BEPTON PARISH COUNCIL
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Chairman: Mrs Rosalind Hart
Clerk: Mrs. Lorraine Grocott, BEM, BA Hons (Local Policy)
23 West Meade, Milland, Liphook, Hampshire, GU30 7NB
Tel 01428 741393… Email: postmaster@milland-wsc-pc.gov.uk
Website – http://www.bepton.org

MINUTES of the Meeting of BEPTON PARISH COUNCIL
Thursday 19 September 2019 at The Park Hotel, Bepton

Present: Mrs R Hart (Chairperson), Mrs C Bower, Mr L Sadler, Mr J C Beaumont,
Dr J Wilkinson, Mr J A. Beckett

737. Apologies – Cllr K O’Kelly (County Councillor),
738. Declaration of Interests of Members on Agenda – There were none.

739. Minutes of the Meeting 11 July were agreed and signed.
740. Casual Vacancy – Councillors encouraged to consider suitable members of the community.

741. Report from the County Councillor – Cllr Kate O’Kelly
Schools update – West Sussex County Council had published a plan to consult on the future of 5 of its small schools including the possibility of closure, the schools include Compton and Stedham locally. They have taken views from the community over the Summer and have said they will take the decision as to whether to enter formal consultation in September.
CYPSC 11th Sept – decision discussed – concerns about the process so far and the selection of the 5 schools and the criteria used were raised. Decision was not scrutinized yet but there will be an urgent TFG to discuss the process so far. This meeting will occur prior to the decision to consult on the future of the 5 schools. Depending on the result of that meeting and the decision the cabinet member makes we still have the option of calling in the decision. My view consultation potentially undermines confidence in the any school and should be last resort.

Electric Vehicles – She had an interesting time on a member group at WSCC looking at an Electric Vehicle (EV) strategy for the county. WSCC will be consulting on this further in the Autumn. Current issues include whether to allow leads across pavements, as they are doing in Brighton, to enable residents without off street parking to charge. Chichester District have put in a bid for a government grant for EV charging points – 18 new charging points will be introduced across the Chi District – small steps but it is a start.

Bus Update – Bus stop signs have arrived! They look smart and send a message to everyone that our buses are here to stay. Our local bus group met at the end of June, there was a good discussion between SDNPA and Stagecoach. Joint promotion of these services is a great way forward. Paper timetables will be distributed around the area so that the community know the bus times.
Our next meeting is on 24th Sept. Future of the 54, 0734 service under discussion.

Midhurst Vision update – A series of workshops have started. She has attended the first 3 – To follow progress view on the Midhurst Vision website – https://midhurstvision.org/
Cycling The West Sussex Cycling Design Guide (PDF, 1MB) is now available on the County Council’s website. The guide provides advice to developers about current best practice in relation to cycling infrastructure provision and signposts to other best practice guidance and case studies. She is working on this with officers and there will be a cycling summit in November.

Kate’s Drop Ins
Harting – The White Hart – 3rd October – 10.30-12.30
Minutes of Bepton Parish Council meeting 19 September 2019
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742. Matters arising –
a) Bepton War Memorial – In 2018, it had been brought to the attention of the Hon. Sec. Bepton PCC that one of the names on the memorial is possibly incorrect. No further action needed at this stage.

743. Chairman’s Items
a) Country Inn development – Mrs Hart and Mr Beckett had met with the new managers, Bepton Hotels Ltd. They explained their proposals which included the refurbishment of the interior and to extend at the back of the property. Improvements will be made to the car park. There will be an emphasis on good and locally sourced food. Wedding and celebrations of that kind will continue to be held at The Park Hotel.

b) Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) – Currently Bepton PC holds £1,251 in CLC. CIL levy can contribute to infrastructure, which can include facilities such as play areas, parks and cultural and sports facilities. It cannot be used to fund solution to existing problems i.e. traffic calming/management or on repairs to existing infrastructure… Dr Wilkinson provided information on the idea of village gates. This idea was supported but caution was expressed as to whether these would be classed as traffic calming. The Clerk offered to provide a contact at Highways who may be able to offer help and guidance.

c) New Clerk – Melanie Kite – Ms Kite has received her Contract. Her pension arrangements need to be confirmed. Mrs Grocott offered to find out more information.

d) Retirement of the Clerk -Mrs L Grocott has submitted her formal resignation. Her last meeting will be on 26th March 2020. She has agreed to complete the internal and external reports on the accounts and provide a commentary for the Annual Parish Assembly. She will also liaise with the new clerk for the transition including preparation for the Annual Statutory Meeting.

744. Finance report – Mrs Grocott, RFO

a) Statement of Accounts – Payments for approval

These payments were approved.

a) Reference Item 743d) the Council approved the payment of £103.12 to the Clerk for the preparation of the y/e accounts 2019-20.
Minutes of Bepton Parish Council meeting 19 September 2019
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b) Nat West Bank account Change of Mandate to include James Beaumont -This has been approved. Mr Beaumont will apply for a bank card to allow him to make payments.
Mrs Bower is a cheque signatory, Mrs Hart and the Clerk are bank card holders

c) SALC – Finance and Legal training session on 26 September. The Clerk to attend. The cost £120 + vat will be met by both Milland and Bepton PCs 2/3 – 1/3.

