BEPTON PARISH COUNCIL

Chairman: Mr. Howard Ewing
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 23 March 2017 at The Park House Hotel, Bepton Road

Present: Mr H Ewing (in the Chair), Mrs R Hart, Mrs C Bower, Dr J Wilkinson,
Mrs Alex Cunningham
Cllr C Neville (District Councillor)

541. Apologies – Mr G Ryan, Mrs L Milner, Cllr Gordon McAra, County Councillor

542. Declaration of Interests of Members on Agenda – There were none.

543. Minutes of the Meeting 26 January 2017 – were approved and signed.

544. Report District Councillor – Cllr Caroline Neville
a) Council Tax will be increased by 3.9% for 2017 and 2% each year after until 2000/. This equates to £5 extra in 2017 for Band D. This means the average council tax bill will be increased by 10p a week, so the average taxpayer will be paying £2.90 a week for services provided by the council. There will also be an increase in business rates.
b) The proposed increase in car park charges for evening parking have been approved for New Park Cinema and Chichester Theatre car parks.
c) The A27 Chichester bypass scheme has been cancelled by the Secretary of State (SoS). To quote the SoS statement ‘The decision was dependent on the support and financial contribution of the local authorities and there was no clear consensus on the way forward’.
d) The Novium Museum has won an award for the Tim Peake exhibition.
e) The building site in The Grange has gone out to tender following the withdrawal of interest by Waitrose for a supermarket on the site.
f) A meeting will be held on 6th April at 10am following complaints at The Grange sports and activity centre.

545. Matters arising from the Minutes
a) Newsletter – Thanks were expressed to Carey Bower for the Winter Newsletter. She would welcome copy for the Spring/Summer issue.

546. Chairman’s Items
a) Speaker for the Annual Parish Assembly – 25 May 2017– The Clerk to ask Dan Oakley, Lead Ranger, SDNPA to give a presentation on the Dark Skies designation. The National Park received official International Dark Skies Reserve status in the summer of 2016.

547. Finance report – Mrs. Grocott RFO
a) The council is now fully Online with banking. Mrs. Hart now has a card reader and is able, if necessary, to make payments. Mrs. Bower has ‘view only’ access. Mr. Ryan continues to be a signatory. Mrs. Grocott has full online access. It appears there is a charge of 40p per On-line payment. The Clerk to confirm.
b) The Clerk has submitted the VAT Reclaim form for 2016-17 – £143.65.
c) The Clerk will prepare the y/e accounts for presentation to the internal auditor.

Minutes of Bepton Parish Council meeting 23 March 2017

d) Statement of Accounts – Payment for approval

The above payments were approved by the Council.

e) Increase in the council tax for Bepton parish – Following a comment by a local resident regarding the increase of 29%in the council tax the Chairman was asked to explain the reason.
Precept 2015-16 – £4,500; Precept 2016-17-£3,700. It was reduced because there was a large Reserve.
Precept 2017-18 – £4,820. The council increased it because 1) The clerk’s salary and expenses were reviewed; 2) The clerk’s gratuity was reviewed; 3) The donation to Bepton PCC was increased from £500 to £750; the amount set aside for grass mowing and other amenity matters was increased because the County would not be undertaking small local amenity work.
Band D 2016-17 Precept of £3,700 divided by Tax base 146.8 arrives at Band D equivalent of £25.20.
Band D 2017-18 Precept of £4,820 divided by Tax base 148.3 arrives at Band D equivalent of £32.50.
The Chairman would put an item onto the website to explain the reason for the increase.

548. Planning Report – Council’s response to applications: –

SDNP/16/06305/FUL
Bepton Hotels Ltd (Park House Hotel) requests permission to change the use of field into an overflow car park. Await decision.
SDNP/17/00030/APNB
Mr Mark Bilsland of Padwicks Farm requests permission to build a new agricultural storage barn. Decision was that prior approval is required and therefore this application has been refused. Written appeal requested. Await allocation of Planning Inspector.
SDNP/17/00197/TCA
Mr James Morley of The Old Schoolhouse requests permission to fell one Sycamore tree. No objection raised.
SDNP/17/00153/TCA
Mr James Morley on behalf of Mr Richard Bridgmont of Green Gables requests permission to fell 3 Sycamore trees. No objection raised.
SDNP/17/00947/CND
Mr James Keyes of Hopkiln Cottage, Bell Lane requests permission to vary condition 1 from planning permission SDNP/14/02424/FUL to amend plan AS495/003 to include a revised window configuration on the north elevation. After discussion, no objection raised.
SDNP/17/01119/LIS
Mr Mark Bilsland of Padwicks Farm requests permission to convert and extend barn
to provide holiday let and to convert stables to provide home office / studio. After discussion, it was
agreed to hold a separate meeting.
Minutes of Bepton Parish Council meeting 23 March 2017
—————————————————————————————————————————

