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A meeting of West Dean Parish Council was
held at 7.30pm on 23rd March 2004 in King George's Hall.
Present: Mrs S Gruzelier (Chairman), Mr
P Dawkins (Vice-Chairman), Mr P Hargrave, Miss C Warry,
Mrs J Gimpel, Mr M Rowe, Mrs P Parsons, Mr R Parsons (Clerk),
and no members of the public. Apologies were received
from District Cllr Chris Devine, District and County Cllr
Bill Moss, PC Colin Rothwell and PC Chris Day.
01/04 Matters raised by the Public: None.
02/04 Declaration of Interest: None.
03/04 Minutes of the PC meeting held on
2nd Dec, having been circulated, were agreed and signed
by the Chairman.
04/04 Noticeboard: The Clerk reported
that the craftsman at the Burnbake Trust would be
retiring in May and the charity had not yet decided
whether he would be replaced. It was unlikely that they
would be able to deliver the noticeboard as ordered.
Members resolved to ask two local craftsmen to quote for
the supply of an Oak noticeboard. Action: The
Chairman and the Clerk will provide construction guidance
to the chosen craftsman.
05/04 Parish Plans: Cllr Gimpel reported
little progress with this initiative.
06/04 MoD Dean Hill: Cllr Gimpel
reported on the 27th January meeting with the Planners
and Defence Estates who indicated that they had received
28 written 'expressions of interest'. However, sale of
the property is likely to be delayed by the former owner's
rights issue. Hampshire Wildlife Trust is apparently very
interested in acquiring at least a part of the site
although liability for the tunnels will need to be
resolved. The Planners are preparing a development brief
and some of the Hillside Close houses have already been
sold. The existing streetlights in Hillside Close are
likely to be removed unless WCC can be persuaded to take
over responsibility for some of them. Action: 1.
Cllr Gimpel will produce a newsletter to explain the
current situation for local people. 2.
The Chairman agreed that she would write to the Officer
in Charge at DM Dean Hill thanking him for the way in
which he had always kept the West Dean community informed
about operational changes at the depot.
07/04 The Dean Hill Sports & Social Club: The
Club has been granted a 2yr lease of its premises with an
option to purchase at the end of that period.
08/04 Mobile Phones: The Clerk reported
that local people are lobbying Orange in an attempt to
persuade them to install a mobile phone transmitter in
the Church spire at Lockerley.
09/04 Playing Field Safety: The Clerk
reported that the annual Playingfield safety inspection
had been arranged for 15th April when improved signage
would be confirmed and applied as appropriate. Action:
The Clerk will arrange to meet the safety
inspector on site and agree appropriate signage.
10/04 SWAG application: Members approved
the decision to carry forward the War Memorial SWAG
application deferred from last year. Cllr Parsons
reported that the stonemason had recommended leaving the
WW2 tablet as it is for now but that if the PC later
believed that it needed to be raised at the back, this
could be arranged for £165.
11/04 Security at MOD Dean Hill: Cllr
Warry expressed concern that the Dean Hill site might
become a target for itinerant travelers. Members agreed
that the PC must do all it can to persuade Defence
Estates to adequately protect the property. Cllr Gimpel
agreed to contact Defence Estates to explain the PC's
concerns, which will be later confirmed by letter. Action:
The Clerk will draft a letter to Defence Estates
following Cllr Gimpel's discussion about site security.
12/04 Flower Barrels: Members agreed to
accept the offer of three barrels from the garden centre
who had previously supplied the SDC Floral Enhancement
scheme. Cllr Gimpel proposed that volunteers would be
able to plant the barrels and it was anticipated that the
total cost would be about £30 per barrel. Action:
The Chairman agreed to order the barrels and
organise their filling and positioning. Watering will be
organised as before.
13/04 Sandbags: The Clerk reported that
the sandbags had been retrieved from the depot but that
the hessian sacks were in a poor condition. Action:
The Clerk will liaise with SDC to determine how
best to provide this facility.
14/04 Youth Development: The Chairman
reported that the WCC Youth Development Co-ordinator
visits the village on alternate Tuesday's with the purple
bus and that this had proved to be popular. There has
been little progress with the proposals to create a
facility in the playingfield because there is too much
uncertainty about that which is required. It has been
agreed that the Community Safety grant can be carried
forward to next year. Because of competition from
Lockerley Youth club, the viability of the purple bus is
in doubt.
15/04 P&TC Liaison meetings: These
had helped to clarify the procedures that the SDC
Planning department hope will lead to faster planning
decisions as required by Central Government.
16/04 West Dean Post Office: Members
were concerned that the house where the village Post
Office operates is for sale. The Post Office will be
evaluating alternative sites for a village Post Office
and the PC will support any proposal that will avoid the
loss of this important village facility. Action: Cllr
Hargrave agreed to be available to meet with the
Postmistress and representatives from the Post Office.
17/04 Finance: * Members confirmed that
they had been satisfied with the Independent Internal
Audit for 2002/03 and agreed that the appointment should
continue. * Members approved the precept of £3,500
equating to £34.48p for Band D Council taxpayers.
* The following payments were approved:
Mazars - Audit Fee 2002/03 ------ 159 - £141.00p
Clive Jones - Hedge Cutting ------- 160 -- £35.25p
Whitehead Vizard - Legal Fees ---- 161 - £779.03p
CB Skips - Skip Hire -------------- 162 - £376.00p
Firstalpha Ltd - Skip Management --163 -- £78.00p
S Gruzelier - Chairman's expenses -- 164 -- £60.00p
R Parsons - Clerk's fee & expenses - 165 - £920.00p
17/04 Footpath no.6 at Dean Chase: The
Clerk reported that he was concerned about the footpath
boundaries between Dean Chase and Woodside. Action:
The Clerk will seek clarification from the respective
owners.
18/04 Footpath no.9 towards Dean Hill: The
farmer has ensured that this path is passable.
19/04 Footpath no.8 into Hampshire: The
farmer has installed a new stile and has requested
footpath arrow signs to indicate the correct route. Action:
Cllr Warry will continue to liaise with the
respective County Rights of Way Wardens about the most
appropriate route.
20/04 Rights of Way between the Red Lion and
River Dun: Nothing further to report.
21/04 WCC Lengthsmen: The next visit is
scheduled for 9th/12th July.
22/04 Planning: * S/2004/0385 -
FULL APPLICATION - PROPOSED EXTENSION at ST MARY'S CHURCH
WEST DEAN - Members were concerned that the proposed
materials were not in keeping with the original.
* S/2004/0xxx - FULL APPLICATION -
ERECTION OF REPLACEMENT DWELLING at HOWE FARM FARLEY -
This application has not yet been formally presented to
SDC and members resolved to reserve judgement until they
had had an opportunity to discuss this with a SDC
planning officer.
23/04 Reports and Correspondence:
Members noted the schedule of available reports and
correspondence that will be circulated.
24/04 Standards Board: Members noted
that both The Chairman and Cllr Rowe had been cleared of
any wrong doing in relation to the allegations brought
against them by a parishioner.
25/04 Pig Roast: Members agreed to hold
a pig roast on the village green on 10th July.
26/04 Best Kept Village Competition: Cllr
Warry agreed to complete the application and submit to
CPRE.
27/04 The Annual Parish Council meeting
will be held on Tuesday, 11th May following the Annual
Parish meeting that will commence at 7:00pm. Action:
The Clerk will ensure that this is widely
advertised.
The meeting closed at 9:51pm
Signed without amendment by the Chairman, Cllr Gimpel, on
11th May, subject to a change in the published date of
the hog roast that will now be held on 17th July.
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