hill Green Circle when completed and it will be asphalted.

 

PC26/52.4     Rail matters

Catherine Cassidy, Chair of the Hassocks Rail Group provided the Clerk with an update regarding station improvements.  The tender returns for the East Station Approach Accessibility Works came in within the available budget and are scheduled to go ahead in October.  The West Station Approach Accessibility Works were too expensive so are on hold until additional funding becomes available.  There are also a number of signage and seating improvements that the group has recommended which are on the ‘long list’ for station improvements in 2027/28, subject to funding being available.

 

PC26/52.5     Community Initiatives – none

 

PC26/52.6     Report from Councillors on meetings of outside bodies where the Council is represented

• Cllr Reime attended the Oldlands Mill Trust Committee meeting on 2 September.
• Cllr Weir met the WSCC Project Manager for Highways Improvements on 10 August to discuss better pedestrian and cycle access on Lodge Lane (see PC26/58.3).
• Cllr Weir attended the Jack & Jill Playgroup AGM on 27 July. They rent the building at London Road Recreation Ground from the District Council and are expanding so Cllr Weir advised them to contact MSDC to discuss their needs.
• On 28 July, Cllr Weir attended a meeting organised by Alison Bennett MP to discuss Parish Council concerns. The two key issues raised were the lack of face-to-face GP consultations and the scale of housing development in Mid Sussex.
• On 5 August, Cllr Gaudencio and Cllr Angelaki- King attended a meeting organised by residents interested in exploring options to buy the land, which has been put up for sale opposite the Thatched Inn on Ockley Lane. A subsequent meeting was held on 12 August with the Clerk, Cllr Angelaki-King and a community group to discuss potential uses of the land and how the various groups might work cooperatively to retain the land as an environmental greenspace in the future.
• Cllr Bunting attended a Football Pitch Grounds Maintenance training course and achieved the qualification needed to enable the Council to draw on Football Foundation funding for grass pitch improvements.

 

PC26/53        FINANCE 

 

PC26/53.1     Members APPROVED the payments list totalling £55,477.85 for the period 1-31 July 2026 from the Unity Current Account (7654).

PC26/53.2     Members APPROVED the payments list totalling £60,000 for the period 1-31 July 2026 from the Barclays Current Account (3548)

PC26/53.3     Members APPROVED the payments list totalling £325.31 for the period 17 June – 17 July 2026 from the Corporate Purchasing Card (0651)

PC26/53.4     Members APPROVED the payments list totalling £26,608.12 for the period 1-31 August 2026 from the Unity Current Account (7654).

PC26/53.5     Members APPROVED the payments list totalling £167.61 for the period 17 July – 17 August 2026 from the Corporate Purchasing Card (0651)

 

PC26/54        COMMUNITY GRANTS

Seven applications were received but the Clerk explained that the Talking Hands Coffee Shop & Studio had not submitted their constitution or financial statements so were ineligible for a grant in this funding round. The Council has introduced an online grant application form which prints out in a different format to the Word document.  Cllr Hatton commented that the question regarding VAT needs to be altered as it is not currently clear whether costs are inclusive or exclusive of VAT. Some of the boxes on the forms are not complete and groups have submitted the necessary eligibility information separately. The Hassocks Community Veg Patch applied for £1,000 but the maximum grant available is £600.  After discussion and careful consideration, Members recommended the following:

 

No	Applicant	Funding Sought
1	Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex	£500
Members RESOLVED to award the sum of £500
2	Sussex Vale Rotary, Age UK and Promedica 24	£600
Members RESOLVED to award the sum of £600
3	Citizens Advice in West Sussex	£500
Members RESOLVED to award the sum of £500
4	Hassocks Community Veg Patch	£1,000
Members RESOLVED to award the sum of £600
5	Greener Hassocks & Ditchling	£500
Members RESOLVED to award the sum of £500
6	Age Concern Hassocks & District	£600
Members RESOLVED to award the sum of £600

 

There is £6,000 in the annual grants budget, Members awarded £3,300 in total, so there is £2,700 available for the January 2027 funding round.

 

PC26/55        CHAIR’S REPORT

 

PC26/55.1     Cllr Gaudencio reported that she understands an application to deliver Post Office

services in the village has been accepted but it is likely to take 6-9 months before it will be open. She has written to the Post Office to ask them to consider providing a mobile service in the interim and to ensure that there is sufficient counter space in the new premises. A recent survey of Age Concern clients in Hassocks highlighted their concerns as many do not have their own transport and they use the Post Office for pensions, banking and other services. Cllr Gaudencio has also written to Alison Bennett MP to raise these issues and request her support.

