Angmering Village Life
News Archive
May 2016
A large Monterey pine tree on the southern side of Angmering Village Hall came down at shortly after 11am today (Monday 30 May) totally blocking The Thatchway to all traffic. It was extremely fortunate that nobody was passing by at the time and that it missed hitting the Village Hall and the electricity sub-station next to it, although it demolished part of the sub-station's fence. WSCC Highways Maintenance arrived early in the afternoon but clearing the tree and debris required heavy lifting gear.
About 3 hours later, contractors from Surrey arrived with heavy lifting equipment and, by 7pm, had cleared enough space for a vehicle to get through. It is believed that work will continue tomorrow (Tuesday) to clear the remaining debris. Well done to the contractors who thoughtfully created a little stool for the Village Hall as a memento of today's events.
It is estimated that the fallen tree was nearly 100 years old and therefore well into old age for this species of tree. Other Monterey pines of a similar age are located along Station Road and some on Ham Manor.
Angmering Parish Council is sorry to announce the resignation of Sylvia Verrinder both as Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council, and as a Parish Councillor.
The Parish Council has extended its sincere thanks to Miss Verrinder for her dedicated and prolific work as a Parish Councillor since 2009, most notably (and among many other things) on matters pertaining to flood prevention and emergency planning, and as Vice-Chairman since May 2015.
Miss Verrinder's resignation creates a vacancy for a Councillor and the requisite Notice, giving details of electors' rights to call for a by-election to fill the vacancy, can be viewed by clicking here.
If no by-election is called, the Parish Council may then proceed to fill the vacancy by means of co-option.
Election of Chairman & Vice-Chairman
The election was carried out by a show of hands and Councillor Francis was unanimously ELECTED as Chairman of the Parish Council. Councillor Verrinder was unanimously ELECTED as Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council.
Appointments to Parish Council Committees
a) Governance & Oversight Committee: Councillors Oldfield, Lee Hamilton-Street, Verrinder, and Thompson.
b) Housing, Transport & Planning Committee: Councillors Mountain, Harris, Oldfield, Thompson, Hill-Smith, and Phelon.
c) Community, Leisure, Environment & Well-Being Committee: Councillors Nikki Hamilton-Street, Phelon, Bicknell, Evans, Jones, Harris, Hill-Smith.
Angmering Traffic Management Scheme & Traffic Calming Scheme
Public Consultation
David Butt (Chairman, Angmering Traders’ Association) made representations on behalf of the Traders’ Association in relation to the proposed Traffic Management Scheme, in respect of which an informal consultation exercise had been carried out on 20 April 2016. [The text of these representations can be found at the Appendix to the Minutes.] Councillor Mountain said that it was important to note that the consultation carried out on 20 April was an informal consultation, and that the formal consultation required under the Highways Act 1980 would follow further down the line. Mrs Turner thanked Councillor Mountain for his explanation, which had been helpful. The traders association and the wider public had known nothing about it. More information had been needed. {Editor's Note: Being present myself, it is noted that APC's minutes omitted many comments of dissatisfaction of the Scheme made by members of the Traders Association}.
County Councillor's Report
County Councillor Urquhart noted that since 2006 there had been numerous meetings with the Parish Council and others about traffic management. She had some sympathy with concerns raised by the Traders Association. Obviously it would not be possible to please everyone with a traffic management scheme on this scale and accordingly WSCC would go with the majority view.
Council Discussion
The Chairman expressed thanks to the Parish Office for preparing an analysis of the responses received so far, and to the Traders Association for their detailed representations, which would be considered in detail, and which would be submitted in their entirety to WSCC as part of the consultation process.
