Meeting Minutes, January 2006

The meeting was opened at 6.45pm on Monday, 9th January 2006 at Chilworth Infant School.

Present

9.1 Apologies for Absence

None.

9.2 Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Monday 14th November 2005 having been circulated to Cllrs, were approved subject to the following amendments:

1. Para 8.5.1 - Replace Dorking Road with New Road
2. Para 8.5.4 Title - Replace Factor with Factory
3. Para 8.5.5 - Replace Lockner halt with Lockner Holt
4. Para 8.5.5 - Delete ‘was’ from ‘was lacked the specialist knowledge’.
5. Para 8.8.4 - Replace ‘This is a joint presentation by the Parish Council and Guildford Borough Council on behalf of the Chilworth Gunpowder Mills Group’ with ‘This is a joint presentation by the Chilworth Gunpowder Mills Group and Guildford Borough Council on behalf of the Parish Council’
6. Para 8.9.2b - Delete ‘The Parish Council submitted comments and objections’.

9.3 Declaration of Personal and Prejudicial Interest

Cllr Burt declared a personal and prejudicial interest in item 9.7 as owner of the Parish Field.

Cllr Hayward declared a personal and prejudicial interest, as owner of Hayward's Yard for which there is a current planning application.

No other Councillor declared a personal or prejudicial interest in any agenda items.

9.4 Matters Arising

9.4a Historical Records of the Parish Council (previous 8.4b)

Due to pressure of work, the Clerk had not yet transferred the records to the Surrey History Centre.

9.4b SCC Members Allocation Grant (previous 8.4e)

Middleton Joinery Company expects to have the Notice board installed in the bus shelter near Chilworth Station by the end of February.

9.4c Railway Bridge at Lockner Holt (previous 8.5.5)

The Clerk had written to Mrs Campbell regarding the danger of a landslip.

9.4d Slip Road and Level Crossing at Chilworth Station (previous 8.5.6)

The Clerk had written to Network Rail and a letter drafted by Cllr Patricia Allen had been sent to Mr Bahram Assadi (SCC Guildford Local Transportation Services).

9.4e Changes to road layout at Rices Corner (previous 8.5.1)

The Clerk had written to Mr Bahram Assadi (SCC Guildford Local Transportation Services).

9.4f Fencing on eastern boundary of the Gunpowder Mills site (previous 8.5.4)

The Clerk had written to Mr Adam Owen (Guildford Borough Council Parks and Countryside Manager) and received a reply.

In his reply Mr Owen explained that in excluding horses from the stream he was seeking to prevent damage to the historical site. To access the stream Horses would pass over the site of one of the factory sheds. However he was prepared to discuss the matter with English Heritage and if it raised no objection, he would approach SCC Rights of Way with the intention of creating a permissive right of way to the stream. This might involve moving the existing fencing.

9.4g Chilworth Station Signal Box (previous 8.8.2)

The Clerk had written to Mrs Louise Osborne (SPACIA) to suggest that Network Rail meet the costs of a survey.

Adjournment of Meeting

The Chairman adjourned the meeting to allow a short presentation by Mr Robin McKie (Star Energy) to explain his company's proposals for Gas Exploration on Blackheath, in particular the revised access route using Sandy Lane in Albury.

Some thirty members of the public had attended the meting for this agenda item and subsequent questions from the floor were polite but robust in nature.

9.5 Highways & Byways

9.5.1 Posts in Halfpenny Lane

Cllr Patricia Allen reported on a meeting of a working group of Cllrs and residents held on 3rd December 2005 (see Appendix 1).

The Clerk was instructed to write to John Cheesman (SCC Guildford Local Transportation Services) to inform him of the meeting and its outcome. Further letters to be sent to the owners of Great Halfpenny and Southernway Cottage to ask if they objected to their posts being replaced with oak posts.

9.5.2 Hedge at the Corner of Blacksmith Lane

Cllr Alan Slater raised the question of the overgrown hedge at the corner of Blacksmith Lane and Dorking Road (East). The hedge posed a danger to pedestrians as it forced walkers into the road and obstructed the view. The hedge should be cut now before the Spring growth.

The Clerk replied that he had raised this with John Cheesman (SCC Guildford Local Transportation Services) but would do so again.

9.6 Correspondence

9.6.1

Letter of thanks from Paula Barret for the funding for provision of flowers for the station.

9.6.2

Standards Board for England - Draft New Code of Practice (to be circulated).

9.6.3

Parish Biodiversity Training Evening on 6th February 2006 at Millmead, several Cllrs expressed an interest in attending.

9.7 Parish Field Committee

Cllr McIntyre (Chairman of the Parish Field committee) reported that the committee had met on 12th December 2005. Minutes of the meeting had been circulated to Cllrs. Cllr McIntyre summarised the progress that had been made.

9.8 Councillors' Business

9.8.1 Parish Newsletter

Cllr McIntyre (Newsletter Editor) expressed concern over the lack of material for the newsletter and the closeness of the deadline. Only Cllr Peake had submitted an article. The Clerk offered to do an article on Chilworth Manor and was asked to write a piece on the 2006/07 Budget. The Clerk mentioned that his wife had a number of photographs of scenes within the Parish, which could be used for the newsletter.