Cllr Gaudencio informed Members that she had attended a session with staff, led by Cllr Shepherd, regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The group discussed the opportunities and threats and further training for staff and Councillors (optional) will be arranged in the Autumn.

Cllr Gaudencio reminded staff about the branding and website questionnaire and asked Members to respond by 29 September.

 

PC26/55.2     Cllr Gaudencio stated that the Council’s funds are limited, and she is interested in exploring new ways of raising money beyond increasing the Precept.  She invited Councillors to volunteer to take part in a Working Group to discuss ideas. Cllrs Angelaki-King, Black, Reime and Simmons agreed to take part so Cllr Gaudencio will convene a meeting. Cllr Bill Hatton questioned whether the Council has the legal powers to do this and if it might also raise tax issues. Cllr Gaudencio responded that the General Power of Competence gives Council’s more operational flexibility.

 

PC26/56        CLERKS REPORT – the Clerk reported that she attended a presentation by South East Water, hosted by Burgess Hill Town Council on 26 August. The water company explained that their current Water Resources Management Plan does not reflect the increased housing growth required by the new Mid Sussex District Plan.  They are not a statutory Planning consultee, they are obligated to provide water to new households, and the level of growth is based on housing targets set by the Government, not water supply. To meet growing demand, they intend to focus on leakage reduction, consumption reduction, bulk supply imports and a new reservoir in Arlington by 2074-75 but they acknowledged this would be challenging.  On a more positive note, they advised that a scheme has been designed to recover water pressure at the Ockley Park development which should begin in Jan 2027. They stated that, ‘the area recently experienced low pressures during maintenance work at Burgess Hill Tower.  This was not necessarily directly linked to the new development. However, the Ockley Lane scheme should help prevent this in future.’ Cllr Sue Hatton asked if the Clerk could liaise with Burgess Hill Town Council to produce a co-ordinated Town/Parish Council response to SE Water to express our concern about the supply issue. Cllr Richardson states that the impact of housing growth on the sewerage and wastewater system is equally concerning. Cllr Gaudencio suggested that this issue could be picked up through the Flood Working Group and that the Terms of Reference could be revised to deal with climate change and demand for water more widely.

The Clerk also reported that she attended a Town, Parish and District Liaison Group Meeting on 22 July which covered local government reorganisation, the budget setting process, parks masterplans, homelessness and car parks on the agenda.  The District Council is in discussion with WSCC regarding the village parking charges and they are considering a more strategic, county-wide approach to parking management.

 

PC26/57        ADASTRA PARK PUBLIC TOILETS – Cllr Bunting notified Councillors that the District Council intends to relinquish control of the public toilets next financial year so if they are to remain open to the public the Parish Council will need to take responsibility.  Although S106 funds are available for the capital costs, the ongoing management and maintenance costs will have to be covered by the Parish Council and paid for through the Precept.  Cllr McBeth questioned if this amounted to double taxation, but Cllr Bill Hatton stated that as the District Council has no duty to provide public toilets, they can remove them from their budget, so this does not apply. Members asked for the design to be as vandal proof as possible as they are often out of order at present and they supported the Adastra Park Working Group proposal to adopt Option B in the floor layout provided by the project management company (Appendix 3). This layout will include a service corridor and cupboard at the back of the building and four toilet cubicles, gender denominations to be agreed at a later date. Members noted the provisional timetable; the refurbishment will take place over a 12-week period from January – April 2027 and should be reopened by the end of April 2027. The provision of a temporary toilet block was considered too expensive, but Councillors asked if the contractor might be able to provide an additional site toilet for public use.  Members agreed to proceed with the project and authorised the Clerk to submit a bid for S106 funding to cover the cost of the refurbishment works when more accurate project estimates are received from the surveyor / project manager.

 

PC26/58        PROJECT BUDGETS

 

PC26/58.1     Birch Way to Grand Avenue (PROW 21K) – Members APPROVED the release of up to £7,140 in EMR 358 – PROW Improvements to fund an all-weather surface.

 

PC26/58.2     Orchard Lane – Members APPROVED the release of £850 from the General Reserve to fund pothole repairs in Orchard Lane.

 

PC26/58.3     Lodge Lane – Members APPROVED the reallocation and release of £2,972 in EMR 344 – Village Signs to fund a pedestrian and cycle survey on Lodge Lane.

 

PC26/58.4     Sports Pavilion Heating – Members APPROVED the release of £2,500 in EMR 334 – Adastra Park Masterplan to fund consultancy advice regarding the sports pavilion heating and hot water supply.