The Chairman also noted that Councillor Lee Hamilton-Street had made good progress with getting a Community Speed Watch scheme set up for the village, which was a welcome contrast with the results of previous attempts. Councillor Lee Hamilton-Street gave a brief explanation of how the scheme would operate – teams of 3 volunteers trained to operate a radar gun would take speed readings from cars travelling in excess of the posted speed limit, and a warning letter would then be sent to the registered keeper by Operation Crackdown. If a particular vehicle was caught 3 times, this would result in a visit to the registered keeper’s address by the Police, who would also be prepared to use their powers of seizure under Section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002 in serious cases. The road conditions for operation of the scheme were that locations for Speed Watch activity needed to have good visibility, and the checks needed to be conducted in daylight hours and at times when the traffic was light. It should also be noted that Speed Watch could not be used to enforce any speed limit lower than 30 mph.
Report from Sussex Police
Councillor Nikki Hamilton-Street noted that the reports had gone very light on detail again, which was not helpful. Councillor Mountain agreed that the reports needed much more detail. Councillor Verrinder stated that residents needed to be made aware of properties in the village being rented to groups of young males, usually immigrants. There had been a gang-rape of a young woman in Greenacres Ring two weeks ago at a house rented by four Romanians, and sub-let to eight others. All sorts of illegal behaviour was going on at the property. This had not found its way onto the report.
Defibrillator
The Chairman noted that the Parish Council was being asked to consider making the funds available to install a defibrillator, as per the report prepared by the Clerk, and resulting from the decisions of the Maintenance Committee. The defibrillator would be installed on the wall of the Parish Office, next to the notice board. Councillor Lee Hamilton-Street noted that he would like to see a much wider provision of defibrillators in the Parish. Sites he envisaged were outside the Parish Office, at Palmer Road Recreation Ground and near Roundstone Level Crossing. It would also be beneficial to look at setting up a programme of training in the use of defibrillators and associated publicity. On a proposal by Councillor Nikki Hamilton-Street, seconded by Counillor Phelon: That a defibrillator be acquired in accordance with the provisions of the Clerk’s report – unanimously AGREED.
Post Box
The old box was not the Parish Council’s property and was therefore not covered under its asset insurance. Due to the need to rebuild it like-for-like on account of its location just within the Conservation Area, and as a result of the Post Office’s refusal to countenance the expenditure involved, the Parish Council was placed in the rather invidious position of having to pay to reinstate something that it did not in fact own. However, having done so, the brickwork of the new box could then be included on the Parish’s asset insurance. On a proposal by Councillor Verrinder, seconded by Councillor Oldfield: That the post box be rebuilt as per the recommendations of the Maintenance Committee – unanimously AGREED.
The full minutes of this meeting can be read here
The poppies on Stubbs Hill, High Street, planted by Angmering In Bloom are coming into flower and will create a lovely display down the pathway - that is if WSCC do not spray them with weedkiller as they have done in the past!
Arundel & South Downs MP, Nick Herbert, has called on the Government to introduce more robust measures to protect neighbourhood plans from developers who are trying to “game the system”. Speaking in the Commons during the Consideration of Lords’ Amendments to the Housing and Planning Bill on Monday (9 May), he pressed the Housing Minister to commit to further steps to ensure that neighbourhood plans are not subverted. Mr Herbert accepted the Government’s reasons for rejecting his proposed ‘neighbourhood right of appeal’, but he asked the Minister to agree to look at how neighbourhood plans could be strengthened. A number of parish councils in West Sussex which have passed neighbourhood plans have expressed concerns that developers are trying to get around them.
Mr Herbert has succeeded in persuading the Secretary of State to ‘call in’ a number of these development applications, but believes that greater protection for neighbourhood plans is needed. The MP said: “As the plans are voted on by a local referendum, it is very important that they are respected once they are agreed.”
Neighbourhood plans give communities control over where development can take place, allowing green spaces to be protected while other sites are earmarked for development. But some developers have attempted to secure planning permission on sites that are not allocated for development in spite of the plans being agreed, or just before they are completed. The Planning Minister, Brandon Lewis, said that he was “happy to make it clear that I want the law to be strongly in favour of neighbourhood plans.” He said that he shared Mr Herbert’s desire to ensure that communities had the confidence to draw up a neighbourhood plan. Mr Lewis said: “I am happy to tell my right hon. Friend that we will work with him and other colleagues to ensure that we give these neighbourhood plans the confidence and primacy that the Government always intended for them. We must ensure that neighbourhood plans are respected by the decision makers.”
