Hassocks Parish Council

Minutes

HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the virtual meeting of the Parish Council held on 12^th January 2021 at 7.30pm.

Attendees: Parish Councillors Jane Baker, Sue Hatton, Kristian Berggreen, Frank Rylance, Frances Gaudencio, Bob Brewer. Claire Tester, Leslie Campbell.

Parish Clerk: Ian Cumberworth

Visiting Member(s): County Councillor Kirsty Lord

MINUTES

PC20/85       APOLOGIES  Cllr Ian Weir, Alex Simmons, Bill Hatton and Nick Owens

                     County Councillor Kirsty Lord

Absent without apologies: Cllr K Bailey

PC20/86       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

PC20/87       MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on the 8th December 2020 were accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

PC20/88       PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

There were no Members of the public present.

PC20/89       MINUTES

                        To agree the Minutes of the Planning Committee 7^th December 2020 and to note the minutes for 21^st December 2021.

To note the minutes of the Grounds & Environment Committee 3^rd December 2020.

PC20/90       FINANCE

Members considered the finance reports and the supporting bank statements and reviewed the payment list. The Finance report and payments totalling £14,854.23 for the period ending 31st November 2020 were considered and APPROVED.

PC20/91       Reports

91.1        District Councillors reports: – Cllr Sue Hatton (SH) advised members that the role out of the vaccine is commencing at Clair Hall as more sites will come on stream shortly.

MSDC scrutiny Committee are due to meet later in the week to consider the Draft Budget proposals before they go onto cabinet for consideration where a number of efficiencies will be proposed including some reduction in posts. It is anticipated that the District propose to increase C Tax by around 2% which will equate to an increase around £4.95 for a band D property, any budget shortfall will be met from general reserves.

The District are in the process of reviewing the District Plan which will need to be redrafted by 2023. As part of this process MSDC have recently called for sites inviting landowners/developers to come forward with additional potential development sites. The categorisation of sites has been expanded and now includes potential sites for affordable housing, self-build and travellers sites together with other categories.

91.2          County Councillor – Cllr Lord had notified the Clerk that she would be able to attend the meeting but she had submitted a report to the Clerk to read out :

A members briefing is scheduled to occur later this week on Thursday (14/1/21) about the upcoming WSCC budget. Papers are about to published for the Performance & Finance Scrutiny Committee therefore Councillors may wish to have a look at those papers as they should contain lots of information on the forthcoming budget proposals.

Councillors should have received a text message from Mid Sussex Healthcare about vaccinations commencing later this week at Clair Hall, Haywards Heath. A briefing for WSCC for councillors by the NHS will be held on Friday (15/1/21) about the vaccination roll out in West Sussex.

A meeting is scheduled with Richard Speller (Highways) when he returns from leave for an update on Hassocks highways issues. KL will be seeking an update on flooding, about issues at Clayton (Ditchling Rd/Underhill lane/A273 junction’s area) and other ongoing concerns.

A number of issues have been raised from residents or animal owners who need to use Mill Lane concerning the ongoing issues with parking.  This road is not in KL’s division, sitting within Hurstpierpoint and Bolney, so liaison is required with Cllr Joy Dennis and Richard Speller (Highways) but KL has no direct involvement in decisions and actions.  The latest update received is that WSCC believe the immediate issue is a police matter (relating to blocking roads and potentially covid-19 lockdown breaches if people are travelling from afar).  KL undertook to keep members updated.

KL is currently working to push WSCC to remove the need for parents to send children into childcare next week (w/c 18/1/21) or risk losing their government funding. Headcount day is next week and used to determine funding and places for the term.  Many parents are keeping their children at home during lockdown to alleviate pressure on their child carers and keep their families safe.  WSCC are currently insisting that children attend their placements next week or risk the loss of their funding per the usual Dfe guidance.

Other councils have already stated that they will base funding on the children on roll rather than in attendance and KL is in discussions with the cabinet member pushing for WSCC to do the same despite Dfe guidance not yet changing.

91.3         Rail matters –   Members were advised that in December there were 248 train cancellations of which 225 were cancelled outright and 21 ran but failed to stop at Hassocks.

91.4         Youth Initiatives – Cllr Gaudencio informed Members that due to the current restrictions nothing was progressing at present.

91.5        Police matters – The Clerk informed members that the police have started to visit the park more regularly to ensure people are complying with the existing rules including in the evenings where they have dispersed groups of youths. Members had also observed that groups of people had been gathering outside some of the coffee shops for a period of time after obtaining takeaway drinks.

91.6        Report from Councillors on meetings of outside bodies where the Council is represented – Cllr Sue Hatton indicated that the Adastra Hall management group were scheduled to hold a virtual meeting but she would be unable to attend. Due to the pandemic it has raised a number of challenging issues for the hall including issues such as licences etc.

PC20/92       CHAIRMANS REPORT –

The Chair (JB) informed members that she had nothing to report.

PC20/93       CLERK’S REPORT –

93.1       The Clerk introduced the report inviting Members to consider the co-option of David Bunting onto the Council. Members were advised that the qualification criteria had been met to enable Mr Bunting to be considered for the role.

Mr Bunting had previously expressed an interest in joining the Council but was unsuccessful on that occasion but was present today. Subject to Mr Bunting being co-opted onto the Council  arrangements would be put in place by the Clerk to complete the procedural arrangements for the completion of the:

• Declaration of acceptance which will be required to be signed by the clerk and the new councillor
• The completed notification of interest forms.
• Arrangements will then be put in place to set up a parish email account.

Before Members were invited to consider co-opting Mr Bunting he was invited to say a few words to members setting out why he wished to become a Councillor. Mr Bunting provided a brief overview as to why he wished to join the Council which was duly noted by Members.

Mr Bunting was then placed in the virtual waiting room and Members were invited to vote on whether to co-opt Mr Bunting onto the Council.

The vote was concluded and Mr Bunting was brought back into the virtual meeting where the Chair advised that Members had voted unanimously to approve him as a Councillor. Therefore Members RESOLVED to APPROVE co-opting David Bunting onto the Parish Council as a Councillor and that the Clerk makes arrangements post this meeting to complete the procedural documentation to confirm the appointment.

The Clerk also informed members that Cllr Peter Gibbons had resigned due to relocating, therefore a Notice of Vacancy had been published, and subject to receiving no call for election the Council will be able to consider filling this vacancy via co-option. Members requested that the Clerk write to Peter Gibbons to express their thanks for all his work on behalf of the Council for many years which was greatly appreciated.

The Clerk undertook to write on the Councils behalf

93.2    Interim Internal Audit Report 2020/21

The Clerk introduced the report from the Internal Auditor which summarised the work completed as part of the review; generally the report was positive but had made some suggested areas for consideration. Members were invited to ask any questions on the report. Members were satisfied with the content of the report and RESOLVED to Note and AGREE the contents of the report.              

PC20/94       URGENT MATTERS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIRMAN – None

PC20/95       DATE OF NEXT MEETING

                     To note that the date of the next Council meeting is Tuesday 9^th February 2021 at 7.30pm.