Planning report continued –

a) Review of the Parish Plan 2007 – It was noted that it is now 10 years since the Parish Plan was produced and during that time there have been several changes. It was agreed to review and update the document. Areas needing to be changed include – Bepton is now in the SDNP as opposed to an AONB; we now have a website; there has been a change in the parish church boundaries; there is now a plaque at the bottom of Bepton Down to commemorate the Queens 90th birthday; the application to reduce the speed of traffic along Bepton Road was refused; there are now cycle signs on the Bepton Road; the bus time table has changed; Midhurst Grammar is now called Midhurst Rother College; the number of farms has reduced; changes need to be made to the reference to St Richards Hospital; reference to Broadband; winter emergency plan; include information about mineral extraction. Some photos will need to be updated.
It was agreed to put an item onto the website and in the next Newsletter asking for suggestions for changes. In the meantime, the Chairman will look at drafting an updated document.

b) Former Midhurst Brickworks site on the Bepton Road has been nominated as a Strategic site for housing and workshops. There are 260 units of housing proposed for Midhurst with the Brickwork site having 65-90 dwellings. Although it is not technically in Bepton Parish the entrance and exits for the site will affect the amenity of the parish and it will have an impact on Midhurst Common. Further housing is proposed on the caravan site at the Holmbush Estate. This will be discussed at the NW and NE Forum in March.

549. Faster Broadband – The Chairman has been advised by WSCC that part of Bepton has been included in BT’s delivery plans for ‘super-fast broadband’. This is expected to be built by the end of 2108. In effect, the faster broadband will extend from the north end of the village to Henchers Cottage, but no further. Unfortunately, at the South end some will remain unable to get basic broadband of 2mbps.
The Better Broadband Subsidy Scheme – The UK government is committed to providing every home and business across the country with access to a basic broadband service. If members of the community can’t get a broadband speed of at least 2Mb per second, they could qualify for a subsidised connection worth up to £350 to boost their internet speed. To find out more information on eligibility for a subsidy visit …www.basicbroadbandchecker.culture.gov.uk.

550. Telephone Kiosk at Bepton Common – The Chairman will contact BT to confirm that the council wishes to adopt the kiosk. They have confirmed that they will pay for the electrical supply. He has also been in touch with the charity Heart Beat regarding a defibrillator. The council will be responsible for the future maintenance although it is understood that the paint can be obtained for free.

551. Highways & Byways & Environment
a) Verge repair by allotments – This work has been carried out. It has been funded by Sec106 money released from Midhurst Town Council. Concerns was expressed that it made the area look very urban and it was suggested that a wooden bollard may be more rural. It was noted that, in general, verges look dreadful because of car parking on them and tractors driving over them.
b) The council has tried to address the problem of flooding outside Frogmore which is caused by a blocked drain and the fact that the swamp across the road needs draining.
c) Rights of Way – There is a tree blocking the footpath 900 which has been reported to WSCC. The Clerk to draw this to the attention of the Access Ranger, Darryl Hobden in preparation of the inspection in April.
d) Midhurst Area Cycling – WSCC has set aside £77K to do a feasibility study of a cycle path from Chichester to Cocking to include a path around the tunnel. There are also plans for a footpath to be included beside the cycle route on the Centurion Way.

Minutes of Bepton Parish Council meeting 23 March 2017
————————————————————————————————————————-

552. District /County Organisations
a) WSALC – Spring Conference 30 March at Lodge Hill Centre, Pulborough – Apologies.
b) North West and North East Community Forum 28/3/17 – Mrs Hart and Mrs Milner to attend.
c) CDC – All Parish Meeting 5 April – Apologies from Bepton PC.
d) SALC training day for Clerks on 6 July. The cost of £80 will be shared between Bepton and Milland. This was agreed.

553. Date of next meetings downstairs in The Barn at The Park Hotel, Bepton.

Thursday 25 May, 2017, 6-7pm – Annual Statutory Meeting
7-7.30pm – Refreshments and Welcome
7.30 pm – Annual Parish Assembly

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

These Minutes are unconfirmed untiled signed by the Chairman