Mr Herbert said that neighbourhood planning was “one of the success stories of this Government and a flagship of localism policy”. But he said that it was “of concern to local communities that are about to produce a neighbourhood plan or have made one, and to other areas in the process of producing such plans or considering them, if developers appear to be allowed to come along, game the system, bang in a speculative planning application in the hope that they will get it through”.
He rejected the Government’s alternative to a neighbourhood right of appeal, which would require local authorities to identify where there was a conflict with the neighbourhood plan, arguing that it did not go far enough “because it merely reflects what happens in the planning system at the moment”. But Mr Herbert welcomed the Minister’s commitment to consider further steps to strengthen neighbourhood plans, and his willingness to engage with MPs on the issue. Speaking after the debate, he said: “I will continue to discuss this issue with ministers and I am optimistic that we will see further measures to strengthen neighbourhood plans in due course.”
Arun District Council is undertaking a ‘Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) Update Consultation and Call for Sites’. The consultation runs until 3rd June and further details, schedules and maps can be viewed here.
The HELAA is one of several technical reports that the Council is required to produce to underpin the emerging Local Plan. The HELAA is a technical and theoretical assessment of sites which could potentially contribute towards the future supply of housing and employment land. The HELAA therefore does not set policy, but provides background evidence on the potential availability of sites. The decision on site allocations is made through the Local Plan. The identification of sites in the HELAA should not be seen as an intention to allocate these sites for development, or that planning permission will be granted.
Below is an extract from an assessment map for the Angmering area that Arun are using as part of the consultation:
RED: Not currently developable
ORANGE: Developable 5-15 years
GREEN: Deliverable within 5 years
GREY: New additions which require assessment
At the AGM of Angmering Parish Council last night (Monday), Cllr Susan Francis was re-elected as chairman of the Council and Cllr Sylvia Verrinder was re-elected as vice-chairman.
At Public Consultation time, David Butt, chairman of the newly formed Angmering Traders Association (ATA) took issue with the Council over the handling of the public consultation relating to the proposed Traffic Management Scheme held in the Village Hall on 20 April and how the Council had used very limited data eminating from that consultation to take the process forward. ATA were generally opposed to the imposition of 7 speed tables and 17 pairs of speed pillows along the lengths of Station Road and Water Lane which both the the Council and WSCC had been preparing, as they believed it could be very damaging to their businesses. Mr Butt pointed out that the Council had been working on a scheme that clearly was outwith the views of the people of Angmering when they were consulted in an independently-run survey in 2014 for the Neighbourhood Plan. From the 1367 responses, for traffic management in Station Road, 36% were in favour of Speed Indicator Displays (SID) ; 25% in favour of speed camera ; 19% in favour of reduced speed limit, and just 16% in favour of raised cushions or similar. For Water Lane, 33% were in favour of SID ; 22% in favour of speed camera ; 23% in favour of reduced speed limit, and just 15% in favour of raised cushions or similar.
On behalf of the Council, Cllr Steven Mountain clarified the present status of the Scheme and stated that the showing of plans in the Village Hall on 20 April was actually only an informal consultation at this stage of the design process. However, faced with the information presented by ATA, the Council agreed to look at this outside the meeting and agreed that in future the Scheme would be developed through the Council's new Housing, Transport & Planning Committee. Angmering and Findon's County Councillor, Deborah Urquhart, stated that she would support the majority view.
A/65/16/L - Application for Listed Building Consent for partial removal of dividing wall between existing kitchen & breakfast room, together with the reinstatement of the original larder at The Malt House, Weavers Hill. Applicant: Mr M Coates.
A/68/16/A - 1 No. non illuminated notice board at St Margaret's Church Hall, Arundel Road. Applicant: Vicar (sic) and PCC St Margaret's Church.
Observations on this/these Application(s) must be received by The Head of Planning Services, Arun District Council, The Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, West Sussex BN17 5LF by 26 May 2016.