745. Planning Report – Mr. John Beckett
a) Councils response to applications: –

SDNP/19/02820/HOUS
Mr & Mrs Steele of Woodlands Cottage, Severals Road request to build a garden store, including a log store with cat slide roof. Permit

SDNP/19/02131/LDP
The Cowdray Estate requests a Lawful Development Certificate to resurface the existing track at Church Farm with crushed chalk further to SDNP/19/00105/LDE as well as a section 8m north of the existing track not included in this previously permitted LDE. Permit

SDNP/19/03606/PRE
Metis Homes request pre-planning to develop the Council Depot and Former Brickworks in Bepton Road. Development proposed would erect 72 dwellings with associated access, parking and landscaping. Awaiting in progress.
After discussion, Bepton PC will be responding with its concerns about traffic access onto Bepton Road and the increase in traffic movements.

b) Soft Sand extraction on Severals East and West – Following a public consultation, the Severals sand quarrying sites have not been included in the shortlist by the South Downs National Park Authority. There had been 900 responses to the consultation with 90 per cent related to the Severals East and Severals West sites. The soft sand review was prompted by the adoption of the Joint Minerals Local Plan in July 2018 by the SDNPA and West Sussex County Council. The National Park Authority confirmed that after careful consideration of the potential impact on the South Downs National Park, the proposed submission for the soft sand strategy would include just three site allocations. A new quarry would be created outside of the National Park at Ham Farm along with two extensions to existing quarries within the national park, east of West Heath and Chantry Lane. There is still a need to be vigilant as this is not the end of the planning process. The draft strategy will go to a ten-week formal consultation from late November before being submitted to the government to examine the “soundness” of the plan.

c) SDNPA – Workshop, South Downs Centre, Midhurst 23 October, 6.30-9.30pm. Mr Beckett and Mr Beaumont to attend.

d) Tree Preservation Order (TPO) –Mr John Beckett has contacted Henry Whitby, CDC Tree Officer to assess its suitability of the Beech tree in The Country Inn garden.

746. SALC Training sessions
a) JAB attending a Planning training session on 18th July
b) LMG to attend a Legal and Finance Day on 26th September
c) JCB to attend a Finance Workshop on 13th November

Minutes of Bepton Parish Council meeting 19 September 2019
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747. Bepton PC Website – Mr James Beaumont
a) The meeting discussed the background to the website Bepton.org which was set up by a member of the community. .org is a non-profit site. It is understood that, when the site was established, several email addresses were also purchased which would enable councillors to use the addresses for council contact. The WordPress website DD is due in February 2020 which has been paid by Mr Ewing and reimbursed by the PC. At this point the DD will need to be transferred to Bepton PC. The agreement with WordPress would include the removal of advertisements from the website. In due course the email address for Bepton Parish Council will become Bepton.org instead of postmaster@milland…
b) Accessible Website Regulations – This is now a government requirement on public sector websites.
The Clerk was asked to confer with a company she uses for website support for their advice and refer to the Council for their agreement.

748. Community Use Defibrillator – Mr John Beckett
The defibrillator is now installed, ready for use and registered with SECAmb. Mrs Milner and Mr Beckett organised a familiarisation session at The Park Hotel for Bepton residents in August. During the session the question was raised of the difficulty for a lone person trying to assist a casualty. Following the session, Mr Beckett had obtained information on the Community Heartbeat Trust’s VETS scheme which enables assistance to be called by phone. After discussion it was agreed to investigate further the VETS system for Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) emergencies, where a lone rescuer is with the patient, the emergency is out of the activation radius, or there are children present. This would mean a single telephone number will link to volunteers in the community willing to lend assistance. £45 Set Up Cost / £100 Annually.

749. Community Winter Resilience – Salt Audit 2019/20
Active communities have asked councils for information on salt stocks within the community and their locations. The deadline for the completed spreadsheet is Friday 27th September. The approved contractor for Bepton is ACS Ltd. It is anticipated that salt stocks within the community should need minimal topping up this autumn due to the winter weather in 2018/19 being mild. Mrs Sadler to liaise with ACS Ltd.

750 Environment / Highways & Byways
The Rights of Way Access Ranger will be organising a Public Rights of Way inspection to be carried out in October. Following the inspection, routine maintenance work will be prioritised for delivery by their contractor. Any problems should be emailed to prow@westsussex.gov.uk or Tel: 01243 777620. For details of the path number see the website http://www.westsussex.govuk/imap. It is helpful to read ‘How to use the iMap’ before using it, as unfortunately, it is not as intuitive as they would like.
Severals Green – It was noted that one of the posts surrounding the area is rotten. Ownership neds to be determined so that it can be replaced.

751. Other Meetings
a) AGM West Sussex Association of Local Councils Ltd, Arundel, 3.10.2019 – JCB to attend.
b) AGM Midhurst Community Bus Association, Midhurst, 3.10.19 – JAB to attend.
c) West Sussex CLC, 12 November 2019, 7pm The Grange, Midhurst.

752. Date of next meeting 7pm, 28 November 2019 at the Park House Hotel, Bepton.

Chairman: …………………………………. Date: ……………………

These Minutes are unconfirmed untiled signed by the Chairman