9.8.2 Parish Web Site

Cllr McIntyre was concerned that, since enquiries made via the Web Site were sent to multiple recipients, there was a danger of more than one person responding or nobody responding to a request.

The Clerk agreed that it was his responsibility to coordinate responses but that currently he was not one of the recipients. Because of the low number of requests via the website he had not given the matter any priority but he would look into it.

9.9 Planning

9.9.1 Planning Committee Chairman's report

The Clerk read out an E-Mail from Barbara & Richard Winkworth and letters from Mr & Mrs Roderick Reading and Mr & Mrs R K Horton on the subject of construction traffic for Chilworth Manor using Halfpenny Lane.

a. Chilworth Manor

05/P/01868 and 01869
05/P/01897 and 01899
05/P/01924 and 01925

6 Applications, 3 for Planning Permission and 3 for Listed Building Consent relating to the Manor, Lodge and outbuildings are still pending. The Parish Council submitted comments resulting from a meeting of its Planning Committee on 3rd October 2005. PENDING

b. 05/P/2098 - Housing Development at FES Hayward & Sons Depot, Dorking Road, Chilworth

This is a second application proposing a housing development covering the whole site. It was considered by a meeting of the Planning Committee on 14th November 2005. Although supporting the change of use of this site in principle, it was agreed to write to the Guildford Borough Planning Committee expressing a number of reservations. PENDING

9.10 Adopt a Station Scheme

The Clerk had been in touch with the Surrey Hills Partnership on the subject of a ‘walkers map’ of the parish at Chilworth Station. The Partnership was very keen on the idea and was sending copies of similar work produced for them by their preferred artist Mike Cashman of John Hart Designs. The Clerk would circulate the maps when in receipt. The Clerk will liase with Glynn Beck (Chilworth Station Manager) over the type and siting of the display board for the map.

9.11 Finance

9.11.1 December Reconciliation of Bank Accounts

Cllr Hayward had checked the reconciliation before the meeting and signed it as correct. The Council approved the reconciliation.

9.11.2 Invoices paid out of committee

9.11.3 Invoices for payment

9.11.4 Clerk's Salary and Expenses

9.11.5 January Expenditure Forecast

NOTED

9.11.6 Setting the 2006/07 Precept

The Clerk presented a budget for the next financial year 2006/07. The Clerk made the following points:

1. In the current year the projected expenditure is estimated at £6443 against a budget, prepared by the previous Clerk, of £3743 (72% overspend) despite careful monitoring and restriction of discretionary expenditure. The previous year the overspend was £2250 on a budget of £3500.
2. The Clerks hours have been increased from 5 hours to 14. The salary estimate has therefore more than doubled.
3. The budget contains a new item of £2500 for the Parish Field. This contains a maintenance budget and a number of one off costs such as the installation of two kissing gates, notice boards, footpath signs etc.
4. Given the low state of the Parish's financial reserves, the budget has had to include a contingency factor in the estimates to cover unanticipated expenditure.

After considerable discussion, Cllrs approved the budget.

RESOLVED to set the Parish precept for 2006/07 at £11937

9.12 Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled to be held on Monday 13th March 2006 at Chilworth Infant School, commencing at 7.15pm.

Dates of subsequent meetings:

15th May 2006
10th July 2006
11th September 2006
13th November 2006

Appendix 1

Notes of a Meeting held in Halfpenny Lane

The meeting was held on Saturday, 3rd December 2005.

Present

Suggestions made

• A few more wooden oak posts along the border of Old Great Halfpenny going North, in line with those put in at present, to protect the bank being eroded
  
  
• Write to the owner of Great Halfpenny (Farm) to ask if there was any objection to replacing the metal posts, at the blocked off farm entrance, with oak posts to match the rest in the lane
  
  
• One person suggested a passing place might be made here, if the owner was willing to forego a meter or so of land and if Highways were in agreement
  
  
• Consider whether to ask for maintenance of the steel girder posts near Southernway Cottage and for some of the post tops to be trimmed down to match the others
  
  
• Ask the owners of Southernway Cottage whether they would object to the replacement of their white metal posts with oak ones
  
  
• Ask for a Single Track with Passing Places sign to be placed at the North entrance to Halfpenny Lane
  
  
• Ask for Width Restriction signs (6 ft x 6 ins) and not Weight Restriction signs at the North end of Halfpenny Lane and South end of Blacksmith Lane
  
  
• Get Highways to agree to remove the drainage ditch just above Longmead. It was obvious that this did not work as a drainage ditch, as the water clearly goes down the lane and into the adjoining field. Photos were taken to prove this. If the ditch was removed, the water could drain even more easily into the field and the owners of Longmead, who have themselves put in a metal covered culvert, were quite happy with this suggestion. Drainage for Longmead already goes into the field. The advantages of this scheme would be that the drainage of surface water off the road would be more effective and the removal of the ditch would automatically make an excellent passing place for vehicles. This work could be carried out with little expense - the biggest expense probably being extra tarmac for the area where the ditch had been. It was thought residents might be prepared to cover the cost of this and of removing the ditch. Posts might then be put at the edge of the new bank to avoid erosion.

General comments made

Due to lack of passing places, the residents of Old Great Halfpenny have had a lot of trouble with people backing into their drive, hitting their gate and wooden posts and damaging their cesspit cover. Large lorries often back up by Marigold Cottage in order to unblock the lane.