 

PC26/59        EXTERNAL AUDIT – Members were advised that the annual audit had been concluded. The External Auditor Report and Certificate 2025/26 (Section 3 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return for the Year ended 31 March 2026) and the Notice of Conclusion of the Annual Audit have been published on the Council’s website.  Members thanked the staff for all their hard work.

 

PC26/60        OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE APPOINTMENT – Members all voted in favour to APPROVE the appointment of Cllr Reime as the Council Representative on the Oldland Mill Trust.

 

PC26/61        URGENT MATTERS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIR – None

 

PC26/62        DATE OF NEXT MEETING Tuesday 13 October 2026.

 

 

Appendix 1

County Councillor Report to Parish Council 8 September 2026

 

Local Government Reorganisation

We should no longer expect a decision on plans for reorganisation in West Sussex to be announced in October, as our position will be reviewed alongside all of those areas which have already had a decision.

Unitary elections in May 2027 unlikely to go ahead. Implications for shadow authority.

District & Borough elections currently planned to go ahead. Precedent to just extend terms.

 

Schools

Applications for secondary places started on 7^th Sept. Current understanding is that Hassocks won’t be oversubscribed.

Hassocks Infant School places – for this academic year

Schools meeting coming up

 

Libraries

Go All In festival to celebrate the National Year of Reading, which is designed to inspire more people to make books a regular part of their lives by reading about the things they enjoy, like sport or films.

Starting in September, the free festival is aimed at young people aged 13 and over.

In-person and live-streamed author events, creative writing workshops and craft afternoons.

Free tickets for all activities events go live online on Tuesday 1 September.

 

Highway Rangers – can deal with minor improvements, pilot running until March

Bodyworn Cameras – School Crossing Patrol Officers to be provided with bodyworn cameras at 20 locations (not Hassocks), due to abuse and safety concerns

London Road – bus stops are now clear

Community Highways Scheme – application submitted regarding improvements at four junctions, crossings and bike parking

Cycle Route meeting

 

New Appointments

Sussex & Brighton Strategic Authority (SBSA) Overview & Scrutiny Committee

Sussex & Brighton Strategic Authority (SBSA) Transport & Infrastructure Board

 

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 8 September 2026

 

On Wednesday 2nd September, The District Council’s new food waste service was reviewed at a Scrutiny Committee, considering the outcome of the first six months of the new 1,2,3 waste collection service, acknowledging areas that still need to be improved but that overall the rollout had been a success.

 

What’s improved during the first six months

• Recycling rate up to 61% — a huge jump from 45% last year.
• Residual waste down by 26.6% — meaning far less going to landfill.
• Over 3,000 tonnes of food waste diverted for renewable energy and fertiliser.
• 99.58% of collections completed on schedule — despite a 73% increase in total collections.
• Contamination reduced from 5.86% to 4.07% — cleaner, higher quality recycling.
• Assisted collections up 30% — supporting more residents who need help.

What still needs to be improved

Supported flats and communal flats — there are still issues working with managing agents and residents to tackle issues like bin store capacity and contamination. Thankfully, we are not aware of specific issues in Hassocks.

Better customer access – during implementation there were delays contacting customer services and ensuring missed collections were quickly dealt with which have now been improved, the Council’s Wastematters contact number remains open for enquiries on 01444-477440 as well as a new Mid Sussex App which 17,000 residents have now downloaded as well online forms, with 75% of contacts now coming through self-service channels, making it easier to report issues and get information quickly and enabling staff to focus on residents who are unable to use online technology.

Ongoing improvements – the Council continues to work on reducing repeat missed collections, improving communal property arrangements, expanding digital self-service, targeting resident education to reduce contamination and strengthening the role of resident feedback and satisfaction rates.

The good news is that of 72,000 properties serviced each week, our failure rate is around 0.4%, around 280 properties. Across a 9 week period, only 48 properties failed on more than 1 occasion and it is these properties that are the focus of service improvement.

Thanks to residents who have embraced the weekly food waste collections, recycling more, and reducing what goes into the general rubbish bin, the district is seeing major environmental and service improvements.

 

On Monday, consultation to the modifications suggested by the district plan inspector closed and these have been collated by MSDC and shared with him. We are hoping he comes back to the authority quickly with his observations and the next steps so we can progress to the next stage of securing a district plan.

 

Consultation remains open on the development of London Road recreation ground and we continue to urge residents to take part, which can be found on the green spaces engagement hub.

 

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