To see applications, plans, design statements, etc, type the Application Reference Number (such as those above) into Arun District Council's "Application Search Facility ", click on the Search button, and click on the hyperlink reference when selected application is returned - then select "Documents".
At a recent meeting of the Parish Council's Maintenance Committee, it was agreed to raise awareness of the village's litter problem through the schools by arranging a poster competition with winners to be announced at the St Peter and St Paul Annual Fair on Saturday 2nd July 2016 and for this to be extended to the public and adult population. Schools are being contacted to ask for the litter problem to be highlighted in assemblies and for them to consider the possibility of awarding a badge for Good Environmental Awareness..
The Competition has the following age categories: 4-7 years; 8-12 years; 13-16 years; 16 year plus
The Competition Closing Date is 17th June 2016 and all entries are to be handed into the Parish Council Office. The winners will be announced and prize giving will be at the St Peter and St Paul Annual Fair on Saturday 2nd July 2016. poster
Community Centre Car Park
The contract for the works had been let, but work had not yet commenced. A question had arisen about a modification to the proposed drainage scheme to improve its capacity, which had had to be referred back to WSCC’s Highways Engineer for further comments. That had now been dealt with and work was due to start in the coming weeks.
New Parich Council Website
Work had now commenced on uploading content to the new site, which would involve further testing. The back end of the system had been made available for inspection and appeared much more user-friendly than the existing system. On present information, it was hoped that the new site would be able to go live by the end of May 2016.
Angmering Traffic Management Scheme
Councillor Mountain asked [County Councillor Urquhart] whether anything else had happened at WSCC since the meeting. County Councillor Urquhart confirmed that she had nothing further to report, but noted that pressure was being brought to bear to get the scheme done in the current financial year (2016/17).
Councillors Mountain and Thompson both expressed surprise at this. It was noted that the outcome of the meeting had been that the scheme would not go ahead until 2017/18, the benefit of the delay being that the scheme could after all be amended to incorporate the matters repeatedly requested by the Parish Council. That was an acceptable trade-off.
BMX/Skatebowl Activity Day
Councillor Nikki Hamilton-Street asked where it had been agreed that the Parish Council would stage this event annually.
The Clerk noted that this was the view expressed in feedback received immediately following the event in 2015. It was important to note that preparations for this type of event needed to be put in hand more or less straight away following the previous event, as even provisional bookings needed to be made well in advance. The Clerk conceded that this should have been put before Councillors earlier in the year and regretted that this had not happened.
There followed further general discussion, in which it was confirmed that the proposed partner for the event, Live And Breathe Skateboarding, were prepared to host the event without charge to the Parish Council as they were able to cover costs by means of sponsorship. The only financial outlay for the Parish Council would be for ancillary matters such as first aid, sanitary facilities and so forth. The matter then proceeded to a vote.
On a proposal by Councillor Thompson, seconded by Councillor Jones: That the event be held on Saturday 24 September 2016 as proposed, using Live And Breathe Skateboarding, subject to a maximum outlay for ancillary expenses of £1,000, and subject to a report confirming detail to be laid before the Parish Council for approval at a future meeting – AGREED by six votes in favour (Councillors Bicknell, Harris, Jones, Mountain, Phelon, and the Chairman). Councillors Evans, Lee Hamilton-Street, and Nikki Hamilton-Street voted against the proposal. Councillors Thompson and Verrinder abstained.
St Peter & St Paul Fair
On a proposal by Councillor Thompson, seconded by Councillor Harris: That the St Peter & St Paul Fair be held on Saturday 2 July 2016, and that a budget of up to £3,000 be allowed to meet organisational costs – AGREED by 9 votes in favour. Councillors Lee Hamilton-Street and Nikki Hamilton-Street abstained.
The full minutes of this meeting can be read here
Here is a photo taken on 1 May of the bluebells in my favourite location in the woods up in Angmering Park. With the trees now coming into leaf, this week may be the best time to see these wonderful displays. Access to the woods can be gained via Selden Lane, Swillage Lane, The Woodman PH, The Dover, or Blakehurst.
